CF-28 Stuck Floppy Drive

Hello all! New to toughbooks (and the forum) and I already have two cf-28's. Was in the process of upgrading my newest cf-28 and needed a floppy drive for some reason.

Anyway, the floppy that was in there was broken, so i pulled it out, and put my working floppy from the other cf-28 in. I did whatever it was i needed to do, went to pull it out, and the release only goes about halfway then locks up. Pushing it further still doesn't release the drive. Its almost as if something is caught where it shouldnt be.

I've tried getting it out from the front, no luck..nothing to grab onto. I've tried disassembling the system and can't seem to get it open (probably because the drive is stuck in there). I have the service manual and have followed disassembly instructions exactly. And I am well aware that one of the first few steps is removing the drive in order to open the case.

For some reason writing post on this site is painfully slow so I'll stop here. Keeps saving drafts every two seconds

 

Just to be clear....the drive is locked in the machine or the floppy is locked in the drive?

I pulled a DVD drive from a CF-28 and it seemed locked at halfway....so I pushed harder.

The bottom of the lower drive half acts as a spring. The MP release pushes on this spring to unlatch the end of the spring from the lower toughbook case.

A real computer tech told me one time to (on a padded bench) "drop" one end of the computer on the bench. Give it a little jar.

I had a CF-29 one time that when installing the hdd I had to do it with the computer lying on it's lid. (defective tab in the caddy)

I don't see why you couldn't lift the floppy drive a tiny bit with a butter knife.....testing..........................................................Might work....there is some up down motion to the caddy. I lifted the caddy and then used the MP Release.

 

Drive is locked in the machine. Pushing harder unfortunately doesn't free it.

 

That's a butter knife holding the the plastic doohickey up. Exaggerated for the photo op.
The rectangular gizmo is what the drive is latched to.

I'm thinking your MP Release part is worn.

Slide a butter knife in on the right side of the latch and feel for the plastic runner piece.......slip the knife under it and then try your MP release.

The "butter knife" is any thin strong non sharp device. If it has sharp edges give the edges a quick burnish with a screwdriver shank. (Knock off sharp parts)

 

Still have been unsuccessful in freeing the drive.

 

Strange. I just did the above butter knife thing and it unlatched at half-way with the MP release.
So what if the MP latch is not moving the slider piece.......then it's time to try the old coat hanger trick. Either sliding a loop of wire in or using a 90 degree bend.

I just used this to unlatch a floppy. The handle is bent to show what direction the point is pointed.

If you have a second 28 there, you can see the route. Again to the right of the metal tab on case bottom.

 

Would it be simpler to just remove the entire bottom of the laptop?

 

Josh went there....see post one.....

Push the floppy door open and there is a hole on either side. The blue hook will pull it but what needs to be done is spring the plastic part upward (bottom of the drive).

This is what is holding it.......second batteries don't have the thicker section. Hard to describe..

 

Can you move the drive at all left to right while trying to release it ?

 

Not much motion available. Oooops....this is old plastic. broke the white piece.....latch still works though.

It's like picking a lock or using a slim-jim on a car door.

 

Success!! I was finally able to get it out. What a mess. The metal top of the drive caddy was completely tweaked right at the back, similar to the end of a partially crushed can but not nearly as dramatic. Didn't go in there like that I'm pretty sure.

At any rate my good drive is now surely toast. I'm planning on upgrading them (both CF-28's) to CD anyway. Nice to have that floppy every now and then just in case though.

Now if I could just get past this BSOD loop on a win 2k to xp upgrade on the one then I'm good..

 

I have multiple CD and DVD for 28/29's and a few spare CF-28 if you are interested. Yes you need a floppy of some kind for getting USB in the boot order.....PlopLinux.





So you need a working XP?.....Let me see what I have.

Welcome to the forum and good show on the success.

Jeff

 

I have a working XP install CD, but no service packs in that CD. I think this computer needs an XP install with service pack 2. There are some critical fixes in sp2 that address driver IRQ errors. My bsod points to a driver that windows tries to install during the driver installation process, then the BSOD occurs.

 

Incidentally I ordered a CD drive from china that has yet to arrive. Been almost a month.

 

I have an alert saying you've attached a file Sheepman, but I can't seem to find it. Forgive a newb

 

Attached file was an accident. I may have SP-2........now where did I see that?

I answered your PM, let me know if you get it.