SLIC 2.1 on Dell N-Series system?

Discussion in 'BIOS Mods' started by kenyloveg, Aug 14, 2010.

  1. Tito

    Tito Super Mod / Adviser
    Staff Member

    Nov 30, 2009
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    Still unknown :(
     
  2. Sneaka

    Sneaka MDL Novice

    Jul 30, 2009
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    I also got the following error after running SMMFGCFG:

    "WARNING: There is no type D4 SMBIOS table!
    Can not open the string to token translation file s2token.tbl"
     
  3. akuma6099

    akuma6099 MDL Novice

    Mar 20, 2012
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    I just wanted to let you guys know that you will be unable to change your service tag UNLESS you are INSIDE Dells network. The SmMfgCfg tool requires a cert in order to run. This tool does a check on thier Certification server and will not function correctly without it. So unless you know someone who can reverse engineer and port, your options are limited. Another method requires some hardware tools for reading/writing flash, SPI, or I2C busses. I have taken a warranty board directly from Dell, ripped the flash, modify the serial number of system board in dump which is "CN-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXX-XXXX", then write it to your board you want to update the tag in. On first boot you will see the screen that asks for the service tag as if you just installed a warranty board. This is the only method I have that works for the current product lines that use UEFI. Worked on Latitude 55XX, and optiplex 3XX so far. So, start learning electronics. That's were the world is moving too.:biggrin:
     
  4. adsl

    adsl MDL Novice

    Jul 3, 2010
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    if have the program, maybe somebody can crack it.
     
  5. delta925

    delta925 MDL Novice

    Nov 30, 2010
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    #85 delta925, May 22, 2012
    Last edited: May 23, 2012
    What hardware & software is involved in reading, editing the serial number and reloading the Optiplex 390 BIOS?

    We have a batch of Optiplex 390 with i5 CPU loaded with Win7Pro and another with i3 CPU supplied with FreeDOS. The second batch were intended for a specific industrial application that requires XP and also a PCI card but when I came to use the first of the batch and fit a card last week I found Optiplex 390 only has PCI-E slots.....
    The previous batch we had were Optiplex 380's but because discontinued Dell sold us 390's instead.
    We now have to order 790's as they have a PCI slot and find a use for the i3 390's.

    Since we have a few spare Dell OEM Win7 Pro COA's from systems swapped to XP I cloned a brand new 390 loaded with Win7 onto a bare one only to find this issue with the standard installation Dell Win7 key not being accepted due to the difference in the BIOS between the systems supplied with Win7 and those with FreeDOS.

    UPDATE

    From the activation screen I manually entered the key from a spare Dell OEM Win 7 Pro COA. Surprisingly this was accepted but I still expected the activation to fail.
    However when I phoned the automated activation line and entered the installation ID number I was given a confirmation ID back. The PC accepted this and the installation is activated!!!
    The PC will never go online so I assume there is no mechanism for it to become de-activated.

    One thought is the system I removed the COA from was bought about 3 years ago with XP loaded when Dell were still offering downgrades. This system now has a Dell OEM XP COA fitted while the actual installation key is of course the generic Dell one.
     
  6. bgssgl

    bgssgl MDL Novice

    Aug 9, 2012
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    :eek: no advance in this case?
     
  7. hellosky

    hellosky MDL Junior Member

    Aug 18, 2008
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    As previously stated

    "I just wanted to let you guys know that you will be unable to change your service tag UNLESS you are INSIDE Dells network."

    Good luck getting into Round Rock's offices :yeahyeah:
     
  8. akuma6099

    akuma6099 MDL Novice

    Mar 20, 2012
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    #89 akuma6099, Oct 25, 2012
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2012
    I've been experimenting with a few models that have the Aptio-AMI BIOS. We all know that asset 2.09 refuses to modify the service tag on most of these new models. You can however change your system board serial and version with /b option.

    ASSET-Modded.jpg

    ASSET-Help-Screen.png

    The errors we receive are "Missing s2token.tbl" and "No D4 SMBIOS table found". After some research I found that the "D4 SMBIOS" table is an SMBIOS table structure that contains a map of BITS to Settings. This will tell the tool at what offset to change which option. There is almost no talk of this around. The only reference found is:
    linux.dell.com/libsmbios/main/security.html

    A sample CMOS Token list can be found here:
    linux.dell.com/libsmbios/main/token.html

    So far I have been experimenting by taking a fully dumped BIOS with an external programmer. I can then run this through AMIBCP for processing. I've been exporting the token-strings and feeding them to plattags and smmfgcfg as an s2token.tbl. No luck still. I'm also working on building a proper SMBIOS table structure for testing.

