Bought CF-28 for soldier-son & now need advice!

Does anyone remember the quick fix for the jumping mouse problem on these? I know that you had to disable the serial mouse on the ones with GPS but I can't remember what the fix is with one without.

Anyone?

 

I seem to have figured out the mouse issue. The RAM in the laptop was the wrong kind, first of all.... Then I uninstalled the mouse/touchscreen driver and reinstalled it and it seems to work fine now.

I still have a lot more work to do but we're well on our way!

 

Jumping mouse without a GPS?....Never heard of, or saw that before...
Removing RAM fixed it?...... :confused2:

 

i remember someone saying debris under the edges of the mousepad can cause jumping

 

Well... I took out the bad RAM (Had the eight ICs instead of 4) and uninstalled/reinstalled the mouse driver and it seems to have worked so far.

I have a lot of non-pc stuff to do today so I don't know how much time I'll have to work on the project.

I'll keep you guys posted.

 

I saw that dirt under the edges post...

You can get the Guidebook for Marines files here:
http://www.marines.cc/content/view/82/56/

 

Toughbook,

another 13,3 on ebay nr: 190179226770

but expensive;+200$

Derick

 

I've decided to just go ahead and donate one of my screens to the project. He'll have a flawless 13" touchscreen with a touchscreen protector that doesn't have a mark on it.!

I was kind of playing with this sidemount (stock) GPS in an effort to get it into this laptop. But I can't get a signal with the new GPS engine and stock Panny antenna. I'll play around with it today and tomorrow and see what I can do. I just don't see it working for some reason... And the posts in the other threads are not encouraging.

 

Well... Now I am playing around with putting in GPS into the laptop. I received a CF-28 with stock GPS and have been playing around with different antennas to use on it. I bought an active "patch" type antenna a month or two ago just for the 16 feet of RG-174 that came along with it. I popped the antenna out of its shell and, with a little dremeling, was able to fit it into the hump. The initial tryout yielded okay results as the test bed on a different laptop. I'll play around with it more tomorrow and fit the whole thing together instead of having it hang out the side to make sure I can get a good, strong lock every time. If I can... I'll put GPS into the laptop. If I can't... well... I don't want to keep this too long playing around with it.

Gotta run...

 

Okay... I need your opinions. So far I have redone a few things on this Toughbook. I took the bumped out LAN cover and installed it on this laptop. It has a built in wifi antenna and it gets about the same or maybe even better signal than the one I put in. So the wifi is almost taken care of. But I have a question...

I put GPS in and installed the patch antenna in the bump-out I took off of the laptop I just got from Nevada. Right now I can get 5 satellites that max out at about 33-34 area. The geohelix antenna goes all the way up to 45+. I also only get 4-5 satellites. (Only 3 indoors, barely!)

My first thought when we started this was that I would skip GPS altogether. Then I started thinking.... "What if his life or the lives of others depend on it?" Crazy, I know... But you never know. Should I put GPS in with a minimal signal or just leave it out altogether?

Any thoughts?

I'll continue to work on this tonight and tomorrow. If I can get a better signal on a regular basis I'll keep it in...

EDIT - And it seems I still have the jumping mouse issue. Any thoughts on that?

 

TB,
After thinking about your question a little, I began to have some rather disturbing thoughts. I don't know what you intend to put in there for a wireless card, and I think personally that the GPS, if it is going to be installed, should be disabled in the bios.

Why? Well, I don't Imagine that streets and trips would do much good, or at least not as much good as the maps, and training that our young Marine has been supplied with. Second, as a matter of security for our recipient, and his comrades. Many of the programs used with a GPS receiver have the capability of acting as a server, or interfacing with a wifi type program to let others see your position. This would probably not be ideal considering the intended destination of the laptop.

To further complicate things, (sorry) Is there any confirmed recent dischargees on the board that have actually carried a laptop around in Iraq? Does anyone know for sure what the Military will allow as far as technology, software,transmitters, and the like to be carried by a soldier?

I'd hate to see you put all the fixins' in there, only to have them scrapped by someone who may need to inspect the device.

Just a few things I thought should be addressed.

 

Thanks for the input. You raise some very valid questions... Does anyone know if he will be allowed to bring this much technology with him? I would assume they would be able to since a lot of cell phones these days have GPS enabled in them.

I wasn't thinking about Streets & Trips... I was thinking about desert maps. Alot of those can be had for free on the Internet. (I know that Google has blurred out a lot of areas over there.) And, having known a few soldiers in the past, I know a lot of soldiers can get their hands on stuff you and I would LOVE to have! Heck.... Even if it is just for speed, direction and altitude. You know.... The Boy Scouts... Be Prepared.

