Over the multitude of years of service, my 2009 Mac Pro has endured many supported and unsupported software updates, OS upgrades, hardware upgrades, firmware upgrades, re-installs, wipes, Boot Camp installs, boot loader changes, and so on and so on. Over that time and over those many changes, at some point, my logic board lost its marbles and simply 'forgot' its serial number. Here's how to get your Mac to 'remember' its serial number once more!.
The problem with not having a serial number For quite some time I had no issues with my Mac not knowing its serial number or revision (year of manufacture). Everything worked fine. I could install programs, log into the App store, iMessage friends and colleagues, and everything else needed in my Mac environment. However, a time came after a certain update or upgrade (I can't remember which, since for the most part, everything still just worked) certain services like iMessage and FaceTime would no longer allow me to log in to their services. Strangely some other services logged in just fine. Words of warning You really shouldn't do this fix.
But if you are insisting on getting it done there are a few caveats before delving into this fix. First, you not only need a valid serial number, but you need a valid serial number for the hardware you will be performing it on. The serial number CAN'T be transferred between machines.
Therefore this fix is truly for your genuine Apple hardware that has lost it's serial number along the way on its logic board. You'll be using the same serial number that the computer originally had when you first purchased it. Second, there is no room for error. You only get one chance at inputting the proper serial number during the 'write' phase of the how to. If you mistype any part of it, you'll likely end up with a non-bootable system. DO NOT PERFORM THIS FIX IF YOU CANNOT LIVE WITH A NON-WORKING MACHINE.
Third, and most importantly, I'll be suggesting (but not providing) software that may or may not be for Apple's internal use only. I do not know the legality of having access to this software or using this software.
Do not use this software if you worry about the copyright or legal issues that may or may not be involved with running said software. Fourth, If this doesn't work for you and you get a non-functional system. Don't blame us. I told you to not perform this fix.
Fifth, if you have an Apple warranty that's still valid, call Apple to fix the serial number issue. Don't use this method. This will likely void any valid warranty. Finally, don't use this fix. Get your serial number Getting your serial number should be a straight forward affair.
When you buy your Apple for Apple.com, you'll get a receipt via email with your serial number on it. The box that your Mac came in will also have a serial number on a card within the box.
You Mac itself, will have the same serial number somewhere either on, in, in back of, or under its casing. There is literally very little excuse for you to not have access to your serial number. Get a USB key For this to work, you'll need to be able to boot off of a secondary device such as a USB. The files are very small so nearly any USB key will work. I used the from Amazon for $15 in my example. Get the software The software I'm using but am not providing is called the Blank Board Serializer. The fix.
Format the USB drive with with the FAT filesystem. Unpack the Blank Board Serializer program to your disk. Using Disk Utility, Restore the unpacked dmg file to your USB drive. Click Done. Shutdown your Mac.
Reboot your Mac whilst holding the option key on your keyboard. You'll be presented with multiple boot devices, choose the EFI USB key.
Click to Accept the usage agreement. Enter your Serial Number WITHOUT ERRORS.
Truly make certain there are no errors here. Remember that Zeros (0) and 'O's' look very similar. Click Enter.
Click Yes for each following prompt. Click Proceed. Click Restart. Final comments Why was I able to log in to all of my services before the unknown update is anybody's guess. Is it because Apple wants only genuine Apple computers accessing their networks? If so then why would some iCloud services work whilst others didn't?
In any case, Once a valid serial number was re-installed on my logic board, everything worked as seamlessly and as beautifully as expected. What about you? Are you living with no serial number? How has it affected you?
Let us know in the comments!
The rEFInd Boot Manager The rEFInd Boot Manager by Roderick W. Smith, Originally written: 3/14/2012; last Web page update:, referencing rEFInd 0.11.4 This Web page is provided free of charge and with no annoying outside ads; however, I did take time to prepare it, and Web hosting does cost money.
If you find this Web page useful, please consider making a small donation to help keep this site up and running. Donate $1.00 Donate $2.50 Donate $5.00 Donate $10.00 Donate $20.00 Donate another value Introduction This page describes rEFInd, my fork of the boot manager for computers based on the Like rEFIt, rEFInd is a boot manager, meaning that it presents a menu of options to the user when the computer first starts up, as shown below. REFInd is not a boot loader, which is a program that loads an OS kernel and hands off control to it. (Since version 3.3.0, the Linux kernel has included a built-in boot loader, though, so this distinction is rather artificial these days, at least for Linux.) Many popular boot managers, such as are also boot loaders, which can blur the distinction in many users' minds. All EFI-capable OSes include boot loaders, so this limitation isn't a problem. If you're using Linux, you should be aware that several EFI boot loaders are available, so choosing between them can be a challenge.
In fact, the Linux kernel can function as an EFI boot loader for itself, which gives rEFInd characteristics similar to a boot loader for Linux. See for more information. In theory, EFI implementations should provide boot managers. Unfortunately, in practice these boot managers are often so poor as to be useless. The worst I've personally encountered is on which provides you with no boot options whatsoever, beyond choosing the boot device (hard disk vs. Optical disc, for instance).
I've heard of others that are just as bad. For this reason, a good EFI boot manager—either standalone or as part of a boot loader—is a practical necessity for multi-booting on an EFI computer.
That's where rEFInd comes into play. I decided to fork the earlier rEFIt project because, although rEFIt is a useful program, it's got several important limitations, such as poor control over the boot loader detection process and an ability to display at most a handful of boot loader entries on its main screen. Christoph Pfisterer, rEFIt's author, stopped updating rEFIt with version 0.14, which was released in March of 2010. Since I forked rEFIt to rEFInd, Christoph has begun pointing rEFIt users to rEFInd as a successor project.
As already noted, rEFInd is a boot manager for EFI and UEFI computers. (I use 'EFI' to refer to either version unless the distinction is important.) You're likely to benefit from it on computers that boot multiple OSes, such as two or more of Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. You will not find rEFInd useful on older BIOS-based computers or on systems with other types of firmware, such as older PowerPC-based Macs. Prior to mid-2011, few computers outside of Intel-based Macs used EFI; but starting in 2011, computer manufacturers began adopting UEFI in droves, so most computers bought since then use EFI. Even so, many modern PCs support both EFI-style booting and BIOS-style booting, the latter via a BIOS compatibility mode that's known as the Compatibility Support Module (CSM). Thus, you may be using BIOS-style booting on an EFI-based computer.
If you're unsure which boot method your computer uses, check the first of the subsections,. Subsequent sections of this document are on separate pages. Be aware that you probably don't need to read them all; just skip to the sections that interest you: Note: I consider rEFInd to be beta-quality software! That said, rEFInd is a usable program in its current form on many systems. If you have problems, feel free to drop me a line.