Multi Manufacturer Pre-Activation

[ZaForD]

Hey Guys,

Anyone got a BIOS set that'll work on this MSI barebones system ?????

ComputerReport:

Manufacturer: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

Model: MS-7173

546F2042 65204669 6C6C6564 20427920 4F2E452E 4D2E

[FreeStyler]

Hey Guys,

Anyone got a BIOS set that'll work on this MSI barebones system ?????

ComputerReport:

Manufacturer: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

Model: MS-7173

546F2042 65204669 6C6C6564 20427920 4F2E452E 4D2E

What do you think? It doesn't look much as a royalty oem distrobution so my guess would be "no"

I could say more if you supply some usefull info, like oembios CRC, but the info you posted above doesn't say anything.

BTW, there is always the dmi.exe approach

Edited August 11, 2006 by FreeStyler

[ZaForD]

Hi FreeStyler,

Theres no OEMBIOS set for it, or any need for a DMI fix.

Its an MSI barebones system [case, motherboard, cpu, and RAM] that one of the guys here bought, so I could upgrde his old system. After adding his old HDD, vidcard and installing his own Retail HomeXP, I did a Computer Report, and thought i'd post the results.

[FreeStyler]

Hi FreeStyler,

Theres no OEMBIOS set for it, or any need for a DMI fix.

Its an MSI barebones system [case, motherboard, cpu, and RAM] that one of the guys here bought, so I could upgrde his old system. After adding his old HDD, vidcard and installing his own Retail HomeXP, I did a Computer Report, and thought i'd post the results.

Then the answer is "no"

plz tell me you are joking... or do you really have no clue what this topic is about???

Ever seen a Royalty OEM barebone system, with XP pre-installed....don't think so

Edited August 11, 2006 by FreeStyler

[ZaForD]

Yes, I'm joking.

I thought I put (j/k) on the end of the first post. Ooop's...

I just thought it was funny, when I saw To Be Filled By O.E.M. in the Manufacturer field.

[TheUni]

This has probably been asked a time or two in this thread, but i've sifted through a couple times and can't find the answer now.

What's the best media to use for an OEM Preinstall disk like this? I've got a Home Retail, Home OEM, and Home Dell disk at my disposal, but don't want to waste hours finding the right one to use.

Also, same question for the serial number. I know oem-preactivation keys should work regardless of the manufacturer, but i've tried using that dell key with oembios files from a toshiba cd, and i get "cd key rejected" when trying to activate. I checked the msoft site for a key to use, but they're all for XP Pro.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

[Bezalel]

This has probably been asked a time or two in this thread, but i've sifted through a couple times and can't find the answer now.

What's the best media to use for an OEM Preinstall disk like this? I've got a Home Retail, Home OEM, and Home Dell disk at my disposal, but don't want to waste hours finding the right one to use.

Also, same question for the serial number. I know oem-preactivation keys should work regardless of the manufacturer, but i've tried using that dell key with oembios files from a toshiba cd, and i get "cd key rejected" when trying to activate. I checked the msoft site for a key to use, but they're all for XP Pro.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

You should use a hologrammed OEM CD to start the project.

To determine what went wrong in your case the best tool is the MGADIAG tool from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012. just copy the report to the clipboard and post the results here. It also might help to run this tool on the Dell you got the key from.

Also be prepared to provide the CRC32 hashes for the oembios files you have.

Edited August 18, 2006 by Bezalel

[Randy Rhoads]

Manufacturer: Sony Corporation

Model: PCV-RX640(UC)

536F6E79 20436F72 706F7261 74696F6E

------------------------------------------------------------------

System Information

------------------------------------------------------------------

Type : 01h (1)

Length : 19h (25)

Handle : 0001h

Manufacturer : Sony Corporation

Product Name : PCV-RX640(UC)

Version : 28440030

Serial Number : xxxxxxxxxx

UUID (Universal Unique ID) : 00000000000000000000000000000000

Wake-up Type : Power Switch

------------------------------------------------------------------

Base Board Information

------------------------------------------------------------------

Type : 02h (2)

Length : 08h (8)

Handle : 0002h

Manufacturer : ASUSTeK Computer INC.

