CF-18 Drivers and Buttons

Ok my cf-18 is coming along ok. I finally found a good copy of a OEM xp cd so i could install tablet edition.

I have 2 problems and they may be related. First off i have an unknown device listed in the device manager. I have tried every driver i have and i cannot get it to install anything for it.

Next is i cannot get the tablet buttons working for the life of me. I have tried everything i can think of and nothing. The screen brightness buttons work but not the other ones.

I have installed the hotkey driver and the hotkey plus manager as well as the other hotkey program.

I have an option to set the keys with the tablet button program i just cannot get them to work.

I have one driver i cannot get to install which is the hotkey plus driver. the unknown device will not take those drivers and i cannot just hit install on them.

Any help guys i am going nuts

Thanks a million and happy turkey day.

-James

 

Ok i figured out the problem. To install the hotkey plus driver you have to goto the unknown device click update driver then hit No not this time then select the look in specific location then click dont look i will select the driver then click have disk. This will now install them. By buttons work

I do have another problem tho the display rotation does not work. I have updated the video driver directly from intel and still nothing any ideas?

The screen will rotate with the intel video drivers but not the panasonic program or the hotkey.

-James

 

Ok another update. I now can rotate the screen by flipping the screen into tablet mode which seems to be controlled by the panasonic display rotation program.

But the front tablet button still does not work. I cannot seem to get it to work for the life of me.

I think it may have to do something with windows SP3.

Can anyone with a cf-18 or (cf-19 maybe) try and see if clicking on the panasonic rotation icon in the taskbar tray to see if it rotates the screen. Also please if you try this let me know if you have SP2 or SP3

Thanks,
James

 

My cf-18 mk-5 buttons work fine
However my cf-18 mk-2 buttons are not working except for the brightness
It looks like everything is installed correctly
It has sp-2 only


Alex

 

On the mk-5 if you double click on the screen rotation icon in the taskbar does the screen rotate 90 degrees?

For the mk-2 you probably need to install the hotkey plus driver. None of my keys worked at all until I added the drivers manually into the device manager.

Is SP3 installed on the MK5?

I still cannot figure out the tablet screen rotation. I can now get the screen to rotate when i flip into tablet mode but the button just will not work.

I changed the button to something else and it works so i know the button is good.

This is killing me.

-James

 

Yes sp-3 is on the mk-5 and as I said everything works
Yes every single driver is loaded on the mk-2
I can rotate the screen from the aplication near the clock
I tried to change the button to do something else but the buttons don't do anything.
And I don't really care , I don't use the buttons even on my cf-19

Alex

 

OK i finally figured it out, I feel stupid now but I was downloading the Standard XP drivers and not the tablet PC drivers. once I downloaded the tablet driver and installed it I was up and running in no time.the installation for the tablet drivers was a bit strange so you have to read the install instructions a few times before it makes sense.

First you will need to goto the device manager and hit update driver on the unknown device.( If you installed the hotkey plus driver then uninstall this first and reboot. then there will be a unknown device.)
Hit update device on the new unknown device and then navigate to the folder: C:\util2\drivers\meitbtn

If the system says that the driver is not needed then you will have to install it manually by selecting the Have disk option and then browse to the C:\util2\drivers\meitbtn folder.

Next

You will have to go into the C:\util2\drivers\meitbtn folder and click on Standard.bat and they click yes on the prompt to get the driver completely installed.

After the drivers are all installed you can now install the tablet button manager located in C:\util2\meitbman by clicking on the setup.exe then reboot and the tablet buttons are now working. This is only if you are running the tablet PC OS. to change the button functions you will goto control panel and click on tablet and pen settings then on the tablet button tab at the top.


James

 

James,

You were able to get the screen to auto-rotate when you flipped it around on a CF-18D mk2?????

How did you do this????


Steve

 

Yes you need to have the Screen rotation software installed. It is called disp rotation. one you have it installed you will need to right click on the small icon on the taskbar and Change the preset angles to what you want. then when you rotate the screen it will Change the orientation. but this will only change the rotation once you put it into tablet mode. it does not Know if you turn the screen 90° etc. this will have to be done by the rotation button.

 

I found where it was. Had this laptop for 4 years and didn't realize it would auto rotate.

 

Ya the screen rotation feature is great but when you have the screen in secondary landscape the pen calibration is kind of off and if you recalibrate then normal landscape is messed up.

I have not really been using the auto rotate function that much. I will use the rotation button when i want the screen in portrait mode but that is about it.

