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We have some poor soul in Puerto Rico who has a MacBook Pro that is tied to our MDM system and, for whatever reason, it cannot be removed. The closest we can t
by runjake 3y ago
We have some poor soul in Puerto Rico who has a MacBook Pro that is tied to our MDM system and, for whatever reason, it cannot be removed.
The closest we can tell is that he sent his MBP off to Apple for repair and they swapped the logic board with a refurb unit that was swapped from one of our machines. There is some internal tool that rewrites the serial number and apparently nobody ever overwrote the serial number on the removed unit.
So anyway, there's two legitimate MBPs out there with the same serial number, although ours is probably decommissioned by now (I believe it was a 2015).
Was a funny journey figuring out what the hell was going on, though.
- ComputerGuru 3y agoCan’t you remotely deprovision the machine?
- innocenat 3y agoCan't see how that would go well if two devices have the same serial number.
- I_Am_Nous 3y agoThat sounds like something that might also wipe the laptop...and all of the new owner's data with it.
- gtirloni 3y agoThat's Apple's problem. For all this company knows, someone is using a laptop with their data on it.
- MichaelZuo 3y ago> There is some internal tool that rewrites the serial number and apparently nobody ever overwrote the serial number on the removed unit. How could that be possible? Apple's internal systems won't allow a second motherboard/computer with the same serial to even pass the post-repair diagnosis.
- droopyEyelids 3y agoMaybe the second computer hasn't been manufactured yet
- MichaelZuo 3y agoWhy would the factory assign, to a second computer, a number that's already been assigned to a computer which has been manufactured some time ago?
- droopyEyelids 3y agoIt wasn't assigned to a computer manufactured some time ago, it was assigned by a tech in some repair depot, and for all we know it happened a moment before.
- MichaelZuo 3y agoThe factory's serial assignment systems are connected to Apple's internal systems that would also have recorded the 'tech in some repair depot' assigning that number? It doesn't literally have to be from the same factory, as it could be any one of the dozens of factories or hundreds of repair depots.
- millzlane 3y agoAnd tech used the part during a repair, did system configuration with the board, realized that wasn't the issue, and then removed it and sent it to back to apple. I've had a tech do it once. I'm not sure how the "Diag" board would have ended up in the hands of a customer. We note that the part was opened and used.
- jabroni_salad 3y agoYeah I disagree with that as well. Here is a much simpler story: When you install a blank motherboard, you need to key in the desired serial number. If you make a mistake, you are supposed to ask apple to re-ship a blank and you take an oopsie on your record. Someone did the oopsie, but it validated so they either never noticed or didn't feel the need to call it in.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]