CF-29 couple quick questions...

Hey guys so my toughbook looks like it died. CF-29HTQGZBM with touchscreen and an idiot working for me spilled coffee on it while it was on and he said it shut off by itself. So pulled it all apart cleaned the coffee up and havent been able to get it back on since. May it R.I.P if I cant get it fixed...

Which brings me to my questions... Ive been made a deal on a CF-29NDLGFBM Mark5 with no touchscreen. Good deal as well so I may jump on it.

Can I remove the touchscreen from my Mark3 CF-29 and put it in this Mark5 CF-29 and it work properly? If I can is it hard to do?

Second... the mark5 already has an AT&T card in it but can it support a GOBI module?

Thanks guys

 

You can swap screens between all models of CF-29. But be sure to disconnect ALL power -- battery, adapter, and even the motherboard (CMOS) battery -- to avoid blowing fuses or other damage.

 

Awesome... so i should be able to swap my touchscreen from the mark3 cf-29 to the mark5 cf-29 with no problems?

What about the mark5 supporting the GOBI module?

 

you may get the touchscreen to work with the mk3 model to the mk5 but you may not have the needed drivers so you can calibrate the cursor accurately. It can be done, I'm sure with the right drivers. I usually just reload the panasonic restore disc that are specific to the laptop with the touchscreen drivers already on them. Just less trouble to me to do it that way. If you don't have the restore disc set check with some of the guys here as they may have some for sale........Driller

 

i can download the drivers for the mark5 from panasonic. Im just making sure its all "plug and play" so to speak. If I can swap it easily and have the touchscreen on the mark5 thats awesome because of some of the software we use for incident reporting and our cad software. I wasnt sure if I had to remove a board from the mark3 and if it would be compatible or not being the touchscreen is on the mark3. If you guys are saying that I can switch it with no problems and just install the drivers then thats awesome and I wont have to beat an employee to bad.

And ive been trying to look and google about GOBI on the mark5 cf-29 just havent had any luck and figured id ask. I have a GOBI WWAN Sled sitting here that was told works with CF-29 and CF-30 but I wasnt sure if the mark5 CF-29 was compatible with the GOBI Sled.

 

I wonder how it happened and why it should be dead while this machine can handle spill and spray of water. My wild guess is that there are port or ports or door open thats why the liquid penetrated inside the unit. But if all doors and ports are securely close you can't kill it by only a spill of coffee .


ohlip

 

I'm with Teo.(Ohlip) Won't turn on with battery?........power supply?.....does he/she use a lot of milk and sugar? Check the switch.
Could the cleaning have locked a key down? num lock, cap lock etc. check your lights if you have any. Happened to a customer of mine the other day. His girl friend cleaned his keyboard and stuck the num lock down.
Sorry no help on the Gobi. Any of the screens interchange. No issues and then a fresh install of Mark 5 and you are rolling.
FWIW

Jeff

 

it was docked in the vehicle dock replicator and he left his coffee in the vehicle on the dash and got a call and forgot it was there. it has the chicklet style keyboard and not the waterproof rugged one like our other toughbooks do. when i got there i removed the keyboard and poured the coffee out of it and when i removed the battery and harddrive they were both covered in coffee so im guessing it somehow leaked into the battery and harddrive bay.

it will not power on at all either with battery or a/c and when its plugged in with the keyboard removed and top cover open where the keyboard cables go thru you can now smell an electrical burning smell. when its plugged into a/c the battery charge light does not come on at all.

he said when it spilled the toughbook was on and the screen dimmed and then it shut off completely. all the led indicators turned off and the charge/power light did not come back on.

 

Oh, T E X A S coffee...good thing no one was smoking nearby.

 

hahaha now now just because it may melt thru a coffeecup doesnt mean nothing.

anyways... does anyone know if a GOBI sled is supported in a CF-29 Mark5.

 

It can be done! the CSA application from pana required the unit to have a panasonic misc driver for XP. What you need to do is look for panasonic misc driver from other unit/model that can be install to CF-29. Some model when you fresh insatalled the Xp it gives a least three unknown device and one of those is a misc. driver but cf-29 has none. Assuming you already installed all the drivers for the unit. You can force the misc. driver thru hotkey driver under sytem on device manager. When the misc. driver is installed, now! the CSA app can be install on the unit but make sure the dip switches on the Sled is set to HSPDA setting in order to recognize the modem first on the bios and make it enable. If you don't know the setting, you can do it by trial and error. After CSA package was installed and the modem recog. go to device manger again and update the misc. driver back to hotkey once again in order to function all the hotkey once and for all.


ohlip[

 

well im going to be installing windows 7 on it when I get it back in my hands so.... If the GOBI sled will work in the CF-29 Mark5 what do i need to do to get it to work and install on Windows 7 for AT&T?

