My Ultimate CF-19 Project!

:hi2:

I have used Toughbooks on and off now for years. But the last fully "Ruggedized" one I owned, was probably a CF-27. In fact, it was owning a CF-72 that gave me the laptop modding bug. Over the years I have owned several CF-25, CF-27, CF-71 (my first ever Toughbook), and multiple CF-72s.

My boss has the bug too. He owns a handful of CF-28's, a CF-29, and a CF-52. Between us, there was always at least one Toughbook torn apart on a desk somewhere.

My need for faster machines though, eventually won out over ruggedness. And in fact for years even took me away from PC's. About 6 months ago though that changed. I needed to run software that I could not get functioning in a virtualization environment. Time for another PC and it had to be a Toughbook! I wanted tough, fast, cheap, and compact. I picked up a CF-T7 (the laptop I am using now in fact).

It fits most of these requirements pretty well. But in a high vibration automotive environment, it has had several random bluescreens. And suddenly I found myself needing to put it into service as my primary laptop. Time to go fully ruggedized. And I knew exactly what I wanted!

One of my delivery guys has a CF-19. I have tried to bribe him to misplace it a few times. He likes it too much... So off to eBay.

Unfortunately the CF-19 I got, came with extra ventilation in the lid.



Turns out I got it so cheap because not only was the HDD missing (I knew this bit) but the caddy was gone too. First thing to do was to find a caddy. I needed it the week before, so I found the closest seller too me that I got a good feel from. And as the seller's store/name is "toughdepot," I had a suspicion he might know something about Toughbooks.

I ordered one with a 320gb drive in it, and impatiently started the waiting game. But that hole needed to be fixed. At the moment a new lid is out of the budget, so I took a look around the shop for ideas. Some specialized body tools, a propane torch, a block of wood, a package of JB-Weld 4 minute epoxy, and an assortment of sandpaper later and I started in. First thing to do was claim a desk to disassemble the laptop on.

The second, and much more critical thing, was to insure the laptop actually worked! So I loaded up a thumbdrive with Unbutu, and everything worked except the "touchscreen." A few minutes of digging around in the settings, and I discovered it was apparently a Wacom Digitizer! So I got out my Wacom pen to try it, no luck. Oh well, set that tidbit aside for the time, and tear into dissasembly.

A little while later, I have the whole laptop disassembled. Since every plan of attack to fix the lid will require resealing it, paint will be needed afterwards. Bossman comes along to inspect my progress, and decided to donate a few cans of paint to the project.

Heating the magnesium lid with a torch was a bit nerve racking (kiddies DO NOT try this at home)... I didn't take pictures and further court disaster... But an hour or so later, and I was happy with the results. Time to mask everything off.



I had removed the back lid , but left the bottom mostly intact. Just pulled off everything I could that was getting painted (I never did figure out how to remove the palmrest). I could have disassembled it even further, but had to weigh it against needing the desk again for work on Monday (this part of the project I tackled last weekend).

The first problem to tackle, the lid had gotten sanded smooth where the hole had been. So I hit the repair area with a coat of Rust Oleum "Multi Colored Textured" paint. Bossman tossed me a can of brown, since that was what he found sitting on the shelf.

Painting went well into Saturday night. But about 6hrs later and with everything having at least 4-5 coats, I was happy with the results. For the main color, I used Rust Oleum "Painter's Touch Ultra Coverage." The clerk at the home improvement store claimed it to be the enamel paint I was looking for. I saw it was also formulated for painting plastic (the palmrest). I actually found this website, in fact, looking for paint recommendations.

The rest of Saturday night and much of Sunday found me "cooking" the paint in front of our office heater. Our little office was a bit hot, I got a few glares for cranking it up so high.

I left painting the palmrest to last. After the paint had been cooked and hardened enough to unmask everything else and loosely put some of it back together, I remasked the palmrest and covered up the rest of the laptop. There was a deep scratch in the palmrest, so again I used JB-Weld 4 min epoxy to fill it up, then sanded it down.

Late Sunday night, early Monday morning, the paint had hardened up enough to carefully remove the masking. Again, I placed everything on staggered boxes in front of the heater to cook it in a bit more. The frontside of the mask I had used for the screen, was reflective. I flipped it around and set it in front of the screen to keep as much heat as possible off of it.

As an interesting development, when I pulled the screen out I noticed a reassuring bit attached to it. The "touchscreen digitizer" pcb had "Wacom" printed on it. I had struck pay-dirt! I actually hate touchscreens, but love Wacom digitizers!

While you can't tell from the poor cell phone picture, I had carefully unsealed the screen and slid this mask in place resealing it. I did not want to get paint under the black seal, or let it loos its sticky seal. Painting had gone very smoothly.

Monday night though, I had to start reassembly. Enamel REALLY needs to harden for several days before doing this. But I could not risk misplacing any of the screws or other bits. Needing to use the desk for "real work" meant moving everything around, greatly increasing the risk of something getting lost. So I put most of it back together.

By Tuesday night, I had it fully back together. If I do this again, I would MAKE SURE to have a secure place to leave it for those few extra days. But I am probably the only one who will ever notice or know where the imperfections are.

Thursday morning, and still my tracking number for the HDD was showing no updates. So I contacted the seller, toughdepot, and asked. I was informed "We had unexpected processing delay." Nope, I have NEVER let an order slip through and forgotten to get it shipped out... Whatever had happened, he promised to have it to me Friday or Saturday.

