CF-19 BIOS update, prep for windows 8.

searched, but no luck. I have a CF-19C MK1, wanted to upgrade the bios before installing windows 8. (wanna give it a go)

but downloaded the bios and tried to put it on a USB key, but got only disk error fault. from here; Panasonic Mobile Computer Bios, EC, and Utilities Downloads

is this the right bios? I am doubting myself.. especially after I found this: bios_19_1_r060232.exe [0.91 mb] over at drivers download for "Vista Upgrade"..

what am I to do prior to install Windows 8...?

 

At the moment there is no "official" Panasonic support for W7 and the MK1.... What OS are you running right now? I would not even think about upgradign to W8, before you have it tweaked and running perfect on W7. There are a lot of threads on the CF-19 mk1 on W7 (including my own adventures in this at the moment).

I "think" the BIOS update you have mentioned above has to be installed via windows XP. If it is the same Vista one I poked at, then yes it does. If so, where in the process are you at? I am going to have to backtrace to fix this on mine (if I decide to bother). My plan of attack? Simple enough, sort my drive, clone it, install XP, install BIOS update, clone back.

I am sure one of the guru's on here will speak up shortly, and confirm, or deny this! I am pretty good at this, but these guys dream about it when they sleep at night...

 

This is from the jp site. I did a search for "bios and ec jp"

On the page for download there are notes in red that I assume are important.

Read the upgrade carefully as one is an upgrade to Vista and one is a re-downgrade to XP.

But maybe you should check your bios and ec first to compare numbers. With your special Model number these may not work at all. Your machine should tell you if not supported. I said should.

The instructions are on the instructions page and written in two sections. Most is pretty windy and not actually what you do. I'm referring to lines like where it says execute certain exe files. Like this one for example: (1) Select [Start]-[Run], enter “c:¥upbios¥wb191v16”, and click [OK].
I find the file in C: and double-click the Upbios gui.
You may want to look at this: bios upgrade winrar site:forum.note...8-cf-19-bios-update-problems.html#post5600557

Good luck.

I'm using Azrial's search tool here. Replace TEST with query. TEST site:forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic - Google Search

 

Yes but sometimes it turns into a NIGHTMARE :laugh: My self I would do the upgrade from XP. When its time to install W8 make notes on the install order. Write it all down because you might need to go back again and do it all over.

 

holy crap.... is it really so bad to get W7/W8 to work, I`ve seen alot of W7 driver threads though..

Can it be so different to get W8 to work regarding it is quite similar to W7..?

now i am not sure what to do, stick with XP or give it a go trying W8.. what are you guys running?, Would my machine have the muscles to run W7/W8?
got 3GB RAM, and just ordered a SSD.

edit:
Im on XP, just got the CF-19 yesterday so ofcourse my need for fiddling with everything is extreme!

 

Yes it is lol! I used to rebuild and restore laptops. With lots of experience playing with older Fujitsu, and Panasonic laptops. Basically, I have a decent idea of what I am doing. And I have never had these many issues with ANY other unsupported upgrade.

I have been using my CF-19 on W7 for a week now, and it is awesome! Now out of that week, I would say 90% of my time on it has been spent trying to get the drivers sorted. As I sit at a desk most of the day waiting for the phone to ring, that is a LOT of time spent working on this little project.

If you want a tweaking challenge, just W7 will supply that for you. Even while most of the drivers were broken, the performance on mine was still more than acceptable.

I am installing W7 ONLY because I need to learn it. Otherwise taking a clean running XP and skinning it with something worth looking at, would have been my path. My recommendation would be stick with XP, or upgrade to Vista if you just want something "pretty easy" to do. Panasonic supports Vista well on the MK1 CF-19.

If you want a challenge for the fun of it, go for the W7 upgrade! EXPECT issues, unless you do a quick W7 only driver supplied install. Almost everything will work "okay" with W7 drivers out of the box. But here none of us really like just okay.

I wouldn't bother with W8. Too much of a resource, space, memory, and processing hog. W7 might be pushing it some.

The SSD does seem to be the best bang for the effort, and buck.

EDIT: Oh and do yourself a HUGE favor. If you don't have it, grab a USB SATA adapter and a spare HDD, or a USB external HHD setup. Make a clone of your XP before upgrading. Shrink it down to basically just the used space. Then make another clone at each major accomplishment. Say at a clean install of Vista/W7, then a clean loaded install. I also clone the HDD after loadign it up with all my critical software and tweaks. This is just one way, and the method I used. But I can quickly "roll back" my setup this way.

 

thanks alot lustking! I actually now am 98% decided to stick with XP..
I really do not have the need for W8 or W7..

very useful tip you gave there regarding the cloning.. I am cloning the xp over to the SSD as we speak.

the 2% that remains is the doubt of having an SSD on XP, if I remember right XP isnt particulary nice with SSDs?
is it something to worry about, or are there some steps i should do to prevent perfomance drops/lifetime of the SSD?

you seem to know what you are talking about, hope to pick your brain here..

 

btw, where could i download the recovery cds for my system, or find a xp pro copy? wanna do a fresh install

 

I just checked ebay but nothing for the MK1...most of the time they are on there for $35.00

Woops...forgot you are overseas...s/h would be a deal killer for you

 

Thx for checking nails.. Guess I could contact rob and check if he has any for dl/sale again.

 

Haha thanks! Glad I can help some. Unfortunately, I have zero experience running SSD on anything.

As for a fresh install of XP, I would just use Panasonic's Download Manager and grab all the drivers. Use whatever XP disc you have laying around to make it, or well finding an XP .iso is easy. In fact, I have one here that is supposed to be just for the CF-19.

Where the difficulty might lie, is in the lack of installation support for XP. You have to jump through some hoops to install XP from a thumbdrive onto an SSD drive. It involves some command line rigamarole, and specialized programs (all free). There are plenty of good guides available to do so though.