 

Why?
Isn't Bill Gates rich enough already?

 

Haha I like Windows 7 and havent had any problems with it and we use the Direct Access feature to tie into the the office.

So if the GOBI sled will work in the CF-29 Mark5 what do i need to do to get it to work and install on Windows 7 for AT&T? Ive gone to panasonic and found the various software and drivers for the Sleds and GOBI CAS is listed.

 

I'm just wary of the 29's specs handling W7. Who needs the newest OS if everything slows down to a crawl?

 

So far no one has provided me with sufficient enough reasons to:

1) Go through all the efforts to install and configure "Windows 7th Attempt" < > on my CF-29s; and/or,
2) Make Bill and Melinda Gates even more $RICH$ than they already are!

 

I havent had any problems with it on all of ours and it handles just fine with no hiccups.

 

So if I download the latest CSA for the GOBI from panasonic I should be able to get the GOBI Sled to work in the Mark5 CF-29? Ive got the toughbook drivers and the windows vista upgrade drivers and instructions for the CF-29 on the panasonic website.

 

So got the newer Mark 5 in and loading it with Windows 7. I am having problems trying to get Mobilink to install so i can use my HSDPA sled for AT&T. Ive gone to the panny site and downloaded the wireless carrier software for both the novatel eu730 and novatel eu860d. Running windows xp on a seperate hdd mobilink reports its a novatel eu730 card. When I run the Mobilink HSDPA AT&T installer for the novatel eu730 it gets almost all the way done and then rolls back changes and cant finish. Ive got the WWAN card turned off, even tried it turned on and its the same story.

Does anyone know what the problem is? Panasonic shows it as the latest version available and supports Windows XP SP2 or Vista.

 

Does the Win 7 install the drivers for the Novatel card? Look in Device Manager. If so, try the AT&T connection manager from AT&T.

If the drivers aren't installed, you could try to update them manually with the drivers extracted from the Panasonic.msi in the Mobilink2.2.30.zip file and then try the AT&T connection manager. If you can't extract the drivers, PM me and I'll Email them to you.

Or you could try the Mobilink3 software, which does work with Win 7 but, is for the EU860D.

https://panasonic.ca/PCS/Software/MobiLink3_v3.00.21.005.zip

 

OK guys... ive got it up and running except for the novatel hsdpa sled and 2 mysterious unknown devices in device manager. I installed windows 7 ultimate and had to use the xp and vista drivers. I had a problem with getting the vista versions of some panasonic software to work cause it kept giving me the can't access the panasonic misc driver, but the xp versions of the ones that gave me problems installed. The hot keys are working, i got the touchscreen swapped over and calibrated, even got TPM installed and initalized, just can't get mobilink to install for the novatel hsdpa sled for at&t.

The WWAN modem shows up under the modem category in device manager as Novatel Wireless Expedite HSDPA Modem as windows 7 installed the drivers for it apperantly. Mobilink tried installing gets 3/4 way finished and then starts rolling back and says it was interrupted. Im going to try the AT&T Communication Manager and see what happens and maybe it will let me connect.

Ive been trying to figure out what these 2 phantom unknown devices are. Ive told it to search the computer, vistaup and utils folders for drivers but it can't find anything. I tried installing bluetooth and it said the computer wasnt compatible, and BIOS is not reporting GPS. Im not sure if maybe something extra is turned on in the BIOS or what the problem is...

Any suggestions on Mobilink or my 2 phantom items?

 

Got the 2 phantom drivers figured out. Re-did the panasonic misc driver and panasonic software and fixed it. Still trying to figure out mobilink but Im going to find another mini pci-e card probably sierra and put it in the sled and go on with that.

 

Here's one I have been considering: Unlocked New Sierra MC8781 HSDPA 3G+GPS+Voice+​Antenna.

 

db04p71 was telling me hes got some sierra wireless hsdpa cards in his sleds and using them with no problems and he removed them from the USB modems like the 875U so I got an 881U im going to dismantle and put the card in my sled and check it out. The MC8781 is the card in the 881U so Im going to try it and see what happens. Im tired of trying to figure out the damn novatel problems.

 

The Novatel HSDPA modem is working fine in my Mk5 CF-29 (CF-29NDLGFBM).

But, then again; I use Windows XP Pro instead of "Windows 7th Attempt."

BTW: have you tried Novatel for drivers?

 

the novatel card shows its installed and windows 7 installed the drivers for it and it shows in the device manager as Novatel Wireles Expedite HSDPA Modem. I just can't get mobilink to install as it keeps rolling back. I have installed the AT&T comm mgr and it registers the card as a valid HSDPA WWAN card to connect with. Me and AT&T have been going around and around because I keep getting ERROR 668 This connection was terminated.

