CF28 Motherboard

i have a CF28 which has just decided not to start up, no light, no battery charge- nothing.
I assumed a fuse on the motherboard had blown, so removed the board to investiagate.
I have 2 CF28 service manuals, for different mother board issues, but this one is different again. the m/b part no DL3***** ends with CAA, the manuals cover boards ending with **AAA.
the board layout has many differences, especially with the power input layout.
Does anyone know where I can get this latest version service manual?

 

Please post your full model # (Label on the bottom; CF28xxxxxxx) or at least tell us the processor speed; there were 3 different major revisions of the CF-28 and we'll need to know that to help.

mnem
CF-28 floggers UNITE!

 

mnem,
Good point. The model is CF-28MCFAZDM and I did manage to find a service manual for it and have done some investigating.
power is getting to the m/bd and is OK up to IC53, but the charge LED does not light up and I suspect the fault may be around IC20 (HD64F3434Tf16), which drives the LED's, but I could be wrong.
Any suggestions from anyone familiar with this m/bd would be welcome.

 

CF-28M is a Mk1; it has 600Mhz processor.

I have a complete service manual for CF-28MCFAZxx with schematics; PM me with an eMail address and I'll send it to you. If you have that, start with the block diagram at 3-1; it will show you where to start diagnosing the power supply section.

mnem
Lending a helping claw...

 

mnem,
Thanks a lot. I do have the manual and have checked that all the voltages are present. The problem seems to be around IC20 (Dwg MAIN27 EC.LID), which is not being driven properly, so does not drive the LED's or enable the charger and battery circuits.
i think the best answer would be to change the motherboard.
You don't happen to have one for sale, do you? Or know of anyone who has?

sidney.b

 

You should be able to find a MK1 CF-28 on eBay for less than $50.
Panasonic Toughbook CF-28 1Ghz P3 512Mb SDRAM #9890 | eBay
Swap your parts in and have a MK3 for $15.
CAP

 

I'm gonna agree with Cap'n here; the Mk1s were not the best of breed. The Mk1 was limited to 384M RAM and as a result it really only runs worth a dang on Win2K; the Mk2 and Mk3 support 768MB (Or, in the case a few ultrarare units with 512MB soldered on, 1GB) and XP runs on them quite happily. They will still run most any Java or Flash you encounter on the WWW, though a bit slow for HD video... but you can JUST play a DVD on my Mk3 w/768MB. My Mk1 won't do it even with a Margi MPEG Decoder card.

Put your good caddy, optical drive and port covers on this one, or if you don't have the 13.3" screen on your Mk1, wait for a Mk3 that does have it. The 12.1" display on that unit is transflective; you will not like the poor contrast or washed out colors you get with it.

I promise; you will be SO much happier with a Mk3 you'll wonder why it took you so long to make the switch.

And NO, you don't want to try and switch just the MB; the Mk1 is a different design from the Mk2/Mk3. They will not physically interchange.

mnem
Nuking '28s again...

 

mnemeth & the captain.
Thanks guys for the excellent advice. I am looking around ebay right now.

As the T/book is for the firm, we don't need all the bells & whistles, so I'll go for a cheap 800MHz and transfer what we need from the mark1.

 

Hard to beat $15 for a 1Ghz.
CAP