CF-51 Mk3LL - Wlan Adapter & SD Drive not showing in Bios

Hi.
I just got hold of a CF-51 Mk3LL - CF-51RCVDNBE - which has the WLan and SD Drive disabled/restricted within the BIOS (that is there's no mention of either the SD drive or Wlan adapter in the BIOS menu while they show in the PC info as "Disabled".

I guess I need to update/change the BIOS - current version is Phoenix V3.50L12M30. I have downloaded two BIOS updates but they require a 1.44 Floppy Disk, which I have no access to. I wonder whether anyone knows if there are any way to update the BIOS using a flash drive or external CD, or, perhaps, know of a way of getting into the BIOS to re-enable the Wlan adapter and SD drive. Any help or advice woiuld be much appreciated.

Thank you.

 

Hi!
Have a quick read through this:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/pan...os-updating-help-first-give-right-advice.html

Really does help to have the FDD! Are you in the UK by chance?

 

Thank you for the reply and the link.

I had a look at it. Most instructive. I already had downloaded the Bios files from the Canadian link mentioned. What I really am hoping to find out is whether I could attempt to update the BIOS with a flashdrive instead of a 1.44Mb floppy. I guess I can always get hold of an external floppy disk drive, but this will take a few days, and I was hoping to sort this thing out ASAP, or before leaving the UK for France on Tuesday (which should answer your question...). Cheers.

 

Looks like you have a later BIOS upgrade than my one.
If you can acesss the BIOS and set the boot order etc then I can't see why you wil not be able to use a bootable CD or USB stick.
As you can see I had problems updating and had to go lateral before upgrading to the L14 BIOS.
Anyway, as you are in the UK if you want to borrow either the correct FDD or the Panasonic external FDD then drop me a PM after you return to Blighty!

 

Thank you. That's very good of you. I might take up your offer if I still require help by the time I'm back.

About the BIOS, yes, I can access it and select the bootable order. I thought of putting the BIOS file on a bootable CD or flashdrive, and see what happens, but here I'm not sure of what files I should actually transfer, and whether they should be put on a special directory etc...

 

Afraid I am not much of a SW person. All I can tell you is that the latest version I found, the L14, sort of handled making the floppy all my itself! When I ran it, there was no MSDOS commands. Whereas the L10 you had to do it yourself, making the FD bootable, adding the files and typing the command.
I guess if you are more familiar with SW it's just a case of putting the right files on the bootable media.
Perhaps someone more knowledgable will be along soon!
Good luck!

 

At a guess you would need all the files (4) from that L10 version. At the prompt you would need to type BIOSUP.BAT to run.

 

That's kind of what I guessed. I might try it...

About the L14 version, it has a MKBUPFD file that automates the process seeking a FDD drive. I presume it copies some or all the other files that comes with the version onto the Floppy Disk, but can't be sure. Then again, for all I know it might do a lot more. I tried - and failed - to fool the MKBUPFD exe file to do its work with both a flashdrive and CD.

 

The MKBUPFD will only work with a FDD. It should work with a USB floppy drive. Or maybe MrRe could make the floppy and email the files on it to you. Then you could try to make a bootable flash drive with the files copied to it.

 

Actually I have just tried to read that FD! All I got was row after row of folders with what looks like + signs next to them, even though its 1.38mb and I know it worked. I remember seing something about making files hidden but can't see it anywhere. On the L10 floppy I can see the various files no problem!

 

Oh, I remember that now. The files are some something special that cannot be read in Windows.

Looks like he's stuck with trying to find a FDD.

 

Thanks for the latest information.

I copied the L10 version (a downgrade) onto my flashdrive and went ahead!

The good news: I now have the SD drive and parallel port working (this Port too wasn't showing in Bios).

The not so good news: No change with Wlan; it is still not showing in the Bios Menu. But I do recall reading that something similar happened to MrRe, so there's still hope.

Something odd, though: the Wlan no longer shows in the PC ibformation viewer, where before it was shown as "DISABLED".
Anyhow, pleased about the SD drive...

