CF-29 Wifi issue??

First, guess I should say hiya, long time lurker and never needed to ask as I always found an answer here. LoL

Ok, so I reloaded the CF-29 with XP (it's just for running diagnostics anyway) and during the process of installing and testing drivers I connected it to my house router without a problem, it was still connected with a LAN cable but the radio connected just fine.

Now comes the head scratcher (or banger), it will connect just fine to any of my other routers on the property (5 total) and all are exactly the same except names and passwords, but it will NOT connect with the router in the house again. (and other computers still will so we can rule out the router)

Ok, so here's what I have tried.
On the router, I reset the whole thing, gave it a new name and password, still won't connect.
Removed the password it will connect and work fine, but who wants an open router.
In the computer, I uninstalled the driver and the wifi, then reinstalled it.
I usually run things with Windows handling the wifi connection, but I tried it with whatever silly program provided by Panasonic and still wouldn't connect.

I'm not exactly a professional when it comes to this stuff, but by no means a novice either. I'm old, nearly bald and trying to keep what little hair I have left.

Any thoughts on this one??

 

Full model number of CF29?
Model number of wifi card?

 

Welcome to the Panasonic Toughbook Forum

Don't feel bad...most of us are in the same boat as you

 

Duh, it's a Mk2 with the Intel PRO set 2200(?) (need to double check that)

I guess I made some progress, or regress as it may be, now it won't connect to ANY router with a password.
And just for kicks, I have a couple of other CF29's I picked up as parts machines, so I stuck my hard drive in them and had the exact same issue. So at least we know it's a software issue of some sort. Perhaps a bad sector in the HD??

Maybe I should have just spent a little on a SSD before I went to the trouble of reloading an old drive.

As for the hair, Sheeze I figured most around would be young and beautiful, hand a problem like this to any 13 year old and it gets fixed.. LoL

 

Are you using Intel Proset as a connection manager?
If you are , disable it or uninstall it while keeping the driver.
Let Windows manage the connections..

Best solution is BUY THIS...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Engenius-EM...174?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf36b3506

 

Yup, using Windows connection manager, having tried to disable the Proset yet but have uninstalled it, and even uninstalled then reinstalled the driver.

I think you might have a good thought with replacing the card, gotta do some digging but I may have a different card that will work.

 

The card I linked is 600mw and the VERY BEST you can get for a CF29....
You will not be sorry with that card. Whan I had a CF29 and one of those cards I used a Cantenna and was connecting to a router that was close to 1/2 mile away....

 

The Engenius EMP-8602 plus card is a very good card. At one time we were all using this in our CF-29

 

Ok, I just opened up one of the parts units I have, since the keyboard was already gone it made sense. But either I'm seeing something else or this is the strangest looking wifi card I have seen yet. Should have taken a pic.

Or is the card located deeper inside on these??

And 1/2 mile range would be worth the cost of admission around here.

 

The card is on the bottom. You need to remove the base...And the performance is why I recommended that card...I still have the Cantenna around here somewhere....I don't use it anymore...

 

Ok, just went looking online and found you have to remove the bottom, DOH!! alright, I'm diving in to see if I have something that will work for now. Think I will pick up one of those EMP-8602's and drop it in later.

 

And..before you ask..It's a little newer than yours, but it will help a lot...The CF29 service manual...
http://tim.id.au/laptops/panasonic/CF-29N3LGZBM.pdf

 

Awesome!! Thanks Shawn.

Ok, got it apart and found a Broadcom BCM94306MP which of course came from a dell, but it was least dusty card in my box of computer parts. Put it in one of the parts machines, stuck in my HD and powered it up. It's working FLAWLESSLY!!
So I'm taking it the Proset cards are just junk?? Gosh and I thought Broadcom was bad, yuck. LoL
As for this issue, that seems to have fixed it but WTH caused it in the first place??

 

The 2200's were not the worst cards, the 2100 was....The 2200 worked sorta ok. But those Engenius cards are light years better and so cheap now...Intel Proset connection software had"issues". It's so much easier to just let Windows handle the connections.
Could have been some sort of driver issue..

 

Oh well, I will get one of the Engenius cards ordered probably after the 1st, in the mean time it's back together with the Broadcom card and working exactly as it should and I was able to finish off with the total reinstall. Poor thing was so clusterf***ed it could barely run, now at least it's usable and that was the goal for the moment. Doesn't get used a lot but when I need it the darn thing needs to work.

Been eyeballing some of the later Toughbooks, are they as tough as these older ones??

