Dell Latitude 7300 and Service Tags

Lpoolroom on 05/04/2022 - 12:56
Last edited 05/04/2022 - 21:34

For anyone that picked up a Dell Latitude 7300 laptop from Recompute's recent offer…

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/686117

… did you get one with a working Service Tag? You'll need to test it against the Dell Support site to see what they think of it.

I purchased one of these laptops and they're a good machine, delivered well packaged, exactly as advertised… except the Service Tag on the machine is from a Dell Vostro desktop. This tag is basically a serial number that identifies it to Dell for warranty and support reasons. The tag being incorrect like this is a problem for me because I need Dell's help to activate a LTE WWAN card in the laptop and they won't work with it with a doctored Service Tag.

Further to the Service Tag being changed in BIOS the Service Tag sticker itself has been removed off the back. It's been intentionally done.

I spoke to Recompute on this and they tell me it's been done by their supplier as part of refurb deal. They've been good to work with on this and offered to replace the machine with something else or refund. But I've got the machine and started down this LTE route now… I want to see if I can do anything with it.

I'm looking into options to change the Service Tag myself but it's a world of hurt. The old advertised route of booting up DOS and running a Dell support tool to change it won't work because these laptops are UEFI and won't boot DOS.

If anyone knows of another way to change the tag I'd love to hear it.

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Comments

  • xuqi on 05/04/2022 - 14:05

    No way to legitimately change the service tag on newer models.

    If you got one identifying as a different model, then something is off (perhaps lost, stolen, etc. No way to know for sure), hence why the seller has offered to refund you.

    Older Dell models (2003-2009 ish) had a Linux utility that cleared the SVC tag, allowing you set another.

    Nothing publically available that I know of for recent models or anything past circa 2009 models.

    Generally speaking though, the only people who want to change a SVCtag, do so for nefarious reasons.

    • poolroom on 05/04/2022 - 14:36

      I'm wondering if they did it to block future warranty claims. i.e. If they were sold with 5 year warranties and refurb'd after 3.

      Looks like it was done by Dell then. I'm not finding any other way to do it and according to Recompute it has been done to the whole batch of 7300's.

      • xuqi on 05/04/2022 - 15:30

        I have known Dell to invalidate tags, but in all cases I've come across searching for such a tag produces nothing.

        I suppose someone may have made a mistake.

    • bdl on 05/04/2022 - 15:50

      Older Dell models (2003-2009 ish) had a Linux utility that cleared the SVC tag, allowing you set another.

      That was the asset tag, not the service tag, wasn't it?

      • poolroom on 05/04/2022 - 16:10

        There's a DOS based tool that can change the Service Tag. Not sure if it was a factory tool that leaked etc, but it's around the traps.

        Looks just like a firmware update utility… boot into DOS, run the exe and it can rewrite the service tag in BIOS.

      • xuqi on 05/04/2022 - 16:46

        No, the tool for the older models definitely allowed changes to SVCTAG.

  • xuqi on 05/04/2022 - 14:06
    +1

    There is a utility available to change the 'Asset tag' on new Dell devices should one be set, but that's different to the SVCTAG.

    Even if you find a way to change the SVCTAG, given the sticker has been removed, how would you know what the original number was?

    Without that specific info, Dell still won't help you, whatever the tag is…

    When booking in a service you will need to identify the company, person the device belongs to as apart of booking the service.

    If you can't provide that simple info, they won't help as the tag # alone isn't enough.

    Its all part of blocking users of potentially stolen hardware from benefiting from its ownership.

    • poolroom on 05/04/2022 - 14:47

      Yeah, I'm used to seeing Asset Tag used in the corporate world for tracking assets.

      I'm not after a whole lot from Dell… just to activate a WWAN card. They seem to want to check they're legit too before letting them work. Hmm.

      • xuqi on 05/04/2022 - 15:33
        +1

        Dell don't normally 'activate' the LTE cards.

        We have devices using 3G, newer devices with 4G, and the newest systems with e-Sim modules.

        Every Dell device I have come across was left factory unlocked.

        Generally speaking they are black-listed if found to be lost/stolen at the Telco service provider level.

        Replacement LTE cards for that model are readily available on eBay for $30-$40.

        • poolroom on 05/04/2022 - 16:02

          Thanks. Yep, I've picked up the right WWAN card from an eBay seller- a DW5821e. This is one is new in the box, and it's the reason I've been trying to persevere with the Latitude.

          Maybe it's a specific procedure with this WWAN or the Latitude but if you search around you'll see posts from people reporting the card is recognised, drivers install etc but the antenna is not enabled. You have to run something called "DW5821e and DW5829e_Click_Cust_Kit_Tool_v1.4.zip" to get RF going… and that's the problem I'm having. It requests me to call Dell support to enable the feature and they won't because of the Service Tag.

          This one click tool phones home before enabling? I don't know, it's new to me. This is my thanks for trying to keep everything official and Dell branded. ;)

          • mskeggs on 05/04/2022 - 18:09
            +2

            @poolroom: I’m not a dell expert, but have used wwan cards with a number of laptops, and used to work in telco, and the issues I have had have been about locked modems, or ones not supported on AU networks.
            So my first instinct is to say the service tag is a red herring.

            Take a look here for some ideas to try:
            https://www.dell.com/community/Latitude/Latitude-7400-with-D…

            And here:
            https://modemmanager.org/docs/modemmanager/fcc-unlock/

            • poolroom on 05/04/2022 - 21:20
              +1

              @mskeggs: Mate, thank you. I'm typing this reply on the Latitude 7300 with the working DW5821e.

              A post on the Dell community forum gave it up…

              • Install the WWAN card, drivers and all.
              • Disable the card in Device Manager
              • Run the silly Dell 1_Click_Cust_Kit_Tool.exe tool
              • The Enable Radio button is functional. Give it a click.
              • Close 1Click tool, enable the card again.

              That's in Windows. What I've seen of Linux posts looks like they addressed this in the open source drivers now so it sounds like it'd just work.

              Thanks again. :)

  • garetz on 05/04/2022 - 15:31
    -2

    The only reason a service tag would be changed like that is if it was stolen.

    Just replace the machine.

  • bdl on 05/04/2022 - 15:49

    Doesn't the Latitude 7300 shared a mainboard with a Vostro model? Could it be that the 7300 has been repaired with a Vostro mainboard?

    • poolroom on 05/04/2022 - 16:08

      Good point.

      My Service Tag comes in as a Vostro 3902 desktop - I just checked the user manual and it has a traditional desktop looking motherboard in it. Way too big and square to get into a laptop.

  • poolroom on 05/04/2022 - 21:33
    +2

    This is solved - LTE card is working. A link from mskeggs got me in the right place, the device needs to be disabled before running Dell 1Click. That avoids the hardware check and the radio can be enabled.

    What I've learnt is this is called a FCC Lock, or basically the device runs in Airplane Mode until it gets the right code to enable the radio. Dell works on the logic they get FCC approval for these devices only in certain configurations so the LTE devices need to be enabled initially and that process checks for the approved config.

    How the device got an incorrect Service Tag is moot now, I'd prefer it wasn't done but I can see a few reasons why it might have been. Keep in mind this is not a once off purchase from a pawn shop. Recompute have confirmed the Service Tag change was done via their supplier to the whole batch of 7300's they received.

    I've spoken to Recompute a few times in the past few days on this and they've been good about it from the first phone call. Their tech support is quick to answer, the guys know what they're talking about and when they didn't know the exact story about the tags they went back and found out. They offered me a replacement or refund without any issues but I wanted to see if I could get it going.

    These 7300's are a good purchase. Thanks all.

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