Ive never had any problems with sierra wireless cards an own a few physical PC cards I use in mobile routers. Plus the novatel card I have on my sled is the slower HSDPA EU730 card and not the faster one.

 

Error: 668 connection was terminated

FACT:
Communication Manager 5.x

SYMPTOM:
Error: 668 connection was terminated
Error: 668
Modem/Tethering

ADVISORY:

IMPORTANT: Do not run the Device Wizard in Communication Manager if you are using a PC card modem. Doing so may adversely affect the stability of your connection to the AT&T wireless network. If the Device Wizard was inadvertently executed, see this article to re-establish the communication between the PC card modem and Windows.

1. Verify the correct Connection Profile is being used in Communication Manager.
○ New and existing AT&T wireless services customers: The standard Connection Profile is "EDGE/GPRS Accelerated" unless the user has subscribed for other options for an additional monthly service charge.
○ Former AT&T Wireless customers: The standard Connection Profile is "Cingular Proxy [Default]" unless the user has subscribed for other options for an additional monthly service charge.
2. If the correct Connection Profile is not being used, select accordingly and attempt to reconnect.
3. If no Connection Profile profile, create a new Connection Profile.
4. If unable to connect access Device Manager.
5. Uninstall drivers from Device Manager.
○ Identify which drivers are installed for this modem.
○ Right-click on the appropriate driver.
○ Select Uninstall.
○ Repeat as necessary until all devices are removed.
○ Remove or disconnect the device from the laptop.
6. Restart PC.
7. Restart Communication Manager.
8. If using a PC card insert the card into the computer. For tethered handsets run Device Installation Wizard in Communication Manager.
9. Attempt to reconnect.
10. If still unable to connect and receiving Error: "668 connection was terminated" contact AT&T Customer Service for wireless customers for further troubleshooting.

If you are viewing information on devices or services, please note: content reflects instructions for devices and services purchased from AT&T.
Some differences may exist for devices not purchased from AT&T.

↑ https://www.wireless.att.com/support_static_files/KB/KB53623.html↑

BTW: I'm using AT&T Communication Manager Version 7.02.0610.0 for my at&t Mobile Broadband and local wireless Ethernet connections.

ps: These at&t Answer Center Dial-Up Networking (DUN) Error Codes might come in handy down the line.

pps: After all the above, I just discovered this tidbit:

SOLUTION
So if you find yourself getting the “668 terminated” message, the solution is really simple. You aren’t supposed to do this, but you just need to make one little change to the profile. Just change the “Access Point Name (APN)” value from “ISP.CINGULAR” to “WAP.CINGULAR” and you should be good to go.

 

Ok so I removed the mini pci-e card out of a sierra wireless aircard 881U, which is a MC8781 sierra wireless hsdpa module, and installed it in the panasonic sled. It does work perfectly, but I could not get the AT&T Communications Manager to work with the card. The sierra 3G watcher that is built into the card or the newest version for the card that is windows 7 compatible on their website works great and the card connects.

The AT&T comm mgr refused to install the correct sierra drivers on windows 7 and installed just a Standard Modem driver, but since the MC8781 in the 881U usb wireless card is a USB version HSDPA module sierra has a mini storage device built in to the card that has the sierra tru-install software to install the 3G watcher built into the card. It does work with windows 7, but the latest version of the Sierra Wireless 3G watcher is fully windows 7 and windows 7 mobile broadband compliant.

 

I have 2 of those 881U's that I unlocked the card and the GPS on them. I had the ATT software working fine with XP. It's been a while but I think the correct drivers did install with XP. Several sites give a lot of info on using the GPS on them. Don't remember the sites at the moment.
I had some issues trying them in a Mk3 Verizon sled, but the USB setup worked fine. I ended up not using the cards anyway. Anybody want em cheap? They just collect dust now.

 

You might have a heat-damaged circuit board somewhere. Here in AZ there's more heat than many circuit boards can deal with, so I've learned over the past 30 years that before I trash something I'd rather keep I'll look at the circuit board real close. Sometimes a minor meltdown will simply cause some solder to run over a nearby circuit, without the loss of a component part. Using a sharp blade and two pair of reading glasses, I've cut the solder back to where it's not touching. A quick shot of clear laquer to diminish potential shorts and many times it's gone back into service. Be sure to inspect ALL the boards, as there may have been several shorts develop at the same time. (Sorry, I'll have time to learn the ID process later)
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cf-29LAQGZBM 1.5GB 320GB DVD/RW(UJDA-840 Mod)
USAF:MsgtRet Just Looking for Upgrade Info and tossing my 2cts worth in.
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