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

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.

This section is not applicable to this article.

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

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 or Bing and in the Microsoft Technet site.

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

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.

   

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.

   

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.

Recommended Articles

Here are some recommended articles related to this topic that might be of interest to you.

• A Basic Guide to Identifying the Major Components of a Laptop
• How to Find the Unique Identifier for Dell Monitors using Network Management Software