Need Help with OEM GPS in CF-29

I just installed an OEM GPS unit into my CF-29 Mk2, but can't get it to work. While I am mechanically proficient, I'm a complete noobie with regard to the operating drivers / software patches that might be required, and how to install them, so I'm now stuck...

My CF-29 is a "government issue" unit based on what I've been able to find out so far ( CF-29FTTGZKM), and I removed a smartcard assembly to make room for the GPS unit. All cables / mounts, etc. are installed correctly, and the GPS shows up in the bios ( V2.00L16). When I activate it, no GPS activity on any com port (in fact, no com ports show up in the device drivers list even though I've used a serial GPS up 'til now without issues). I tried disabling / enabling all different combos of the serial A / serial B / MP serial ports in the bios, but to no avail.

Toughbook was kind enough to e-mail a couple of registry patches he thought might do the trick, but they will not load (error message states wrong CF-29 version), and I've tried the patches for the Mk1, 2,3, and 4s - nothing.

I cannot find anything on the Pani site, or even on this forum that is specific to the CF-29 F/G series units, so I'm thinking that's part of the problem...but I know some of these came with GPS units from Panasonic, so there must be something i can do....

Any ideas from the experts out there ???

 

You can see it in the bios
You go to device manager under com ports and you don't even have com-1 which is your 9pin serial hard wired port, and no other com ports that might be your new gps
Is this correct?


Alex

 

I think you have something else at work here... Maybe larger problems. Did you have to take out the motherboard for anything? Make sure all connections are double checked... Also... You may want to reseat the CN18 ribbon cable leading to the GPS... Maybe even the other end of the connector as well.

To show in the BIOS... It just means that pin #40 on CN18 is grounded. So at least part of the ribbon cable is doing its job.

You should be seeing COM ports though... Even without the GPS... I would think.

 

Yep, as TB says the COM port should exist if the GPS is enabled in the BIOS/CMOS Setup.

On my Mk3 CF-29, I have options in the BIOS setup for which com port address to use (3F8 / 2F8 / 3E8 / 2E8) which theoretically correspond to COM1 - COM4. However, Windows XP did not assign it the same COM Port number as the port address suggested.

As I was advised, try setting different port addresses for the GPS and see if a new Com port appears in Windows device manager.

Robert.

 

Make sure it is on 3E8... In the 1.3GHz laptop that I have built... The GPS almost always comes up on COM3...

 

Checked the ribbon cable - it's in all the way. Even if I disable the GPS in the Bios, no com ports are listed in the device manager.

What about the Multimedia Pocket serial port ? is that the same port as the GPS uses ? I can only have 3 of the 4 active - if I leave Serial A, B and the MP port enabled, the GPS will not enable. Same with any combination - one has to be disabled to allow the GPS to be enabled. And regardless of configuration, no com ports show up in the device manager, only the LPT (printer) port.

I'm at a loss - don't know what else to check / change. I thought this would be simple, but Murphy found me...

 

You say you removed the smart card reader to make room for the GPS unit. Explain to us exactly how you installed the OEM GPS unit and we might be able to help from that.

 

Did you remove the motherboard?
There is quite a few conectors that might have been disconected that are hard to see if you pulled the motherboard to install the gps

Alex

 

The smartcard reader mounts with a sled very similar to the GPS - so the smartcarder reader came out, and the GPS with its sled went in.

The SCR had it's own ribbon cable, and goes to the exact same connector on the mother board (the cables are different, but are formed exactly the same shape). The screw to hold the cable is the same, too, so there really wasn't much to screw up. The GPS module plugged right into its connector on the sled fine, and the same 2 external screws hold both the SCR and the GPS sled to the toughbook frame on the outside.

Once mounted, I booted the TB, went to the setup, and the GPS was listed, but disabled. The only way to enable it was to disable one of the other serial ports listed in the setup - Serial A, Serial B , or the MultiPocket serial port.
The TB is working fine, but can't get the GPS to actually work (tried Visual GPS WinFast Navigator, and several GPS programs I have already been using.
I do have Frangate GPS active, and it can't locate the OEM GPS either. I enabled / disabled every combo of the above mentioned ports, but to no avail - same result; no GPS working, no serial ports listed in the device manager...

 

Try this. The small ribbon cable that connects the GPS to the sled unit, a 12c cable, take it out, and flip it. If you have it installed with shiny side up, put it shiny side down. There is a difference and off the top of my head, I can't remember. But if its upside down, it will not work. The fact that the BIOS sees it tells me most likely the CN18 cable is fine (this cable just identifies that the GPS board is plugged in), but since you can't "see" the GPS unit, I would check that smaller cable. If it's the same as the ones I'm used to seeing, on each end you will have a blue side, and a shiny side (the pins). If that is in there wrong, you won't get streaming data or "see" the unit. This is the simplest of the solutions to try. Of course, if that doesn't work we would have to look at either of the cables being bad; the PCB being bad; a blown fuse; the GPS unit itself being bad, and so on. Check that tiny cable first and get back to us.

