How to hide PowerBookG4 Serial Number?

ix2rootix2root
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Hello,

do anyone have ideas how to hide a Serial Number of my PowerBook G4 from Apple System Profiler in OS X?

..or maybe its possible to make it hidden from some programms ,that need a Mac Serial Number for registration?



Thanks for Your Help

<img src="confused.gif" border="0">

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    So where did you steal or buy your currently stolen PowerBook?
  • Reply 2 of 8
    pbg4 dudepbg4 dude Posts: 1,611member
    Weird,



    Ever since I updated to OS X 10.1.x (forget which rev), the serial doesn't show in my "About" box.



    I guess this means that this is not normal, eh?
  • Reply 3 of 8
    ix2rootix2root Posts: 5member
    [quote]Originally posted by PBG4 Dude:

    <strong>Weird,



    Ever since I updated to OS X 10.1.x (forget which rev), the serial doesn't show in my "About" box.



    I guess this means that this is not normal, eh?</strong><hr></blockquote>

    ..Yeah..ist normal for AppleMenu-AboutWindow...but you can still see it in Apple System Profiler!
  • Reply 4 of 8
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    Why do you want to do this?
  • Reply 5 of 8
    commonsensecommonsense Posts: 111member
    [quote]Originally posted by PBG4 Dude:

    <strong>Weird,



    Ever since I updated to OS X 10.1.x (forget which rev), the serial doesn't show in my "About" box.



    I guess this means that this is not normal, eh?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    That happened on my Pismo after I upgraded to 10.1.5, too. A shutdown and fresh boot later, it was back. Dunno what caused it to happen in the first place, but at least it's back to normal now . . .



    Side question: How does Apple do this, anyway? How do they "embed" the serial number into the hardware, beyond NVRAM, beyond hiding it somewhere on the hard drive, etc., without incurring huge additional expense by adding this extra "personalizing" step to the manufacturing process?
  • Reply 6 of 8
    pbg4 dudepbg4 dude Posts: 1,611member
    [quote]Originally posted by CommonSense:

    <strong>



    That happened on my Pismo after I upgraded to 10.1.5, too. A shutdown and fresh boot later, it was back. Dunno what caused it to happen in the first place, but at least it's back to normal now . . .



    Side question: How does Apple do this, anyway? How do they "embed" the serial number into the hardware, beyond NVRAM, beyond hiding it somewhere on the hard drive, etc., without incurring huge additional expense by adding this extra "personalizing" step to the manufacturing process?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I don't think it is the HD. They replaced that (and DVD) on my PB and I still had the serial number (this was pre 10.1).
  • Reply 7 of 8
    logan calelogan cale Posts: 1,281member
    I guess they must not have very good security at them Apple stores, eh?
  • Reply 8 of 8
    allenchristopherallenchristopher Posts: 135member
    The expense in "personalizing" something is mainly making sure a specific order gets to a specific person. For that, one has to have a whole separate production line for, say, the engraved iPods, and one has to assign each iPod an order number and keep track of it. Worse, if an iPod fails QA after engraving (most QA is done before one hits the engracing step, but there's always a final random check of 1 out of 100 to make sure nothing major has gone wrong in the production process) then that iPod must be regenerated at the beginning of the line. Finally, this personalized line tends to be manned by people, rather than entirely automated, because too few people will pay the fee to make automating cost-effective, while only automating would bring the price into the popular range. It's a genuine Catch-22.



    With the processors, though, Motorola has a machine specifically for numbering every chip as it comes through, before the black casing is put on. The machine counts one higher for each chip and solders closed the corresponding resistors on a certain area of the die. It doesn't matter who gets a specific number, just as long as no two are numbered the same. It also doesn't matter if the chip fails QA. It just gets tossed or marked for running at a lower clock; there's no reason to go back and create another chip with that number. This printing step is just another one in the process, as easy as printing the chip, adding the pins, and jacketing the die.



    Chips have always had serial numbers on the outside, and in fact almost every part of your computer has a separate serial number. The only new thing is soldering on the surface of the die to make that number accessible to hardware.



    Other components that have internal serial numbers are:

    -ethernet cards, which have unique MAC addresses for network security.

    -USB controllers, so that several gamepads, a mouse, a trackball, a stylus and so on can all be connected to one computer at the same time without confusion.

    -cellular phones, for the same reason as ethernet cards.



    There are many more, of course, all with internal identifiers that are unique, but arbitrary.
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