Learn how to check your Raspberry Pi firmware version using the command line interface.

This article will guide you through the process of checking your Raspberry Pi’s firmware version using the command line interface (CLI). …


Updated October 6, 2023

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This article will guide you through the process of checking your Raspberry Pi’s firmware version using the command line interface (CLI).

To check your Raspberry Pi’s firmware version, follow these steps:

  1. Open a terminal window on your Raspberry Pi by clicking on “Menu” in the top left corner and selecting “Terminal”. Alternatively, you can use SSH to connect to your Raspberry Pi if it is running headless.
  2. Type vcgencmd into the command line prompt and press Enter. This will display a list of information about the system, including the firmware version. The output should look something like this:
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ vcgencmd
version=1.20.7+
volt=1.20V
mem_arm=64M
mem_gpu=32M
config_count=1
  1. Look for the version line in the output and note down the number after the equal sign (=). This is your Raspberry Pi’s firmware version. In this example, the firmware version is 1.20.7+.
  2. If you want to check the version of a specific component on your Raspberry Pi (e.g., the GPU or VC4), you can use the following commands:
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ vcgencmd version
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ vcgencmd version_gpu
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ vcgencmd version_vc4

These commands will display the firmware version for each respective component. 5. If you want to check the kernel version, type uname -a into the command line prompt and press Enter. The output should look something like this:

Linux raspberrypi 4.19.75-v7+ #1270 SMP Tue Sep 24 18:45:33 BST 2019 armv7l GNU/Linux

In this example, the kernel version is 4.19.75. 6. If you want to check the operating system (OS) version, type cat /etc/*-release into the command line prompt and press Enter. The output should look something like this:

PRETTY_NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)"
NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="10"
VERSION="10 (buster)"
VERSION_CODENAME=buster
ID=raspbian
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianForums"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianBugs"

In this example, the OS version is 10 (buster).

Now you know how to check your Raspberry Pi’s firmware version using the command line interface! Keep in mind that the firmware and kernel versions may change as new updates are released. Make sure to update your Raspberry Pi regularly to ensure it is running the latest software.