I am running the 600mw wifi card in all laptops I build. I also install Zone Alarm firewall. Zone Alarm passes every test at GRC.com (By the way... EVERYONE should try out their "Shields UP" Program!). With Zone Alarm, NOTHING goes out over the Internet unless you want it to. And NOTHING acts as a server. I always set that up before I send it out. The only way that can happen is if you specifically check the box to allow it to do so. (I have a mini-tutorial on it in the "Weekly Check-Up" folder on the desktop.) Some programs may require server status... But not many.

I started putting all this stuff on my PCs I build after having to rescue family and friends from themselves... And the Internet. I try to make it as automatic as possible with the least system drain of resources.

tb4me.... I hope that this answers some of the stuff you brought up... But I also hope that someone can chime in about the other very valid points you bring up.

Anyone?

 

VERY astute observation there; nothing like the human part of the equation to mess up one's best-laid plans...:GEEK:

mnem
Why does US+THEM always seem to end in a fireball of destruction?

 

They are allowed to take laptops and such. I've got some friends that have been looking for laptops for their spouses that recently deployed. It seems that internet communications with each other are used more than telephone calls.

 

Good to hear. I know that they set up Internet rooms and such for the soldiers to keep in touch with their families. I just hope nobody steals this thing. When I finish with it... It's going to be "Da Bomb!"

 

I'd sure like to figure out how people can use a GPS antenna to track somebody, because I don't think it's possible because of how GPS works, unless they have something to send the signal (Cell phones for example can because they have a way to transmit). GPS works with a non-broadcast antenna. It picks up satellite signals that are already in the air coming at you every time you are making a sandwich, driving to work, or picking up cancer on a beach. Your antenna picks them up, and bases the time it took for the signal to reach you, compared to the other satellites it uses, to figure out where you are. That's why it needs 3 or more to fix you, and usually 5 or more for elevation.

However, your GPS antenna does not broadcast anything (It's a sensor, not a transmitter) so I'd be happy to be proven wrong to learn something new.... But I don't think GPS can be used against you without something else involved. Cop cars have a transmitter that usually sends the signal over 800MHz in short lat/long commands, or over cellular wireless (depending on the department).

 

TB,
We had a saying when I was a young Marine that a PFC could f--- up an anvil with a rubber hammer. My point? Keep the computer simple, reliable, and PFC proof as possible. In the conditions that youngster will serve in; "tough" is way under stated. Put the computer together with the very best quality workmanship that you can. I would think that the internet and music (along with the Guide Book for Marines that GlenB posted the site for and the Marine Corps Hymn) would be the most important things to a youngster far from Family and friends, in a hostile environment. Trust me; this young Marine and his buddies wll improvise, adapt, and overcome any challenge that comes thier way.

Sorry for rambling on.

 

Pappy... I think you hit the nail on the head! The more I keep playing with the GPS antenna on this thing the LESS satellites I get! I think you are right.... I put over 15,000 songs on there for him plus a lot of other stuff so he can write, connect, compute, tally, etc.... I think I'll take out the GPS and continue to play with this on another laptop. If I find a way to get it working maybe he can bring it back to me when he is on leave to fix up... Or he can do it himself. (He apparently has relatives about 30 minutes from me.)

So... I'll get back to the real reason we were putting this together. I was hoping that the GPS would work though.

Thanks guys!

 

Sounds like a plan. When we get our GPS boards out and about, I'll donate one of those to him for a future mod.

 

Ummm Modly -

This laptop has a Wi-Fi connection built in; any reasonably creative script-kiddie could write a program to log the serial data coming from the GPS & send it to an IP address on the internet whenever connection came available. This was what I inferred from TB4's post; it is a valid concern.

mnem
Git along little electrons, git along... Yeehaw!

 

Something weird.... On the last test of the GPS... I took the 28 outside to try to get a lock on the satellites. It sprinkled a little rain on it. No problem I thought... except it was very cold too. The water must have gotten under the screen protector and lifted off a little of the reflective coating. (This is why I don't remove screen protectors that have been on for a long, long time.) Anyway.... The perfect screen now has a little lifting on the very bottom. The weird thing is.... I doused this with water while in my shop to clean the screen protector. It must have been a combo of the cold and the water at the same time. You can't see it when the laptop is on.

