CF-51 Project Part 2

If at first you don't succeed, buy another one!
Whilst not as desirable as a duo, I have obtained another 51. For those who like the numbers its a CF-51ECKDRBE Pentium M 1.6Ghz!
It is missing the screen and bezel and caddy of course but as with the 74, I guess if I am patient those bits will turn up.
The other option is to see whether the whole screen assembly from the duo can just be swopped over. I know I read somewhere there were differences in the cables but that should be easy to spot.
Still a bit concerned over what the duo did to 2 previously working IDE Toshiba 3018GAS drives unless I have overlooked some incompatability problem. I have got the recommended Samsung HM160HC coming but am a bit concerned over toasting that as well. I have searched but I cannot find what the OE HD would have been.
The duo came with the plastic tray and IDE cable but not the actual caddy. The Bios recognises the HD but will not load an OS.
Basically I am just hoping to arrive at something slightly better than my faithful 72 which with its limited VRAM and wireless card is struggling a bit!
Any advice/comments appreciated!

 

The thing you call the plastic tray is the caddy . What you are missing is the foam and metal cover. What I did was use a Silicone Skin Cases in mine , it fits in the caddy fine and holds the Hdd in place
http://cgi.ebay.com/Silicone-Skin-C...C_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item4158717609

 

How much better graphics power are you looking for?

I have been working on a couple of gaming Toughbooks to take back and forth to work with me. The next Toughbooks I have been working on is up grading my 2.0 duo cf-51 that has the factory x1300 video card, there is also a single core version of the cf-51 with a x300 card in it. The Panasonic web site shows the cf-51 with the 1.73 Pentium m as having a x300 but it doesn't.( I have one, it doesn't have it) I got a cf-73 the other day and messing around with those series too.

Now these aren't top gaming cards but it does allow you to play older games. I still play Halo CE almost daily when I get off of work and stuck on the rig. If you get a single core one upgrading to a Pentium M 2.0 760 is easy to find on eBay. You still can go higher for the 2.1 770 and 2.2 780 but they are pricy. The 2.0 are still around 20 to 25 bucks. I know the CF-51, CF-50 and CF-48 has the removable socket for the CPU, but I am not sure about the other models. I think the CF-73 is soldered on like the fully rugged line.

Below is a list of the best looking specs (in my opinion) and affordable machines.

CF-48E/F (Mk5) -- ATI Technologies Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics controller
Factory Pentium M Processor 1.4

CF-48G/H (Mk6) -- ATI Technologies Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics controller
Factory Pentium M Processor 1.5

CF-50D/E/F/G/H (Mk3) -- ATI Mobility Radeon 9000, 32MB or 64MB VRAM
Factory Pentium M Processor 1.4 / 1.6

(CF-50, one place on eBay right now has caddy's for 25 bucks shipped)

CF-50L/M (Mk4) -- ATI Mobility Radeon 9600, 64MB VRAM
Factory Pentium M Processor 1.7

CF-50J/K (Mk5) -- ATI Mobility Radeon 9000, 64MB VRAM
Factory Pentium M Processor 1.5

CF-73N/Q (Mk3) -- ATI Technologies Mobility Radeon 9000, 64MB VRAM
Factory 1.7 Pentium M

CF-51xxxxC/K/xx (Mk2) -- ATI Technologies Mobile Radeon X300, with discrete 64/128MB VRAM Factory 2.0 Pentium M

CF-51xxxxE/Mxx (Mk3) -- ATI Technologies Mobile Radeon X1300, with discrete 64/128MB VRAM Factory 2.0 duo ( I have it and love it, looking forward to a core2duo upgrade. Currently has XP with 4GB of ram.


A little comparisons on the video cards for you.

Radeon 9000
ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Radeon 9600
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 (Pro) - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Radeon X300
ATI Mobility Radeon X300 - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Radeon X1300
ATI Mobility Radeon X1300 - Notebookcheck.net Tech

I am currently bidding right now on two 1.7 Cf-73's on eBay. Just trying to get one to test it out, and keeping a eye out for a cf-50 with the 9600 card. I may also get a CF-48 with the 9000 card too if one turns up for a good price.

Good driver for upping video performance on older ATI cards. I use them on the three restored Voodoo Envy laptops I have.

ATI Omega Drivers

I am also looking into a VIDOCK, DIY VIDOCK or ADVANCED MEDIA DOCK or DOCK 2 EXTERNAL GPU UPGRADE (older Thinkpad). If that works out I will let you know.


If you like smaller computers try out a CF-T5 or CF-W5 with the core duo 1.06. It also has Intel 945 integrated graphics with 224MB video memory. I have each and like them for traveling. This model is also fanless.

 

Blair, Thanks for the heads up on that. I look into it.

ADOR, I am not a Gamer (if thats the correct term)! It just seems that any animated banner advertisement or You Tube clip maxs the processor out at 100% on the 72. So if I could watch my "guility pleasures" on You Tube without being blasted with hot air, I would be happy. The wireless card is only 11mbps so I guess that doesen't help either!

The Samsung 160 should be here shortly. As its a virgin, I am hoping that it will load an OS. I don't think its going to be worth trying it on the duo unless I can understand what might have happened to the other drives.

