def dmidecode():
    import os

    '''

    loads the output from the dmidecode utility into the following
    structure:

    {dmi_type(int): [handle(int), title(str), {key(str), [value(str), ...]}]}

    Thus, the UUID field of the DMI type 1 can be had via:
    dmidecode()[1][2]["UUID"]

    The title of DMI type 3 can be had via:
    dmidecode()[3][1]    
    '''

    dmi = {}

    cmd = "/usr/sbin/dmidecode"
    try:
	handle = None
	field = None

	# XXX log
	
	fd = os.popen2(cmd)[1]
	for line in fd:
	    if not line:
		continue
	    
	    elif line.startswith('Handle '):
		# new handle section

		handle_val = _hex_int(line[7:].strip())
		handle = [handle_val, None, {}]
		field = None
		
	    elif line.startswith('\tDMI type '):
		# assign to current handle

		dt = line[10:].split(',',1)[0]
		dt = int(dt)
		dmi[dt] = handle

	    elif line.startswith('\t\t\t'):
		# append to list of values in current field
		
		if not field:
		    continue
		
		fval = handle[2][field]
		fval.append(line.strip())

	    elif line.startswith('\t\t'):
		# new field in current handle
		
		field, val = line.split(':', 1)
		field, val = field.strip(), val.strip()
		if val:
		    val = [val]
		else:
		    val = []
		handle[2][field] = val

	    elif line.startswith('\t'):
		# handle title
		handle[1] = line.strip()

    except:
	# XXX log
	pass

    return dmi