Friday came along with a package from the seller I had originally purchased the CF-19 from (NOT toughdepot). In it I found two UPEK Touchchip USB fingerprint scanners, and the correct digitizer pen. Sure enough, it worked on the screen! Even running a "live linux distro"! Not sure why my other digitizer pen doesn't work, but this is a problem for later and another post/thread perhaps.

After hours of digging and searching, I finally found software that actually recognized the fingerprint scanners. Good thing I got two, one of them is a bit flaky. Testing them on the CF-T7, and for some reason one randomly keeps throwing up a "bad quality?" warning. Mind you, this is with it just plugged in and not during actual use. Not sure what the deal is, but the other one doesn't do this.

Saturday arrives, and as toughdepot promised, so did the harddrive and caddy! Along with an AC port cover as a nice extra! Out of laziness, and curiosity, I pulled the 320gb HDD out of the caddy. I wanted to see this "hdd heater" thingy. And besides, I already had a 100gb drive cocked and loaded with Windows 7 setup ready to go.

Within 15 minutes or so of reassembly, Windows 7 is booting, and almost everything worked right out of the box! Copying over the files needed for software installation and other tidbits I needed, took WAY longer than installing windows. None of the function keys worked, or the keys on the front. No surprise there as these are always proprietary manufacturer's drivers.

A few minutes of digging around in the drivers I downloaded via Panasonic Driver Downloader, and these all "seem" to be working. I have no idea (yet) what the keyboard, target, and "L with arrows" buttons are supposed to do, but the screen dimmer arrows and the lock key buttons work as expected.





I have to say, I am very happy with the way it turned out! There are many hacks and upgrades planned for the near future.

1) A favorite here, possibly GPS upgrades. I currently have GPS working via an unlocked Sierra Wireless 890 express card. So not in a big hurry for this, and I won't upgrade if doing so means loosing my mpcie slot. I have other possible plans for that.

2) SDD upgrades, of course! This thing needs all the help it can get in the speed department. Not sure the plan of attack here. Possibliities include using one of the new hybrid drives. I really want a dual HDD configuration of some sort. I would like to use the pci slot for an "invisible" dual boot configuration. The rare times I want to boot into linux, simply change the boot order in bios. It seems this is a possible option. I do not "need" a large capacity primary drive for this machine. 64GB would be enough, and anything over 128GB would be gravy.

I might simply continue using a USB Thumbdrive for running linux. The ideal configuration, would be a SSD as my primary master, and the ability to disable a large capacity secondary SATA drive. The simplest path here seems to be just pulling the SATA out of the HDD dock. In an automotive enviroment, I do not need a large main drive. But I do need the space when I use this laptop for my photography and art projects.

3) The fingerprint scanner will be fully integrated. I need to find a free internal USB port, or use the pci slot to provide this. The scanner is a "press and scan" version instead of a swipe style. This will make the install location simpler to use in tablet or laptop mode. Where was the OE location for the fingerprint equipped models? I am guessing it was by the power switch?

4) A bigger/better digitizer pen is a MUST HAVE upgrade! While Linux directly labled the digitizer as a Wacom, Windows didn't make any mention if it. But the options for dual buttons on the pen and eraser function are still there.

Doees this Wacom digitizer support pressure sensitivity and these extra button functions? And I am VERY hesitant to load any more OE Panny drivers... I have seen many mentions of "dual screen" modes and I DO NOT WANT this to have a touchscreen functionality.

If it supports all this, I would love some recommendations as to a bigger pen more suited to drawing.

And also any other Panny drivers that I I should install in place of the generic W7 drivers? I have no unknowns in Device Manager. Everything is proven except the unknown front functions (mentioned above). Wireless hardware switch works (does this turn off anything more than just the wireless card?).

And specifically, what about the mousepad drivers? I HATE the "proper OE Panny" drivers. Feels like the mousepad is under mud and sluggish. But the generic W7 drivers do seem to be a little randomly "jumpy" now and then. I can live with that if need be as it is fast and feels like, well anything other than a Toughbook mousepad!

Well this build is far from over! I hope you guys enjoy this thread as much as I have enjoyed the build so far! I have not gotten around to trying out my software packages yet that started this all off, but I am pretty confident everything will work without any real issues.

 

Bravo!!!!!!!

 

Looks very nice, I really like the color. Would be a good match for my 73 westy.
I know it's too late, you've got your drive in, and OS running, but I am playing with a CF-19 mk1 too. Got it off fleabay a few weeks ago as a parts machine, and installed a 128gb Samsung 840PRo series solid state drive right out of the gate Holy electrons batman, but does that ever speed things up. I have a similarly equipped lenovo thinkpad that this one will eventually replace in the shop, and there is no comparison at all. The drive REALLY makes it faster, really really. I read some about them over at the SSD Review, but never believed it would make such a big difference for everything, not just boot time. It was a bit of a pita to get the sata drivers loaded (I had too old an install disc, but worked around that, but that was the only hitch so far. I'm planning on adding gps soon as well, from techtuff if he's still got the parts. Have fun with your build, looks really good man.

 

WOW!

The orange is BAD FRIGGIN A SS!!!!

My wife saw it (She used to have a CF-19) and she said "OMG I WANT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Might have to organize something

 

Thanks Shawn!

Haha small world! I have a "slightly modified " -=cough=- '77 Rabbit.

Too late? Hah! My car was running perfectly fine, so I was bored and upgraded the engine management. In the process, causing my previously perfectly running car, to eat the turbo. Necessitating a major turbo upgrade... (In fact, the main reason for getting this CF-19, was to work with my automotive tuning software.) I had to replace the motherboard on my old CF-72, after one mis-adventure in hacking it.

