WinBatch Tech Support Home

Database Search

If you can't find the information using the categories below, post a question over in our WinBatch Tech Support Forum.

TechHome

System INI and INI File Topics

Can't find the information you are looking for here? Then leave a message over on our WinBatch Tech Support Forum.

DMI on the wish list please

Keywords:   DMI Directory Management Interface

Question:

With the impending doom of Y2K just around the corner, I would like to bring this nifty idea once again to the wish list. The DMI (Desktop Management Interface) standards are used on most of the PC's in the corporate environments today (Toshiba, Compaq, Dell, Micron, etc). In my own Y2k Data collection (using Winbatch, of course) some things I cannot do is probe the hardware for this info. Most of it is hard coded by the manufacturer, such as BIOS mfr, PC serial number, processor type, RAM and what slot it is in, Hard drive serial number, size, type, and mfr. and so on. If we had an extender that would allow a probe of this information, it would be of great benefit. I would even be willing to purchase such a thing. When some of these software companies are asking upwards of 40K for DMI probing software for asset tracking, I would hope you guys would be able to get on the bandwagon. I have been trying to research this myself, and Toshiba's website seems to explain what it is and what the standards are better than most, but good info seems to be scarce. If you want to get this to the "other brains" in your development group and see what they think - please. I can only assume many others are in this boat, even those who don't know about it could benefit. Thanks Marty.

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/tais/csd/products/wpapers/dmi4.htm

Answer:

Will plug it back into the suggestion list.

The DMI specifications, white papers, SDK's for use on Win32 platforms and other related information used to be available for free from Intel on one of their web sites. Intel got tired of developing and supporting this for free and sold off the whole thing to Smart Technology Enablers (STE) (http://www.enablers.com).

STE is now selling the Win32 Smart DMI 2.0s SDK's and other related SDK's (instrumentation SDK).

For pure DMI information, the DMTF web site (http://www.dmtf.org) provides just the DMI specifications and also has links to other vendors that produce actual DMI implementations.

The first thing that I have learned from a developer's point of view is that DMI is complicated - perhaps even intimidating if you are starting from scratch in developing your management interface program or instrumentation.

The second thing that I have learned is that development tools for DMI are not cheap. STE still has not worked out exactly how they are going to price their SDK's and the information that I have received from them indicates that some of their SDK's don't allow unlimited distribution of apps developed from the SDK's (read as ROYALTY payments to STE). There may in fact be some justification as to why packages like LanDesk, ManageWise and SMS all have big ticket price tags attached to them.

The third thing that I have learned is that having a DMI 2.0 compliant BIOS on your PC does not mean that you can get any useful information about your PC's hardware configuration. You need to have a DMI Service Provider installed and then you need to have OEM supplied "Instruments" installed. These instruments actually do the grunt work of interfacing with the BIOS to get the necessary information for any particular model of motherboard/PC. If you don't have the instrumentation modules from the OEM then the DMI Service Provider is basically useless - you have a transport but no data/content to send over it.

Shameless beg - As an ISV, I am still interested in doing a little more research on the startup costs of doing DMI development and on the availability of instrumentation modules from different PC OEM's. Anybody interested in pursuing this further outside of the webboard may contact me directly via email. My curiosity has been piqued so I'm doing some more digging around in the DMI arena.

Send any comments on this to: Chuck Chopp (chuckchopp@rtfmcsi.com)


Article ID:   W13443
Filename:   DMI Directory Management Interface Discussion.txt
File Created: 2001:01:26:14:52:10
Last Updated: 2001:01:26:14:52:10