Just received CF29 MKV a few minutes ago

... and I'm stoked. There's been a few good deals lately on fleabay and MK5's are cropping up more than ever. It's in remarkable shape, 1.2G RAM, charger, HD caddy but no drive. Yay!

I've had a MK3 for a few years and have used the hell out of it. I recently slapped in the techtough SATA adapter with a 240GB SSD and the thing is rocking. So naturally I would simply take the upgraded caddy, shove it in the new MK5 and go on my merry way.

It doesn't work. Boooo!

I've decided to see if the laptop itself isn't being funny so I dug up my old IDE drive and installed that in the empty caddy that came with the unit and it boots up fine. So the techtoughed-up caddy is a no-go for some reason. I'm thinking BIOS firmware.

Any thoughts?


Edit: doesn't work, as in, not even recognized by BIOS.


Edit 2: disk caddy problem solved: post #27

 

Try the ide in the mk5's caddy?

The sata adapters can be very finicky......
or
If the Mk3 caddy is aftermarket, they can also be finicky at times.

Try both caddies with and without the sata adapter...

Try a different sata drive...Is your sata drive a Samsung by chance???

That should isolate what the problem is..

 

Why did you decide to go with a higher Mk 29 instead of going with a 30 Model? Just curious.

 

That's exactly what I said I did. It works fine with IDE in the OEM unmodified MK5 caddy.

It's a modified OEM caddy and it works fine in the MK3. It's currently up and running with the 250GB SSD inside the MK3 and never had issues with it.

I might go through that trouble, but I have pretty much isolated the problem to the MK5 anyway. At first I thought it was the connector that didn't mate properly to the MK5's backplane. But I'm not sure of that since it has no problems in the MK3. Later on in the day I'll fiddle with it some more just to be safe.

No, it's a Kingston. It worked immediately in the MK3 when I initially installed it.

Because it was dirt cheap. And I want the older MK3 to be a donor for parts in case I need them.

 

my guess then is the mk5 bios doesn't like the sata and/or the Kingston......

any sata to ide adapter turned into a unreliable pita for me.....i personally gave up on them...

post your full model numbers and bios revisions please.

 

Yep, that's what I was also thinking. It's a CF-29NBLGZBM 5.00-L11and it looks like I could go up a version or two right there. EC is 4.00-L13.

Edit: For reference, the MK3 is a CF-29HTM50BM 3.00-L11

 

Model Number:
CF-29NBLGZBM
Status:
DISCONTINUED
MSRP:
$3,861
Description: Intel Pentium M 778 1.6GHzLv (Centrino),13.3" NON Touch XGA,256MB,60GB,Intel 802.11a+b+g, WIN XP SP2, Emissive Backlit Keyboard, TPM1.2, no drive

My I ask what "dirt cheap" worked out to be? I have just sold a 40 hour,110 hour and 310 hour mk5 touch and have a 630 hour mk5 so just wondering.

 

Come ON! Don't be quoting MSRP on a CF-29 and keep a straight face. :laugh:
80 clams plus 20 shipping and 10 duty from stateside to Canuckistan. 10k hours, though. My 29H looks like it went to hell and back but still works perfectly. The 29N they gave me is mint. Must have been a desk-jockey's.

 

10K is nothing to a 29,I worked on an 18 and mk1 19 with 44,000+ on them,used everyday in a Ford dealer.Lot of higher hour units showing up in mint condition as they surplus them.

I have a bunch of misc parts rolling around for a 29 if you ever need them including a unit with a bad touchscreen that runs decent,parts wagon.

 

Actually, I may eventually be scrounging around for a WWAN sled. I've been dangling a dongle for too long, if you know what I mean.

 

Updated to 5.00-L13 and EC 4.00-L16 and it's still dead. There is one thing I can help isolate, though. I am going to put a SATA HD instead of SSD in the SATA-mod caddy. This should help me figure out if the 29N is freaking out over the PATA/SATA adapter or the Kingson SSD.

 

Apparently HD or SSD doesn't make a difference. The techtough SATA/PATA adapter will not be recognized by this particular MK5 unit. I wouldn't mind knowing if anybody else has gone through this and if it means that this adapter is simply not compatible with the MK5.