Anyways, I am reasonably skilled at cloning drives. And I have an obsessive compulsive need to tweak, hack, modify, and otherwise try to brick my laptops, cars, and well just about anything I can. (I bought a Panasonic camera, when I found out I could tweak the firmware...)

I only threw the 100GB drive in there as I already had loaded W7 into it ready to go (I had toyed with installing it and booting up via a usb adapter).

Internal space inside the CF-19 is at a small premium compared to the INSANE amount of space available in the lid of my CF-T7. That one is next on the hacking block. But this little gem on ebay is almost too interesting to pass up! BPLUS TECH - PM362 ( SATA to mini-PCIE Adapter ) That combined with two SSD, would be very interesting to play with.

What I am uncertain of, is the througput on that device. Will it throttle the I/O down too much, or any? Or heck, would drives connected through the pci card slot even be able to be used as boot drives? It is a lot of scratch to spend on an experiment, however cool it would be!

I am more likely to try a simpler SSD in the pci slot first. But I do have a working setup at the moment, and before futzing around further with funky HDD ideas, I want to get the fingerprint scanner hooked up internally first. If I need to hack into a USB output from the pci slot, that gets top priority.

Still, the OCZ Vertex 4 128GB is a very likely drive to end up in one of these Toughbooks. Out of all the SSD drive specs I stared at, it blew the others right out of the water. And it seems reasonably priced too.

 

Check out the reviews on the OCZ drives...they have been having a lot of problems with there drives...one reason why the low prices

 

Wow thanks Rob! It was pretty labor intensive, and SO SO WORTH IT! I would defiantly tackle it again for somebody else. The hardest part, was staring at all the crazy color choices and trying to pick one.

Hehe, would that toughdepot ebay store happen to be yours? I followed your trail of links, and saw one that made me think that might be the case. If so, way cool! Anyways whoever owns it, gets a good solid happy vote from me! I will likely purchase from there again. An emmissive backlight keyboard is probably the very next purchase. My Mac spoiled me...

Okay good heads up there thanks! I know my "rotational" SATA drives are reliable. I have a 100GB 7200rpm Hitachi in her now, and a new 320GB 7200rpm Hitachi that toughdepot sent inside the caddy. But as much vibration protection as the Toughbook caddy's provide, still it is a spinning drive. And as others are backing up, I think a SSD drive will be a bigger performance boost per dollar than maxed memory. And I can't upgrade the processor, easily.

The hacker in me REALLY wants to try booting a drive off that pci slot... And those can be gotten cheaply enough that say $40 for a 32GB one is easily justified.

Has anyone tried this??? ANY more thoughts and information on this would be well appreciated.

I am defiantly leaning towards using the HDD bay as a secondary and removable large capacity drive. If I can sneak in at least a 32GB SSD somewhere else...

As for replacing a SATA with the SSD, it will happen soon for at least one of my Toughbooks. mechanist mentioned having good luck with the 128gb Samsung 840PRo. I have seen many mentions of the Intel drives, and optimizing software available for them too. But the price to GB ratio is just not favorable. For photography, I absolutely LOVE my SanDisk Pro Extreme cards. Are their SSDs as good?

So many drive types, so many places to stuff them...

 

In my CF52, I replaced the main sata with a 128gb ssd. I used an optical drive caddy adapter to put a 320gb ide platter drive in there. Lots of storage and swappable if I need to. It is a nice setup to use in a stay at home Toughbook .

If you replace the DVD/CD with any hard drive, you need to use the same type of drive as the DVD/CD was. In my CF52 it was/is an IDE. If you don't do it this way, it usually won't boot properly. With the correct drive, you can boot from either drive with a dual boot menu if you want.

In my CF30, I have a 64gb ssd drive as the main. I put a 32gb and 16gb usb micro flash drives in the rear usb ports (the door still closes). I then used a 32gb sd card and a 16gb cf card. It is total solid state storage. The optical drive bay usually holds my 2nd battery. This is my toss it in the vehicle Toughbook. Solid state is much better here.

What do you mean by pci slot? If you mean WLAN or WWAN, it won't work without soldering mods. I am working on a 1.8" 32gb solid state drive for inside my CF30. I have a usb adapter to connect it to an internal usb port. My first attempt met in total fail. I melted the ffc cable.

 

ruggeddepot*com is our ebay store.

But if you need something, call me directly, I'll give you the NBR member discount that we can't do though eBay

 

That would be exactly what I mean! There is an option to boot the pci in Bios. (I am not using the EXACT terms like I really should be... Lets call that laziness?) I need to determine the exact protocol of the slot. And determine exactly what is needed to stuff into it. Seems there are a bunch of options that will plug right in. Soldering mods? Like? I am not afraid of such, if somebody could detail what is needed. I have no fear of soldering, and even have a proper ESD safe digital heat controlled soldering station.

Problem here... Windows apparently does not allow installs connected to the system via USB. Installing OVER USB is fine, but the drive the install is going INTO can't be connected to the PC via USB. Is there a way around this? Hopefully, but I did not find any information as to how. XP and Vista both simply crapped out with no real explanation. "Install failed." But Windows 7 was specific as to why. "This configuration through USB is not allowed." Or something along those lines...

Of course if your just going for more space and not a bootable drive, not an issue and USB will work perfectly.

Whoot please PM me the price for an emmissive keyboard!

But at the moment extra drives and oddball configurations are future dreams. Last night I got the rest of my software installed, and my com connected to the car. Problem is Windows 7 is giving me Bluetooth headaches. While just this I am sure I can work around, I am having drivers issues too.