As for this one, it's going to get a SSD and new RAM soon, and I guess W7 unless I can find a way to run W8 on it. But the question remains am I better off with one of the newer ones or keep this one going as long as I can??

 

If you are looking for a newer one then look at the CF-30 MK2 or MK3. I have a Samsung 120GB SSD, 4GB memory with W7 and it run fast.

Better off with a newer one only because W7 will run very slow on a MK2. You really should have 2GB memory to run W7... CF-29 MK2 can not be upgraded to 2GB.

 

The main plus for a CF30 is sata drive ..

 

I'm on a CF-30K right now with a 128SSD and 4gb of ram,it has booted as fast as 18 seconds and works great. Now the nice thing is they can be had for less then $125 from the bay,running with drive.

 

hmm, now ya got me thinking.
Just curious what this one would do with a SSD and use ReadyBoost to up the ram with a flash drive or perhaps a SD card in a PCMCIA card reader, I'm thinking that card reader will fit in the slot and still let the lid close. (could be wrong on that) But that would boost the RAM and might make the CF-29 boot and run faster.

Another daft question, I wouldn't want to loose my touch screen, so if I managed to pick up a non-touch screen CF-30 cheap enough could I use the touch screen parts from the CF-29?? Since I have a couple of the 29's for parts that would give me more options in looking for a 30, if it will work.
Or what about putting a CF-30 motherboard in a CF-29 case?? How different are they?? (yea ok, so that's a couple of daft questions in one post)

 

Use a nano usb and it will fit in the usb next to the ac slot,but I think you will find it to be a minor difference.But give it a whirl and let us know.

PM me and I will show you where to get a dirt cheap MK3

 

No it will not fit in it. What you want to do is get a 30...it will be cheaper in the long run and as Shawn said the CF-30 is SATA and the CF-29 is IDE. For the 29 you will need to use a PATA IDE SSD which cost a lot more than your standard SATA SSD that will fit in the 30.

 

Yea, I thought about something like the nano usb, but I need need that one and only usb port for the OBDII cable or other cables required to connect it to bikes.
I'll look into a CF-30 and see if I can get one on my shoe string budget.

 

Well you are at the right place...we have guys that deal in shoe string budgets

 

Read this..
http://www.toughbooktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1385

 

Just ordered a 64gb for my 30Mk3 running Windows 7,let's try ready boost and see if it makes a difference.

 

should work great as long as you don't have a SSD in it...if so then ready boost is disabled

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ff356869.aspx

 

Well phooey, so much for that.

 

But if a person can get W7 running on a CF-29 ready boost does works very well. When I was running a 29 I used ready boost. The thing to remember is not all memory cards will run ready boost. We do have a thread on this some where and which cards to use.

 

Ok, I found a Digigear PCMCIA adapter that reads SD/SDHC and SDXC cards, and it fits in nicely and still lets the lid close so nothing is sticking out or using the one USB port that I need.

Trouble is, I had a 8 gig SDHC card sitting here on the table and now I can't find it. I know it will (or should) work for readyboost as I had been using it for that in an old Dell XPS M170.

I still like the idea of upgrading, but if I can make this do what I need it to do without dumping money needlessly I figure I'm ahead of the game. As for this card reader, even if I'm not happy with the CF29 performance with readyboost I can still use the card reader in a CF30 for storage and backups if nothing else so nothing is wasted. ;p

 

I had a similar problem. The house router worked fine on Toughbooks with the 2200 card, but the laptop would bluescreen when booting up around different routers. I used a free program called Driver update ( IOBIT ) which cured the problem.

 

I have a mark 5 with 1GB system memory that holds 2GB total.
Also some of the 256MB ( non touchscreen ) that I have will hold a 2GB DDR2 stick, bringing the total to 2.25GB. However, the 512MB models will not work with the 2GB stick.

 

I think you might of lucked out on it. This program puts a lot of crap on your laptop. Spyware..malware

 

what he said .

"I used a free program called Driver update ( IOBIT ) which cured the problem."
as he said , it is a vector for mal/scumware .
if you check in the malware removal forums , those that work with some of the nastiest stuff on a daily basis will warn you away from anything "IOBIT" .

i have removed IOBIT stuff and the "trappings" that came in because of their stuff from many infected comps .

 

I have run Avast, Stinger and SuperAntiSpyware free and not found anything, what do you suggest ( I am unemployed so free is best )

 

stop running "stuff" ... it can make matters worse .
i strongly suggest heading over to "malwarebytes" :
https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?/topic/9573-im-infected-what-do-i-do-now/
follow the directions to the best of your abilities and to the letter ... good luck .
they know their stuff over there ... good folks .