 

Good news! At least you haven't bricked it!
Sounds similar to my exprience. My wireless card did not work until I removed it from its slot and replaced it for some reason.
Having got that L10 Bios on there we can always try the L14 at a later date.
Unfortunately to get to it require some disassembly. You need to remove the speaker bezel by pushing up from the back over the hinges. Move the keyboard up and flip it back over the palmrest. Remove all the screws from the metal plate, including the ones in the middle. This plate can then be rotated 90 degrees to the right and the card is toward the bottom on the left!
Might be policy to see if the card is in the device manager.

 

Thanks, MrRe.

Even better news now: I got the Wlan adapter to work.

As the BIOS upgrade had fixed the SD drive and parallel port, I could think of no reason why the Wlan adapter shouldn't work. So I disconnected the CF-51 from the mains, took out its battery and let it sit for a while, hoping it would help the bios to reset itself on being started again. It worked. I didn't even need to install the drivers; it connected to the router using Windows 7 software all by itself.

With such a fortunate result, I'll leave things just as they are for now, I guess. But will try the L14 Bios upgrade at some other time. Why does it require opening the laptop, though? Isn't it just a question of getting the FFD drive? And what are the advantages of the latter version? As to having the laptop open, it's not really a problem as I had it open earlier today to check the Wlan adapter and SD drive were properly connected.

Thank you again.

 

Think I confused you. I was talking about acessing the wireless card!
Glad to see it's functioning.
To be honest I am not sure what if any advantage the L14 offers. Think it had something to do with upgrading to Vista in the documentation. The critical thing is to get rid of the M version Bios really.
Guess you will find out whether there are any problems.
Not sure why leaving it unpowered would do anything but we are prepared to take any offering the Toughbook Gods bestow upon us! Another trick to add to the things to try list.

 

When you install a WWAN card, on some TB's, you must remove all power to get the bios to recognize the card. I guess some WLAN cards are the same.

 

I believe that's right. It's as if the bios, once installed, needs a reset from 'cold' to detect the card/adapter.

You're right, I somehow misunderstood your previous message. About the L14 upgrade, if it's required to update to Vista, then it might not be needed as Windows 7 (Ultimate) seems to work very smoothly on both the L10 and L12 bios version. In fact, most of the Panasonic drivers don't seem needed - network, display, modem, tpm module, mouse etc. Only the sound and few specific Panasonic drivers appear required.Then again, I haven't used the laptop for very long and I might yet have to come across one or two malfunctions.

This CF-51Mk3ll is a great machine. I previously had a Mk1ll, and it was nowhere near as good or smooth.

Again, thank you for the help and advice.

 

That's what I am running on mine and no problems here and I did not load all the drivers...W7 updated most of them. Have you upgraded the cpu to a Core 2 Duo yet

 

Few days on and still working fine. So the Bios upgrading - or in this case downgrading - worked ok and, as I have yet to come across any problem, it does appear that Windows 7 installs most of the required drivers.

No. I just looked through a few posts on this site and gather it is easily done and would speed things up somewhat. What kind of gain (in percentages) would upgrading the CPU give? And wouldn't it mean the Toughbook would run warmer >> the fan come on more often >> the battery use more power and discharge faster?

 

I have done both the T7200 and the T7600...the T7600 I found it is warmer and the fan does run a lot but the T7200 is a lot cooler and the fan does not run as much so that being said it does not run hotter to a point that something is going to burn up. In petcentages I don't have a clue but it is much faster and it only cost me $35.00 ...battery is about the same as much as I can tell but my 51 is docked most of the time. If I am out and about that is when my CF-30 gets used...7+ hours of battery life...

 

It sounds good. It would be good to have some kind of idea of the speed gain, though.

Right at the moment I'll leave things as they are as I'm away, glad to have the ToughBook working perfectly and need maximum battery life, but if the speed gain is worth the effort/money, I'll look into it when I'm back -- probably the T7200 option. Cheers.