pciutils

pciutils is an open-source tool that helps you manage PCI devices on your computer. It comes with a couple of handy utilities to list these devices, change their settings, and check their status. Pretty neat, right?

What Does pciutils Do?

The pciutils project includes several cool tools. First up is lspci, which lists all the PCI devices in your system. Next, there’s setpci, which lets you configure and query those devices. Don't forget about update-pciids, a utility for fetching the latest PCI ID list. Plus, there's a library called libpci.so for apps to use!

How to Install pciutils on Linux

If you're ready to give it a try, installing the pciutils package on your GNU/Linux system is simple! Start by downloading the latest version from Softpas. Save it where you like, maybe on your Desktop.

Getting Started with pciutils

After downloading, extract the files using your favorite archive manager. Open up a terminal and navigate to where you extracted the files by using the ‘cd’ command. You'll need to compile the software next.

The Compilation Process

If you're at the pciutils folder, just type ‘make’ in your terminal to start compiling it for your system architecture. Once that's done without any hiccups, you'll find three new files: lspci, setpci, and update-pciids ready for use!

Using Your New Tools!

You can run lspci and setpci directly from that folder or install them system-wide by typing ‘make install’. Just remember that you'll need root permissions or use sudo for this step.

A Quick Note on Commands

The lspci and setpci commands have various options available—check them out by running them with '--help'. The update-pciids tool doesn’t have any options; just run it as is to refresh those PCI device IDs.

Cross-Platform Compatibility

The great thing about pciutils? It's super portable! It works across different operating systems like Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, AIX, and even GNU Hurd. And yes—it's been tested on both 32-bit and 64-bit systems!