CF-18 drivers not working

Hi everyone, I'm an american living in china. I just bought a used cf-18djazxkm bios version is 2.10L10. The previous owner had put the chinese version of xp pro on the machine and everything except the front buttons and wireless card works on that. i just put a copy of xp pro sp3 on another partition so i could have a dual boot. i downloaded the drivers for the cf-18 mk 2 from the panasonic japan site and tried to install them starting with the os inf file since i think that was first on the list that i found in one of the posts. but when i try that file (or any of the others for that mater)all i can get is a machine not supported error message. Can anyone tell me what i need to do in order to install the drivers

 

Make sure you downloaded the right drivers for your unit. Your unit is a touchscreen model not didgitizer. Read the FAQ above and it will lead you to other panasonic site that has the right drivers.


ohlip

 

right, i checked that 2 or 3 times i downloaded the mark 2 drivers (the d,e series) from http://pc-dl.panasonic.co.jp/cgi-bin/itn/toughbook/dl01.cgi which i had found in the FAQ before, i have been trying to read all i could on here since i decided last week to get a toughbook.
i tried the os inf one for the mk 1 and 3 as well as the mk 2 just in case i had some weird build. they gave the same message. i even re downloaded the mk2 ones to make sure i hadn't downloaded the wrong ones. still no joy.

 

See if this will unextract

Link
http://www.panasonic.ca/PDP/Drivers/intelinf_18_2_d030876.exe

Thats the first driver to install it's the intel chipset driver for your mk2 model


Alex

 

no i wouldn't self extract. but a friend of mine came over and showed me how to use 7zip to extract the drivers. so i have everything,, including the extra cool hotbuttons, except the wireless working. i'll keep working on it so see if i can get that going too just to double check it should be the intel 2915abg wirelessnetworkadapter right?

 

Cowboy -

Have you eyeball verified that you still have the Intel 2915 WiFi in your unit? Could have been replaced with another model at some time in the laptop's history... Just a thought.

Good luck,

mnem
*Waves to his dragon-ish cousins from across the sea*

 

or just removed a not so endearing trait of second hand markets here. i'm not so skilled at laptop repair (well i guess better to say i have 0 experince) where should i look and is there anything i need to be careful of while i'm doing it?

and thanks to everyone who has replied so far i appreciate the help.

 

Your best bet is to go here:

http://modly.net/servicemanuals/

Modly hosts a number of Toughbook service manuals; he has one for the CF18N series, though things shouldn't be noticeably different for your model.

mnem
Heh... Manual feed!

 

Additional comment on driver installation: If it doesn't extract and you are sure its the right drivers for the unit you may use also WINRAR.

Regarding your wi-fi, if you are not comportable of dismantling the unit and your sure there is a card on it you may install the driver by hooking up the system using the ethernet to hook up to internet and from there go to device manager, network adapter and the one with yellow mark probably the network card. update the driver by using or looking the right the driver from the net. by choosing "look on the internet" It will automatically look the right driver for your card and install it.


ohlip

 

wow after downloading the manual i think i would be better off not digging that deep into my new toy. I windows doesn't auto detect a wireless card and i do have all the intel wireless drivers installed and i have no unidentified devices, so my uneducated guess is it's either off, dead or not there. It's not that big of a deal i guess, i can just pick up an external card. I was able to pick it up for a hair under 300 bucks and they only other problems is the generic replacement stylus, the ac adapter cover isn't so great and it has a 20gb hard drive in a homemade caddy made from foam

 

Check the bios first maybe the WLAN is disable if it does, enable it and then save and exit. Can you access on the bios?


ohlip

 

sorry about not replying for so long i had to move and just got a chance to post again. I played with the options in the bios there is not specific wlan option but i played with the options for all the ports and it still didn't work. i'm going to just assume it was removed somewhere durring the chain of ownership. I don't think i'm skilled enough to be digging so deep into the guts so i'll just get an external wi-fi card. Thanks to everyone for all your help

 

KFC... Yes... You CAN do it. Al you need to do is to take out the screws that hold down the speaker and then the remaining screws on the bottom and then the bottom plate just pops off. (After you release the port covers as they are attached to the bottom and plug into the sides.)

Come on... Don't make us come over there!

 

ok so i took off the speaker panel and then the back plate thanks for the enccouragement it was easier than i thought) the wireless card is definately not there but neither is the cooling plate i read about that is supposed to be on the speaker plate. so how bad is the missing plate? it obviously compromises the water resistance since there are 2 screw holes that are now open.

also what is the easist replacement for the wireless card?there were 2 wires next to that area are they antenas for the wireless card? is it just plug it in and install the driver or is their more to it than that?

 

You have to know what you are doing before you hook up the extra wires there
There is four antenna wires usually
wi-fi, wwan,bluetooth + docking station connecter and they are different colours
You need the service manual to do this properly
It shows where the 802.11 card is located etc
PM me for the link


Alex

 

when i had it openi saw 3 unconnected wires one was near the microphone headphone outlet it's for blue tooth if i was reading other posts correctly.

i downloaded the cf-18 manual listed on modity(is that one ok? it's for a cf-18n). On page 45 it shows 2 wires going to the wireless card. if north is towards the screen pivot it shows a wire coming from near the pivot and attaching to the card on the north connector and a wire coming from the east that connects in the south connector.

do the connectors on the antenna wires connect by pressing/snapping onto the wireless card, soldering(god i hope not) or something else?
and is there more to it than putting the card into the slot and connecting the antennas according to the diagram? step 4 on pg 44 seems to imply it is pretty straight forward but I remember a few times when my car's service manual did the same thing and it was anything but. Anything to be especially careful with?

 

It looks like you have it figured out then
The connecters are push-on, and quite easy to attach


Alex

 

thanks. should i just get a intel 2915 wireless card like was originally there or is there another card that is better and as easy to install?

 

If you are going to have the case open to change the card, you may as well put in the biggest and baddest...which right now seems to be the (Atheros 600 I believe) mentioned in several of the threads.