 

I see how that could work in theory, but it requires the laptop to be tampered with and the chances that Al-qaeda could target the one laptop with GPS by tricking somebody into downloading an app is pretty hard. They would have to either get within range of the laptop (Hard, they'd get blown to hell before they were within a half mile of any base in Iraq, and if he's out and about, chances are he won't have it on or the enemy will have other things to worry about), and the other way involving installing a trojan would be pretty hard to do too. They'd have to crack a site he goes to, auto-download the trojan (assuming he's even running Internet Exploder), hope that one of the millions of people visiting is him, etc. etc..

While it's *possible*, I think he has a better chance of beating Osama Bin Laden to death with the toughbook than he does of getting cracked/phished and sending out his GPS coordinates.

(On a site note, if he does beat Osama to death with his toughbook, I will buy him a brand new CF-30 personally!)

 

Al-Qaida wouldn't need the GPS co-ordinates have you seen Picosharks maps when he Wardrives? They could pinpoint him by triangulating his WIFI transmissions and 600mw would carry a long way in the open iraqi desert. There is an old saying in the Marines and that is if the marines want you to have something they will issue it to you.

 

Agreed in principle there Modly... however, you're not thinking like a GI Security Officer (the person who might have to inspect this unit); not only is he thinking about what might happen if this laptop fell into the wrong hands; he is also thinking about the possibility (whether true or not) that the hands the laptop are in already might be or one day become an enemy operative with this machine available to him unsupervised. He is thinking this BECAUSE IT'S HIS JOB. It's a horrible way to think about your fellow human being; but I'm glad he's there to do it so I don't have to.

mnem
All that is required for evil to flourish is that good men do nothing.

 

These guys don't take there personal laptops out on patrol. It's not a matter of issued equipment. It's about having something that this young fellow can use during his "off" or down time. Keep up the good work Toughbook.

 

Anyone have any ideas on the jumping mouse problem. I thought I got rid of it when I uninstalled it. But it's back. I really don't want to have to pull the mobo on this.... (I have an extra pad.) But I also don't want him to have a problem either....

 

Ummm... give the mouse a chopstick & teach him to pole vault?:wink:

mnem
Yoiu'll have to forgive me; due to lack of sleep my associations have become rather loose of late...

 

mnem.... GO TO YOUR ROOM!

 

But... that's where the baby is...

mnem
*whimper*

 

When you say 'jumping' I think of the GPS/Serial mouse problem, but calling that jumping is an understatement....those 'jumps' are like half screen width.

Is that the kind you mean? or do you mean small ~1/8" erratic movements as you finger the thing around using the mouse-pad? as opposed to the big jumps mentioned above?

 

AMEN! to that!

 

Glen.... BOTH! Sometimes its a matter of hovering the mouse over an icon and then when you are about to click, it moves off the icon. Other times when scrolling acros the screen is goes back over to the other side of the screen.

Thoughts?

 

I've noticed erratic cursor movements with my 800...(the one with the scratched up pad)...I'm not sure if...well, enough of my thinking....

You loaded the 28S driver? (not the 28P)?

mouse_28_3_d020614

 

That could be... If it's the wrong driver it may freak out.

The panels were probably made by several companies. (My 12" panel was made by gunze).

If I have a touchscreen driver for the S, try it out. I'll look into that in a bit.

Edit; Don't think I have it;

http://panasonic.ca/PDP/Drivers/mouse_28_3_d020617.exe
http://panasonic.ca/PDP/Drivers/mouse_28_3_d020616.exe
http://panasonic.ca/PDP/Drivers/mouse_28_3_d020615.exe

 

Hmmmmm... I'll try it again.... I've always used the same driver no matter what model. It's never happened like this before.

I gotta clean up a few things in the shop and I'll try it and let you know.

 

Clarification: I'm not suggesting installing the P on the S...I sent an S, just verify that the correct driver was installed...Long shot seeing how TB builds them regularly, but its 800's that he normally builds, figured I'd mention that.


https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pc/cgi-bin/itn/toughbook/dl02.cgi?main=1611

 

Yup.... I just logged onto the site and downloaded it. I just reinstalled it and am trying it now...

EDIT - I dumped 15,000 songs on his hard drive and am going through and editing out the ones I know he won't want. That and because I put in a 100GB hard drive and the songs take up 90% of the drive.

EDIT - Nope... It's not as bad (it seems) but I'm still having it jump around.

 

Hmmm....

That 800 of mine is erratic...kind'a jumpy-minor. Nothing like screen jumps, just erratic.

