My friend was detailing the car and looks like the battery went dead so now there is no radio. All I see is CODE on the display. I have the SC-815 in my 97 R. Where do I find the serial number? How or where do I get this working?
Thanks.

Is this the original radio installed in your car? If it is, call your local Volvo dealer and give them your VIN #, they can look up your radio code for you. I called them to get my code when I first bought this 95 850 Wagon a few months ago and they were able to help.

The serial number of the radio will be of no help. The code is provided by the dealership at time of purchase and is written on a seperate card, usually kept with the owners manual. If no record of the code can be found, and the radio is the original radio, then tracing the VIN number through a dealership will provide you with the code. If the dealership is nice, they won't charge you for this service, providing you can prove proof of ownership.
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'82 240DL Stock / Masters Class, '94 850 Fully Loaded / Daily Driver, CVC / VCOA Member http://www.capcan.com/tonyg.htm

Dealers can retrieve the code from the radio's serial number alone (you don't need the car's VIN). Just tell them you had to replace if if it's not the original. Good luck!

The only way to get the code is through the VIN. This has been posted many times before on B.B. Delaerships have access to VIN numbers not serial numbers provided by Alpine, the manufacturer of the radio. Think about it, if it were that easy to get the code by deciphering the serial number, their would be web pages out there that list codes and/or the formula for doing so. Some manufacturers do have their codes buried in the serial number and there are web pages that list the codes! Check the archives and/or read the most recent post on this thread and you'll find out that the only way is through the VIN.
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'82 240DL Stock / Masters Class, '94 850 Fully Loaded / Daily Driver, CVC / VCOA Member http://www.capcan.com/tonyg.htm

If you slode the radio out, the serial number is on a label. It's also amazing how many codes I see written on a label also.

I went through this a couple of weeks ago when I changed my battery. I called the dealer with the VIN # and was told that it probably wouldn't help because radios get switched around a lot. The service tech told me how to remove the radio (depress the two vertical slot-shaped buttons on either side and then gie a tug) because the only really useful # would be the radio serial numbers. As it turned out, the VIN worked, and I was again rockin with dokken as they say.