CF-U1 anyone?

Anyone here have the U1 or have done some upgrades to them?

I have a few on the way and want to add GPS and WWAN also a
larger ssd as 16gb is pretty much useless.

Any info as to schematics etc is greatly appreciated.

 

Good luck! The SSD is a completly proprietary thing. It's mounted on the top of this animal and held in with 2 screws (Very tiny).

I will NEVER buy U1's that don't have at LEAST 32GB (64G ones are out now that aren't that much more $$ too) and GPS.

Units with 16GB and NON-GPS aren't even worth but $250 - $300 TOPS. You can check ebay completed listings too to see that.

Sorry

 

Thanks for the good news rob! Wasn't looking for the pricing just wanted to
see if anyone here had done some upgrades or mods on them. The units with
GPS and 32 or 64gb ssd's are usually above $1000 on ebay. Got a good deal on mine so I can invest abit to do some upgrades.

The GPS from the 19 will fit I have found and placement of the antenna is also a easy job. Anyone have the schematics for the main-board?

 

Even though the lesser units are only 16gb at least it is a full OS and not a version of CE.

 

With the 16GB drive on a base load you seriously only get like 8GB left after loosing 7% on the format and with windows. What am I to do with only 8GB????

The 16GB ones are NOT capable of running win 7 because they're too small too.

I'll pass.

 

I use windows 7 thin client edition on a nettop used for remote downloads, full os installed is less than 3gb.... You could always install Linux...

 

Actually... I want a u1....

 

The size of the HD or SSD is not a huge deal. Not everyone stores
tons of data on these units.

 

I have 5 u1's coming in end of next week. If you are interested let me know. Priced VERY GOOOOOD! These are BRAND NEW 3 year warranties too:

New CF-U1AQE6L2M:

Windows XP Pro SP2 (with Vista COA), Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz, 5.6" WSVGA Touchscreen LCD, 64GB Solid State Drive, 1GB RAM, Wi Fi, Bluetooth, Gobi 3G, GPS Receiver, Dual Pass (Upper WWAN / Lower GPS), 2D Barcode Reader (reads 1D and 2D), Camera, Toughbook Preferred (3 year warranty)

 

I did not know that. I didn't think it would. Have you performed this?

I as well am looking for schematics.

Take a look at my signature. I have 2, although they don't boot to Windows. I am in the process of "trying" to repair them.

 

You know, I haven't checked that. I think I will.

 

Found some 64gb SSD's for my U1's. Now does anyone have a service manual and schematics???

 

These HDD's are only held in by 2 little screws on the top of the machine. Nothing to worry.

 

I wanted the schematics for the mainbaord. The SSD swap is easy. Plan to
add Gobi2000 to the one I am keeping and that 64gb ssd

 

Hi Rob! I'm interested in one of CF-U1. Let me know when you get them and we will talk. Thanks, Voytek.

 

Just got my U1's in and was pleasently surprised! They have GPS and WWAN although the wwan is for NY only but not a huge deal the Gobi cards are cheap!

The config on the sticker is CF-U1YCZC01 but the bios gives me this:
CF-U1AQB132M Toughbook U1, NYC Project ONLY Vista COA, Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz, 5.6" Touch WSVGA, 16GB SSD, 1GB, Windows XP, Intel Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, NYC Private Wireless (2.5GHz), 2MP Camera, GPS, Dual Pass (Upper WWAN/Lower GPS), Toughbook Preferred
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have 4 64gb SSD's on the way and will post the updates once I finish them. I am
doing a little something custom for the SSD's more to follow!
They will have GPS,WWAN and 64gb SSD's.

 

Does this unit have a PEM module in it? I know that NYC uses them instead of the Gobi.

That is because the model number in the BIOS has to have a certain amount of charcters in it. The BIOS would not recognize the CF-U1YCZC01.

 

Yes it has the PEM 3GPP module. Wont be much use here in Europe I'm afraid.

The config# on the sticker is also listed on numerous sites, but the one in the bios is what
states the options my units have. I bought them on hand of the CF-U1YCZC01 config so I
was happy they came loaded with all the stuff I wanted.

 

Yea, for special "projects", they keep the BIOS at what it is suppose to be. The label on the unit and box is what the customer (NYC) likes to see.

 

Can anything be done with the PEM modem, maybe a firmware flash to be
able to use it as a "normal" 3G modem???

 

I'm not to sure about PEM modules, sorry.

 

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has tried a 64GB SSD with these? I'm looking at Transcend TS64GSSD10-M. Looks like same interface but wondering if perhaps BIOS limitation to 64GB?

 

Are you asking if we tried a 64Gb SSD Drive in a MK 1? The answer is yes.

The MK 2 already has the 64Gb SSD Drive.

 

Hey, Just an FYI that these are NOT normal sized SSD's... they are COMPLETELY proprietary...

 

Thats the correct SSD that can be used in the U1. You just have to swap it
out with whats in the caddy now. I have a few 64gb SSD's left but they are
hard to find ( for a good price ) I do however have 40 32gb CF-U1 SSD's in caddys brand new if anyone is interested. BTW these are IDE SSD's not sata on the downside.

I have my U1 up and running with:

ublox5 GPS
Gobi2000
WiFi N
64gb SSD
2d Bar-Code
Camera
Desk-Top Docking station

 

Hey rugged, back in town? Did you see/find any car dock for my cf-19?

 

Just scored myself a MK2 main-board for the U1 this is the 1.6ghz. The MK2 CF-U1's are very costly even on ebay so this may be a cheaper way to go.
Will be swapping that board into my MK1. Updates will be posted when I get it done.

