DMI Tool / Branding

[NonSequitur777]

This is a question for @Paul_Tikkanen, with regards to a comment you posted 12+ year ago: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebooks-Archive-Read-Only/How-can-you-brand-a-serial-number-onto-the....  Not really surprisingly, the HP-bizsupport link you listed no longer works.

Reason for my question is that a barebone HP Z2 Mini G4 Workstation Desktop PC for sale here: New HP Z2 Mini G4 Workstation Desktop PC - Barebone | eBay, is listed as "No S.T. / S.N.", which sounds like its motherboard needs to be branded -which can only be done by an authorized HP technician as I understand it.

I'm eyeballing this particular model for a possible next upgrade project, and it looks like a good deal to me -unless the branding is too much of a hassle.

Please advise.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @NonSequitur777 

There are no BIOS DMI tools you can access and use nowadays to enter the required information in the PC you want to purchase that I know of.

Whatever I had referenced in that discussion probably pertained to very old HP business desktops.

[SDH · Accepted solution]

NS777 and Paul,

Years ago I got two unbranded (to brand is also known as to tattoo) Z620 v2 motherboards, in their original sealed shipping boxes and with their internal static proof plastic shipping bags still sealed also. Rare eBay find, great price. I went through the process of branding one of them to match a Windows-licensed Z620 v2 workstation that had its motherboard borked.

Paul is correct... there is no DMI tool for this... none is required. It is done from within BIOS using special access keystrokes. Assuming things have not changed I believe the same process will still work with that Z2 Mini G4 you're talking about. Here's the concept...

The HP workstation motherboards when brand new are "virgin"... omnipotent. The branding process enters the correct licensing codes and can be done only once to an unbranded motherboard. I don't believe you can change the motherboard's UUID or the MAC of the on-board NIC(s) by branding, but you can enter all the other necessary stuff from within BIOS. HP puts the necessary codes on labels on the case. For bigger workstations those are on the bottom of the case. For the smaller ones it appears to be elsewhere, shown below. Here's some pics and comments:

Your item of interest is really stripped down, and it will be a big hassle to find (and pay for) all the missing parts. I'd advise to look at a low cost but complete one instead. That will save you the need to learn how to brand, too. Here's yours:

You probably want a Windows licensed one, and below is an example from an eBay ad today. Note the sticker and the Windows license info on the bottom label, highlighted:

The next two pics are also from eBay and both are from a different Z2 Mini G4. This way you know the feature byte and BID info are correct for branding to duplicate a Windows-licensed workstation you owned that had a blown motherboard, if you had a virgin motherboard available. Of interest you can use a virgin motherboard and not brand it, but you'll not have the W10 Pro 64 licensing or the ability of the resulting workstation to use the HP Cloud Recovery tool or any HP recovery optical disks you had.

Here is the key pic showing the Feature Byte and BID info for the pic just above:

...inside the workstation

You can dig around in the eBay ads to find a clearer picture. The entry of the codes has to be perfect. IIRC this code info could also be found back then via HP PartSurfer if you knew an original serial number. Not sure if that is still the case.

It is quite a big project but I pulled it off, and still have my notes. I also still have the second virgin Z620 v2 motherboard, unopened too because swapping in a used working motherboard from eBay is easier. I'd say the box you showed is not the one you want to work with because so much is missing including that internal label atop the CPU heatsink to work from.

[NonSequitur777]

@SDH, @Paul_Tikkanen,

Your feedback has been very helpful, thank you!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I was able to change the serial number, product number in the BIOS of an HP 8200 Elite to match the one on the PC's case when I changed the motherboard once upon a time.

Easy as pie.

After entering BIOS Setup by hitting the F10 key, press Ctrl+A to open additional fields in Security>System IDs menu.

Enter your PC's serial number in Asset Tag Number and Chassis Serial Number fields.

Save changes there and again when you exit the BIOS.

[SDH]

The branding process is an extension of what Paul just posted. Different keystrokes, more complex, but the same basic idea. I think HP made that available so they did not need to send a field service engineer out for every motherboard replacement. If I had done it more often I could talk you through the process over the phone.

I'm always interested in your projects! What you got up your sleeve now?

[BeemerBiker]

I do not know if these apply and I have no experience with them but there are two discussions below that might be useful and some software is described

Solved: need to find the feature byte for my new motherboard - HP Support Community - 8608285

Feature Byte - HP Support Community - 7451305

[SDH]

BeemerBiker,

None of this is top secret... it is just painful to pull off.

Thanks for finding that old post. I just checked... the HP PartSurfer approach still works. For example, for the second Z2 Mini G4 I posted 2 pics from the eBay ad on take a look at HP PartSurfer

Up in the top section of the results, towards the bottom, there is this:

Easier to read

Now you can easily read the FeatureByte and the BID that were blurred in that pic of the label I had in there. The FeatureByte is a combination of the IMG lines 2 and 3. This is all case-sensitive, and even space-sensitive so it has to be entered perfectly to work. That first post you linked to has limited value because if your original motherboard is borked you can't use it to harvest its FeatureByte info to enter into a virgin new motherboard.

EDIT: ... absence-of-spaces-sensitive. If someone really wants to do this I can dig out my old notes for any missing details.

[NonSequitur777]

@BeemerBiker,

Thank you for your feedback!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[NonSequitur777]

@SDH,

In terms of what I have up my sleeve next, is that I am looking for my next legacy upgrade project.  No decision made yet, still looking.  Any suggestions would be welcome!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777