Those "unknown buttons" on the front are driving me to distraction. Trying to get the Panasonic "misc driver" installed and functional seems to be one of the key elements to this issue.

WHAT DO THESE DO ANYWAYS!?

Okay arrows are obvious, and working. Same with the key. The keyboard button I would assume should pop up a keyboard input on digitizer when pressed. Is the target to turn on/off the GPS? Can it be configured for something else? The L with arrows, screen rotation?

You would think the Quick Start, Owners Manual, or Operations Manuals would cover all the button functions and configurations. I can't find anything in the 3 or 4 I have come across or been emailed.

And the second LED from the right, WWAN on/off indicator?

So I am thinking a VERY likely path to go down at the moment, is to reload this with either XP, or Vista. Perhaps, then an upgrade from Vista to W7...

I really want a more modern OS. But I also noticed a serious slow down in speed (online) when Windows decided that exploder should be updated to E8 (or was it E9 lol?).

Anyways to sum it up, I am not happy with how it is running and tweaked yet even in a more basic stock configuration. And my primary use, a bluetooth enabled serial comm connection, is not working well either. And this I am sure is a W7 issue.

 

One of our members bought a new fingerprint reader from me but could not install it because it was "White listed" in the BIOS and only way around it is to send it to Heartland Services. Not saying this is going to happen to you...just saying.

See Rob...last time I checked they were $279.99 from Panny

One thing they don't do is work in W7

Good luck on that...what I have done so far is
1: XP to Vista to W7
2: Vista to W7
3: W7
and they still don't work so I said #$@&* it . So I down graded the BIOS back to XP and it works great with 4GB memory and Intel 80GB SSD. I worked on this plus many others have and got nowhere. There is a thread on this some where...will see if I can find it

Found it http://forum.notebookreview.com/pan...h-screen-needs-calibrating-front-buttons.html it's a long thread...like 106 posts and counting

 

Made a VERY fast read through and... Yeah not motivated enough to sit through the whole thing in one sitting.

First problem, FUJITSU drivers. Really the only laptop company out there with drivers that are more of a PITA to install than Panasonic's, and your using them IN a Toughbook? Wow... Good plan!

I like it when a plan comes together!

But no, my calibration in W7 worked perfectly. And in fact after installing the FN keys, and wireless switch, everything except those middle three buttons that don't work in W7 (and I still have no idea what they do or if they ever were for anything other than the Toughbook self destruct mechanism...)

Although trying to install drivers is now giving me broken drivers warnings (touchpad specifically) on boot up. I think it was the Panny Misc Drivers that did the damage. But hey, Vista drivers in W7 so not a big suprise there.

I see a mention that a screen rotate button (perhaps the one I speculated was such?) worked momentarily. It never once worked on mine, unless it would ONLY work with the screen in tablet mode? I didn't try that I guess.

I really could care less what Windows OS is on this, I just like the look of W7. I am presently cloning the drive to preserve my currently broken setup (no idea why). As W7 is having issues dealing with my rs232 bluetooth com link, I am going to try out XP or Vista.

As for the fingerprint scanner, not sure why BIOS would care or have anything to do with it. It is just protecting the windows login, and all sorts of other crap inside windows. And as it is a UPEK, well it doesn't "really" do that "securely" (so they say). I did not try it out on the CF-19, yet. But I have it working perfectly on the CF-T7 (plugged in externally). Anyways, I am not using it to get past bios level passwords, just windows and things like email logins. I also love the "my safe" feature the Protector Suite software has. It is simply a matter of convenience, and not one of real security.

So as soon as this drive finishes copying, I will wipe the CF-19 drive and start over.

Any more votes for XP? Or for Vista?

Let me add, I hate the way XP looks. So outdated. Mostly though, Vista just seems to be a prettier XP. If I pop XP in, I will skin it for sure. Kinda like the idea of a slightly thinner OS with XP...

Is there any serious benefit to Vista over XP?

 

Hummmmm, okay so curiosity won and I ended up reading the whole thing. I already have the dimmer and lock buttons working. Well, "lock" brings up the Ctrl/Alt/Del dialog screen anyways. I got the W7 16pt calibration, everything is spot on there. Also it has the "extra" functions that would indicate it will work with the correct, full size Wacom digitizer pen, left + right button + eraser function.

Arrows = Dimmer, working

Keyboard = Onscreen Keyboard, not working, Did I try it in tablet mode though? Not sure...

Target = Enter(?), well just hitting enter won't do anything, unless something is being entered... Not sure if this works then.

L with Arrow = Screen Rotation, again not sure I tried this in tablet mode, but betting I did. So lets say not working...

Key = Lock, working

Still, can somebody give me a detailed description (or toss me a fraggin manual that has it) of exactly WHAT and HOW these buttons SHOULD function on say a XP machine???

So maybe I will just try fixing the things I broke, and getting back to the point where I had no drivers errors popping up. I did see the quick flash mentioned on failed BIOS attempts.

At this point, I think the info in that thread just might get me the rest of the way with W7. Other than the stupidity with my BT Com adapter.... But that I think can be dealt with another way.

Putting this here mostly for my own reference, but my Bios is currently V1.00L14 and the Embedded Controller is V1.00L40 M40. In BIOS, the boot option I was mentioning earlier is called "PCI LAN."

But my drive is almost done cloning and I am calling it a night!

