Mystery of the disappearing serial ports

Well, I'm at a complete loss....

Despite the assistance and good intentions of many here (sincerely, thank you to all who tried to help ), I have been unable to recover the serial ports on my CF-29.

The issue started when I installed the OEM GPS module; regardless of how I reconfigured the bios, or what I maneuvered in the device manager, or DMI, or what I disabled, enabled, disconnected or reconnected, the unit no longer shows any serial ports - hence the GPS doesn't work (shows up in the bios), and neither does the 9-pin com 1 that functioned perfectly previous to the install. I've reinstalled this GPS and reinstalled back to original so many times now that I'm getting Tunnel Carpel Syndrome, but to no avail. I've even completely restored the hard drive, and, surprise, no difference - no serial ports. No missing connectors, no loose wires, nothing else touched during the many, many installs, but alas, no use.

I was so frustrated, I bought a brand new loaded CF-30 (got a wicked deal on an awesome machine), but I'd still like to make the CF-29 function properly. So, if anyone knows of a trustworthy tech in the West Los Angeles, CA area, I'm ready to pay to resolve this issue...all rational solutions have been exhausted, so I need to utilize the services of someone who can figure out what's up with this machine (Everything else works perfectly fine).

Any suggestions or referrals will be greatly appreciated.

And if anyone has a Verizon WWAN module they'd like to swap for a new ATT WWAN module that came in my new CF-30 (not the sled - just the WWAN module) let's talk....

 

If reinstalling windows did not work
One more try ...reset bios defaults

Alex

 

I would be happy to take a look at it for you. I can give no guarantees, but a second set of grey matter and me being pretty patient at these things might turn some answers. No need to pay, I consider it a challenge. And, as a bonus, I think I in fact have the verizon card you are looking for! And I live in Murrieta, 2 hours from you.

 

One last thing, reflash the bios.



ohlip

 

Teo,

Not all Toughbooks have the BIOS updates... I have a few I'd like to do... There are only ones for MK1, 2 & 3 out there...

Cruiser... I'd take Doobi up on his offer... He's a long-time member here and knows his stuff....

 

I've reset the bios defaults and tried every combo of serial port settings available (all ports show up in the bios) - but how do I "reflash" the bios ?

 

Your offer is very generous, and I will try to take you up on it. I'll PM you to see if we can work out a time in the near future...

 

You reflash by downloading the flash from Panasonic... Usually you need a floppy, boot to it, (With the flash loaded on a floppy) then follow directions to erase the eprom and reflash it. Very simple but you MUST have a charged battery AND an AC adapter connected. If it stops in the middle because of interruption... You are toast and then have a 9 pound paperweight!

 

Missing serial ports, eh?

How long have they been missing?

Where have you been with the missing serial ports?

Have you seen any strange people looking at or lurking in the vicinity of the serial ports in question ?

Do you have any suspicions of someone who might have taken the serial ports in question?

mnem
I say "Blame Canada"...

 

Thanks, Rick...The CF-29 is actually on it's way to Doobi to see if he can work some magic on it...keeping my fingers crossed...

 

Well, as it stands now, I'm an official CF-29 "serial killer"...:laugh:

 

Mnem... At first I laughed.... But I know that Larry has been pulling his hair out over this... I think he was looking for a serious answer...

 

No worries, TB - I'm an easy-goin' guy, and a good laugh is always welcome...especially when things get out of control....

 

As I said before reflash the bios, even if it is the same bios or update.


ohlip

 

Please explain how to re flash when you have the latest bios installed .I have the same problem on 2 cf-29 mk2s myself.one was working before installing an evdo. Please post up on any info on this . Thanks, Mike

 

The above instruction is how to flash the bios. Rick(TB) got a good explanation how do it.


ohlip

 

Well, I sortof guessed that "Larry, the Serial-Killer" might could use a bit of a diversion... But, here we are, so I put my thinking scales on...

Have you tried the process I've outlined elsewhere for reinstalling the USB driver stack? I've had problems with faults in the USB affecting the PS/2 ports and serial ports as well; either because it's ALL part of the same UART chip, or in the case of one Gateway recently, because the built-in serial port was actually a serial adapter on an internal USB port...

0. Make sure you have no programs or dialog boxes open.
1. In Device Manager, disable all USB Host Controllers from the bottom of the list up; when you do this all the USB root hubs will disappear.
2. Once all the USB Host Controllers are disabled, uninstall them one at a time from the bottom of the list up until they are all uninstalled.
3. Close out Device Manager and immediately power down the machine, unplug power/batteries to ensure full latent RAM purge, then restart machine & let it rebuild the USB driver stack.

