HardDrake: Configuring your Hardware

Introduction

Abstract

The HardDrake project has been developed to simplify hardware detection and configuration under GNU/Linux by providing an easy-to-use interface.

Description

HardDrake is a full GUI-based tool which ties together many of the tools already included in a GNU/Linux distribution. It automates and simplifies the process of installing new hardware. For the most part, HardDrake will be able to detect most devices.

On one hand, HardDrake is used to display information, and on the other hand, it can launch configuration tools. With its easy-to-use interface, you should be able to browse all the hardware your system contains.

HardDrake uses the “ldetect” engine, so if your new hardware is not detected, you may try to upgrade ldetect library itself and its hardware database, located in ldetect-lst.

Usage

To launch HardDrake, you can start it from:

  • Mandrake Control Center: just click on the "HardDrake lists and helps you set up your hardware" icon.

  • a terminal: type harddrake2. If started in a terminal, you can also pass parameters to the program.

  • the desktop: go in the main menu. The HardDrake entry is in the Configuration+Hardware->HardDrake sub-menu.

After a wait screen (while device detection goes on), the main HardDrake window will appear (Figure 16.1).

On the left, you can see the device tree showing you all the categories.

For some categories, you will notice an arrow “>” symbol. By clicking on it, the subtree will be expanded and all detected hardware of this category will be listed. Figure 16.1 shows such a window.

Figure 16.1. HardDrake –– Selected Device

HardDrake –– Selected Device

By selecting a device, you will get additional information about it in the right frame. You can consult the help page accessible in the Help->Fields description menu to understand the meaning of the information fields.

In some cases, you will see a configuration button which will allow you to configure the selected device. In Figure 16.1, we expanded some parts of the tree and selected a device in one of the categories. On the right, you can see information about the selected card.

Depending on the device selected, two buttons may appear:

  • Configure moduleThis pops up a window with all the module device parameters listed. For experts only!

  • Run config toolLaunches the Mandrake Linux configuration tool associated with that device. These correspond to the tools available through the Mandrake Control Center.

There is a special category called Unknown/Others which contains all currently unknown hardware in your system as well as known hardware that does not fit in existing categories (thermal sensors, random number generators, etc.).

If your hardware is really unknown (no description or no driver even though you know a working driver exists), you may be able to see your hardware recognized in future versions! To contribute to the effort, report the displayed information to the harddrake team and use the subject “[Unknown_devices]” in your e-mail.

Problems/Troubleshooting

If your hardware is not recognized or your system freezes, contact the harddrake team and use the subject “[Detect_devices]” in your e-mail.

If you think you have found a bug related to HardDrake (bugs with the user interface), contact the same e-mail address but use “[harddrake::ui]” as the subject.

ISA PnP devices are not probed for by HardDrake. In order to configure them, run sndconfig or alsaconf on the command line. You will need to install the sndconfig package or the alsa-utils package if needed.

Other Information

  • If you have a hard time getting your IsaPnP tools working, please check out the IsaPnPTools home page (used by the detect library).