Serial numbers

Every item in the lab inventory should carry its serial number and its model. The serial is the one value that ties a physical object to a purchase, a warranty claim, a repair, and a loan record — the asset tag we stick on it can fall off, the serial can’t.

This section has one page per device family, written for the equipment we actually own. Each page tells you where the serial is printed on the hardware, and how to read it from software on Windows, macOS, Linux, or FreeBSD when the device can be reached that way.

Three ways to get a serial

1. From the operating system — fastest and typo-free if the device boots and you can log in. See Reading it from the OS , which gives the click path where one exists and step-by-step terminal instructions where it doesn’t.
2. From the printed label — the per-device pages below say exactly where to look.
3. From firmware — for a machine that won’t boot into its OS, BIOS/UEFI shows the serial. See BIOS and boot menus .

Tracking a device on the network too? IP and MAC addresses has the click-by-click steps for every platform — and the randomized-MAC setting that silently breaks tracking.

Then put it in the asset record: Adding equipment .

Pick your device

Cross-cutting references: Reading it from the OS · IP and MAC addresses · BIOS and boot menus

Lab instruments (fNIRS, EEG), motion capture, gloves, cameras, wearables, and the 3D printer are all on the Displays and peripherals page.

Don’t confuse the serial with these

Several numbers are usually printed right next to each other, and only one of them is the serial.

When a device has both a serial and a meaningful model/part number on the same label, record both — the model goes in the Model field, the serial in the Serial field.

Reading tiny print without mistakes

• Use your phone camera and zoom in, or the phone’s magnifier. Light at an angle makes etched (rather than printed) serials readable.
• Serials are uppercase. The usual misreads: 0/O, 1/I/l, 5/S, 8/B, 2/Z.
• Type it in, then compare against the photo once more before saving.
• If there’s a barcode or QR code next to it, scan that instead — the handheld reader or your phone camera will do it. See Labels and scanning .
• Remove third-party covers, straps, and cases before hunting — they sit exactly on top of the label. Put them back afterward.

What to record

For each item: the model, the serial, its condition, and where it lives. Attach the photo of the serial label to the asset record so nobody has to take the headset apart twice.

Serial numbers are fine to share inside the lab (inventory, lab chat). Don’t post them publicly or leave them visible in screenshots that go outside the lab.

Your device isn’t listed, or the page is wrong

Photograph the whole device and any label you can see, and post it in the lab chat rather than guessing. Same if a page sends you to the wrong spot — several of these locations vary between production runs, and we’d rather fix the page than have you take a headset apart twice.