How to get motherboard ID without receiving empty strings?

Question

I tried many things:

//public static string GetMotherBoardID()
//{
//    string mbInfo = String.Empty;

//    //Get motherboard's serial number 
//    ManagementObjectSearcher mbs = new ManagementObjectSearcher("Select * From Win32_BaseBoard");
//    foreach (ManagementObject mo in mbs.Get())
//        mbInfo += mo["SerialNumber"].ToString();

//    return mbInfo;
//}

//public static string GetMotherBoardID()
//{
//    string mbInfo = String.Empty;
//    ManagementScope scope = new ManagementScope("\\\\" + Environment.MachineName + "\\root\\cimv2");
//    scope.Connect();
//    ManagementObject wmiClass = new ManagementObject(scope, new ManagementPath("Win32_BaseBoard.Tag=\"Base Board\""), new ObjectGetOptions());

//    foreach (PropertyData propData in wmiClass.Properties)
//    {
//        if (propData.Name == "SerialNumber")
//            mbInfo = String.Format("{0,-25}{1}", propData.Name, Convert.ToString(propData.Value));
//    }

//    return mbInfo;
//}

public static string GetMotherBoardID()
{
    string mbInfo = String.Empty;
    ManagementObjectSearcher mbs = new ManagementObjectSearcher("Select * From Win32_BaseBoard");
    ManagementObjectCollection moc = mbs.Get();
    ManagementObjectCollection.ManagementObjectEnumerator itr = moc.GetEnumerator();

    itr.MoveNext();
    mbInfo = itr.Current.Properties["SerialNumber"].Value.ToString();

    var enumerator = itr.Current.Properties.GetEnumerator();

    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(mbInfo))
        mbInfo = "0";

    return mbInfo;
}

This all gives empty string on my PC, but the correct ID on the laptop. Some other person also reporting on two PCs is empty motherboard ID.

The result of:

public static string GetMotherBoardID()
{
    string mbInfo = String.Empty;
    ManagementObjectSearcher mbs = new ManagementObjectSearcher("Select * From Win32_BaseBoard");
    ManagementObjectCollection moc = mbs.Get();
    ManagementObjectCollection.ManagementObjectEnumerator itr = moc.GetEnumerator();

    itr.MoveNext();
    mbInfo = itr.Current.Properties["SerialNumber"].Value.ToString();

    var enumerator = itr.Current.Properties.GetEnumerator();

    string properties = "";

    while (enumerator.MoveNext())
    {
        properties += "[" + enumerator.Current.Name + "][" + (enumerator.Current.Value != null ? enumerator.Current.Value.ToString() : "NULL") + "]\n";
    }

    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(mbInfo))
        mbInfo = "0";

    return mbInfo;
}
[Caption][Основная плата]
[ConfigOptions][NULL]
[CreationClassName][Win32_BaseBoard]
[Depth][NULL]
[Description][Основная плата]
[Height][NULL]
[HostingBoard][True]
[HotSwappable][False]
[InstallDate][NULL]
[Manufacturer][Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.]
[Model][NULL]
[Name][Основная плата]
[OtherIdentifyingInfo][NULL]
[PartNumber][NULL]
[PoweredOn][True]
[Product][H55M-S2H]
[Removable][False]
[Replaceable][True]
[RequirementsDescription][NULL]
[RequiresDaughterBoard][False]
[SerialNumber][ ]
[SKU][NULL]
[SlotLayout][NULL]
[SpecialRequirements][NULL]
[Status][OK]
[Tag][Base Board]
[Version][x.x]
[Weight][NULL]
[Width][NULL]

Maybe c# is bad for retrieving such things? I hope for solution on C/C++ or working solution on C#

Why don't you actually iterate over the iterator you obtain from `ManagementObjectCollection` and see if the proper value is in it? Right now you're just getting the second object in the collection and casting that to a string, which may be empty. It's probably not the same entry of the collection across all machines. — aevitas, Jul 29 '13 at 14:41
I tried that, but those are really empty. Well, technically this - " " — Kosmo零, Jul 29 '13 at 14:42
Are you sure there is a valid motherboard ID, I believe a lot of this information is at the discretion of the manufacturer. I would try to verify with another application or method before jumping off of the deep end. — Mark Hall, Feb 09 '14 at 05:50

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 21 '14 at 11:02

2

Some motherboards simply don't have ID. It set to empty string. So, if someone need to use motherboard unique thing for licensing purposes they should receive motherboard UUID.

answered Feb 21 '14 at 11:02

Kosmo零

4,001
9
45
88

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 29 '13 at 14:54

1

Personally, I'd recommend using this particular Open Source hardware monitor library (you'll need the source). You can use it for hardware identification. Open Hardware Monitor

answered Jul 29 '13 at 14:54

Daniel Lane

2,575
2
18
33

thanks for the answer, but I can't find any ID shown in this prog – Kosmo零 Jul 29 '13 at 15:16

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 30 '21 at 16:19

There is also a NuGet package called DeviceID. However, you will need to include their DLL with your package, but is a great fast, simple solution.

Here a usage example:

 /* Depends on https://www.nuget.org/packages/DeviceId/ Install-Package DeviceId - Version 5.2.0*/
/* Using AddMacAddress(true, true) to exclude both virtual and wireless network adapters. */ 

readonly string MachineSupportID = new DeviceIdBuilder()
    .AddMacAddress(true, true)
    .AddMotherboardSerialNumber()
    .AddProcessorId()
    .AddSystemDriveSerialNumber()
    .ToString();

May the force be with you.

How to get motherboard ID without receiving empty strings?

3 Answers3