intel_bios_reader

intel_bios_reader [options]

-h, --help
    Show help message and exit

--core
    Read core settings from MSRs (power limits, turbo ratios)

--uncore
    Read uncore settings from MSRs (uncore frequency, power)

--analogio
    Read analogio settings from PCI config space

--pcie
    Read PCIe settings from PCI config space

--dmi
    Read DMI settings from PCI config space

--gpio
    Read GPIO settings from PCI config space

--i2c
    Read I2C settings from PCI config space

--msr
    Read all MSR settings (--core + --uncore)

--pci
    Read all PCI config space settings

--all
    Read all available settings (--msr + --pci)

The intel_bios_reader is a command-line utility designed to extract and display BIOS settings from Intel CPUs. It accesses Model-Specific Registers (MSRs) and PCI configuration space to dump critical information such as power limits, voltage offsets, and hardware configurations used for undervolting and performance tuning.

Primarily developed for the intel-undervolt project, it helps users identify locked or adjustable BIOS parameters without needing to enter the firmware setup. This is useful for Linux users on laptops and desktops with Intel processors, enabling safe overclocking or power optimization.

The tool supports reading core, uncore, analogio, PCIe, DMI, GPIO, and I2C settings selectively or all at once. Output is formatted for easy parsing, often piped to scripts for automated analysis.

Requires root privileges and the msr kernel module loaded. Works on modern Intel architectures like Skylake and newer.

Requires root access and msr module (modprobe msr). Intel CPUs only; may fail on locked BIOS or VMs. Use cautiously to avoid hardware damage.

Clone from GitHub: git clone https://github.com/kitsunyan/intel-undervolt; build with make intel_bios_reader.

sudo ./intel_bios_reader --all | grep PL1

Developed by kitsunyan in 2016 as part of the intel-undervolt GitHub project for Linux undervolting. Evolved to support newer Intel gens; actively maintained.

rdmsr(8), msr-tools(1), dmidecode(8)