 

Okay removed "Display Rotation Tool" through the Control Panel and no "mousepad not compatible" errors on bootup now. I see "Tablet Button Manager" in the programs list, and can find an icon that looks the same under Program Files/Panasonic/MEITBMAN. Clicking the .exe brings up an "are you sure" screen, then nothing happens. The icon looks like the "L+Arrows" button.

Progress, I think. It just now finally decided to install SP(whatever) for W7...

 

TOUGHASNAILS, YOU RULE!!! :thumbsup: Thanks for that thread link! Guys, check out the file Mil3 posted on page 7 post #64. It was a VERY quick solution and a complete fix.

I do not have this "auto rotation" I have seen mentioned in the XP setup. But the buttons on the front panel all do what they are supposed to now. The "target" button is an enter. And the "L with Arrow" rotation button, rotates the screen.

Just checked, calibration is 100% perfect when screen is rotated.

So it seems W7 STAYS!

Now to go fix my BT issues and get the fingerprint scanner working...

 

Glad you got it working. I think I tried it but maybe it might need to maybe installed in a certain order. Guess I will need to give it another try. Here is the link and file...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/pan...h-screen-needs-calibrating-front-buttons.html

 

I don't really think there is an "order." I dumped a lot of information in a post on that thread, but lets revisit it here (if this works for you, please let me know and I can copy it over into that thread too. I was tired when I wrote that one all out, this should be closer):

EDIT: This got all the "default" W7 drivers relatively happy. But it did NOT install Panny drivers and may not be the best recipe to follow.

1) Installed W7
2) Calibrated Touchscreen on first bootup, W7 16pt calibration
3) Checked everything to see what wasn't working, no FN buttons, no front panel, "maybe" no wireless on/off switch. Not sure I checked that switch well, but I did have wireless working as I had connected to to update during the install.

4) Grabbed all the Vista drivers I had downloaded, and dropped them into a folder on my C: root I could easily direct Windows to.
At this point, the dimmer and lock buttons on the front panel WERE working. Here is where I get slightly fuzzy on the order and exact steps I took...

5) Next step I think was to navigate to that folder and look for any FN key software. I found an .exe and ran it. FN keyboard keys fixed, but still no middle front panel keys
6) At this point I think I found the wireless switch utility, and ran the .exe. The hardware switch defiantly works, but I thought the "Target" Enter button might be to turn wireless or GPS on/off.
Looked in device manager and had two unknowns. Who knows what that .exe did (if anything).

(Currently under Panasonic, I have just three visible programs in my start menu. Battery Recalibration, DMI Viewer, and Hotkey Settings. No mention anywhere of a Wireless Switch Util. At this point though in the process, only Hotkey Settings was there.)

7) Directed "update driver" to the folder on C: Set it to include all subfolders as I didn't want to try each and every folder separately. Windows found both drivers easily. No more unknows. Still no middle front panel buttons. Everything else working. FN keys, battery level, Sound, Mute, etc,

8) This is where I started breaking things. The next day I tried to dig through those folders one by one. Started at the top and worked down. First problem was everythign seemed to want the Panasonic Misc Drivers. I believe Battery Recalibration was the first to complain about it.

9) Printed out Driver Install .pdf, H2007-0449 Now the Hotkey drivers say Panasonic Common Components AND Misc drivers need to be installed first. I know this was not the order I did it in. Panasonic Common Components might(?) have been instal above in 5 or 6 with the Hotkey bits, but MISC drivers defiantly wasn't.

10) This is when I started breaking things and going backwards. At this point I am getting Panasonic Misc Driver not found, missing, and mousepad errors on bootup. During this mess, I eventually ended up with Battery Recalibration, DMI Viewer (pretty useless Panny program), Hotkey Appendix, Hotkey Settings (this was from slightly earlier in the process), Panasonic Common Components, Tablet Button Manager, and the Display Rotation Tool programs showing up in the "uninstall" list.

I walked away for a while.

11) Early this morning I went and uninstalled the Display Rotation Tool, and rebooted a couple times. No more drivers errors. Battery calibration working. Poking at the available programs, nothing brings up errors. Tablet Button Manager isn't anywhere to be found, except in its folder and the uninstall list. Clicking does nothing except a flash screen.

I was back to a "clean" point. Still middle front buttons not functioning. Went to bed.

12) Wake up prepared to re-clone the drive and load XP or Vista. Decided to give one quick last try and reviews thread real quickly. Downloaded that Reg Edit file and transferred it to the CF-19. No real hope it will work...

13) Try it, EVERYTHING WORKS NOW!

So while I do not think it was a specific "winning" order that finally worked, above should be damn close to what I did. After step 5, I was doing more damage than good for a while. Even finally looking at the Panasonic driver install info list, didn't seem to help much. And I know everything was not perfectly installed in the order it told me to.

I would say take it to step 5, then run that Reg Edit file.

Sorry for the super long posts, but in the interest of thoroughness and the hope it helps somebody else out too!

Current Update: W7 is updated and all happy.

My specialty software installed and working okay. Bluetooth is giving me pairing issues though. Fingerprint scanner software installed, but now having minor issues with both scanners on both laptops. They pop up with "bad quality?" warnings randomly when not even being touched.

I suspect bad USB cables. One worked perfectly, until I crammed them both back into the small box my HDD and caddy came in. I disassembled the one that was originally freaking out. Cleaned the internal ribbon cable contacts. No luck. Going to try shortening or replacing the cable on one of them. Defiantly not going to hack into the TB case and MB to install one, until it is working cleanly when plugged in externally.

 

A little birdy told you that I can do $215/each + $10 shipping CONUS for a NEW, OPEN BOX. New sealed box is still $279.

