New CF-29NTQGZBM Owner!

Hi all.

Pretty cool. My old CF-18 (edit: Meant: CF-27. Sheesh) still works but is long in the tooth with a dead battery so.....

Needed something for engine diagnostics software and road trips. This CF-29 was listed as a Tough Book. $170 Cnd tax in. Decent deal I think. HD caddy etc seems OEM and so far, all that appears to be missing is the PS flap. Keyboard may be backlit too which is REALLY cool. Has DVD-CDRW too, 1 GB RAM, XP SP3.

FWIW, the Panasonic FAQ helped with getting the touch screen working again. Just followed the directions.

Is the antenna shown below for GPS or for the Sierra unit? I don't see GPS in BIOS. I'm doing a battery recal so can't provide exact details right now. Sorry.

What is the port to RH of mic input for?

It would be nice to see if there's a GPS radio inside but I don't see "Z" shown on the CF-29 Wiki. What does the "Z" mean?

The wifi worked at the shop I bought it from but can't pair it up with my iMac to test (via Airport). I'm not that Windows savvy.... yet.

 

Description: Intel Pentium M 778 1.6GHzLv (Centrino),13.3" Touch XGA,512MB,80GB,Intel 802.11a+b+g, WIN XP SP2, TPM1.2, no drive
It's nice that you have the upgraded memory and the DVD drive.
It will be kind of hard to find a larger IDE hard drive but a SATA can be made to work.
Read here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/pan...sting-ultimate-toughbook-resource-thread.html

and then you can learn all the tricks your "new" CF-29 can do
GPS can also be added and is a nice addition.


Bob

 

Lets hope you don't need the engine diagnostics while on a road trip..........

 

The brass bit is the pass-through antenna...a part of the dock connector. Wiring in your unit would be from sled to the passthrough then passthrough into the lid to the WWAN antenna. For vehicle antenna when in a dock. Some companies did a similar bit with a wire from WLAN antenna. SBC was one.
One easy fix is to find a OEM GPS on a sled. Whoa........just looked again.....
The sled is visible with the battery pulled and look up inside the lappy. That's the bump in the left palm rest end.
The model number you gave....is that from the bios? This is not a Z as pictured. Maybe a GZBM mobo or maybe a bottom "lid" change....along with the wrong tag, or someone added a sled along with a WWAN lid. Pull two screws with power dis-connected and battery out and slide the sled out. Take a picture.
Out on a limb I'm guessing GXBM (or replace X with from A to W. It could have a GPS. Is there a Verizon tag on the bottom of the unit? Z doesn't work for me either.....and I'm hedging on X......One of the wireless carrier codes is my guess now.

Stand by for edits.......O.K. looked at the picture again. See those buttons on the left side. NOT a GZBM and not a GXBM......does that light come on........on the left face there. Z=nothing, X=wireless ready (WWAN)

We need the model # from the bios.

A'int this fun?

Jeff

 

Hi Bob.

Thanks for that. Thought I'd found the official CF-29 page here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/241106-cf-29-f-q-read-me-before-posting.html

but at first glance, the link you supplied has lots more info. Should have looked there first.

Shawn: yes! Diagnostic s/w (when I actually learn it) is mainly for trouble shooting/tuning at home but can be handy on the road.

Jeff: just saw your post. Dock. Right. Thanks much. Wireless icon lights up, antenna icon does not. Model number on bottom sticker has the "Z". TB was purchased in Canada, Sierra software installed, various stickers confirm Canadian origin. Will supply BIOS info when poss. I saw a screen capture online showing GPS in BIOS but do not see anything listed under "Advanced" in my CF-29 BIOS.

 

Engine diagnostics is now quite easy on the go.
All you need is your android phone or tablet, a Bluetooth OBDSCAN unit, download the free app and you are all set

 

You can get a sierra wwan card and pop it on that sled. Software will make the gps on the sierra operational. They are not as good as dedicated gps but they work ok. They WILL work without have service from the cell carrier.

 

Yep, I have a trip computer with diags I built into the dash of my truck. Just hoping you don't NEED them during a roadtrip.
I also have the elm scan interface for Ford to Laptop.

 

For sure Bob. I'm running OBD1 so not sure how many modern programmes would do that. Also, (OT now) this is for a Jetta engine swapped into a Vanagon Westy.

Built in GPS would be nice but not crucial.

Jeff: ya got what you meant. I've only ever had one true failure while on the road with this swap so I've been lucky. Given the non OEM environment this engine is in, monitoring things like the ECT sensor would be handy. That and while home, recoding the ECU if needed.

My CF-27 was great for these applications and I did many road trips with it. i.e. I got a tiny bit of moisture in between the skin and body of my LG smart phone which quickly rendered it useless (til I took it apart and fixed it). That same amount of steam from cooking would have done squat to a fully rugged TB!

Neil.

 

I just wrote stuff down as it fell out of my head. You have XP right? How about Wireless switch utility?

Annd when you get to it does any WWAN device show up in bios? CDMA?

I know someone that has a CF-30 GPS on the sled. Rev A I think. The daughterboard with the USB connector. fwiw A work in progress.

 

ok. Some pics. Seems someone left out a screw from sled at battery bay. SN from BIOS different at last letter. Sticker shows "M" BIOS shows "W". Looks like I have a GPS module in sled? Or is that the WWAN modem? (Sierra SB555 Watcher CDMA 1XRTT s/w kept searching for modem when launched.....)

Thanks for the help people. I'll read the pages Bob linked to but if you're super bored, enjoy the pics!

btw, do people here prefer the smaller thumbnails in posts?


Neil.

 

Definitely WWAN not GPS. But maybe you can replace the WWAN module with a GPS if you're into modding a bit.

 

hey Springfield

funny avitar.

Yup and thanks. This afternoon took my TB out to a guy who had a 1 GB stick of RAM for sale. He's a tech and confirmed same.

My soldering skills are not exemplary but I had a quick look at one persons GPS install. I think I could do this.

The WWAN modem is likely dead weight at this point as I assume it's locked to a carrier up here.

 

Not necessarily dead weight. Mine is running a Fujitsu Gobi2000. I wouldn't throw it down the hill just yet.

 

Thanks for that. I'll search up on that. My assumption is that the modem is locked to a carrier, but I shouldn't assume.