    Token-Strings-Table.png

    There are a few command line options to play with as well.

    SmMfgCfg
    SMMFGCFG-Useage.png

    Plattags
    plattags-Useage.png

    Anyone else have any ideas? Maybe enabling manufacture mode turns off the SPI write protect. I seen a bios for the N5110 that would put the unit in manufacture mode, after pressing fn-x you can reprogram your service tag. If anyone has info on this, let me know please. I'm also willing to flash anything if anyone has an experiment. Looking into coreboot to build my own BIOS.

    Available Systems for Playing:
    Latitude E5520
    Latitude E6520
    Optiplex 380
    Optiplex 390
     
  9. minus90

    minus90 MDL Novice

    Nov 1, 2012
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    Dear akuma6099,

    I read your post with interest, I have been searching for a way to delete the service tag on the Dell 790 motherboards. I need to have them blank so our technician can fir them in the field.
    It looks to me like the only way to do this is with SmMfgCfg32/64 inside Dell's walls. Is that correct?

    Thanks for any help

    Cheers
     
  10. akuma6099

    akuma6099 MDL Novice

    Mar 20, 2012
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    That is what I heard through the grape vine. I'm in the same boat. I change lots of different boards from various vendors. When they are pulls, we have to update serials and product types otherwise they will fail to integrate into thier environment. Alot of companies and agencies utilize the serial in thier scripts. The new equipment requires new tools that havn't been leaked properly, or created yet. The only method is to clone the BIOS from a warranty board, update sys board serial(Search "UEFI 390"), flash to target board and boot. First screen will ask to enter the service tag. However this doesn't work on all models.

    The E5520 has 2 flash chips that are combined to be 6144Kb. 1-4Mb and 1-2Mb flash. The system see's it as 6Mb for the BIOS. Apperantly they did NOT hide the service tag rom in here. I cloned this one to my target board and it booted up normally with the service tag already set. The warranty board boots up and asks for a service tag. They hid this sucker in something else and I can't find it. There is 1 suspect near the keyboard socket. Its a small rectangular BGA that has a couple numbers and a QR code on it. First time I've seen a QR code printed on any component. I'm in the middle of probing for JTAG. Most of the chips I looked up have no datasheet. They must be too new or custom made. Apparently I'm the only one doing this as noone has had any suggestions:(
     
  11. minus90

    minus90 MDL Novice

    Nov 1, 2012
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    Its a bit hit and miss flashing a chip, this is not looking good.
    Have you had any further progress on this?
     
  12. djavs

    djavs MDL Novice

    Sep 30, 2012
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    you heard anything

    not heard anything about this then?
     
  13. Spreng

    Spreng MDL Junior Member

    Feb 1, 2008
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    Is there any further development?

    Even to just re-write the serial tag? either a blanking bios/factory version that will ask for number on first boot?
     
  14. crazychimpjimbo

    crazychimpjimbo MDL Novice

    Feb 18, 2013
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    Hey all, this seems crazy. Simple task of replacing a motherboard on a E6420 has turned into a nightmare, last one, I did was a dell e6400, using svctag, no problems. Has anyone mastered this yet as I dont seem to be able to get any help from dell at all on how to use smmfgcfg?
     
  15. ricepower

    ricepower MDL Novice

    Jan 5, 2009
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    did anyone tried the paper clip trick by shorting the pins of the 8pin eeprom? as this will force to manufacturing mode...just a thought
     
  16. JimboBobB

    JimboBobB MDL Novice

    May 2, 2013
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    You can tell if something's UEFI if you just run this over it, and it parses it fine: github . com/G33KatWork/EFIPWN. UEFI has to have a flash filesystem format, and this parses that format.
     
  17. minus90

    minus90 MDL Novice

    Nov 1, 2012
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    Anybody had any luck? Willing to try anything
     
  18. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    i tried it once on D600 and it worked.
    however on inspiron 6000 (before i had the pwd generator) i replaced bios chip and it got stuck in manufacturing mode permanent.. i tried the asset tag cd and still stuck. (4 yrs ago)
     
  19. ustal

    ustal MDL Novice

    Sep 19, 2013
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    Any news folks on changing/resetting E6410's service tag?