I have 4 in stock. :thumbsup:

Thanks!

 

That sounds good Rob! Hopefully I can afford to pick up one here shortly. Bad week...

For the sake of "science," I may rebuild this Windows 7 install again from scratch. I had to do a clean install to fix a MBR issue. So at the moment, I have a fresh W7 with only a couple reboots.

I could be lazy though, and simply backup from the clone I made...

 

Crap.... So following the guidelines in the CF-18 W7 install, will break a CF-19... Apparently sound can NOT be installed before the modem drivers, according to the Panny install sheet. I have no sound now, and none of the steps I have taken seem to fix this.

Also, I have no wireless. Drivers are all installed, everything looks okay. But I get an error that LAN needs to be enabled. Not finding anyplace to do so, and everything I see, is enabled. Yes, hardware switch is on. Turning the switch off and then back on, brings up my bluetooth. Mind you, I have not attempted installing any Panny drivers/software/stack for the BT yet, this is W7 controlling it still.

This happened after installing Asset Tag, so on a hunch I went back into BIOS. Nothing disabled. I disabled, restarted, enabled, restarted... Nothing. Anyways I will edit this, or throw another post up when I have more detailed info on that.

 

Okay wireless is now working. NO CLUE what broke in the Panny stuff... They were outdated drivers anyways. I grabbed the new ones of Intel's site. It was working even before I rebooted it.

I have everything sorted and working on Panasonic or Manufacturer drivers, except for the following "to fix list":

1) Sound dead and it was working on initial W7 install. Still need to poke at this some more. Modem drivers need to be installed before this apparently (done)... I will work on this in another post or thread shortly.

NOW FIXED!

Fixed for Vista and verified on W7

2) Middle three buttons on the front panel. Going to try a newer version of Tablet Button Manager. These can be fixed with the reg edit file too, so not too worried. Apparently, these buttons can be customized via the TBM?! Still not necessarily worth the effort, I would use the buttons for what the reg edit files sets them as anyways.

SOLVED: See the next post.

3) Not seeing any mention of "Wacom" digitizer in Device Manager... But it all seems to work. Still any more info here could be helpful. May try Wacom's website directly later. My actual Wacom digitizer pen doesn't work, but the correct Panny one does.

4) Trying to install Video Drivers gets me the classic "os not compatible" warning. But, "Display Adapter" was already updated via the Intel updater. Monitor is a Digital Flat Panel, Microsoft generic. Everything is working, so should not sure I should poke this hornets nest further. Thoughts anyone???

http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/712905-cf-19-mk1-w7-video-drivers-dim-screen-issues.html#post9132894

5) Bluetooth "situation" has not been tackled yet. Shawn tossed me a link to that solution though! (Thanks again Shawn!) EDIT: Shawn and Blair are both working with me to help solve this one!

CF-19 and W7 Bluetooth Issues

FIXED! See the BT thread above.
Progress, annoying issues, but still good progress. And I am SO FREAKING cloning this HDD when it is right.

Not sure if this transgresses into talk of "that which is not allowed"... But how about discussions of making a DVD image available for DL once running?

Okay I am likely going to grab a couple of these questions out of here and toss up dedicated threads to them (in the interest of trying to keep this one a little, cleaner lol). If so I will edit and link them back to here.

 

Okay # 2 is fixed, and a very interesting observation! The file registry edit Toughasnails referenced on page 2 / post #16 "seems" to work differently than the original file in the meitbtn-19-1-d070663 folder.

When you push the screen rotate button on the front panel once, it rotates the screen 90 once. The file in the folder rotates the screen 90 twice, for a 180 flip.

I guess either way has its advantages. Pushing the button twice for a 180 flip, or just once for a 90 flip, isn't hard.

Now it is POSSIBLE this is configurable elsewhere. I have not poked into it further to try and figure this out. If I don't like the double flip, I will just try the other reg edit file before digging into it further.

I discovered the file was actually included in that folder by reading this post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/431682-cf-19-windows-7-install-3.html#post5576823

I looked right past the file several times though. It is just labeled "standard" and type "Windows Batch File." The .reg extension was not visible making it easy to miss.

 

So, I think it has now been two weeks since I got the HDD? After even just a week, I should have a stable running system. I don't. And in fact, I am starting all over yet again....

I got it 90% of the way, but the 10% problems that were left, are the items I needed to be perfect. Primarily the Bluetooth.

 

How did you remove the screen rotation release latch?

scratch that i figured it out

 

I'm trusting you have made some headway in your search but wanted to reference post #79 from this link (and everything else before it):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/431682-cf-19-windows-7-install-8.html
I used all the information from this site and the above link for my MK 2, not sure but would think it would be similar.
Regards, Cleve

 

Actually lots thanks! :thumbsup:

Your link is awesome, so I am going to drop a link back to it here in this thread. WIndows 7 Supportl I have not solved the Bluetooth yet, so it may help that hurdle too.

I had loaded Vista up to solve some issues and see if I could make anything work better there. Vista, Panasonic's SUPPORTED OS, refused to work. But putting my cloned W7 progress back in got me back up quickly. Once I had solved the sound issues in Vista, it was easy to repeat it here.

As for BIOS? There are simply too many different links thrown out here... I FINALLY found one that actually had the link to update from inside windows. Done.

 

Just a thought (and question):
Have you ever (as of yet), used the official Panasonic OS Recovery disks for your unit? I ask this because that is what I used in the above referenced link.
XP loaded from their recovery disk with many errors, however Vista loaded perfectecly (also from Panasonic), I then just followed all the great information on this site to upgrade to Windows 7, reading many, many posts and then following the Panasonic directions as best I could as they were actually for a MK3.
Please let us know.

