XML error when trying to register the product

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 SP2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 SP1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

Situation

When trying to register the product by using the YaST "SUSE Customer Center Configuration" module, the registration stops with the following error message:

Code point \\u0010 is not a valid character in XML at /usr/bin/suse_register line 822

The same error occurs when using the "suse_register" commandline utility.

Resolution

The problem occurs while suse_register collects several hardware information to create an XML file. For this purpose it uses several"hwinfo" commands. If the BIOS gives the output in malicious format, the suse_register utility fails to create the XML file.

For a solution, please check if a BIOS update is available.

Instead of updating the BIOS, a workaround would be to slightly modify the registration process: In the YaST "SUSE Customer Center Configuration" dialogue leave the tickboxes for collecting the additional information unchecked. This includes the following options:

Hardware Profile
Optional Information

If you want to register using the suse_register commandline tool instead of YaST, you have to append the following options: --no-optional --no-hw-data

Additional Information

Among others, the error was experienced with an ASUS M2NPV-VM mainboard. The CPU information released by the BIOS of this mainboard was in unexpected format. Updating the BIOS to at least revision 0705 solves the problem.

Disclaimer

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