-James

 

Hello can you say me how you can assign button ? thanks

OK i don't install Hotkey Plus Manager now it"s OK

 

All,
I reloaded my CF-18DHAMBKM last night and have got almost everything working. All that's left is the tablet buttons, only the brightness button works. From this thread I can't tell if those of you who were successful have Digitizer or Touchscreen models. I know this aint easy if Alex had a struggle.
1.Loaded XP SP2 with the old reliable Dell restore disk. Activated online with Panasonic COA.
2. Loaded the Intel chipset driver.
3. Loaded all the other drivers, the intel graphics driver made me remove the installed driver and then point to the new one.
4. Solved the last unknown device query with one of the hkey drivers (there are 3) and ended up with a clean board in device manager.
5. Got the SB555 modem working with the Panasonic Verizon driver, Watcher downloaded from Sierra did not work.
Anyone got an answer? Screen rotation is working fine, all the bells and whistles. I don't need the tablet buttons, but I WANT THEM!
By the way, if you have never used one of these and have a lot of money tied up in regular Toughbook laptops, DON"T! I love this sucker, I can see the laptops gathering some dust.
CAP

 

I'm working on it Cap
The button issue
James had a digitizer and resolved it with those drivers
Your touchscreen,And mine, And Mike's "56ih" which he emailed me about ,have the same issue
As you probably read in my post, that I didn't really care
Well now I feel challenged to figure it out
The only problem is that there's a James Bond Movie weekend on dishnet
I think 40hrs worth, that I am watching now

Oh and I agree on your thoughts on the cf-18
Its a great model
I use my cf-19 more than all the others that I have
And I have all the new Toughbooks
You will have to talk nice to Teo on helping you out on the gps mod
That cf-18 setup he has is great

Its easy to pack this toughbook around all the time, and you will want to
The battery is new enough in this model that even on a used battery it will give 2 to 3 hrs use



Alex

 

Alex,
Thanks, I'm thinking about internal GPS, it makes sense with this one. If the Panasonic spies are reading this, how about a second battery for the pcmcia bay? Ohlip are you listening?
CAP

 

Are you guys install the hot key plus manually or just installed it by a common setup? If you don't install it properly the screen rotation will not function. It must be installed manually. Before the beginning of drivers installation you must first installed the inf which is the mbo. driver as you know. Maybe you have notice on the device manager that there are two unknown device. That unknown devices are for HOTKEY driver and the other one is for HOTKEY plus. You must first installed the hotkey plus before the htkey driver for unknown reason if you installed the hotkey driver the hotkey plus disappear wiothout a trace and your hotkey button for rotation will not function. Maybe somebody here can explain more. But this is what I found out.

ohlip


Ps. This apply only for those without a recovery disk.

 

Teo,
I have 3 hot key drivers I have downloaded, all labeled for the MK2.
1. hotkey
2. hkeyplus
3. hkeyapp
I'm not sure which one I installed first but there were two yellow queries in device manager, and I pointed one of them to a hot key driver and it went in and the arrow went away. Then I pointed the second one to another hot key driver and finally one went in and that unknown device went away. I did not keep track of which one I did first . I'm going now to see if I can pull them all out. I'll try in the order you said and let you know how it works out.Thanks,
CAP

 

The hotkeyapp can be install later by a common setup.


teo

 

To fully install the rotation drivers you must goto C:\util2\drivers\meitbtn folder and click on Standard.bat and then click yes on the prompt to add a reg file and to get the driver completely installed. After the drivers are all installed you can now install the tablet button manager located in C:\util2\meitbman by clicking on the setup.exe then reboot and the tablet buttons are now working.

This was on my digitizer model. I am not sure how the touchscreen model works but it seems i had to click on the standard.bat reg file to get anything to work. Look through the hotkey folders for a .bat or reg file and click on it.

-James

 

Teo,
I tried everything, removed drivers, updated drivers, removed device, over and over. Best I could do was get hotkeyplus in both locations, same with hotkey. I took the drivers out of util2, it still found them somewhere else. I guess I'll have to wipe it and start again which I will do if you are sure it will fix the problem. Let me know what you think.
CAP
Planning to spend half of Sunday re loading the whole magilla .

 

The hotkeyplus was already installed but not complete. AS Zipp..(James) suggested try those file instruction to get/enter into the registry.

Thats how I explained at the beginnening of driver intallation that the hotkey plus must be installed mnually so that all files must enter into the registry.

teo

 

So you like the cf-18 capt.

I love these tablets i bought a cf-18 just to fix up play with it then sell it and after using it i fell in love with it. First thing i did was buy cf-19 to replace my cf-30.