 

I used the recovery disks on a couple of my cf29's with zero problems...

 

This is one thing I like about the Panasonic recovery disk...zero problems

 

Honeslty when I started this adventure, I didn't think it was going to be this much headache. And since from moment one, I knew it was getting W7. Besides, recovery discs cost money and are just too easy...

The biggest problem is finding reliable drivers sources. I found three different drivers packages just for my specific model in two places... They were mostly the same, mostly. But there were small differences, updates, and the like. And the "Instal document" I kept coming across, sucked. And it referanced things not even in the packages supplied. Whatever. Finally though we are all loaded, except for one driver, the PRLan driver.

Somewhere in this process, I had grabbed the wrong W7 Image. It isn't activated. Once the final tweaks are sorted out, this mistake might help everyone else out. If somebody has a good recommendation for a method to make a "recovery disk" off this HDD setup, I will definitely do so and make it available.

I am currently rebuilding my USB Toolbox. :thumbsup: Soon as I have the goodies on it I want, a few linux distros, partitioning and cloning tools, recovery disc, and W& Install disc, I will get the final details sorted and clone the drive. I HAVE to keep a base reference to get back to.

 

So my "base reference" clone saved the day! Accidentally... It is a good idea to ALWAYS make a full cloned backup if your going to be poking at software and breaking things. :thumbsup:

Anyways, the CF-19 has now survived multiple flights and layovers in the past months. My "Business Rugged" CF-T7, didn't fare as well. It is still functioning fine, but developed a few cracks in the case after the last flight.

The CF-19 catches a lot more attention though. Not sure if this is good or bad yet, lol! It is definitely an easy laptop to carry through the airports.

It had been running perfectly stable on W7. A memory bump up to 3gb, and it starts to actually feel fast!!!

Likes: I discovered it is a nice little machine for basic photo editing and managing my pictures. The digitizer is amazing! And using a ruggedized laptop out on a photo shoot and not needing to worry about it, is SUPER AWESOME!

The screen is bright, I would of course like it to be brighter... But it is manageable in most conditions. Only my old Macbook did better.

Dislikes: The keyboard sucks for typing. Maybe I have not given it much of a chance? I still have issues with my CF-T7, and its slightly larger keyboard. And I use that one day in and out for most of my work. The CF-19 stock keyboard likes to constantly skip spaces, and the keybaord does not have good touch feedback. Almost as bad as a rubberized one.

After upgrading the HDD (currently in progress) the next planned upgrade will have to be that keyboard. A backlighted chicklet costs more than I paid for the laptop though....

 

I always keep the T5 on trips for a back up and kept it in a better protected place than the 30/19 I had with me. I got a couple of places where homeland security like to look them over and ask questions. It's just because they have never really got to handle one and want to check it out.

If you are going to be in one place for a while and still can't get use to the keyboard you may want to consider a dock and external keyboard. I don't really like the rubber roll up ones but the plastic folding ones do work. I got a dock set up for the girlfriend when I got her a Mk2 19 to replace her Mk1. Even if you didn't get a larger screen to carry it would give you movement to set the keyboard were you want.

I have been wanting to get a emissive keyboard for one of mine as well, but like you price just kills that upgrade. With Panasonic not making them any more (from what I have heard) the price is only going to go up.

Are you going with bigger HDD or you swapping to a SSD?


(I am still looking for a different folding keyboard than the few I have tried out. I got a portable desktop for gaming I have been slowly getting everything for and just about to put together. Video glasses for a monitor, roll up rubber keyboard, wifi, gaming mouse, belkin gaming pad, small case with dual core and dedicated video card.)(For now I have been using the Mk2 CF-30 with it and a external GPU "asus xg station, 8800gt" I got to redo mine also to upgrade from the factory 80 GB HD to Intel X-25 160 GB SSD)

 

Homeland hasn't given mine any notice. I have actually been surprised how lax their checks of my toys have been, with all the horror stories I hear. I always breeze right through. I am sure "profiling" has something to do with it. I just profile myself right off their radar...

Just a bigger and faster (7200rpm) drive. I transfer large amounts of data frequently. The faster speed makes a HUGE difference!

As for the keyboards, I have definitely thought about that route! I can't be the first person to have thought of this, but I seriously miss my Macbook. If I can get one of Apple's wireless, or even wired, keyboards to work I would be in typing nirvana!

 

Wow, so it has been 2yrs almost exactly since I built my "Ultimate" CF-19! An interesting 2yrs with some traveling thrown in.



I finally got around to replacing my Macbook. But as much as I LOVE my Mac, the CF-19 is always my "grab and go" or "grab and throw" in back of car laptop. In a dirty automotive shop environment, the Toughbook just SHINES!

But this was no surprise to me, I have been a Toughbook addict for many many years. I actually had one of the first ones that they ever made!

It has been SUPER reliable, until a mishap yesterday.... But that is another story and unlikely the end of this beast. What other issues have I had? Lets see...

DO NOT BUY CHEAP $10-20 Chinese crap power adapters NO MATTER WHAT WARRANTY THEY LURE YOU IN WITH!!!! Buy a cheap used IBM or something before buying one of those. Why? One took out my power board. Not sure how, but over time it fried/charred the power plug on the 19 until one day the adapter went up in smoke with a loud pop! Easy part to replace though yay! I didn't even have to break out the soldering iron! Wow, I must have replaced 4-5 times my CF-72 port...