 

Do you still have any 32GB SSD's for the U1 available?

email (at) chaloner.ca

 

i`ve got a cf-u1,but i couldn`t find the wwan slot,can you tell me? thanks.

 

I plan on digging deeper into the CF-U1's when I get a few other projects out of the way first. The WWAN version of the U1 has a special daughter board for it. Only comes on WWAN versions. ( if I remember correctly )

 

Remember! DO NOT do business with Rugged Solutions! His SSD drives don't work! Poor communication too!

 

I pulled up the specs for those 64 gb replacement drives before and they are slower than the factory ssd drive speed. I got 32gb class 10 card for extra storage. The main mods I will be doing is more OS tweaking and doing the second vista unit I have in Linux or Linux/android. This includes getting the gps to work correctly.

 

Do you have a link? I have a 64GB SSD for my CF-U1 and I'm wondering how to tell whether it is the same model Panasonic use from the factory.

 

Ok, I got a chance to get all of my links together.

The factory SSD drives I have seen in person and pictures are all Samsung drive. I have only seen 16 and 32 GB drives.

Welcome to Transcend Online Store

64GB Transcend 1.0-Inch IDE SSD - MLC NAND chip

http://www.transcendusa.com/images/industry/datasheet/Datasheet_Flash_SSD_10_PATA_SSD.pdf

The above links are specs for the Transcend TS64GSSD10-M upgrade. I have seen mixed results with it. The websites list is at 30MB transfer rate. In private chat with another member also the CF-U1 is locked to IDE speed, not SATA speed.

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n396/spud-kinks/IMG_20110328_144347.jpg

Picture of the factory SSD (not mine, borrowed from the web.)

Below is some reading you can do on some testing that I did personally and some that others have done. I have more to do later when get back to my U1. I will probably have it with me at work for another 28 days to test run it.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/697605-cf-u1-need-help-replacing-ssd.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/700414-28-days-cf-u1.html

I even have posted pictures in my thread where I benchmark the original SSD drive.

 

Thanks for the info, I'll open up my SSD and have a look.

 

It turns out my CF-U1 mark 2 came with a Transcend SSD! It is factory refurbished, according to Panasonic. Perhaps if you want 64GB then Transcend is the only option, despite its slower speed. Previously I had a Mark 1 with 16 and 32 GB units and those were Samsung. I noticed the Mark 1 becoming slower when I moved from Windows XP on 32GB to Win7 on 64, and I thought it was the software, but it sounds like disk slowness had something to do with it.

I wonder if there is some way to jam two SSDs into the machine? The IDE interface ought to allow daisy-chaining them as master and slave.

 

Was the model number off that SSD the same as the one listed above? If you have time you could run the benchmarking program on it like I did mine to see what you are getting out of it.

 

Inside its caddy the SSD is tightly wrapped up in its ribbon cable and I couldn't see how to untangle it, so I just peeked enough to see the word Transcend and then put it back. But I'll have another look and run the benchmark when I get a moment.

 

Speccy - Builds

Try the portable version of speccy first, You may not have to pull the hard drive to see the model number.

 

Here's what Speccy reports for the Transcend 64GB SSD:

TS64GAZP6140M3 ATA Device
Manufacturer Unknown manufacturer
Heads 15
Cylinders 16,383
Device type Fixed
ATA Standard ATA/ATAPI-7
Serial Number 4372680106
LBA Size 28bit LBA
Power On Count 453 times
Power On Time UNKNOWN
Speed, Expressed in Revolutions Per Minute (rpm) Not used (SSD Drive)
Features S.M.A.R.T., SSD
Transfer Mode Ultra DMA/100
Interface ATA
Capacity 59 GB
Real size 63,342,379,008 bytes
RAID Type None

 

Actually I don't recommend to buy a 64gb ssd, because it is tooooo slow. I bought a 32gb one(Samsung) which is much faster.

 

anybody knows if i can get pinouts for docking socket?

 

The 64 GB size is not why it is slower. Just some SSDs are faster because of better firmware, better nand chips, or newer technology. For example, some support SATA 3, while some do not.

Also, some older SSDs had a terrible problem with write speeds, because of a problem with something called "write amplification". Newer algorithms in newer firmware has nearly done away with that problem.

 

According to the factory specs for "that" 64 GB SSD it is slower. The max speed was 30 MB. This is what I got for the factory 16 GB SSD in my Mk1



http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/700414-28-days-cf-u1.html

The factory 64 GB SSD in the CF-U1 should be a different beast than the Transcend aftermarket one.

 

Still sticking to my story. It has more to do with how the SSD is made than the 64 GB size. Also some chipsets do not like some controllers. Those computers may either intermittently "see" the SSD in the BIOS, then not "see" it. (I had that problem with Mushkin Chonos 60 GB SSD with Sandforce controller in some of my Thinkpads.) The same SSD may work well in another computer with a different chipset.

For example, check this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...ll-incompatible-first-gen-sandforce-ssds.html

 

Just re-read original posts, and due to the proprietary design of these SSDs, it seems you have very little choice if you want a 64 GB SSD for this thing. So it looks like the only 64 GB SSD out there is the slow one mentioned by Ador. It is a shame there is so little choice for these little devices.

I did not notice until just now that I was responding to a year old post either. In addition, the more recent post was concerning pin-outs, not 64GB SSD choices. My Bad!!

 

Where can i get service manuals for this thing?

 

I can't remember personally seeing one, but pull up google and use this in your search string.

cf-u1 filetypepdf

That will make google only look for pdf's, you can also add any words you want infront of filetype like manual.

 

pm sent ..... ..

 

would you be so kind and send it to me too?