Dont get me wrong i love the CF-30 to death but the cf-19 is just perfect. It is light weight easy to transport and use. I use the cf-19 as my primary machine and i LOVE it. All my other computers are collecting dust now lol

-James

 

James,
Yes, I love this sucker. I have printed out your instructions and am about to have another whack at it. I must have been typing when you were posting so I had missed your input when I replied to TEO. I'll let you know, maybe we can have a surprise for Alex when he's done with his Ian Fleming fix.
CAP

 

James, et al,
There are no bat files in either the hotkey or hotkeyplus folders for the MK2. I even downloaded the meitbn folder but it wouldn't unzip, "machine not supported"! So we'll have to keep digging.
I did however find one of these in the hell box, don't even remember where I got it.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/article_print.asp?date=0503&article=05031802panasdcarbustest
Drivers went right in and it works great! I'll put all my maps and charts for the GPS on SD cards and save the space on my hard drive. Check out the read speeds on this card. Also note the difference in SD cards. It fits right into the slot with the door closed.
CAP

 

Huh ok well try this. Try to add hardware manually. I think you can select this in the control panel in XP. Then select install software that i select box then click on show all devices and then next. Now click have disk and then hit browse. Goto your util2 folder and then into the hotkeyplus driver folder and select it now let this install and see what happens. It is worth a shot i guess.

I had trouble getting this to install on my cf-18. It would do what teo said and delete the hotkey plus driver when you install the hotkey driver. I am not sure why.

Does anyone know if the tablet buttons work on a non tablet pc windows? I know that the settings for these buttons are in the pen and tablet options in the Tablet version of windows but that does not exist in regular XP.

-James

 

James,
In device manager, system, I have both hotkey and hotkeyplus, both showing working properly one above the other. I don't know if it matters, but hot key app seems to install but I can't find it in programs or anywhere else. The COA, which very much looks original, is for XP PRO SP2 which is what the Panasonic configurator lists for this model.
CAP

 

Ok, a follow up on this frustrating thing

I have taken some of the ideas that James has suggested for his tablet
And after a lot of messing around have the buttons working , except the rotation

The rotation is not working in the windows aplication either
But it does change positions when I turn the screen manualy

I have such a mix and match of software and proceedures ,that I can't even explain how I got to this point
Tablet o/s, a mix of tablet drivers and touchsreen drivers , manualy installing clicking things to add this and that to the registry etc

I like teo's suggestion though
I am going to start from scratch and install xppro the correct touchscreen drivers ,rather that the digitizer drivers, and in that backwords order for the hotkeys,that he has suggested

Installing the second before the first makes no sence at all to me so that backwords way of doing it will probably work


Alex

 

Alex,
If you're going to do it I'll hold off, but all I have on mine is OS and apps, no data yet so all I'll lose is a few hours to wipe it and do it again. I couldn't get the drivers out, I'd remove them and reboot and they'd be back, even after I deleted the folders out of util2. The screen rotation app is working in the tray, I was getting too frustrated too try to set up the automatic rotation.
CAP

 

Hi! Thats the best thing you can do. Start all over again by reformatting the hardrive and fresh install then follow my posted instruction. I done that when the first time I can't make it things to work to this rotational touch button option. Good Luck.


BTW, for info only. I have three cf-18 right now all are touchscreen model not digitizer MK2, MK4 and MK5 and I used the posted intruction of mine and it all works perfectly both software and touch botton option.

ohlip

 

This is the correct procedure to have a smooth trouble free installation
Using this backwards approach is the correct way

Everything is working fine,all drivers and applications are now installed correctly

Cap, it's probably best to just do a wipe and load like I did and start off fresh

Teo i owe you one, If I get to Vancouver sometime I will take you out for dinner
I would like to meet the guy in person that would try such an unlogical approach as installing the plus driver before the reg driver



Alex

 

Alex & Teo,
OK, I know when I'm licked. I'll report back. Thank you so much gentlemen!
CAP

 

I've been trying to get that button to work and followed this thread, but no dice. I think I will start from a fresh disk myself. BTW, thanks Tomcat

 

Arrrragh!!
Just taking a break so I don't throw my new BFF overboard. Wiped the drive reinstalled everything in the prescribed order. The GD video driver won't go in, no way no how! Still no buttons and I have lost screen rotation, even with the button in the tray! Maybe it needs the Intel Graphics accelerator, I'll have to get it and figure out how to get it in there. Momma said there'd be days like this. Later, I wish I still drank.
CAP