 

A bigger issue seems to be evolving. I have been using this TB daily for several months with no issue; but since installing the GPS no serial ports are registering in the device manager, and the serial port in the rear of the CF-29, which I use every day, is not working now, either. So, something has corrupted / disabled the Com 1 and Com 2 in the unit, regardless of the setup settings. I even disconnected the GPS ribbon cable from the MB, and nothing shows up still. I need to get this thing running for tonight, so I'm in panic mode now...opened up the back again, but nothing else was touched, and everything is in place - how can I check what's happened to the serial ports on board ? Maybe this is why the GPS won't show up, too...

 

Quick update - I removed the GPS, reinstalled the Smartcard reader, and no difference - still no serial ports (Com 1, Com 2) working or registering, despite the setup having them on "auto"...

Now I'm really frustrated....

 

Remove GPS; Remove Smartcard; and in BIOS select "Default Settings" and reboot. Report what you find.

 

Doobi... There is no way he can miswire the ribbon cable as it has a dog-leg turn and will only fit one way... If you use a rregular ribbon cable... You may run into what you mentioned.

Okay... I just got off the phone with Larry.... Here's what I suggested he do...

1. Remove any RAM and reboot to check
2. Remove the Wifi card and reboot to check
3. If still not working, remove GPS, totally take apart, check for cleanliness, clean contacts, reassemble, reboot.

Larry sounds like he knows what he is doing and has the experience for this so it's not like he is a newbie. I've never heard of a PC losing all its COM and Serial ports before without losing the whole mobo! This certainly is weird... But it must be one of only a few things...
1. A conflict
2. A contact
3. A broken part (But the GPS was known working at time of install)
4. BIOS issue???

So... Larry is going to try 1-3 at the top of this post and chime in and let is know...

 

I hear you, but I was referring to the small sled cable, not the CN18 cable from the motherboard to the sled. And yes, if you put the small ribbon cable, the one from the GPS unit to the sled PCB in wrong, you will definitely experience what he is experiencing. In addition, he seems to be experiencing the same thing you did when you found your GPS grounding to the side. Although I don't believe you had missing com ports.

 

Well, I performed all of the above, individually and together, and no change. Computer works fine, except no com ports in the device mgr, and serial ports not working (GPS not working either, obviously). So, I'm stumped.

Doobi, the small cable in the GPS unit - I didn't see it, but i didn't disassemble the GPS yet, either. I wanted to check first, because I wasn't sure were in the GPS unit I'd find the cable - one side of the sled (for the WWAN) is empty, and the GPS board is very small and faces into the sled. I received this unit complete from Rick, so I'm not sure how it would have changed from it's original position in the CF-29 it came out of...

 

I don’t know for sure but I would suggest a restore of windows at this point
I just don’t think is a serious hardware issue as he has not disassembled the whole toughbook
The last toughbook that I had com port issues ( a cf-51)was software related
Restore with the gps module in for a start, and if you still have no com ports try to restore without


Alex

 

Alex... Good idea! I second the isea of a restore.

Doobi... I sold him the GPS kit assembled as I took it out of the CF-29. There is no way he could have doubled it back unless he took it all apart and then reassembled it from scratch I would think the bend marks in the cable would have show him the way in that case. I know what you are thinking... But this as already assembled... That is not the issue.

Larry... Do the restore with all the stuff the way it was....

Rick

 

That sounds like a good idea....

unfortunately, I bought this unit with a valid, registered COA (Windows XP Pro SP3), but no discs...

where can I purchase Windows restore for my COA ?


Also, just for informational purposes, the GPS module is rivited to the sled, so there is no access to the top of the board...and from what I can see with a flashlight, no cable connecting the GPS module to the sled - looks like connector is integrated on the board...

THanks for everyone's help so far....the adventure continues...

 

Hi! did you performed the add hardware wizard but make sure its enable or auto on the bios. Give it a shot and let me know.If it fail on the first try., try again this time go to all devices and then to serial port.

Sometimes windows xp is to lazy to detect other hardware on the system, you know.


ohlip

 

This sounds very much like a short bringing down all Serial Com. I'd check all cables and connectors. Cracked Mylar cables touching the Chassis can be a B*tch and this is a guess as I've seen this type of cable in other laptops and naturally assume this may have them as well. Haven't opened my CF-29 YET and it came with GPS so I'm blind a bit at this writing. Seeing you got this unit second hand was the Smart Card reader tested or did you use the 9 Pin Serial before this upgrade? Is there a BIOS version he can flash to to ensure no corruption and the worse case is a bad UART or SouthBridge issue affecting only Serial. This is guess but I'm throwing out some thoughts. Good Luck with getting it working. Anyone have a copy of the Floppy Diag Disk so he can test it?

