Official ASUS Thread - Serial Number Not Found

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pokevitek

Senior Member
Aug 28, 2007
174
6
No luck for me either.

I am no Android engineer, but I can´t help myself. It seems to me like someone just forget to enter actually SN into the device. Could not Asus just make some USB flash utility where user would write SN from sticker and flash it to device? As simple as that?
 
benlc

benlc

Senior Member
Oct 8, 2009
226
32
pokevitek said:
No luck for me either.

I am no Android engineer, but I can´t help myself. It seems to me like someone just forget to enter actually SN into the device. Could not Asus just make some USB flash utility where user would write SN from sticker and flash it to device? As simple as that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Some people suspect the problem to be more than just a serial number not showing up, but something more like a process not executing successfully and then blocking the SN thing.
The trick doesn't work for me either by the way, sent my serial number by PM.
 
P

pokevitek

Senior Member
Aug 28, 2007
174
6
Yeah, I read everything I found on this problem. But since firmware is the same in all devices, and hardware too, only thing left is some memory un-affected by firmware flash, like BIOS in PC.

This exactly reminds me of for example brighteness settings on NTB. These are stored in BIOS table, not affected by OS, but OS reads them and with incorrect values it acts incorrectly. So maybe our memory that holds SN is either damaged or not flashed properly. The second problem could and sould be solvable using pure SW methods. I too hope its SW solvable, but if it is not please Asus, tell us so we can RMA our devices and be lucky customers.

I don´t know worldwide, but in Czech Republic for example Primes are still only in few numbers, I am one of the lucky few whe got first devices. So more and more people will rise with the exact problem in time... Sending my SN to Gary right now :)
 
B

blade_ctn

Member
Mar 22, 2010
5
0
I just got my Prime last friday (DE variant). In the status menu i can see the serial number, but when trying to update from 8.8.3.27 to the current version of HC (ICS is not provided in germany yet), it just shows me "no update available".

I was able to successfully update to the current HC firmware by doing a manual update with the files provided on the asus support page. My question now just is: Are there currently any issues with the update structure or why are the updates not showing up on my device? When reading in the forums it seems that i'm not the only one having these issues. Will i be able to update without a hassle in the future or should i return the device?
 
3

3rdamention

Senior Member
Jan 10, 2012
260
40
Gary Key said:
1/16/12 Update - We have replicated this problem and hopefully we will have a solution shortly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse


Great work Gary! I wish I wouldn't have taken mine back but I had no choice since the problem was a month old (people have had this since December) and I didn't want to get stuck with it and not be able to return it.

This makes me feel a little better about Asus, I just dont know what is going to happen to people who have not found this forum and have the "Serial Number" bug.
 
P

pokevitek

Senior Member
Aug 28, 2007
174
6
Gary, you are great. If you post solution shortly, you are our hero! :)

Little OT: I know you really work for this community, and I really don´t want to complain, but could you look, or answer one more issue many people have?

Screen brighteness is automatically adjusted based on what it is displaying. When there is a scene with more light, brighteness goes up, when darker scene, brighteness goes down. Much like dynamic contrast works. Important thing is, this is WITHOUT auto brighteness. (turned off).

Probably DIDIM technology is cousing this effect. It is supposed to dynamically save power by adjusting backlight and image, but for now it just causes very noticeable brighteness changes which are very distracting while watching videos or playing games.

Since we can observer different "levels" in which this technology steps in, based on power mode selected, it seems its software-adjustable, or at least it can be calibrated.

So, please on behalf of many people which are annoyed by this very obvious effect, could any upcomming update has this feature either tuned, or optional?

ORIGINAL THREAD (XDA): http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1421002

Thank.
 
Gary Key

Gary Key

Senior Member
Apr 28, 2011
88
1,602
www.asus.com
g_mkoch said:
Gary Is it a software problem or a hardware problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

At this point, thanks to the users who reported their serial numbers we think it is probably a software fix as those serial numbers are being seen on our server side and available for a OTA update. Either way, we will take care of those users with this problem. I will be contacting these users shortly for additional information to confirm our findings and solution.
 
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M

mattdude23

Member
Jan 12, 2012
12
0
Glad to see its being fixed, I like many others dont wanna return there prime. I was just waiting it out till asus could fix it.

---------- Post added at 12:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 PM ----------

Are we going to be looking at geting a fix quickly, or are we going to be waiting awhile for the firmware update to hit the site?
 
G

GernBlanston

Senior Member
Mar 29, 2011
206
64
Bear, DE
Gary Key said:
At this point, thanks to the users who reported their serial numbers we think it is probably a software fix as those serial numbers are being seen on our server side and available for a OTA update. Either way, we will take care of those users with this problem. I will be contacting these users shortly for additional information to confirm our findings and solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I'll be standing by for your pm, or call or whatever.
 