 

Well, I went through the whole procedure again and I'm back where I was yesterday afternoon. Everything works except the f**king buttons.
I'm done for now its a great little machine even without the buttons. Ohlip, you and Alex got something going in that British Columbia water that's not making it to the right coast. Maybe another time, Mrs. Dogfish needs a break. I'd like to post the solution to the video driver install, but by the time I made the 50th attempt and it worked I was too frazzled to remember what I did
CAP

 

Ok thanks for all the info above. I have the buttons working. Where do I download the disp rotation software it will not rotate auto rotate the screen/

 

Hmmmm... Makes me want to pick up a CF-18 or 19.... Anyone want to swap a CF-28 or CF-29 for one?
You guys who have made the change from the 29s & 30s... How'd you cope with the smaller keyboard. I have pretty big hands and hate small keyboards. It's doable... But not comfortable.

 

Rick,
I'm a hunt and picker mostly. I'm not giving up the 30 just yet , the CF-18 is just so small and light and the screen is so bright that I'm taking to having it with me always, usually on with the USB GPS hooked up and I've got internet and email always. Kind of like a big blackberry but I can read the screen. This is the one I need internal GPS with.

Fire.ems, look on Panasonic.ca: chgdisp.zip and disrot.zip.

CAP

 

I'm with you TB.. My interest is peaked with the 18's also. I LOVE my 29, but the lightness and smaller frame will be better for me. What I would like to see is the pro's/con's of the 18 vs a 29. I think the 19 is too far out of my price range right now, but my wife needs to have her Toshiba Satellite replaced and I am thinking of getting her an 18, or getting me the 18 and giving her the 29. Any comments on that? And knowing that the 18 cant take internal CD drives, what power solutions do you guys use? Is it just one main battery and that's it? If so, what kind of life do you get? My 29, with MBB and main battery will get 7-7.5 hours, almost 15 hours when I use standby alot. What should I look for when buying one? I see alot of 1.1mhz processors on ebay right now, is that high-end/low-end for 18's?

 

Then you have the whole digitized VS Touchscreen thing....

 

Not me, touchscreen all the way. I lose pens WAY TOO MUCH!!

 

Ok well since i have had the 29 the 30 the 18 and the 19 i will give some opinions on what i think.

First off the great thing about the cf-18,19 is the size and weight. It is tiny compared to the cf-29,30. It is super easy to carry around anywhere you go.

The screen is 500nit or 540 with digitizer. Now it is bright enough for use but in the bright sun it does have it's down fall. It is readable but not as good s 1000nit of course. The cf-30 has 1000nit which is nice for outdoor viewing. The cf-18,19 compared to the cf-29 it is pretty much the same brightness so no change.

The keyboard does take some getting use to. At first it will annoy you going from a cf-29,30 to a cf-18,19. But after using it for a couple weeks you will begin to become comfortable with it. I have pretty big hands and fingers and i can use it without problems. I do not type 20 page essays on it just to type short things and do a lot of surfing.

The battery life is about 4-5 hours depending on usage and screen brightness. I run mine at about half brightness all day and with sleep mode it will last me an entire day. If i am on it the whole time it will be around 4-5 hours. There is only one battery with no options for a second MMB battery since there is no bay for an optical drive.

For drives i use a external dvd rom drive powered by usb and have not had a problem yet. I do not use a drive that much any way so the extra weight and size savings is nice.

Touchscreen vs Digitizer. I now have a digitizer and LOVE it. Yes using the pen sometimes sucks but it is just so much better of a feel. The handwriting to text is just awesome. I have had all my cf29,30 in touchscreen and yes it is nice but the digitizer just works better for me.

There is a small slot on the screen that holds the pen so you will not loose it or have to have it dangling down. I use the tether to keep it from going missing and it seems not to bother me. Since it is a tablet it is much better to have handwriting recognition so when you flip it into tablet mode you can just write on the screen to type in an address or word for searching etc. With the touchscreen you loose the keyboard when you flip it into tablet mode. Something to keep in mind.

The cf-18 was a great machine it is powerful enough to do jut about anything that my cf-29 did. I moved to a cf-19 because i loved the cf-18 so much after using it. I mainly moved over to the cf-19 for EVDO rev.A support as i use sprint.

The screen is a lot smaller then the cf-29,30 as it is only 10.4" but for most everything i do it is plenty big enough.

I would recommend a cf-18,19 to anyone it is a great machine.

The cf-18 went up to 1.2ghz i think on the mk4 and mk5.

