4 ms·

Kind of a tangent but I wonder how the serial numbers on the floppy disks were generated. They're clearly not sequential and the length differs between version

Kind of a tangent but I wonder how the serial numbers on the floppy disks were generated. They're clearly not sequential and the length differs between version 2.0D and 2.0F. SER# 312929011101963 (15 digits) SER# 3129289101202698 (16 digits) I wonder if they kept track of these in a CSV or something. Was the idea a customer could call in with their serial number and report a problem, which could be traced to a batch number or something? Anyway, just a curiosity I noticed.

lance_ewing 2y ago
I was also wondering about these numbers when putting the article together. The photo of the 2.0D disk is of my own personal copy of the game. I assume the number is unique to that disk, but I haven't spent any time at all researching that. I wonder if someone has.
- anyfoo 2y ago
  They might have intentionally obfuscated it, maybe to conceal how many disks they produced (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_tank_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_tank_problem ). Just XOR'ing the real serial number with a secret key that has exactly as many bits as the (padded) serial number is entirely sufficient, though my experience tells me that at that time, folks tended to do more complicated (and ironically, much less secure, not that it matters much here) things. Basic cryptography literacy wasn't as common then, as unencrypted and unauthenticated communication was the norm, even on most networks.
  - sumtechguy 2y ago
    > as unencrypted and unauthenticated communication was the norm, even on most networks That it worked at all was pretty amazing :)
EnigmaFlare 2y ago
I think you just nerdsniped me: 312929011101963 2.0D TFA 312929011100925 2.0D [1] 312928072902102 2.0D [2] 312928091704272 2.0D 5.25" [3] 3129289101202698 2.0F TFA 312922022211663 2.0F [4] 752923060122148 2.0F [5] 272929011600468 2.0F [6] 272929052600081 2.0F [7] The 16 digits seems like a freak. [1] https://archive.org/details/space-quest-ii-ms-dos-disk-1-of-2 https://archive.org/details/space-quest-ii-ms-dos-disk-1-of-... [2] https://www.mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getgame=sierra3pack-alt https://www.mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getgame=sierra3pack-alt [3] https://www.sierrachest.com/gfx/games/SQ2/box/03_m1.jpg https://www.sierrachest.com/gfx/games/SQ2/box/03_m1.jpg [4] https://www.mobygames.com/game/128/space-quest-ii-chapter-ii-vohauls-revenge/cover/group-6990/cover-14829/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/128/space-quest-ii-chapter-ii... [5] https://ia802300.us.archive.org/12/items/spacequest_ii_kfx/space_quest_ii_disk1.jpg https://ia802300.us.archive.org/12/items/spacequest_ii_kfx/s... [6] https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/space-quest-ii-seirra-games-amiga-1777540316 https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/space-quest-ii-seirra... [7] https://www.tradera.com/item/340851/630607300/space-quest-ii-chapter-2-vohaul-s-revenge-sierra-amiga https://www.tradera.com/item/340851/630607300/space-quest-ii...

lance_ewing 2y ago

I was also wondering about these numbers when putting the article together. The photo of the 2.0D disk is of my own personal copy of the game. I assume the number is unique to that disk, but I haven't spent any time at all researching that. I wonder if someone has.

anyfoo 2y ago
They might have intentionally obfuscated it, maybe to conceal how many disks they produced (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_tank_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_tank_problem ). Just XOR'ing the real serial number with a secret key that has exactly as many bits as the (padded) serial number is entirely sufficient, though my experience tells me that at that time, folks tended to do more complicated (and ironically, much less secure, not that it matters much here) things. Basic cryptography literacy wasn't as common then, as unencrypted and unauthenticated communication was the norm, even on most networks.
- sumtechguy 2y ago
  > as unencrypted and unauthenticated communication was the norm, even on most networks That it worked at all was pretty amazing :)

EnigmaFlare 2y ago

I think you just nerdsniped me: 312929011101963 2.0D TFA 312929011100925 2.0D [1] 312928072902102 2.0D [2] 312928091704272 2.0D 5.25" [3] 3129289101202698 2.0F TFA 312922022211663 2.0F [4] 752923060122148 2.0F [5] 272929011600468 2.0F [6] 272929052600081 2.0F [7] The 16 digits seems like a freak. [1] https://archive.org/details/space-quest-ii-ms-dos-disk-1-of-2 https://archive.org/details/space-quest-ii-ms-dos-disk-1-of-... [2] https://www.mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getgame=sierra3pack-alt https://www.mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getgame=sierra3pack-alt [3] https://www.sierrachest.com/gfx/games/SQ2/box/03_m1.jpg https://www.sierrachest.com/gfx/games/SQ2/box/03_m1.jpg [4] https://www.mobygames.com/game/128/space-quest-ii-chapter-ii-vohauls-revenge/cover/group-6990/cover-14829/ https://www.mobygames.com/game/128/space-quest-ii-chapter-ii... [5] https://ia802300.us.archive.org/12/items/spacequest_ii_kfx/space_quest_ii_disk1.jpg https://ia802300.us.archive.org/12/items/spacequest_ii_kfx/s... [6] https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/space-quest-ii-seirra-games-amiga-1777540316 https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/space-quest-ii-seirra... [7] https://www.tradera.com/item/340851/630607300/space-quest-ii-chapter-2-vohaul-s-revenge-sierra-amiga https://www.tradera.com/item/340851/630607300/space-quest-ii...