Hope this helps,

mnem
Well, isn't that just craptastic...

 

IS NOW SOLVED!! I reset your BIOS back to default, and then uninstalled/reinstalled to stack. I did not have anything at home to test it so I took it to work today, still here, and hooked it up to our external modem and BAM. It recognized the modem straight away and was able to query it as well.

So, that is apparently fixed now. The bad news though, is that either what you were trying to hook up is bad, or..... you know your not as young as you used to be, and these ports ARE awfully small to someone of your vision impairments.... j/k.

I will be looking into the GPS issue probably this weekend, or early next week. Once I have that running, and verify your serial port STILL works, then I will ship it off to you. Wish me luck!!

In Christ,

Paul

 

OK how did you install the default bios ,Yes I know how to install the bios updates. Please explain to me.
Thanks, Mike

 

The answer was on post #2 where I said set bios defaults
The extra was uninstalling the com ports in device manager and having them reinstall with default irq's

I think thats what Doobi did lol


Alex

 

exactly! Where I worked, we referred to this as reinstalling the "stack". I don't know if that is an "official" term, or just what they called it.

 

I'm excited - all is not lost !!! Thank you again for your help and time.

Just to recap, the serial ports worked 100% until the GPS module was installed...once I rebooted to check out the GPS - nothing. That's when I thought the GPS was a problem. After assurances that it was a working unit, I couldn't find any other issue. Bios showed the GPS was there, all the other serial ports were there, and I could change the IRQ settings in the bios setup just fine. Only none of them worked, and no com ports showed in the device mgr. The DMI did show that port 6 was a 9-pin serial port, but it didn't register anywhere else. Previous to installing the GPS module, the 9-pin serial port had been in use for an external GPS that was functioning fine all the time until my internal GPS install....

Hope that helps...

 

OK CL,

Your machine is on its way back to you. Your stock GPS is working fine, your serial port is working fine, and they both work together. As you already know, your CN18 ribbon lock is broken, not a good thing, so there is no telling how long it will work for. AFAIK there is no way to repair this ribbon lock. You will need to replace the MB when you have the money. But at least for now, the 4 "rubber dots" and double stick pad you were using seem to be holding the ribbon cable in place.

Good luck with it and let me know if there is anything else I might be able to do for you..

In Christ,

Paul

 

Doobi -

You are the man .
I appreciate the time and effort you were willing to put in to help me out - above and beyond, my friend...

While I'm no whiz with computers (obviously), let me know if there is anything I can do for YOU

Thank again,

Larry

 

Um... Yeah... Having a loose ribbon cable will definitely make your GPS a little screwy...

Doobi... Thanks for going out of your way to help another forum member. You Da Man! Props to you!

Rick

 

Very easily... When first booting up you click onto F2 when prompted to enter the BIOS.... The last tab on the right is the "Exit" tab but will also have several options available... Reset to Default - Reset to Last Configuration, Save as Is, etc... Resetting to default clears a lot of stuff where people may have accidentally entered the incorrect thing into their BIOS... When you reset... Then you can go back in and make the changes fairly quickly back to where you wanted them.

This stops the "I keep doing the same thing but expect different results" thing that everyone goes through from time to time. It can also shake out IRQ and COM port issues from time to time.

 

No problem Boss. It's my way of contributing to what you have started and kept going for SOOO long.

 

I'm happy to say the CF-29 is working perfectly fine - all serial ports are active, and the GPS is getting great readings indoors...

The helpfulness and generosity of the folks on this forum has been amazing to me so far. As a member of many other forums in different fields, but a noobie here, it is refreshing to be treated like a functioning human as opposed to being flamed at every turn.

I hope to be able to return the favor here someday...

 

Now all you need is the Icom HF radio mod inside that thing Larry
j/k

Yes, There are great folks here, Thats for sure
Have fun with that rig

 

Actually, I have a Yaesu FT857D HF, Yaesu FTM10R VHF/UHF, Yaesu VX8R Handheld, Yaesu VX170 Handheld, ATAS 120A antenna system, Lowrance GlobalMap Baja 540C GPS, Qualcomm 1600 Satellite Phone, Spot Satellite Messenger, Kamtronics TNC, APRS system, to go with the CF-30 now mounted on the passenger seat...so I'm pretty well equipped for short and long range communication. In fact, I've made contacts with stations in Europe, Russia, South America, Africa, and all over the US from the cab of my FJ Cruiser...

(...but no ICOM radios in sight... )

 

Cruiser... I'm glad he could get it fixed for you!

I think Gunhog was wanting to play around with the older modems to see if he could play wth their frequencies... I have a few if you want to play around with them.