I had a 1.1ghz and that seems to be most of what is on ebay these days. Just watch out for the specs as they can have gps,wwan, and touch or digitizer.

The major downfall to the cf-18,19 is they only have a standard non lit keyboard or rubber keyboard. My cf-18 had a rubber keyboard and well i hated it. I cannot stand the rubber keyboard there is just no feedback when you hit a key and they are hard to push down and that is a bad thing when you ar already working with a smaller then normal keyboard.

I would love for panny to have a emissive backlit keyboard for the cf-18,19. HINT HINT panny

-James

 

I've only had mine a few days, and had it working only for a day or so. It was love at first sight! It is only very slightly larger than a CF-m34, but is worlds apart from that. Its made like a real rugged toughbook, and except for the small keyboard (which is a little touchy to use) it is a real computer. Like I said, I won't be selling my CF-30 for office or home on the kitchen table, but when I'm on the road it sits very nicely on the seat next to me waiting to be picked in one hand to check an email or check navigation or look up a number in my contacts or whatever. I guess the big blackberry analogy is a good one, but you wouldn't use your blackberry to read email or surf the web at home, but you would certainly use the CF-18 for that and much more. I have a touch screen which I might like to change for a digitizer if I find myself taking a lot of handwritten notes on the screen. I started with the touch because I got a great deal on eBay, $331 for a complete MK2 with Bluetooth, 4 hour battery, Verizon wwan (may be upgradeable to EVDO) in like new condition, and because our friends in BC Canada pointed out that the digitizer uses up the internal serial port Ohlip uses for his em408 internal GPS hack. I can't remember when I've been so happy with a new purchase. I can't call it a toy because its no toy. Props to Panasonic for this one!
CAP

 

Gol Dangit! Now I have to buy one... You guys JUST couldnt walk away from this could you?

Jeez Cap... Whatta deal!


<Mutters something while walking away about buying yet ANOTHER Toughbook to add to the other 20 or so in the house>

 

Rick,
Don't say we didn't warn you! I promise you will love it, its just right if you know what I mean.
CAP

 

@TB... LMAO.. I was thinking EXACTLY the same thing as I was reading their evals when I hit yours! That is funny. Based on their reviews, I might be leading to the digitizer as well, but maybe Teo can chime in on his GPS hack. I would still like the em408, if I get a digitizer, does that mean no go to the em408?

 

I picked up my first CF-18 for $150 bucks and it was not working. It ended up only being a bad stick of ram that was causing it not to POST correctly. After removing the ram and getting a new batt and HDD i was on the go. There were a few other things i had to replace but all in all i spent around $350 for an upgraded CF-18. I got super lucky on that one tho haha

I am not sure why the CF-18 digitizer does not have a serial port. It is very strange that is does not have one. I know that i read somewhere that a tablet PC OS is not able to see a serial port or something. Maybe that is why i am not sure.

I do know that the CF-19 has a serial port on both the touchscreen model and the digitizer model. I checked the back of my cf-19 digitizer and it does in fact have a serial connection. I have not used it yet but it is there.

I think the OS is what limited the serial connection before and now maybe vista can use the tablet functions and have the serial port too i dunno.


Ya Toughbook you gotta get one. Since you have had all these TB's but never a CF-18,19 you gotta at least try it out i really think you and anyone else will love it.

Maybe buy a CF-18 first to make sure you like it then if you do move up to a CF-19. This is what i did first just to make sure that it was right for me.

-James

 

I am not sure how Teo is doing his EM408 on the cf-18 so cant really say on that but the CF-18 and CF-19 both have daughter boards for the GPS WWAN and bluetooth so you should be able to just go right off of there and do the EM408.

The GPS in a CF-29 is the exact same as a CF-18 just a different daughter board and bracket that it hooks too. And the cf-18 has a little plastic square bump on the side.

If you have a daughter board already in there from having WWAN or Bluetooth then you should be able to tap into that just like if you were doing the mod to a CF-29. I am not positive but it seems like this would be the case.


Maybe ask Teo what he thinks about that first.

-James

 

Yup... I'll try for one tonight... (CF-18)

 

gotcha!
Cap

 

OK a follow-up on my earlier comment on the missing 9 pin serial com port on the cf-18 Digitizer
This will have no effect on Teo's em408 mod
Its just missing the port , not the internal connectors
I really don't know why its done this way on the cf-18, its a mystery as the cf-19 digitizer has the com port
Its an issue to me as I like to hook up to and external gps the is not usb ,it uses the standard 9pin serial port


Alex