CF-18 MK2 WWAN Sled Mini-PCI Mod?

I was wondering i it would be possible to solder a Mini-PCI connector here on the sled (and SB555) that came with my toughbook for a second wireless card or something else if anyone can think of anything.

I work in networking and computer repair and my toughbook CF-18 is my weapon of choice. but i would like some more features.
i was thinking this
http://www.custom-toughbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66&products_id=183&zenid=bfdc93414cbbba7c2e888592a1498d89
but its realy expencive and my phone already has gps. i know i could mod things in myself such as bluetooth but another wireless card would be useful too.

Does anyone know if the usb lines on CN18 go to the Mini-PCI connector?

Also what are all the connectors on the card for?
CN1 goes to CN16 on the motherboard
CN2 unknown
CN3 (i cant find or dosnt exist)
CN4 looks like it goes to the Mini-PCI card pins. so maybe its for an led.
CN5 is for the official gps
CN6 is the Mini-PCI
CN7 is for the official bluetooth.
CN8 (i cant find or dosnt exist)
CN9 is for the SB555 that i have.

I know on the underside one is for a simcard but cant find a CN number

is there a list and photos of all the official options that come with this toughbook?

anyway some explanation of my options would be lovely. thanks guys

Danny

 

Danny -

Your first question I can answer for ya; NO. The Mini-PCI is a different bus type; it is PCI. USB is... Universal Serial Bus. The PCI bus is the same as in your desktop PC; it is where you install add-in cards (like a USB adapter) to the system.

As for the rest... our other members have the schematics available; but if you want to see what can be done, check out the CF-29 FAQ and the Resource thread at the top of the forum for hacks on the CF-29. For the most part, pretty much anything you can do to the CF-29 you can do to a CF-18.

mnem
Flattened.

 

Man i knew all that. Have a look at the photos. I want to solder a Mini-PCI slot to the sled where it has the traces there already and install a 2nd wireless card or another Mini-PCI card. I want to know if anyone else has done it or will it work? Some of those schmatics might work. I'll have a look when i have some time or someone can link me.

 

i think i might just do it, judging by the number of responces ill assume noone knows

 

I will send you some info


Alex

 

Danny -

Get your DMM and trace the connections from CN2 to see if it traces out to some of the solder pads where you want to try and install that mini-PCI slot; after taking a closer look at the relevant photos, I suspect it provides the upper registers for your Mini-PCI slot. If so, you'll need to find out where on the MB that ribbon cables goes (Look and see if you don't have some missing buffers/controller ICs in that area.

Here's the standard pinout for a Type III Mini-PCI:

http://www.interfacebus.com/MiniPCI_Pinout_124Pin.html

mnem
This could be VERY interesting...

 

Thanks Alex and mnem.

I've looked at the pdf you sent me Alex but not in depth. ive been a bit busy. i think ill print it out so i can see them all at once (and my printer is ran out of ink today after 3000 pages(go laser printers!)).

I had a look at the 10Mp photos i took last time i had it open and it seems like all the IC's are there. But i only have photos of one side of the board(bottom side).

I left the sled out last time i opened the toughbook and on the sled there seems to be some caps missing that might have been there if the optional mini-pci slot was soldered on (and then probably other caps removed for say CN9 and CN2).

i looked up one of the IC's that goes to CN9 and CN2 and heres what i found.

PI3C32X384B: 2.5/3.3V, high bandwidth, hot insertion 20-bit, 2-port bus switch in 48-pin TSSOP package. Operational temperature range from -40°C to 85°C. http://www.chipdocs.com/datasheets/datasheet-pdf/PERIC/PI3C32X384.html

intresting... this has me more intregied by CN2. does anyone know what connects to CN2 officialy? (never mind i found out http://cgi.ebay.nl/Panasonic-CF-18-...ryZ77206QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem )

I traced some of the solder pads from the mini-pci connector to the ribben cable by eye.
the Mini-pci connector does seem to have a lot of pins unconnected but that is normal when the pci slot is for one purpose only (say wifi and not audio).
so noone has any idea what it ment to be there officialy?

i looked more at the sled and mine is a
"DL3UP1281BBA -- 2 CDMA 4F" printed on the white sticker
and
"DFUP1281ZA(1) -- RF-PCB PbF -- MADE IN JAPAN"

(" -- " is new line)

if you google DFUP1281ZA it comes up as a gps or a gprs depending on the result.