 

Ok, try this on those flash advertisements. If you don't have it download firefox. Then get the add-on FLASHBLOCK it will stop all of the flash even the advertisements on the side from auto loading. They are replaced with a white square with a F on it. Even the you tube videos. Then if you want to see it, or that square like the you tube videos you just click it and it is unblocked. It helps out a lot on lower bandwith stuff like I deal with at work.
While you are at it also get VIDEO DOWNLOADHELPER it will let you download youtube videos easy. I do this on large videos while leaving the video blocked. When it is downloaded I watch it from my pc. My bandwidth on the rig is barley enough for email at times.

You don't have to be a gamer to like the better graphics, but that list seems to be the best of the bunch if you ever decide to upgrade down the road. Just remember the better GPU "graphics" you have it will take some of the strain off of your CPU "processor" In the older computers the processor is trying to do both all the time.

 

Ok, so the HD turned up. Closer inspection of the IDE cable indicated that was not a blank hole to prevent an idiot like me hooking up the HD incorrectly! Two chances I figured!
Installed the caddy from the duo and turned it on. Was quite surprised to find that the OS started right up. That was the good new. The bad news is the computer thinks its a Dell!
Installed as many drivers as I could find here:
http://pc-dl.panasonic.co.jp/itn/drivers/d_menu_en.html
It all seems to work! One concern I have is that the fan seem to cycle every 2 minutes for 40 secs. Not sure if thats an issue or not.
All I need to do now is see whether the the screen from the duo can be swopped over. Learnt my lesson, will try and swap the whole lid assembly.
So far so good.

 

The cycling of the fan is normal. The fan only comes on when needed. If you ran some CPU intensive programs causing the CPU to heat up, you would find the fan would come on sooner for longer periods of times. Sometimes the fan will be on constantly.

 

Ok, thanks!
Always useful to know about different characteristics.

 

Damn...I was going to ask you that , the OEM has one and the aftermarket one does not. At least the aftermarket one I bought didn't.

 

I figured since I did the T7600 Core 2 Duo 2.33 mod that the fan would run longer and be hotter but its not the case. I will say the fan in these are not that loud. My girlfriend has a Dull Studio and that thing is loud and runs ALL the time...and if some Dull owner reads this yes I did the BIOS update ...

 

I can only report on what I found.
I would say this is an original Panasonic cable. The part number is printed on it DFUP1387ZB. The actual connector is white plastic.
In comparsion the CF-72 cables I have, the white plastic connector has a blank, whilst others with a black connector do not.
Too be honest I am not sure if I did install the other HD's incorrectly although the symptoms seem consistant with a HD lock.
So when installed the HD controller board is on the bottom, at least on the Samsung HD!

 

Time for an update!
Unfortunately unlike you lot who have a large choice of components, I had to buy the only other 51 that turned up! It had been largely robbed of all its components, leaving only the MB/bottom case and more importantly the LCD assembly. As I aslo needed a bezel, I figured it was worth a punt.
Upon arrival, I could see that it was marked as a MK2LL on the circuit board through the ram slot. Stuck some ram in it to verify the screen worked, which it did briefly. Seems the machine cuts outs immediately after the blue panasonic screen and the fan starts. Doesen't seem to do it on battery power, although the fan runs. Perhaps another project at a later date!
The MK1 and the MK2 seem to share the same screen cable connector on the MB unlike the MK3. So I was able to swap the whole LCD over without any further disassembly.
At the moment, all seems to be well. So thats another saved!

 

The 51 you just got did you get into the BIOS. Why I ask is one of the 51's I got had the tag (memory slot) on it that said it was a 51 mk2 but the bios said it was a 51 mk3 1.66 core duo

 

Hmm.. I couldn't get into the bios as it had no keyboard and it didn't like being run on the PSU. Guess I could use the keyboard and try again.
On the other hand if it was a duo model then I would have expected it to have the different vga cable connector.

 

What does it cost for a 51 mk3 in UK ? One being sold as parts ...no memory, caddy and battery. Over here we can get them for $50.00 to the high of $90.00 USA funds.

 

There is only one Mk3 for sale at £300 buy it now and thats from the USA!
I guess the only solution is going to be to find somebody on Ebay.com who will ship to the UK. In that case I need the absolute miminium of weight. In order to protect the MB I guess it would be wise to get the whole bottom casing. There is one on there for $29 which is very reasonable.
Then there is the tax/duty issue. As this is based on the total cost including shipping, then it seems pointless to buy more than I need in terms of weight/cost as I am just making the Government rich!
Of course the other issue is going to be trust as I am highly unlikely to return the item if it is either not as described or DOA!

 

Just popped the cpu heatsink off to be sure and its a 1.73M processor. Was a bit surprised to see a little pad on the bottom of the heatsink. Is that a thermal pad then? Seen them mentioned but never seen one before! Surprised that the cpu doesen't contact the heatsink directly. Don't recall seing that on the MK1!

 

I was just checking out the UK site and I see what you mean, some parts are very high priced.

 

Thats why its known as Rip Off Britain!