DELL PowerEdge BIOS SLIC - Reveal hidden SLIC table

Discussion in 'BIOS Mods' started by dafob, Oct 19, 2016.

  1. dafob

    dafob MDL Junior Member

    Feb 10, 2008
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    #1 dafob, Oct 19, 2016
    Last edited: Aug 29, 2024
    I spent days looking for the answer and had a hard time so posting this as a new thread to help anyone trying to unhide the full SLIC table on DELL 13th Generation PowerEdge servers (R730, R930, etc.).

    Dell Servers have the SLIC table built into the BIOS, but unless you ordered the server with an OS, the table is "hidden". On older PowerEdge servers, certain Dell tools like ASSET.COM were needed to be ran from a DOS boot to enter BIOS MANUFACTURING MODE which unhides the full table. Setting the asset to "ASSET PASS:12/31" or "ASSET PASS:12/34" enabled this mode. But on newer UEFI/GUI based PowerEdge servers with Lifecycle, these tools no longer work.

    So the key question is how to enter BIOS MANUFACTURING MODE on these new servers? Surprisingly, it's even easier now. There's a field in the BIOS for the Asset Tag. Just set this field to "PASS:12/34", reboot and the system will be in BIOS MANUFACTURING MODE. Reboot the machine again to exit the mode, but the SLIC will be fully unhidden! This was tested on a PowerEdge R930. With the newest BIOS, SLIC Toolkit reports SLIC 2.4.

    1. F2 (enter BIOS) -> System BIOS-> Miscellaneous Settings
    2. Enter "PASS:12/34" in the Asset Tag field, then exit and save settings
    3. System will reboot into BIOS MANUFACTURING MODE. Let it go through POST completely, then reboot again to exit BIOS MANUFACTURING MODE. [You may have to go back into the BIOS to reconfigure some settings, such as the boot order, etc.]

    *NOTE*: for newer systems that use UEFI boot, SLIC_TOOLKIT may not be able to see the SLIC table. It seems SLIC_TOOLKIT can only see the SLIC table when the system is set to boot in BIOS mode. Please use RWEverything instead to view/verify SLIC table.

    EDIT: This trick also works with 12th Generation Servers too (R620, R720, etc.)
    EDIT: This trick also works with 14th Generation Servers (R940, T340, etc.)
     
  2. FreeStyler

    FreeStyler MDL Guru

    Jun 23, 2007
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    OA 2.4 SLIC you say, can you dump it and share it here?
     
  3. siyoulee

    siyoulee MDL Novice

    Nov 7, 2016
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    I had successed open slic from this method.Thanks.

    But When I entered the bios,I must typed "/s servertag" first,and secondly typed "PASS:12/34".
    Only done 2 steps all by sequence the machine will entered factory mode,or else not enter if I only typed "PASS:12/34" only.

    Holpfuyly it can help someone.I'm R730.

    Thanks again.

     
  4. adamlau

    adamlau MDL Novice

    Nov 12, 2016
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    It didn't work on power edge T20. I can't find a way to unlock Slic 2.3 or 2.4 on it. It's frustrated.
     
  5. stevive

    stevive MDL Novice

    Dec 17, 2018
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    Did not work on PowerEdge T30
     
  6. MS_User

    MS_User MDL Guru

    Nov 30, 2014
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    will this work on a poweredge T410?
     
  7. heat_z0ne

    heat_z0ne MDL Novice

    Jun 29, 2013
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    Yes, Tested Works
     
  8. djdanrt

    djdanrt MDL Novice

    Jan 2, 2016
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    Does this work on a Poweredge T130? Also if I change the asset tag name can I easily change it back to something else or blank it out later if I want? I'm wondering if I mistype the asset tag that this might be a one-shot kind of deal. Also, I'm just trying to learn and if I sell this later I might want to revert it back to factory specs.
     
  9. dafob

    dafob MDL Junior Member

    Feb 10, 2008
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    It's been a few years since I posted this, but this method still works on servers released today. Just tested this on an R940 and T340.

    For those that don't seem to have success: are you checking the SLIC table using SLIC Toolkit? If so, make sure the server is booted in BIOS mode and not UEFI mode. I've noticed that in UEFI mode, SLIC Toolkit reports errors -- but if you run RW Everything in UEFI mode, you'll notice the SLIC table is there.
     
  10. dafob

    dafob MDL Junior Member

    Feb 10, 2008
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  11. itsmemario1

    itsmemario1 MDL Expert

    Sep 10, 2012
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  12. Beat Bisang

    Beat Bisang MDL Novice

    Oct 20, 2021
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    Hello,

    i have a Poweredge R740 and i must change the service tag.
    i need help for this.
    can some one help me?
     
  13. Beat Bisang

    Beat Bisang MDL Novice

    Oct 20, 2021
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    i have tried
    F2 (enter BIOS) -> System BIOS -> Miscellaneous Settings
    Enter PASS:12/34 in the ASSET Tag Field.
    Save and reboot
    changing boot mode to bios
    Booted usb stick with the asset tool
    then
    Asset /s servicetag
    asset PASS:12/34

    he will not change the service tag!

    do you have an idea
     
  14. dafob

    dafob MDL Junior Member

    Feb 10, 2008
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    You are not trying to change the service tag. This trick is to change the ASSET tag. The service tag should still remain the same.
    When you entered PASS:12/34 in the ASSET Tag field and rebooted, did the system reboot into MANUFACTURING MODE?

    Did you switch to BIOS boot and check with the SLIC_TOOLKIT utility to see if the SLIC table was fully there?
     
  15. VladimirZ

    VladimirZ MDL Novice

    Nov 21, 2009
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    I bought used Dell R630. I am going to use server 2019 on it. I can update BIOS to the newest 2.13.0. Is it enough to get SLIC 2.5 in BIOS? Can I activate server 2019 using ms-xrm license and OEM key? Should I use manufacturing mode?
     
  16. sebus

    sebus MDL Guru

    Jul 23, 2008
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    Check with available tools, nobody will know what you have, you are in front of it!
     
  17. VladimirZ

    VladimirZ MDL Novice

    Nov 21, 2009
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    I tried to use SLIC_TOOLKIT 3.2 om my Dell PowerEdge R630 with BIOS 2.13.0. I got "Dump Error! (RSD PTR Not found)!" and "No OEM Certificate found (Run as Administrator).
    I tried:
    F2 (enter BIOS) -> System BIOS -> Miscellaneous Settings
    Enter PASS:12/34 in the ASSET Tag Field.
    Save and reboot. I got Manufacturing Mode and rebooted server again.
    I got "Dump Error! (RSD PTR Not found)!" and "No OEM Certificate found (Run as Administrator)" again.
    What is wrong? How to unlock SLIC in BIOS?
     
  18. Serg008

    Serg008 MDL BIOS/EFI Guru

    Feb 23, 2010
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    use RW-Everything to check SLIC