The backlighted rubber keyboards are crap, on ANY Toughbook. Don't, just don't...

Anyways I am re-reading this thread in prep for my new project, a CF-30, and for refurbishing my CF-19. It is interesting to go back and look at the ideas I have had. What has been implemented, what worked, what didn't work.

The biggest fail was likely the fingerprint scanners. I never got them to work stabily, so they never got modded in. GPS has been hit and miss. The sierra card worked okay, but the software never did and I had issues with it breaking my wireless. I tried a bunch of ideas and never got the software uninstalled cleanly, without breaking the normal wireless.... ATM it gives me a silly boot error EVERY time. I will tackle that again here soon as we get it back online.

For now, I will likely proceed with disassembly and scope it out. The paint will get a refresh. It has held up really well, but 2yrs is showing some wear... And hopefully, reassembly will be the fix. Or it will be obvious when I pull it apart....

I still want to upgrade to an i5 Toughbook.... I almost bough a badly beat up i5 CF-19, I may still who knows... But I like this guy too much to let him die... Somehow, it will live on.

 

The way the prices are dropping on the CF-19 MK4 and MK5 you could have one sooner than later

 

I'm eyeballing a few CF-19's on flea bay. Hope to eventually get myself one of those i5 models. But a 2 duo won't be too bad. Dualboot 7 and linux and I'll be happy.

 

If you can afford it, grab the i5! The prices have dropped a nice amount. Now the prices on CF-30's are better. Overall I think I like my CF-30 a touch more. But that could just be because it is the new toy?! Lol...

The CF-19 is a lot lighter/smaller than the CF-30. Parts are a bit more expensive, but not by too much I guess.

The keyboard on the CF-19 is a little smaller than a normal one. Not too bad. I quickly got used to it. I can transfer back and forth between that and the CF-30 almost seamlessly. I am using my CF-19 right now in fact.

If compactness is key, choose the CF-19. If you need long battery life, the CF-30.

 

I like my 28 and 30 alot. Even without it being touch screen. For me touch screens are basically useless. Altho am intrigued with the turn and lay down aspect of a 19's screen. Definitely want to see the difference between typical touch, like my 28, 73's and 74, compared to a digitizer set up. Altho unless it can function like a tablet does with fling and such, it's basically just a (for me) useless gimmick.

 

To tell you the truth mine died last year in my 30 and t don't miss it t all

 

Well my 30 has not had a touch screen as long as I've had it. Even seems like there's a plastic clear hard cover over the screen itself. When I tap on it it sounds odd not like a typical screen. And then there's that whole not able to slide or fling stuff like a tablet. So for me pretty much unless I can use it as a tablet the touch screen and flip screen down function is going to get boring fast. Like it did on my 74's ect. kinda like having a touch orientated operating system and having to use a mouse and cursor to work it because not a touch screen machine.

 

"Even seems like there's a plastic clear hard cover over the screen itself."
hmmm ...
perhaps it is the "no-scratch/finger goo repeller" that comes with most of those displays ?
it could act as a dampener .

maybe someone has indeed placed a thin clear sheet of plastic in front of the lcd ... there is room for it .
my '30 does have an *odd* sound as you mentioned ... and it is a touch screen .

ps ... i like my touchscreen ... when i remember to use it when i need to .

 

The non touch units had a dummy plastic sheet, If I recall correctly..

 

I'm gonna have to re-run my numbers to refresh my mind as to what that 30 ought to have had.

 

What is the full model number of your CF--30.

 

30 G= 2 duo l7500 1.6
3=no touch
s=80gb hdd 1 gb ram
z=no wireless
z=No wwan
a= coa vista xp downgrade
m= north america

 

Well my CF-30 has that odd "thumpy" sound to it, and it is a non-touch screen. I think the CF-19 is one of the few Toughbooks that has gotten the touchscreen mostly right. On my CF-T7, using the touchscreen is a joke.

Somewhere, possibly my CF-30 thread, I was complaining about non-responsive keyboards. IE typing in and the pc is lagging. Like memory is locking up.

Anyways I am having these issues mostly with my CF-19. And it seems very much to be heat related. When it sits on in the garage all day especially it does this "lagging". If I can get it into a cool spot, under an AC vent or pop in the refrigerator for ten minutes, it goes back to normal.

Is this a known issue with the CF-19? I thought I saw something to this effect, but I failed to find it with search.

 

More common in CF29's and CF30's...
You may need to replace thermal pads on the heat sink assembly..
"IF" I recall correctly that is on the top of the motherboard(the keyboard side), which means complete removal from the housing. I don't have any disassembled CF19's anymore to verify that..

 

Bumping this thread back up. Seems my "overheating" issue only occurs when using the internet. Anyways I am mostly just trying to find my model number to post up in my thread here on my latest issue.

 

So after almost a year of on and off attempts to get the broken software cleaned out that was killing my wireless networking, it is done! Revo Uninstaller was the magic jellybean that finally fixed it!!!

I am not sure where I am going from here. There is a lot more clean-up to do before I give this a clean bill of health again. I need to get it clean, and then make new backupdrives. I am also REALLY wanting to try out Windows 10. But I will NOT do so on this current drive and setup. This machine would be the choice for a tablet friendly OS.

Reading back through this thread to remember the steps I took to get it here. If I do try out Windows 10, I need a MUCH faster way to get here....

 

I plan on a second drive.
I will load Win 10 from scratch and see what drivers are missing after it's done..
On a CF52 for Win7 and Win10 I only need 1 driver from Panasonic..Windows gets everything else on it's own.