 

Sorry, I gave you the wrong driver file number....thats for an S3.

You need the ST driver... mouse_28_3_d020616

https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pc/cgi-bin/itn/toughbook/dl02.cgi?main=1631

 

Well... This one is usually just minor... But it ANNOYING as hell. Every now and then it wil make a big jump across the screen.

I may have to pull out the mobo and switch pads. That should do it shouldn't it? It wouldn't be hardware/software related... right?

 

Sounds driver-ish to me....but I was wrong once....<g>

Either way, you need to install the correct driver...the S3 is for the non-touch.

ST driver : mouse_28_3_d020616

https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pc/cgi-bin/itn/toughbook/dl02.cgi?main=1631

 

That is the one I installed. It isn't the problem.

Let me turn it off for a little while and sprinkle some magic dust over it. I've had it on all day long.

 

Folks,
I didn't mean to start an all out discussion thing on the security issues. I had no idea of the protocol for soldiers having technology, or personal items in a war zone.

I was speaking today with a soon to be medically discharged soldier, he brought me up to speed on the way things work over there. And, as was stated, personal items are not brought into the field, and all wifi signals are contained within the confines of the provided areas.

Might want to put a document in the checkup folder though that lets him know that his wifi signal is about ten times stronger than most, never know when it might become an issue and knowing how to turn it off could prove to be invaluable. I found this out when my mother replaced her failing 5ghz cordless phone setup with a cheaper 2.4ghz set. Needless to say I have to run wired at her house now, or turn it off when the phone rings.

On the subject of programs that tie wifi and gps together, it seems that the more software I look at the more I find. One program I came across that I would recommend to anyone with an ' Ultimate-Like-Toughbook' (ie; gps, 3-600Mw WiFi ...) is WiFi Hopper. It's not free, it's between $20 and $40, but an excellent program. It has three modes of operation, Connection Manager, Network Scanning, and Network Hopping. Provides much information about access points and networks, logs positions using gps input, support for multiple profiles and so on. Anyway, sorry to go off topic, glad to see that things are shaping up and beginning to come together on the project.

 

DEWED!

That's what this forum is FOR! DISCUSSION!

Now if it devolves into PERCUSSION or CONCUSSION... then we have a problem.

mnem
I sit uncorrected.

 

Well as long as it's not Russian I'm good.







---------------------------------------------------------------
...errr or Prussion..<sp>

 

I must respond to the security issue. I currently work for the DOIM here at Bragg. We support the Warfighter and the technology they require on the battlefield as we well as the Garrison. Currently Marines and Soldiers are authorized to bring their laptops and ipods to use while on the camps in IRAQ and Kuwait. The issue of GPS and laptops is another can of worms. If the Unit Commander authorizes the use of a laptop in camp then your good to go however if they do not they will have you box it up take it to the postal unit and ship it home. I know personally when I was there with the 1st MEF and 2nd MEF there were Marines that had laptops with GPS and Haji cell phones tethered to those laptops. Again it is the Commanders Discretion. just my 2 cents.

 

ds -(BTW - welcome fellow scaled one)

Oh, of course we KNOW it is ultimately at the discretion of the UC; what we were discussing is the very real potential for misuse of the technology we're using here, and how (if they wanted to be harsh) a security officer could assess the risk potential of such a computer, and how much trouble it COULD cause this young soldier should he run up against such an officer.

Take for example cell phones with triangulation GPS enabled in them; most of us think nothing of that technology over here. However, imagine what a valuable piece of information just the exact coordinates of a large concentration of such cell phones in a region known to be a US Military Installation would be; instantly you have targeting for what you know is a busy administrative building, or at least a canteen or barracks with lots of potential casualties.

These people HAVE to think about these things; it's a matter of life or death.

mnem
Again, I'm glad they're there to do it so I don't have to.

 

While servicing toughbooks, I came across a lot of ones from various bases including in Iraq, both civilian laptops and ones owned by the military. There was no real pattern about which had GPS & WLAN. Most didn't have either but that's because neither are terribly common in the grand scheme (GPS more so). Pretty much the only clients that had us make sure they weren't installed were for ones that went to research facilities.

 

Cool... Glad to hear ll the answers... It's a good idea to include a little more info than normal since he isn't doing the work himself. A very god idea.

No GPS ... So that is moot... Anyone want to guess about the mouse/touchpad? If all else fails I'm going to need to take the mobo out. I can't ship it with the pointer dancing all around the place.

 

Its a hardware issue, the touchpad need to be replace or need to recondition.