Python PCI Enumeration

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) is a standard that defines a computer bus for attaching peripheral devices to a computer motherboard. PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) is the latest version of the PCI standard, offering higher bandwidth and lower latency.

In this article, we will explore how to use Python to enumerate and view PCIe ports on a computer.

Prerequisites

Before we start, make sure you have Python installed on your system. You can download and install Python from the [official website](

Additionally, we will need the pyudev library to interact with PCIe devices. You can install it using the following command:

pip install pyudev

Enumerating PCIe Ports

To enumerate PCIe ports using Python, we will utilize the pyudev library. pyudev is a Python binding for libudev, which provides a reliable way to enumerate and monitor devices within a computer system.

Let's start by importing the necessary modules and creating a Context object from pyudev:

import pyudev

context = pyudev.Context()

Now that we have the Context object, we can retrieve a list of all devices attached to the computer. We will filter the results to only include PCIe devices:

devices = list(context.list_devices(subsystem='pci'))

We can then iterate over the list of devices and extract relevant information, such as the device name, vendor ID, and device ID. We will store this information in a table for easier viewing:

Device Name Vendor ID Device ID
device1 1234 5678
device2 abcd efgh
... ... ...

Here's the complete code to achieve this:

table = "| Device Name | Vendor ID | Device ID |\n"
table += "| ----------- | --------- | --------- |\n"

for device in devices:
    device_name = device.device_node
    vendor_id = device.get('ID_VENDOR_ID')
    device_id = device.get('ID_MODEL_ID')
    
    table += f"| `{device_name}` | `{vendor_id}` | `{device_id}` |\n"
    
print(table)

Running the Code

Save the Python code above into a file, let's call it pci_enumeration.py. Open a terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory containing the file. Then, run the following command:

python pci_enumeration.py

The output will be a table listing all the PCIe devices attached to your computer, along with their respective device names, vendor IDs, and device IDs.

Conclusion

Python provides a powerful and easy-to-use way to enumerate and view PCIe ports on a computer. By utilizing the pyudev library, we were able to retrieve information about the PCIe devices attached to the system and display it in a neat table format.

Feel free to experiment further with the code and explore additional functionalities offered by pyudev. With Python, the possibilities are endless!

"With Python, exploring and interacting with PCIe devices has never been easier. Start harnessing the power of Python to unlock the full potential of your computer's PCIe ports."