CF-74 Touchscreen Not Working!

Ok lol I spoke too soon when I said that everything was working great on this machine I picked up, I cant seem to get the touchscreen to work. Im almost positive the driver is installed correctly and the screen works fine otherwise. I noticed that the Touchscreen [Enable] or [Disable] option is missing from the BIOS menu. I dont know whats up. I also took it apart and checked all the internal connections and everything seems to be hooked up fine. Anyone have any other ideas?

 

Ummmm.. you're SURE it actually has a touchscreen? Maybe someone changed the LCD at some point...

mnem
In other news, God asks "What part of THOU SHALT NOT KILL didn't you understand?"

 

I suppose its possible but it shows as CF-74CCBAXBM on the bottom of the machine and it also says CF-74CCBAXBM in BIOS so I would assume it is touch? I thought the BIOS changes when you change the screen no?

 

Incorrect. The bios will not change. Best way to tell is open the lid and check the screen itself. if it is touch, there should be a PN label identifying it as such, and there would be a small PCB mounted on it to accept the signals.

 

Connor-

Naah - the model number is PROGRAMMED into the BIOS, just like the serial. It doesn't change when options change; but the dialog box to turn options on/off WILL go away if POST doesn't detect the hardware.

That may be why you got such a good deal on it; some hou zi de pi gu broke the screen, then tried swapping a whole lid and when he was all done no touchscreen... so he unloaded it on fleaBay or unloaded it on someone who sells on fleaBay.

mnem
There is no sleep as sound as the sleep of the just... except maybe the sleep of the just after...

 

There is no option in the bios to enable/disable the touchscreen
The cf-74 is different in that respect to other Toughbooks that you are used to
You do have a touchscreen cf-74
I have the identical model and it is a touchscreen
I have W7 on mine for testing and the touchsreen works in W7 as it does in Xppro


Alex

 

Good to know, I didn't have time to open the screen before work, but Ill check when I get home, It feels like a touch screen tho, it has the touch pannel in front of the LCD when you push on it. I'm sure the driver was installed right, I'm really stumped. Ill check the wires in the screen when I take it apart, is there a board in there that could have gone bad that controls the touch function?

 

Sorry I just now re-read the post above, anyone know if the PCB cross references to any of the 2X series touch boards? I will call heartland with the part number, but I wonder if anyone has ever noticed if these are the same on any other models?

 

Ok so I took the screen apart this morning (a terrible thing to go through, everything is plastic and it breaks super easy) and I found the PCB that controls the touch and everything was plugged in ok but theres a seperate removeable pannel at the top of the screen that allows access to that board and it has a connector at the top with nothing plugged in and nothing behind the pannel, any ideas what went here? That connector you see toward the bottom right that has the beige connector is actually on the top of the PCB board that hooks to the touch pannel, am I missing a piece?

 

That spot in the picture would be for the wwan option, I think a mini pci express daughter board would bolt there.

 

Ok so if everything appears connected and in good shape, is the best place to start replacing that PCB board?

 

I'd start with a meter - make sure you're getting +5v at the output side of that touchscreen controller board. (If I'm not mistaken, it uses a dedicated USB interface) You could also try looking at your Device manager; see if any thing that's there now disappears if you shut down & disconnect the output side of that controller & reboot.

mnem
Meter? I MET 'ER! Why d'ya think a'm a RUNNIN'!?!?!?

 

Ok Ill try that, I know for a fact right now it does show up in the device manager as a USB Human Interface Device connected to USB 0. So heres a thought if its showing up there and it says the device is working properly and shows the correct driver installed, doesn't that mean the actual hardware must be working correctly or no?

 

I will restore my cf-74 back to factory load
That way we can compare device manager and applications settings
I’m bored of w7 beta anyways
But I know from experience that the restore will enable the touchsceen when you first boot it up, so that would narrow you issues down to a bad connection or hardware failure

Do you have the Calibration program and utility in your programs list?
Have you tried to calibrate it?



Alex

 

Cool, let me know how that goes, and yes I have tried opening the calibration program and it opens fine but the screen is still non-responsive

 

Well its loaded/restored to xp and everything works
How can I help
Do you want me to confirm device manager settings,or as I said Its not looking too good for you as everything works with no tweeking on my part, which points to hardware issues


Alex

 

Well I guess what I want to know is what should be replaced first hardware wise to attempt a fix, I'm still working on getting a meter to test the PCB board, what is the most likely piece of hardware to fail. I'm still a litte confused though as to why it would show up in device manager if the hardware has failed?

 

Where exactly do you test the PCB for voltage, which pins?

 

Oh, good heavens - I dunno which pin is which, but with the laptop on, you should have +5V on at least ONE of them with respect to ground...

mnem
+5V*-5V=+/-10V:ZZZAAP!

 

Holy crap I just had amazing luck, I contacted panasonic about the touch screen not working and it turns out my machine had 4 more days of warranty and they will fix it for free. I got an RMA number and they're sending me a box and will do a full check of the mahcine and fix anything not up to factory specs for free, I even asked about me not being the original ower and they said it doesn't matter, crazy good luck

 

The Heavens are smiling upon you. Do update us on how everything went.

 

Thats very good of panasonic
With the savings on not having to repair that touchscreen
Head out to the casino this weekend
You’re very lucky


Alex

 

Yeah I couldn't believe it, yet one more reason Ill never own anything but a panasonic from now on. Now I hopefully can get it all put back together without them being able to tell I pulled it apart, lol

 

Connor,
They already know you've had it apart! Not that anyone on this forum would tell tales out of school, but the guys who will be fixing your machine already know about your problem.
CAP

 

LoL I wasn't aware anyone from heartland lingers on here?

 

Connor, did you ever get your TS working? I bought a 74 and the TS does not work. I have tried installing drivers, but it does not show in device manager even though it shows in the BIOS to enable/disable.

 

I tried everything to get mine to work. Sounds like I tried the same steps as you. Mine however did show up in device manager just was unresponsive. I found out my unit was under warranty still and I set it in to heartland. They found that somehow the touch pannel shorted out. They replaced the entire screen assemby for free. I got it back in pretty much mint condition. I ended up selling it to Doobi though. Maybe the touchscreen is prone to failure on the 74s? Seems like I've heard of this alot since I had mine go bad.