How to detect CPU speed and H.D.D rpm in objective-c or python

Question

I'm new to objective-c, for an academic reason I need to read CPU speed and H.D.D rpm

What is the simplest way to access some system setting in objective-c or python

I can choose between objective-c and python for this project, so any help will appriciate

Answer 1

I think you would have to use a C++ module with Python to detect CPU speed or RPM of a hard drive. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/448811/calculate-total-cpu-usage could help you here

I don't know anything about Obj-C, so couldn't tell you if it is possible with that language!

Answer 2

This can get the reported CPU speed for Windows 2000 and up by reading the registry using python:

import _winreg

key = _winreg.OpenKey(
    _winreg.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
    r"HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0")

value, type = _winreg.QueryValueEx(key, "~MHz")
print 'CPU speed is:', value

I don't know how to do it for other operating systems nor how to get the HDD rpms though.

Answer 3

Checking CPU speed isn't really an Objective C thing, it is an OS thing. On OS X (and I assume iOS) you want to look at sysctlbyname(3) and the hw.cpufrequency property, something like:

int hz;
size_t hz_size = sizeof(hz);
int rc = sysctlbyname("hw.cpufrequency", &hz, &hz_size, NULL, 0);
if (0 == rc) {
    fprintf(stderr, "Clockspeed is %d hz\n", hz);
}

I don't know a good way to get the RPM of a disk drive, but I do know a bad way. Parse the output of system_profiler, the info is in there (as "Rotational Rate"):

    Hitachi HTS543232L9SA02:

      Capacity: 320.07 GB (320,072,933,376 bytes)
      Model: Hitachi HTS543232L9SA02                 
      Revision: FB4AC50F
      Serial Number: (omitted)
      Native Command Queuing: Yes
      Queue Depth: 32
      Removable Media: No
      Detachable Drive: No
      BSD Name: disk0
      Rotational Rate: 5400
      Medium Type: Rotational
      Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
      S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
      Volumes:
        Macintosh HD:
          Capacity: 319.73 GB (319,728,959,488 bytes)
          Available: 12.4 GB (12,397,940,736 bytes)
          Writable: Yes
          File System: Journaled HFS+
          BSD Name: disk0s2
          Mount Point: /

There is likely a better abstraction to use, I just don't know it.