Does anyone have a pinout of the ribbon cable that goes from the sled CN1 to the MB CN16?

What will probably end up happeing is ill just get a mini-pci connector from work (i work at a computer repair shop) and solder it on and see what happens. ill need to find a raised one tho because that CN9 has pins soldered to it for the old SB555 and will get in the way.

Danny

 

Danny -

After spending some time searching my usual industrial suppliers, I have come to one conclusion:

NOBODY WANTS TO ADMIT THEY EVER MADE MINI-PCI SOCKETS.

No matter where I look, NOBODY even has a listing for them; it defaults straight to Mini PCI-E.

Even looking through my oldest DigiKey PAPER catalog; SAME STORY.

*MutterMumbleGrumble*

Looks like you may need to "liberate" the connector you want from some defective piece of equipment; do you have a hot air rework station available?

On an interesting side note; I DID discover THIS in my research:

http://www.commell.com.tw/product/Peripheral/MiniPCI/MP-6421.HTM

Seems like the simplest means for those wanting to try a CF storage solution; also might be able to adapt for using a full-size HDD and/or optical drives in various flavors or a modern SATA interface SSD.

Still trying to find a price in the States; most of the suppliers I've found are UK or Aussie. I found one supplier offering for $99; that seems a bit usurious to me.

mnem<~~~ Alternative Scaly ~~~<<<

 

Yer the plan was to de-solder one from an old laptop. That shouldn’t be a problem. I know the old p4 Toshibas with the Radeon GPU had a raised mini-pci slot. But now I need to find a broken one.

I don’t have access to a hot air station I was thinking either I make my own out of an electric paint stripper that way I can use it again, I just need to make sure I don’t melt the socket. Or if it gets to complicated I will just cut it from the board and then sand it away or cook it off the board from the other side using the paint stripper.

That card you found is awesome as! Assuming I can boot from it I would move my Toughbook to SATA so I have the option for SSD or massive HDD's .
Here's what I was going to do originally with the HDD. Convert either to Micro-SD or CF cards. (Just so everyone knows the CF connector is exactly (or close enough) electrically to be IDE, so you just need a wire converter to 1.8” HDD aka CF card socket. For more information look up “Microdrive”).
http://www.dpie.com/pc104/sdide40.html
Or
http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_memory_reader/adeb44idecf.asp
Or
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Dual-CF-to-4...iewItemQQptZAU_Components?hash=item3efc14aaba

I’ve got an adaptor at work that would allow you to adapt that 44 pin IDE to full size HDD’s. You would need 12V external power though.
Its just one of these
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/2-5-to-3-5-I...iewItemQQptZAU_Components?hash=item414bd519c9
But you then you plug in an IDE cable to the 3.5” end and don’t plug in power to the power plug,
If you can find one of these adaptors except with cable where the black part is and with the same male and female configuration then your set. That’s the best type we have at work and it’s much stronger.

Just something interesting I found in my research http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/howdoi-turn-onoff-usb-light-by-time-514863/

And please more interesting research things. I love that stuff.

Danny

 

just some other things to put into a Mini-PCI slot
Gigabit Ethernet or a extra COM ports:
http://www.axiomtek.com.tw/Download/Spec/ax92200_ax92202_ax92203.pdf
or some 600mw WIFI
http://amertradela.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=96
http://amertradela.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=95

Danny

 

Yes, I'm familiar with the CF~~>PCMCIA adapters; unfortunately, in most cases you cannot boot from the PCMCIA slot. It is not usually supported in the BIOS, except for SOME SCSI adapters, which means Windows has to load drivers before it can find Windows to load the drivers...

Connecting via the PCI bus SHOULD be a workaround for that; of course, it depends greatly on how address translation is done in the case of that SATA/IDE/CF card - it may or may not boot from any of those interfaces. I'm also certain a great deal depends on the BIOS of a particular machine.

I'm curious about that card; just not $100 worth of curious.

I have a number of those ATAPI ~~~> ATAPI6 adapters; they're what I typically use in my old print server for cloning HDDs or prepping & copying files for DOS install of Windows. Just pop it in one of my removable HDD caddies, boot from floppy or CD, and git 'er done.

mnem
Or maybe I should just go see a movie...