SIN

 

SIN

You do bring up some good suggestions

Because the cf29 was not completely disassembled and as I read it just a sled installed I am not sure that connections could have been shorted or connected incorrectly to cause the UART controller to fail

I have seen com port controllers fail before, the last one was a shipboard installation in which the com port was hooked-up to a gps and the wires were run parallel in a bundle along side a 150watt sideband antenna cable
In that case even though they were not directly connected the stray voltage caused the com port to fail

The allowable input voltage is approximately 3volts input to the com port
I personally know that 12v is instant death as I mistakenly hooked up a rs422 signal which put out 12volts years ago without using a rs422 to rs232 adapter and destroyed the com-port instantly

However this update has been done many times and the gps mod has been done many times and have not read of serious issues before


Alex

 

I think what Tomcat was suggesting was to use the Windows system restore point, not reinstall Windows. Go to your start menu, all programs, accessories, system tools, system restore. If it is turned on and there is a restore point before you started this whole adventure, then you may be able to roll back to that point and fix everything. System restore tends to be about 50-50 for luck in my experience, but definitely worth a shot.

If you do need to go the full reinstall route, the COA will work with any regular Windows XP pro disk if you have one for another computer or can borrow one from a buddy. OEM disks that are branded by a maunfacturer (Dell, Gateway, etc) will likely not work, they have to be from Micro$oft. You just have to manually install all the drivers when you are done.

 

For what its worth, I can state with absolute certainty that factory restore disks from Dell will install perfectly, XP Pro, SP2, and SP3. I know from personal experience that they work on, CF-27 all models, CF-28 all models, CF-29 MK4, CF-18 MK2, and CF-M34 700mhz. There are no activation issues as long as your computer has a valid XP COA. You activate on line using your key from your COA and delete one little folder labeled Dell after the install is complete and before you start installing drivers. The myth that there is some embedded code from Dell or Panasonic which prevents activation is horse pucky! I don't know about any other brand, but Dell restore disks have the OS on one disk and the drivers and other Dell stuff on a second disk. I haven't heard this, I have done this, too many times! You are in no way violating any rules when you do this, if your machine has a valid COA.
CAP
EDIT: I use Latitude disks. Not sure it makes a difference.

 

I had not thought of a windows restore
Thats a great idea and worth a try


Alex

 

You can try but I feel that the restore point or Initial Install/Recovery are a long shot. I've you've got the time then any suggestion is worth a try. I love those Dell XP sp2 CD's ..............nothin but relabel MS XP CD's.

SIN

 

Flash the bios.

 

The CF-29 has no BIOS updates.. Only the CF-28s do as far as I know...

Otherwise people would be flashing the BIOS to erase the accumulated hours on the Toughbooks that register them!

 

The cables all appear to be 100%, and the connections are simple. The 9-pin serial port in the rear was working fine (I had an external GPS hooked in through it), although I never had occasion to check out the device mgr and see what it said about the com ports before this problem. The smartcard reader was hooked up, but never tested.

The bios shows Serial A, B, and MP serial ports, (and the GPS), and allows me to adjust their settings - just no ports are functioning once its booted through. I don't get any type of error or warning messages - just no com ports are available in any program I try to set up (these are all programs that were working with the 9-pin serial port and GPSGate before my adventure started).

 

Some more updates:

Did a Windows Restore to a date prior to installing the GPS - no change.

Looked in "System Information";

Under system drivers, Serial port driver - it says state is "stopped", Error control "off" - is that correct for what should bew an active system driver ?

Under IRQs - no IRQ 2-7 are listed; none of those listed are for serial ports.

Under conflicts/sharing - No conflicts or sharing for any IRQ 1-8, or 10 and above. A whole bunch of stuff shares IRQ 9, but those devices are all functioning normally.

Not sure if any of this helps, but thoought I'd put it up in case...

 

Any other ideas ??? I'm completely stumped and ready to throw the TB against a wall (probably wouldn't hurt it, though... )

 

Is there any way to physically test the serial ports ?

How can I check to see if I am dealing with a software / operating system problem, or if there is a hardware issue ?

 

There is a diagnostic cable that panasonic talks about in there service manual.I do not know if it can be made up or it can be bough.This is should let you check all connections

 

Do you have Panasonics DMI Viewer installed on your machine? It should be under start>programs>panasonic. If you do, then run it and click on port connector 6; what does it identify?

 

No, I don't have DMI Viewer...I'll see if I can get it from the pani site....

 

Downloaded DMI Viewer from pani site...

Says port 6 is serial port, 9-pin connector, etc...

 

I am stumped then. If DMI see's it, but your Device Manager does not, then I am going to have to go against my logic and say reload OS. All in all, I can't wrap my brain around a software issue, but all signs point to yes at this point. Confirm with others here, but I say wipe the drive and start again...

 

Maybe something about the GPS corrupted the serial driver ?? It seems the ports are physically recognized, but not software functional. I'm no techie, but is it possible the GPS requires an updated serial port driver that may not be current on my CF-29 ?? No other software or hardware was changed, so I can only think that the GPS tried to "run" trough the driver and that caused an issue-everything else works 100%. Is my logic reasonable, computer-wise ??

 

It could be a driver issue, although I would doubt that. At least one you can fix easily anyways. If BIOS sees the devices but they will not install or run correctly in Windows, then I would have to agree with Doobi. Flush and reinstall. It may be swatting a fly with a sledgehammer, but it sounds like the best best for getting you going again at this point.