NewDeal Hot Tip 1533

[Hot Tips for...] General Use

Hardware Information in SYSINFO

The SYSINFO file is created by Graphical Setup (SYSTEM\SYSAPPL\SETUP.GEO) at the end, after the video, mouse, and printer selection sections. SYSINFO contains information about the computer hardware and was designed primarily as a technical support aid.

This is from a user's SYSINFO file: 

0010: 61 00 bf 80 02 00 00 20 00 00 1e 00 1e 00 00 00
The layout of those two bytes is: 
bit 0 set if IPL floppy present
bit 1 set if math coprocessor installed
bit 2 set if ps/2 pointing device installed
bit 3 set if ps/1 sound board installed
bits 4 & 5 video mode (binary):
  bit 5  bit 4
    0      0   = reserved (usually EGA)
    0      1   = 40x25 color
    1      0   = 80x25 color
    1      1   = 80x25 mono
bits 6 & 7  number of floppy drives (0-based)
bit 8 reserved
bits 9, 10 & 11  number of serial ports (0-7)
bits 12 & 13 reserved
bits 14 & 15  number of parallel ports (0-3)

0010: 63 46
  • an IPL floppy (bit 0 is 1)
  • a math coprocessor (bit 1 is 1)
  • no ps/2 pointer (bit 2 is 0)
  • no ps/1 sound board (bit 3 is 0)
  • has a default video mode of 80x25 color (bit 5 is 1, bit 4 is 0)
  • has 2 floppy drives (bits 6 & 7 contain 1, which means 2 drives, because the number is 0-based, with a 0 meaning 1 drive)
  • has 3 serial ports (bits 9 & 10 & 11 contain 011 binary = 3)
  • has 1 parallel port (14 & 15 contain 01 binary = 1)
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    Last Modified 11 Mar 1999