Recon overwrites manually-entered serial numbers

[#1]

I have quite a few machines whose serial number can't be read from software -- it's a condition that typically results from a logic board replacement. When Recon interacts with a machine in this condition, Recon fills the Serial Number field in the JSS in one of a few different ways, depending on the make/model of the machine. For example, one Apple iMac Intel (Early 2006 Core Duo) appears to have the serial number "SystemSerialNumb" in my JSS.

When I first noticed these non-useful serial number entries, I went through and manually keyed the correct serial numbers into the JSS. Then I noticed that the next time I ran Recon, my manual entries were overwritten with entries like "SystemSerialNumb" again.

I first encountered this problem back in Casper 3.21. I've since upgraded the JSS to 4.1, but I haven't chased away the problem. Any suggestions?

Brandon White
System Administrator
Tekserve

[talkingmoose]

This sounds like it would need to be a feature request. I would think that
On 2/23/07 3:11 PM, "Brandon White" <bhwhite at tekserve.com> wrote:
logically a serial number would never need to be changed for a system after
having been input for the first time (unless you've changed the logic
board).

A simple "Update system serial number field only if empty" preference might
do the trick. This would allow you to keep your updated information.

bill
-- William M. Smith, Technical Analyst
Digital Information Systems Support
Merrill Communications, LLC
(651) 632-1492

[zach]

Hi everyone...

What Bill suggested is already implemented, but for a slightly different scenario. We haven't seen the "SystemSerialNumb" reported from a replaced logic board. Until now, we've only seen a blank entry or a tab character. We will add a check for "SystemSerialNumb" to ensure that it is handled properly. If anybody sees another scenario, please let us know!

regards,
zach

[talkingmoose]

We have a few that report as the following:
On 2/23/07 5:27 PM, "Zach Halmstad" <zach at jamfsoftware.com> wrote:

OS Model SN Speed
Mac OS X 10.3.7 iMac 55 233 MHz
Mac OS X 10.3.7 Power Mac G3 (Blue and White) 55 350 MHz
Mac OS X 10.4.7 Power Mac G3 (Blue and White) 0 450 MHz
Mac OS X 10.4.7 Power Mac G5 0 2.7 GHz
Mac OS X 10.4.7 Power Macintosh G5 (Late 2005) 0 2.5 GHz

On a side note...

What would be super duper cool is if you could implement the feature of this
website <http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html> into the
JSS. Plug in any Mac serial number and this site will give the following
feedback:

aantalip: 1
Serial number: XB3074BCN1W
Name: Power Macintosh G4 (FireWire 800)
Model: Mxxxx PowerMac G4 1.0GHz
Bus speed: 133MHz
Factory: XB (ElkGrove/Sacramento, California)
URL: Technical specifications by apple-history.com code_to_number: 4BC -
UV20232GLLN

Model introduced: 2003
Production year: 2003
Production week: 07 (February)

Production number: 5010 (within this week)

All the production information is coded into the serial number. I find
especially helpful the manufacture date. I can justify to a manager to
replace his Mac when I can say something like "Your current Mac will be
seven years old in March."

bill
-- William M. Smith, Technical Analyst
Digital Information Systems Support
Merrill Communications, LLC
(651) 632-1492