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How to Get the Piece Part Identification (PPID) Number of the Motherboard on a Dell Computer

Summary: This article provides information about how to find the Piece Part Identification (PPID) number of the motherboard. Getting the motherboard serial number on a Dell Computer without physically removing any parts. ...

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Symptoms

There are various reasons why you might require the serial number or PPID of the motherboard. From checking that you have the correct part in the computer to finding the specifications of the part, and finding a replacement or upgrade for it.

This article shows two methods to get this information without removing any parts or reading the label on the component.

The first method works from within the Windows operating system environment. 

The second method is used in both Windows and Linux-based computers as it operates outside of the operating system in the preboot environment.

Cause

This section is not applicable to this article.

Resolution

Method One - Get the serial number or PPID of the motherboard using the Windows PowerShell application (Command-Line Interface (CLI))

Note: You do not require administrator rights to run the following commands.
  1. Tap or click the Start button and type PowerShell in the start menu search.
  2. Tap or click the Windows PowerShell application to open a CLI window.
  3. Type the following command and then press the Enter key.

    Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_BaseBoard | Format-List

    You get the following results with the serial number:

    
    Windows PowerShell
    Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
    Install the latest PowerShell for new features and improvements! https//aka.ms/PSWindows
    PS C:\Users\> Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_BaseBoard | Format-List
    
    Manufacturer : Dell Inc.
    Model        :
    Name         : Base Board
    SerialNumber : /<Service Tag>/CNWSC004460019/
    Product      : XXXXXX
    
Note: If you get an error or exception returned instead. Check the error in a search engine such as Google This hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies. or Bing This hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies. and in the Microsoft Technet This hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies. site.

Method Two - Get the serial number or PPID of the motherboard using the Dell ePSA log file

Caution: This method requires that you have one of the newer versions of the preboot diagnostics on your computer. This feature is not available on all Dell computers. It is also dependent on whether the BIOS and UEFI protocols can interface with the USB flash drive. You may check this by running the preboot diagnostics with a USB flash drive connected to the computer. If the diagnostic test does not prompt you to save the results and instead prompts you to finish and reboot, these instructions do not work.
 
Note: This method is especially useful for users who have a Linux-based operating system on the Dell computer. This method runs outside of the operating system environment - before the computer boots.
 
  1. Connect a USB flash drive to the Dell computer and run the preboot diagnostics. Learn How to Run a Preboot Diagnostic Test on a Dell Computer.

  2. On exiting the diagnostics, you are prompted to save the test results to a text file on the USB named psa.txt.

    Screenshot of the prompt to save the diagnostic test results in the preboot diagnostic environment

  3. To access this file, connect the USB flash drive to a working computer, use the File Explorer to go to the root of the USB flash drive and open or edit psa.txt.

    Note: The psa.txt log file is limited to a single 64 KB internal buffer. This buffer is written to the log file when the ePSA diagnostics exits. Systems with numerous devices are likely to cause this limit to be reached. When this happens, the oldest entries in the buffer are over written with the latest entries. That means, the log buffer should always contain the most recent data that is written and guarantee that the last failure information is present. Configuration information is inserted in the buffer early in the ePSA diagnostics execution. There may not be enough room for both configuration information and all testing results.
  4. The serial number or PPID of the motherboard is shown under the [cables] section.

    Screenshot of the cables section in the psa.txt file

  5. The serial number or PPID of other devices such as the hard disk drive (hard drive) or optical disc drive (ODD) is available in the same file.

Additional Information

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Affected Products

Alienware, Inspiron, Legacy Desktop Models, OptiPlex, Vostro, XPS, G Series, G Series, Alienware, Inspiron, Latitude, Vostro, XPS, Legacy Laptop Models, Fixed Workstations, Mobile Workstations
Article Properties
Article Number: 000125347
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 30 Sep 2024
Version:  9
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