Product : TUSL-LV

Version : REV 1.xx

Serial Number : xxxxxxxxxxx

Successful install of Media Center 2005 using:

OEMBIOS.BIN: CRC FA09A945

Edited August 18, 2006 by Randy Rhoads

[Bezalel]

i've been making some changes to http://rapidshare.de/users/LWN7M8. There are some important changes being made:

1) I'm using the CRC32 of the CAT file to name my filesets and not the CRC32 of the BIN file. It is possible for two different sets to use the same BIN file. (I haven't seen any examples but in theory it can occur). The CAT file contains the SHA1 hashes of the remaining files so any changes to any 1 file would result in a unique CAT file.

2) I'm listing each of the SLPBIOS strings instead of the manufacturer's name. (MGADIAG.EXE only lists the first 4 strings but some sets have more than 4 strings, Gateway has 22 strings.)

3) I'm listing which filesets are obsolete and what to replace them with. Any fileset that has been replaced by a newer set that includes all the strings in the origional set will not be included in this project. (From the 35 sets I have 9 are obsolete.)

I currently have the following issues:

The 'Dell Quanta' fileset I have has the wrong CAT file. (if cannot be included in this state)

The A04597C6 'Gateway' and C86378C7 'Gateway,EMACHINES' filesets have 21 matching entries and 1 unique entry. Is there another set than includes all 23 entries?

I need to know if there are any systems that require the 06D652A4 'HP PAVILION' fileset or can I replace it with CD4E1902 'Compaq,Hewlett'?

[Randy Rhoads]

I need to know if there are any systems that require the 06D652A4 'HP PAVILION' fileset or can I replace it with CD4E1902 'Compaq,Hewlett'?

I think you will need both sets unless there is a set out there that has all 3 strings (Hewlett,Compaq,Pavilion) combined. If you remember my problem on a HP machine earlier in the thread.. it was fixed by using a HP PAVILION set instead. Any set that only included Hewlett or Compaq would install, but not activate.

So far i have tested 4 OEM machines with success;

2 HP's with HP PAVILION 25330489 set

1 Compaq with CD4E1902 set

1 Sony with 376E13C7 set

The only issue i had was using a "Hewlett" set on a HP that had HP PAVILION in the bios.

I also tested a Abit NF7 retail board with HP PAVILION edited in and that worked as well, but failed testing the same process using Dell B6F0EEFD.

The PC at 1st login screen would report the "Cant determine the license for the pc" and had a yes and no button to activate. Choosing NO would get you in a loop of the same error and choosing YES would load msoobe.exe which reported Windows was already activated, but the system would then just loop back to the login screen name and show the error all over and question to activate again.

Edited August 18, 2006 by Randy Rhoads

[severach]

Also, same question for the serial number. I know oem-preactivation keys should work regardless of the manufacturer, but i've tried using that dell key with oembios files from a toshiba cd, and i get "cd key rejected" when trying to activate. I checked the msoft site for a key to use, but they're all for XP Pro.

The SLP key embedded in the CD will only preactivate if the OEMBIOS set matches. It will never activate over the Internet or by phone. If you see the activation keys, the activation screen, the key screen, or the Genuine Star, you've messed up somewhere. The key affixed to the case will activate but only after you beg Microsoft with a phone call. If you do everything right, you'll never use either key nor will you ever see any activation or key screens.

Not every manufacturer uses WINNT.SIF but Dell does. This means you can construct a Home OEM cd for another Royalty system by changing the key in WINNT.SIF and overwrite the OEMBIOS.* files. The only drawback is that the Dell disk will include a few Dell only drivers that won't apply to your target system.

For your convenience, you should obtain a trustable n-in-1 XP CD, find the complete OEM distributions on them, and learn which and how to modify the remaining non OEM distributions to make them OEM.

>I need to know if there are any systems that require the 06D652A4 'HP PAVILION' fileset or can I replace it with CD4E1902 'Compaq,Hewlett'?

The SLP strings are not the least bit similar. There are many indications that HP is an OEM that does nothing more than insert the SLP String into Manufacturer field of the DMI so there's no reason to believe that they would always sprinkle Hewlett, Packard, or Compaq anywhere else. This is also the OEMBIOS set that HP & Compaq are using for all their Desktops and some laptops from 2005-.

