Hp50g Serial Number

[Quan]

While performing the ROM upgrade for the first time, ever, via SD card yesterday, I noticed the serial number display after releasing the [+][-] keys to be different from the one on the sticker on the back. The format of the serials is identical.

Is this the actual serial or it means something else?

Thanks.

[Mike Morrow]

The same thing can be seen on the HP49g+. They are always different, though the time differential between them seems to vary significantly. On my HP49g+, the internal number is three weeks later than the external. On my HP50g, the internal number is three weeks before the external.

On the HP49g+ and HP50g, if the Development Library has been activated (set system flag -86, then warm restart with a ON+F3), the SERIAL command will be available. When executed, it returns the internal serial number.

[Michael de Estrada]

And on my HP-50g, the internal S/N is also 3 weeks earlier than the external S/N (717 vs 720). So, maybe the internal S/N relates to when the EPROM was burned and the external S/N relates to when the housing was made?

[Quan]

Thanks all!

I found similar explanation from comp.sys.hp48, which I completely forgotten about when I posted this question.

I only searched the forum but didn't see anything. Nevertheless, it was interesting that they don't match.

The reason I was curious was because I used to work in a cell phone manufacturing facility. The serial number from the bar code sticker always matched the internal serial number. Whenever a repair was done, a new bar code sticker must be re-printed so it matched the internal serial number. I believe this was done to prevent phony warranty claims.