J

jmlee1079

New member
Jan 16, 2012
3
0
Unknown Serial Number

Same issues here, multiple factory resets, device hard rest.. same issue. Waiting for good news from our new best friend Gary.
 
Semantics

Semantics

Senior Member
Nov 30, 2009
2,336
894
Jesus, Asus is getting crushed all over the place! What a fiasco this launch has turned out to be. Still diggin my Prime, even with all of its warts (and it has a bunch).
 
B

bradavon

Senior Member
Mar 22, 2009
303
7
South West, England
So it doesn't work with a manual download from the Asus site either?

I'm very interested in the Transformer Prime but am not interested in Honeycomb, it has to run ICS!
 
Screwedupsmitty

Screwedupsmitty

Senior Member
Nov 25, 2011
220
40
NE Ohio
That issue seems to be different, we've had ICS for months and people are just recently seeing these reboots, with some people even saying since they left CES their phones haven't had any problems. My nexus with AOKP is running like a dream tho, unlike my prime and its incredible wifi range =\
 
P

pokevitek

Senior Member
Aug 28, 2007
174
6
One problem at a time boys (girls) :) First we need to solve unknown SN bug.

BTW: Its far from beeing called fiasco. My friend bought Lenovo tablet. First device had several manufactoring problems. So he changed. Second was fine from build quality, but has several SW problems, including charging for 8 hours to get to 50%, wi-fi randomly turning on and off and beeing incredibly slow. When he saw my Prime, next day returned his Lenovo for money...
 
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    Gary Key
    Gary Key
    Good Day,

    For those users who are suffering from the "Serial Number Not Found" problem we are currently trying to replicate the problem. In the meantime, there has been some success following these instructions.

    Issue -
    1. System will not auto or manual update to the latest firmware or image.
    a. Go to Settings, Backup and Reset, start a Factory Data Reset. Please do this and after the reset let the unit remain active (settings, display, sleep, always on) for 15 minutes with a WiFi connection active so the system can sync with the ASUS servers. Hopefully the system will see the update, if not please go to settings, About Tablet, and then double tap on System Firmware Update please.

    b. Alternative Version until the Service Side Fix is implemented.

    There is an alternative way to get the updated firmware on your unit.

    Ensure you have a micro-sd card available for this update, please download from a PC the US (WW/TW released also) firmware for the device. Please verify that your firmware is US (or WW/TW). In the SETTING and ABOUT TABLET it will tell you in the About section.

    Example: You should be able to see the build number US_epad-9.X.X.X_2012xxxx where "US" means build type.

    You can download the correct update file from the support site on the below link.

    http://support.asus.com/Download.as...cher.zip#US_epaduser9_4_2_7UpdateLauncher.zip

    Extract the zip file to the root of your Micro-Sd. It should be the file US_epad-user-9.4.2.7.zip for the US version as an example.

    Ensure the AC adapter is plugged in, all apps are closed and you are at the desktop screen, install the micro-SD card and you will get a notification on the bottom task bar to update the firmware. Please follow the instructions.

    If that does not work, please PM the serial number of your unit.

    1/16/12 Update - We have replicated this problem and hopefully we will have a solution shortly.

    1/17/12 Update - Thank you to the users I reached out to for their contact information. You should hear from our engineering or technical support staff shortly to verify a few settings and to try another OTA update sequence. For those I did not contact yet, we might expand the group for additional testing. I have read all the messages so please do not be upset if we have not contacted you yet. We are very close to finalizing a fix for this problem but first we will have to confirm your unit setup.

    1/18/12 Update - Technical Support and Engineering will contact another subset of users starting today. We are in the final process of testing two solutions to this problem.

    1/19/12 Update - We are finalizing testing with the last subset of users and will post instructions on the fix in the near future. Just a reminder, for those I or engineering did not contact directly yet, it does not mean we are ignoring your problem. We have read all the messages so please do not be upset if we have not contacted you yet.

    1/21/12 Update - I will have updates tomorrow and a new communication system with forum members headed up by a dedicated staff.

    1/22/12 Update - I will provide an update tomorrow on our new Customer Service Support program for the Transformer Prime and additional forum support that will be coming in the very near future. In addition, I expect an update from engineering and service shortly for the resolution on this issue. We have completed replication testing.