 

That is a 256MB board, it will go to a maximum of 2.25 GB of RAM.

 

Jumpin' jackrabbits! I just went through that thread now. That's good to know! I'll consider upgrading if I ever find a cheap 2GB stick but I ain't running Windows anyway, so 1.25GB total RAM is plenty.

 

I ran one of these adapters with Mint 15 from CF-29 MK1 to MK5...no problems. That is one drive in all five units NOT five different adapters. I just put it in any CF-29....I have more that five. (Intel 180 SSD)

What OS are you running? If a flavor of 'ix it should drop in and run.

You might want to inspect the connector that the caddy plugs into very carefully....maybe replace it. How about trying the sata drive in an external caddy to see if the mobo will play with it.

 

Through process of elimination, OS and drives are now irrelevant. But if you need to know I cook my own Debian.

Any of those MK5's happen to be a CF-29HTM50BM?. Could be a quirk of that particular model. Techtough is local to me, actually. I should chat them up or give them a call for info, now that I think of it.

Edit: I meant CF-29NBLGZBM

 

I'd like to know enuf Unix to roll my own someday

29H is Mk3, the 50 series are SBC

Andre (Techtough) should help sort thing out

 

Ran fine in MK5 NDLGFBM.

I can try it in two or three MK3 HTM50BM if you want. Soon as I find it.

I think it's in a MK1. (29) right now.

You may have problems with your adapter but this one is fine is all I was saying.

Wasn't trying to get personal about the OS. Just curious.

 

Sorry, copy/paste error. I meant Mk5 CF-29NBLGZBM
My 29H is the one that works perfectly.

Truth is that at my skill level it was still unnecessarily long and painful to do. Took me an entire day to install and over a month to get all the bits right but it was worth it. That's why I'm so keen on re-using it on the MK5.

 

As you said above a lot has been eliminated. When you said what your OS was it pretty well meant hardware. No chance of it being a worn connection on the ssd caddy matching up with a worn connection on the MK5? Makes no sense that it runs in the H model and not in the MK5.
I would try ssd and adapter in another OEM caddy. Newish one. 2 cents.

Umm I wonder if the MOBO connector is screwed down tight.

 

It pretty well meant hardware once I mentioned that it was not recognized in BIOS :laugh:.

I'll just remove the adapter from the caddy and slap in an IDE drive to once again confirm what I already know. This MK5 does not like the techtuff adapter.

 

Do you have a second caddy?......Sometimes it's just a matter of a seemingly random combination of parts.
I think that taking all of the parts to Tech tuff is a great idea. I'm sure he will want to see this problem for his own benefit as well as yours.

 

Yep. Said so in my first post. I'll get around to more troubleshooting later in the day then I'll consider calling the Techtuff guys.

 

Sorry, I did not re read the first post..
Did you try the sata adapter in both caddies? The reason we ask this is that there are knockoff China made caddies that look VERY close to original. Most of the time, they work fine. Once in a while, with certain units or drives, the China caddies have problems like you are experiencing.
Also sometimes Panasonic makes minor changes in caddies. I can't recall for sure, but I think there was a part number change for the cf29 caddies...How was the caddy modified...just curious...photos?

 

If this ssd caddy was tried in a third CF-29 and it worked, then suspect the mobo connections on the MK5. 2 more cents.

I'm done.

G'luck

Gravy is done.

J'd...eating...

 

The sata adapters I've used (not Techtuff's) needed tighter, more awkward folds of the flexi connector strip. That might cause them to crack, especially where the flexible strip folds around the plug board's edge.

Any slight difference in the fit of - and in - the caddy might cause the mobo/caddy plug/socket combination to twist the flexi in the caddy. In a single unit I'd expect to see an intermittent disconnect but with two 29's it might be OK with one and not the other.

Yes, I know it's a long shot

With the bottom panel removed you can connect the drives without the caddies - and you could try the mobo connector from your Mk.3. I usually hold the bottom panel in place so the heat sinks are touching.

 

Well guys,
IT WORKS!

