New (to me) CF-74CCBAXBM

I really wanted aCF-19 mk2 or better, but it became apparent that I could not afford that, so I found a CF-74 MK1. It only has 370 hours on it, and looks like new (not dinged up). According to the seller's specs, it is supposed to have a touchscreen, but after installing all drivers in the order recommended by Panasonics "Install Order" doc, the touchscreen still does not work. Additionally, there is a screen protector installed, which makes me think it *should* be a touchscreen (maybe that does not mean anything). In the BIOS, there is no sign of a place to turn touchscreen on or off. If it is a touchscreen, shouldn't it have a way in BIOS to turn it off & on?

 

According to your model number it should be a touch. If you have a Ubuntu 10.10 disk try that live and see if the touch works. Should work out of the box the calibration would just be off but it would let you know if your touch is working and you just need a windows tweak OR it's a dead touch screen.

 

Thanks for the reply. Just tried Ubuntu and Puppy with no joy. In Windows Device Manager, there is a Fujitsu Touch Panel (USB) and it *says* it is working correctly.

 

Another interesting tidbit: When I remove the Fujitsu Touch Panel (USB) in Device Manager, then scan for hardware changes, it puts the device back, so there *is* some kind of hardware there.

Additional info: BIOS version: V1.00L15 EC version: V1.00L11
Does anyone know if this is the proper BIOS version?

 

Can't remember details now (scarily, not even which laptop ) but I know I got a good driver from Fujitsu support when I couldn't find a working one on the Panny site.

 

Just checked the Device Manager in mine. Is that under the Human Interface Devices? Just a bit of background, I replaced a broken LCD with a touchscreen LCD which has the circuit board glued on the back into my non-touchscreen model. So basically I have no touchscreen but the Device Manager is picking up the circuit board.
So infortunately it could indicate that the touchscreen is dead.

 

Thanks for the tip. Downloaded and tried the 4-wire, 5-wire, and 7-wire USB Fujitsu Touch Panel Drivers, but that didn't seem to work either. Please keep the suggestions coming. I'll try until I'm certain the touch panel is broken.

 

I had a CF-19 MK2 that totally surprised me by having a bad touchscreen.
Surprise because these are the good new style panels.
I went into the lid and found that the powers that be had changed the connector from the spring loaded?? type of the CF-29 series. Now it has the type where you slide the brown thingy to tighten.

Short story long....the cable was loose even though it had been taped in. Check that first.......i.e. plug it back in....then tape it in place.

I don't know, someone here does....which panel your model uses. Send me a picture and I'll tell you. That is a picture of the TSPCB in the lid and the FPC cable end.



Jeff

 

Thanks Sadlmkr,
I checked that cable and unplugged it and replugged it. Still no touchscreen.
Are these touch panels very expensive? Do you think I need to replace that PCB as well as the panel? Here is a picture:
http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/theaok/HPIM1676.jpg

 

If you can, measure resistance across the (unplugged) FPC's terminals. 1 & 3 are a circuit, so are 2 & 4 - I've forgotten the actual resistances but less than 300 Ohms. No connection between 1 & 2 or between 3 & 4. Or 1 & 4 or 2 & 3.
Move the flex connector as little as possible.
The few I've checked have been OK after reinserting a few times.
I would have used silver-loaded epoxy to restore a Carbon/Silver FPC's traces or its connections to the screen had that been necessary.
Of the three recent non-working touchscreens I've had only one was because of a bad connection at the FPC-to-board socket. Other two turned out to be drivers.
Checking was still worthwhile though - finding, downloading & trying all possible drivers for an unsupported W7 upgrade would have been a huge waste of time for a dead touchscreen.

 

Right 'cha are. The circuits should have continuity ...exact ohms not as important as a complete circuit. 1 to 3 and 2 to 4. One will be less than the other. That's normal.
This appears to be the old style panel. New style shows copper traces rather than gray.
I am fighting one of the only CF-29's I have acquired with apparently a broken wire in the loom. Breaks would be more common in a heavily used CF-18 due to the wrap.

The other sometimes fix is to wiggle + remove +install the touch connector on the motherboard.

techtuff can tell you if his touch panels will fit here. That's where I get new ones.
I think a defective TSPCB is another rare-ie. It's probably good.
O.K. I'll go out on a limb here and predict an open circuit in the panel.

 

Well, I've fooled with all software suggestions, and tried re-seating all cables. I even resorted to heating the edges of the screen to remelt the glue, but with limited results (now the cursor runs to right edge when I touch the screen). So where can I get a new touchscreen panel for the CF-74? Does the same screen as the CF-30 or CF-29 fit it?

 

Another question: Are the new touchscreens as prone to failure as the old ones? Or is a new one just another thing that will fail after a year or two? Do these only fail because of heat, or do they simply not last even when babied?

