Z8G4 MPM Questions

[CFDMax]

Hi All,

I know this has been gone over a lot, but I'm still unsure of a few things...  I have a Frankenstein Z8G4 built from old parts, no serial number, but has SKU, UUID, Product Family, System Board ID, and a motherboard CT from an internal chassis sticker;  I don't know if it applies to the current MB.  Machine runs great, boots in MPM mode; appears to be "counting down".  Questions:

- Will this board fail to boot once the MPM mode counts down to 0?  Or will I always be able to use this board, just with the MPM boot message (which I don't really care about...)?

- I have the Linux version of the Bios setting tool compiled and installed, appears to work (I can pull the config with it, haven't tried writing).  If I lock the MPM mode without a serial number, will this cause any problems; will it stop the MPM mode messages?

- Is there any HP service available to change the settings on the Bios to "clean it up", add a serial number, etc?  I assume there would be a price...

Thanks!

[SDH]

MPM boot message,,, MPM = Manufacturing Programming Mode.

I think I know what you mean by Frankenstein, so you don't have a case that has HP labels on it, and I also presume this is a "virgin" motherboard that has not been "branded" (aka "to tattoo") by HP. The UUID is unique to each motherboard so you don't need to enter that.

Normally you would get the necessary licensing codes from the bottom HP case labels to enter during the branding process of a virgin motherboard. This usually is done by a HP field service representative but can be done by a skilled user. I have done it once with a virgin Z620 motherboard and it is a PITA, but can be done. The Z8 G4 has more advanced BIOS so the process may have changed.

I came across an interesting YT video HERE  and the East Indian author provides a download link to the tool he used on the HP laptop. I have no idea whether this would work for you with that motherboard to stop the MPM message. You might want to contact the author. That got me into a Z600 but I did not try to change anything.

[SDH]

My Z600 v2 BIOS entries that his program shows (for the laptop BIOS he is probing) do not include the Manufacturing Programming Mode entry  but maybe it will for a later workstation like yours. This is like HP Replicated Setup... you can take the output from running HP RS (it produces a .txt file output) and change that output and reload it via HP RS to change your BIOS settings.  Doubt this would work for you.

[CFDMax]

Thanks for the Reply!  Actually, the mechanism of updating the BIOS or writing the factory settings (like MPM lock/unlock) looks straightforward.  My problem is that I've heard at least one person say that after XX many reboots, their system would no longer boot because it was in MPM mode, had not been taken out of MPM mode, and/or had not had the serial number and other data input.  Don't know if this is true.  If it isn't, and I can just keep booting with the warnings ("System running in MPM mode..." and "System is not configured, contact HP support..."), I'm fine with that.  I'm just afraid that if I don't try to take it out (lock) of MPM boot mode, it will end up dying.

I'm also concerned that if I try to take it out of MPM (in their parlance, this is "locking" it), and there is no serial number input, it will cause some kind of crash...

Thanks again for the reply; I get the feeling that technicians (who know this issue...) don't like replying to these questions because it's considered privileged information 😉

[CFDMax]

PS - Also in response to SDH...  Yup, this is a machine with no external stickers or serial number.  Also, the bios has had the critical serial number information either cleared out, or it's a new board...

I will never attempt to get service for this machine, I also don't need to look up a particular machine on PartSurfer; I can figure out everything I need by looking at the generic information.  I built it with two 8160 Platinum Zeons, 128 GB of ram, the correct CPU0/CPU1 coolers.  I even bought one to the two-port PCIe SSD cards, removed the slot plate, put it in one of the dedicated internal PCIe 8x slots, and got it all working.  Real nice machine, I just need to add a lot more RAM for what I'm doing...

[SDH]

Solved: how to change serial number when system board is replaced - HP Support Community - 773287

My recall is that the Z620 v2 virgin motherboard I branded with the HP licensing codes taken from the case labels never threw that message before it was successfully branded. So, that supports the idea that newer BIOS shows that. Perhaps from the ZX40 family and up. Also, the link above is from the past and shows the method to get to a BIOS screen to enter the serial number. I bet that still works in the newer workstations. The serial number you enter that way can be made up. I had one eBay used motherboard where the original serial number had been deleted so I just made up an alphanumeric that I could use to recognize in the future to remember the history of that motherboard. IIRC you also can change in BIOS this way a serial number to match what is on the HP case you have. Not 100% sure on that.

To others... I've found over time that virtually all of the motherboards you get from eBay are branded by HP already, are branded for Windows or Linux at about a 70%/30% ratio, and virtually none let you know from the ad or MB surface what they are branded for. I ran a ZX20 workstation unbranded motherboard for several weeks over multiple reboots and never had an issue with running Windows on that as long as I had bought a Windows license. To use the HP Windows Recovery optical disks, however, I needed to have branded the motherboard with the HP licensing codes.

I understand that the Windows 10/11 licensing servers use the motherboard's UUID to know that a particular motherboard is licensed to run W10/W11 so that if you blow a motherboard you'll need to buy a new Windows 10/11 license code to get it legal again if you happen to replace it with a Linux branded eBay motherboard and you want to run Windows. Again, you won't know that until you install the new used motherboard and try to install Windows on it. Microsoft cannot see the valid Windows licensing branding codes on the bottom of your case (yet). HP workstation cases have the codes you could use for branding a virgin motherboard, and one of those case bottom labels tells you if those codes are specifically for Windows or Linux.

Good luck with your project.

[SDH]

I note your chosen processors have a max TDP of 150W which may trigger some demands related to best cooling. Any processor over 140W does in the Z4 G4 which then wants the special Premium heatsink/fan and fan plug adapter we've posted about here. Not sure about that issue in the Z6 and Z8 G4 workstations.

CFDMax, a virgin motherboard will always have a UUID but never a serial number. A new to you used motherboard will always have a UUID but may or may not have a serial number. Most sellers don't go to the effort to delete a previously branded-in serial number when they part out a used HP workstation. The UUID never changes. HP harvests a motherboard's UUID during the activation process so the W10/W11 activation servers know if a motherboard has been W10/W11 licensed before (and thus has a "digital license" so you don't need to ever go look that up again).

[DGroves]

It's been quite a while since i have had to deal with a HP Mfgr Mode prompt on a motherboard but as i recall after the count reaches zero the system will stop at the bios prompt and refuse to boot into windows until the necessary information is entered and once done it will resume normal operation

[SDH]

Added information:

A google search on the issue got me this old post and 2 replies:

Solved: Manufacture Programming Mode in Unlock mode - HP Support Community - 4528476

Regarding that first reply there is an old link that no longer works for downloading the HP SoftPaq. There is a modification I use that now gets you into the same HP FTP servers. For the download of the SoftPaq .exe and for the "read me" for that softpaq you now use these, and both currently work:

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp63501-64000/sp63610.exe

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp63501-64000/sp63610.html

The second post has some added info that I'm not sure is true. From DGroves' post above it sure seems wise to figure this out. Please let us know what you find.

HP workstation BIOS changed quite a bit shifting from the ZX20 era to the ZX40 era and beyond. That may explain why I never saw this message with my work on the virgin Z620 motherboard I mentioned above. I still have another one of those in my stash of spare parts...  The old html ReadMe document from the FTP server is attached below as a PDF.

[CFDMax]

Thanks SDH; That looks like he just made a script to have the HP BCU tool change the MPM mode.  I have that same BCU tool installed for Linux, and it runs and pulls the config; I haven't tried writing yet...

My problem is I don't know if I should do this without a serial number, build ID, etc...