[Bezalel]

I need to know if there are any systems that require the 06D652A4 'HP PAVILION' fileset or can I replace it with CD4E1902 'Compaq,Hewlett'?

I think you will need both sets unless there is a set out there that has all 3 strings (Hewlett,Compaq,Pavilion) combined. If you remember my problem on a HP machine earlier in the thread.. it was fixed by using a HP PAVILION set instead. Any set that only included Hewlett or Compaq would install, but not activate.

So far i have tested 4 OEM machines with success;

2 HP's with HP PAVILION 25330489 set

1 Compaq with CD4E1902 set

1 Sony with 376E13C7 set

The only issue i had was using a "Hewlett" set on a HP that had HP PAVILION in the bios.

I also tested a Abit NF7 retail board with HP PAVILION edited in and that worked as well, but failed testing the same process using Dell B6F0EEFD.

The PC at 1st login screen would report the "Cant determine the license for the pc" and had a yes and no button to activate. Choosing NO would get you in a loop of the same error and choosing YES would load msoobe.exe which reported Windows was already activated, but the system would then just loop back to the login screen name and show the error all over and question to activate again.

The determining question is: Does HP make a computer that does not have the string 'Hewlett' anywhere in the BIOS? I only care about official HP BIOSes not those that had their DMI tables edited by the und user.

>I need to know if there are any systems that require the 06D652A4 'HP PAVILION' fileset or can I replace it with CD4E1902 'Compaq,Hewlett'?

The SLP strings are not the least bit similar. There are many indications that HP is an OEM that does nothing more than insert the SLP String into Manufacturer field of the DMI so there's no reason to believe that they would always sprinkle Hewlett, Packard, or Compaq anywhere else. This is also the OEMBIOS set that HP & Compaq are using for all their Desktops and some laptops from 2005-.

I was thinking logically not technically. There is a HPQ set that replaces all previous HP and CPQ sets. Wouldn't it make sence to also include the PAVILION strings if they were actually needed? I guess that end uses could test their BIOSes using debug

S F000:0000 FFFF "HP PAVILION"
S E000:0000 FFFF "Compaq"
S F000:0000 FFFF "Compaq"
S E000:0000 FFFF "Hewlett"
S F000:0000 FFFF "Hewlett"

If only the first line finds anything you need the Pavilion set

If any of the other lines find anything you can use the HPQ set

[Randy Rhoads]

I only care about official HP BIOSes not those that had their DMI tables edited by the und user.

The problem i explained with the HP oem file sets were from an offical unedited HP machine. Any "Hewlett" oem set i tried on that machine would not pre-activate...only the HP PAVILION would.

The reference to editing dmi strings on the retail board were just to show that, it can be done, and the HP PAVILION set worked without having to include any extra strings like model and serial numbers and that the Dell set B6F0EEFD requires a more strict dmi setup. Older Dell oem files may not, but havnt tested those yet.

[Randy Rhoads]

Here is the debug and crystal report on that HP machine:

Debug F000: "HP Pavilion" = F000:335E

Debug E000: "HP Pavilion" = E000:0057

Debug F000: "Hewlett" = Blank

Debug E000: "Hewlett" = Blank

Debug F000: "Compaq" = Blank

Debug E000: "Compaq" = Blank

------------------------------------------------------------------

01 System Information

------------------------------------------------------------------

Manufacturer: HP Pavilion 04

Product Name: P7515A-ABA 531w

Version: 20000RE101LOMITA

Serial Number :

UUID (Universal Unique ID): E0FCFFCBE813D611B14DE593CE8452BC

------------------------------------------------------------------

02 Base Board Information

------------------------------------------------------------------

Type : 02h (2)

Length : 08h (8)

Handle : 0002h

Manufacturer : Trigem Computer, Inc.

Product : Lomita

Version : None

Serial Number : xxxxxxxxxxxx

------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------

11 OEM Strings

------------------------------------------------------------------

Type : 0Bh (11)

Length : 05h (5)

Handle : 0017h

Count : 01h (1)

OEM String 1 : HP invent

[severach]

S F000:0000 FFFF "HP PAVILION"

Many of your DEBUG lines won't provide valid results. Command 'S' is case sensitive. The SLP string 'HP PAVILION' may be in all caps but the BIOS contents is not. You'll do much better with:

S F000:0000 FFFF "HP Pavilion"