 

Did you check those resistances and did you get the expected 2 readings?
What happens when you try to calibrate the screen with calwin?
Does the red + move each time you touch it? If yes do you then get an error when you press "enter" after touching all 9?
When you move your finger up & down do you see a 1-or-2-pixel-wide black strip appear down the right side?
Are you using XP? Vista? 7?
I'd be encouraged by those signs of life & definitely wouldn't give up yet.
It's taken me quite a few attempts sometimes to get touchscreens working but I haven't had to replace one yet.

 

I did not check the resistance yet, but calwin lets me appear to calibrate the screen. The red cross hairs move as I touch them, but the white arrow does not move with the stylus. It follows the stylus vertically, but not horizontally. Where ever I touch the screen, the cursor moves to that position but all the way to the right of the screen.

When you say to check the resistance, are you talking about on the touchscreen's ribbon cable or on the touchscreen's PCB?

 

Just checked resistance on the two wire pairs on the touch panel itself. One pair had a resistance of 230 +/- and the other pair only.4.

 

The touchscreen's ribbon cable, details as in post 10. It's the one that's unplugged in your photo, white tab at the end of it. It's a 4-wire screen incidentally, as you can see.
If you don't have a multimeter you can buy a cheap one for a fiver or a tenner that is good enough for this. A lump of plasticine is handy to hold the tab of the ribbon cable steady while you touch its terminals with the probes. Ribbon cables are designed to be flexible but they are fragile. Move it around as little as possible.
Two good readings means the screen's probably OK and it's worth trying all the different drivers/calwin versions you can find.
One good reading and one open circuit means new screen or repair the open circuit. Post 10 tells how I would do that.
Good luck

 

Was expecting an O/C not a short... without one to look at I can't think where it could short out to give a reading like 0.4 or 4 Ohms - if that's what you meant. Did you measure the unplugged FPC terminals or the solder lands on the board's socket with the FPC plugged?
If you're planning to replace the screen yourself why not take the old one out before ordering the new one? Never know, you may find the cause.
230 OK IIRC other axis 80-ish but it's been a while.
Sorry my fingers are so old & slow...

 

Yup, 0.4 shorts out on pins 2 & 4. It is completely dis-attached from the LCD, which was easy to do since it was only taped to the LCD in 2 places. Is that normal?

This was sold as a working touchscreen, but the touchscreen never had even a spark of life to it. Not even in Ubuntu 10.10. To their credit, the seller did refund me $100.00, but I really wanted a working touchscreen.

I see a new touchscreen on eBay for a CF-29 or 30. It looks like the same touchscreen, but the seller (techtuff) will not verify that it is the same touch panel as the 74. Does anyone know if this is the same panel?

 

Well, my new motto is "If it ain't broke, fix it til it is". I have cracked my glass!!!

On the other hand, it never worked anyway, so I had nothing to lose trying.

Keeping my eye out for a new touch panel. That brings me back to a question from post # 13. Do all these touch panels stop working after a while? What makes them fail? Is it worth getting a new touch panel, or will it also fail for no apparent reason?

 

If I'd known that was your plan all along I wouldn't have bother.... ah, never mind, I might have the wrong end of the stick here

ps. sorry.
too soon.

 

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I have recently replaced the touchscreen panel on my CF-74 with one from a CF-29. You know that the size is the same but just as important is that the 4 conductor ribbon cable is at the right location and long enough to be plugged to the circuit board. The cable length is just right so there's no chance of a sharp fold like on the 29.
My original screen had the two pieces of holding tape you mentioned and also a strip of soft foam at the bottom on the LCD side. I didn't have foam and just used a strip of double sided carpet tape that was handy.
The touchscreen works good now.

My sad story started with trying to re-fasten a loose corner of the screen protector of a good touchscreen. Too much pressure cracked the glass corner of the panel causing not only no touch, but no mouse pad working either! Lesson learned!

Well, I hope this info helps someone. Lord knows this forum has been a wealth of information to me!

Panel from CF-73 won't work because the cable is in different location.
Philip

 

Thanks for the information Shellback.

theoak,
The new style touchpanels do not have the issues of the old style. MK2 and above both CF-19 and CF-30 seem to use the new panels.

I don't know yet how long the repair lasts. No returns yet. Others may have input. The casual agent is HEAT.

Jeff

 

Thanks to Shellback, Sadlmkr, UncleMack, Ador, and MrRe. I've ordered a replacement touch panel.

 

Just to verify what Shellback said in post # 22 above, I ordered the touchscreen on eBay (from techtuff) for a CF-29/30. (4-wire). It arrived a few minutes ago, was so well packaged that I don't think any UPS delivery person could possibly break it. It is now installed and works perfectly!! I could not be happier!!!!!

Now for the hard part, a screen protector.

 

Take a shower and then install the screen. In the bathroom..clothing optional, STEAM IMPERATIVE. Keeps the dust down.

Posts re: subject in the forum somewhere, thankfully no pictures.