    1/23/12 Update -

    For North American users with the Serial Number Not Found problem that we have not directly contacted during the replication testing cycle we ask that you please send the following information to tablet@asus.com :

    Subject: <TF201 SN Not Found – Your Contact Name>

    Body:
    Name: Your Customer Name
    Phone: A contact phone number
    Email: Your Email address
    SN#: Your TF201 Serial Number

    A customer care representative or technician will take your information, confirm the status of the serial number on our server, ask you to walk through a short procedure to correct the problem. If this fix does not work they will walk you through the next series of steps to correct it.

    1/25/12 Update -
    One option to fix this problem is to complete a manual update process, set the unit power mode to balanced performance and screen brightness manually to 50%, and then manually update to the latest ICS build using these instructions - http://service.asus.com/TF201_fwupdate. You will need a fully charged battery and have the system plugged into AC power. After the update is completed, please ensure there is a WiFi connection available and let the system idle with an active WiFi connection (ensure the system does not go to sleep) for 15~20 minutes and then reboot. If the serial number is not available after this process, please follow these instructions:

    For North American users with the Serial Number Not Found problem that we have not directly contacted during the replication testing cycle we ask that you please send the following information to tablet@asus.com :

    Subject: <TF201 SN Not Found – Your Contact Name>

    Body:
    Name: Your Customer Name
    Phone: A contact phone number
    Email: Your Email address
    SN#: Your TF201 Serial Number
    Process Already Completed - Manual Firmware Update to latest ICS ROM Image

    A customer care representative or technician will confirm the status of the serial number on our server, contact you and might ask you to walk through a short procedure to correct the problem. If the serial number is not located, the unit will need to be returned for a replacement procedure.

    2/12/2012 Update -
    If North American users are still experiencing the Serial Number Not Found Problem after completing a manual update to ICS, then please send your contact information and serial number to tablet@asus.com. If you do not hear back from Service within 48 hours, please PM me directly.

    3/6/2012 Update:
    I am back and will start answering messages.

    Note - For those users who provided this information already based on direct contact from us, you will be notified shortly. For those users who provided their serial numbers but were not contacted by us for further testing you will need to either send the email above or call the hotline. We sincerely apologize about this inconvenience but your TF201 will be fixed shortly.
    View
    3
    Bumble-Bee
    Bumble-Bee
    we now have a fix for this :)

    https://twitter.com/#!/BumbleDroid/status/164456392974012417

    http://androidroot.mobi/2012/01/31/introducing-ratchet-the-unknown-serial-fix/

    p.s.

    any donations should go to the androidroot.mobi team (donate link on the blog post)
    View
    3
    Gary Key
    Gary Key
    g_mkoch said:
    Gary Is it a software problem or a hardware problem?
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    At this point, thanks to the users who reported their serial numbers we think it is probably a software fix as those serial numbers are being seen on our server side and available for a OTA update. Either way, we will take care of those users with this problem. I will be contacting these users shortly for additional information to confirm our findings and solution.
    View
    3
    X
    xRedLeadrx
    For all of you watching this thread I thought I'd let you know that it looks like the ICS update has been posted to the ASUS site for download. I'm going to go ahead and give it a go. I'll post back with results to see if the unknown serial number stops the manual update for ICS. I had good luck with the 8.8.3.33 update so I don't see why this one won't work. Don't get me wrong, I want the OTA problem solved but I'll take the manual update for now if I can get it.
    View
    3
    KBanause
    KBanause
    dgjl said:
    That's not for an uber-newb as there seems to be a lot of pre-steps and things to download, e.g., and which appear to need other things loaded first.

    I'm asking for a walk through for a literal no nothing whose first experience of android is the ATP--there's a lot of us on this site.

    But if this kind of thing is beyond us--well, thanks for your efforts, but we'll have to wait.
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    1. If you have a windows pc, download the USB drivers from HERE (choose Android as OS) and install them
    2. Get adb from here: Windows* or Linux
    3. Activate USB debugging mode on your prime (Settings -> Developer options) and connect your Prime to the pc
    4. open a terminal window on your pc
    5. in that terminal window, browse to the directory where you have downloaded adb to (the Ratchet archive should be extracted to the same directory) and execute the following commands:
    6. adb push mempodroid /data/local/ (on linux: ./adb ....)
    7. adb push ratchet /data/local/
    8. adb shell (You’ll now see a shell@android:/ $ prompt)
    9. chmod 755 /data/local/mempodroid /data/local/ratchet
    10. /data/local/mempodroid 0xd9ec 0xaf47 /data/local/ratchet
    11. This is where the magic happens. Make sure you enter your serial number correctly, all in caps!
    12. Reboot your device
    13. Done

    * Download for windows version two post later

    Points 6 to 13 are just copied from the android.mobi website so I don't take any responsibilities.
    View

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