Linux Hardware Detection Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to hardware detection on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including identifying hardware, installing drivers, and troubleshooting hardware issues.

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Table of Contents

1. Identifying Hardware
2. PCI Devices
3. USB Devices
4. Hardware Information Tools
5. Driver Installation
6. CachyOS CHWD Tool
7. Troubleshooting

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Identifying Hardware

List All Hardware

Check hardware:

# Install hardware detection tools
sudo pacman -S hwdetect lshw

# Detect hardware
sudo hwdetect

# Or use lshw
sudo lshw -short

CPU Information

Check CPU:

# CPU info
lscpu

# Detailed CPU
cat /proc/cpuinfo

# CPU model
grep "model name" /proc/cpuinfo

Memory Information

Check RAM:

# Memory info
free -h

# Detailed memory
cat /proc/meminfo

# Memory modules
sudo dmidecode -t memory

Disk Information

Check disks:

# List disks
lsblk

# Disk info
sudo fdisk -l

# Disk usage
df -h

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PCI Devices

List PCI Devices

Check PCI:

# List PCI devices
lspci

# Detailed info
lspci -v

# Kernel drivers
lspci -k

Graphics Card

Check GPU:

# List GPUs
lspci | grep VGA

# Detailed GPU
lspci -k | grep -A 2 VGA

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USB Devices

List USB Devices

Check USB:

# List USB devices
lsusb

# Detailed info
lsusb -v

# USB tree
lsusb -t

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Hardware Information Tools

inxi

Install inxi:

# Arch/CachyOS
sudo pacman -S inxi

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install inxi

# Fedora
sudo dnf install inxi

Use inxi:

# System info
inxi -Fxz

# Hardware summary
inxi -b

hwinfo

Install hwinfo:

# Arch/CachyOS
sudo pacman -S hwinfo

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install hwinfo

# Fedora
sudo dnf install hwinfo

Use hwinfo:

# Full hardware info
sudo hwinfo --short

# Specific hardware
sudo hwinfo --gfxcard

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Driver Installation

Graphics Drivers

See Graphics Drivers for detailed guide.

Other Drivers

Install drivers:

# Check what's needed
lspci -k

# Install appropriate drivers
sudo pacman -S driver-package

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CachyOS CHWD Tool

What is CHWD?

CHWD (CachyOS Hardware Detection) is a CachyOS-specific tool for hardware detection and driver management.

What it does:

• Detects hardware: Identifies hardware automatically
• Installs drivers: Automatically installs correct drivers
• GPU migration: Switches between GPUs easily
• Driver management: Manages graphics drivers

Using CHWD

Detect hardware:

# Detect and show hardware
sudo chwd -h

# Auto-detect and install
sudo chwd -h -a

See CachyOS Tools Guide and CachyOS CHWD GPU Migration for detailed CHWD usage.

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Troubleshooting

Hardware Not Detected

Check kernel messages:

# Check dmesg
dmesg | grep -i hardware-name

# Check logs
journalctl -k | grep -i hardware-name

Driver Issues

Check loaded drivers:

# Check modules
lsmod

# Load module
sudo modprobe module-name

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Summary

This guide covered hardware detection for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions, including identification, driver installation, and CachyOS-specific CHWD tool.

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Next Steps

• Graphics Drivers - GPU setup
• Firmware - Firmware setup
• CachyOS Tools Guide - CHWD details
• ArchWiki Hardware Detection: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Hardware_detection

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This guide covers Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other Linux distributions. CachyOS-specific CHWD tool is highlighted where applicable.