What was infuriating was that this modded caddy was working perfectly in the 29H. To add to the strangeness, the OEM caddy that came with the 29N works fine with an IDE drive.

Following things to their logical conclusion after the troubleshooting steps already taken, some of you guys were suspecting a problem with how the old OEM caddy with techtuff upgrade was mating to the 29N's backplane while I was suspecting the techtuff mod itself. Removing the techtuff mod from the older 29H caddy and installing it in the newer caddy that came with the 29N was the ultimate step to take, since if it somehow managed to work after doing this, that's how it would end up staying considering the available parts I have at my disposal. WELL IT DID.

As for the old caddy that didn't work, after removing the techtuff mod from it I installed an IDE drive in it and it WORKS FINE IN THE 29H. I put this "downgraded" caddy in the 29N and it DOES NOT WORK. Essentially, the 29H caddy does not work in the 29N, regardless of mod or disk type.

 

Oh and thanks guys for your help and suggestions, ultimately steering me in the right direction. You guys are a great bunch. There's still the unanswered question of caddy revision or connector/flex abnormality being the cause.

 

In the thirty or so units I have played with I have never had this problem.

What's your address, I'll send you a fried mobo and a cable (when I find it). Some of my 29 parts went north.

Hey Toughbook do you have a cable? Orphanlr is another source unless he sent all of his 29 stuff to me.

Good show. My opinion it's the connector on the mobo of the MK5. Totally FWIW.

 

Thanks for the offer but don't bother for now. Everything is working the way I intend at the moment. If it starts going bananas with this caddy after getting kicked around on the field a bit, I'll get back to you.

 

When I was messin with cf29's I noticed the different part numbers on the caddies.
I did not see any difference, but just because I didn't see one doesn't mean there isn't a difference..

 

My experience is it means naught. 29N plays very well with 29C....as long as you are using Linux. Sorry had to throw that in.
For instance...Mint 13 to 17 installed on a MK4 or 5 will play nice with a MK1. I'm not guessing here. MK1 256MB ram WILL run Mint 17. Both IDE and SSD. Been there done that. Didna mean to run it with 256 but it worked out that way.

Mint 13 something went to PAE. (Physical Address Extension) Whatever that means.

I download the OS on MK 4 or 5 and they will run on MK1.

Here we go again...sorry guys and gals....my personal opinion is the Mint 17 (or whatev) checks to see if the unit is PAE compatible on first boot to install. If PAE then it goes ahead on it.

The point "in my experience " if it's (Linux) on the drive it will run in any CF-29. Which is why this thread shouts HARDWARE.

I'm done.

Sorry to encroach.

Jeff

 

If I get the time I'll take a closer look at the flex ribbons. I believe they have part numbers of their own. I just don't like opening up the caddies more than I need to. Foam pads get unstuck, plastic wrapping gets frayed, copper shielding gets crumpled and the tape loses adhesion.

With an SSD now I'm even considering simplifying the whole thing. Is it possible to run these without the heating element when it has to boot up in extreme cold conditions?

 

I can't see needing it since there is no moving parts in a SSD.

 

check the temperature rating of the ssd. that will give you an answer.

 

I'm not worried about the SSD. I'm concerned about the Toughbook freaking out over attempting to fire up a heater that isn't connected.

 

No problem with the Toughbook....It knows if there is a heater or not....Measures the resistance or lack of.......

I left my heaters in place, even with the SSD....It just adds a few seconds to boot in extreme cold..Adds to the life of the SSD.

I wonder.........Isn't a cf18 and cf29 HDD cable very very close to being the same? 1/16 or 1/8 inch difference?
Maybe the wonky caddie has a cf18 cable in it. In this case, the cf29H was more forgiving and mated with the cf18 cable better......



from Samsung web site.

SSD...0°C to 70°C operating temperature
HDD...5°C to 55°C operating temperature

 

Not going to happen,feel free to delete the heater .

 

That's right Shawn, it is. This happened to me a few years ago. A china seller sent me a 18 cable for a 29

 

That's good to know. Thanks guys.



Just took a peek inside at the cables without cracking them open. It looks like it's DFUP1268XA on both caddies.