Optical Drive Boot Issues? CF-29

Hi, I'm currently having big issues with my Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 MK4, I bought it about a week ago with XP Pro and wanted a fresh install so thought about W7 however has big problems getting the 4 drivers it didnt pick up one being the sound which wouldnt work and the speed with W7 was so slow i thought that I would revert back to XP, but right from the start I had issues with not being able to boot from disc. Which I had with W7 so put it on a USB stick but the Panasonic Recovery Images I purchased wouldnt go on a flash drive so had to try the optical drive but no joy.

It showed in Windows and the BIOS but it reads exactly "IDE MP:" without any sort of number or anything which is strange as the HDD shows like a number after the ':' anyways moved the cd drive to 1st boot priority and nothing. So i boot and hit esc, no cd drive was shown. It only showed the HDD and Lan, HDD as 1 and Lan as 3 so its missing out the dvd drive for some reason. I have the OEM Recovery discs but cant boot from them.

 

My head hurts now.......remove the drive and reseat it,that fixes it 98% of the time. Also,pm Rob and get the recovery disc set for it or you are going to be running in circles.

 

Power pull re-set too.
1. Shut down.
2. Remove and re-seat the empty optical drive.
3. Pull power....battery and power supply.
4. Hold the switch on for several 30 second cycles.
5. Plug in power supply. (not the battery yet)
6. Boot [F2][F9][F10]

 

I'm sorry...I just can't read that post ...My head was hurting before I tried to read it..Throbbing in agony now...Pet peeve response coming..


How do I decide what to put in a paragraph?

Before you can begin to determine what the composition of a particular paragraph will be, you must first decide on an argument and a working thesis statement for your paper. What is the most important idea that you are trying to convey to your reader? The information in each paragraph must be related to that idea. In other words, your paragraphs should remind your reader that there is a recurrent relationship between your thesis and the information in each paragraph. A working thesis functions like a seed from which your paper, and your ideas, will grow. The whole process is an organic one—a natural progression from a seed to a full-blown paper where there are direct, familial relationships between all of the ideas in the paper.

 

Lol, yeah so does mine after a few days non stop trying to fix the thing and i have the recovery discs i just cant boot from them, i have removed and reinserted the dvd drive with no luck.

 

Yeah applogises I normally do but after so many days and irratation kicking in I'm not in the mind lol, I know its messy but the points are there lol. Edited just for you.

 

Nope no joy still the same issue, ESC does not display the Dvd drive it misses it out and in the bios it's still labeled as "IDE MP:". Thanks

 

You may have an issue with the DVD no being a Master. You should search on adding DVD to a CD caddy. Make sure the R2 spot is soldered if you have an non-stock DVD.

AndShawnyoushouldn'tbesotoughontheguyImeanhehassomeToughbookissuesWehaveallhadthoseovertheyears!

 

Lol and checked the drive which is a Panasonic Drive?

Its weird as the drive is picked up in Windows and the BIOS just that in the BIOS its just that when move it to first boot priority it does not work and when hitting escape on boot it does not show up the cd/dvd drive.
I've just purchased an IDE/SATA to USB adapter and a External drive just for the sake of it incase on method doesnt work but I'm worried that wont work being though all other methods have failed I'm just skeptick. Even if it did work I would still like to know why it isnt working via the internal drive.

 

Not all Panasonic drives are set to master....
Not even all of the same model......
Many are set to Cable Select, which the BIOS won't recognize as a boot device...
I don't think the original drive in a CF29 was a Panasonic....I think it was a TEAC.....

Either the internal drive is set to Cable Select or it's gone south..........My guess is Cable Select.....

Reading material..

http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/162276-cf-27-cf-28-cf-29-cd-dvd-swap-tutorial-lots-pictures.html


http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/715465-modding-slim-dvd-master.html

 

Ok thanks, I'll take a look so in basic terms if the two pins havent been soldered together then thats the problem?

Thanks,

 

Yes...that is right

 

Cheers, there not soldered together so tempory put a small peice of foil between the two points as i dont have a soldering iron at the moment, and I'm sure it made a contact but the same issue, no go??? Also just a quick question my drive shows up in XP as DVD-RAM When its a multi-writer? Dont know if that has anything to do with it?

 

DVD RAM is a multidrive. Otherwise it would have shown CD or DVD Rom.

Foil won't work son... Just... No...

 

Okay and, surley aluminium or aluminum in the US foil should as its conductive, i mean I know theres thing like resistance and things that come into play but I'm a bit skeptical at going ahead with it when that showed no signs of working lol? I just didnt want to solder it to find it didnt work lol, so you think a bit of solder to join the two together and that should do the trick? I know the foil was deffinelty creating a contact. Anyway I'll check the thread again in the morning. Cheers.

 

post an ad in the buy sell trade section for a known working drive...

CF29 parts are cheap now a days

 

My friend...I have been working on these laptops for 5 + years now and Rick (Toughbook) has been working on them a lot longer than me and if he says it needs to be soldered then it does :thumbsup:

 

Sorry about your woes. Until you sort out your optical drive, jog on over to this site on another pc: Zorin OS - Free editions
Download the ISO for the Zorin Lite 32 bit operating system. Then make a bootable USB stick by going to this website: UNetbootin - Homepage and Downloads
You will have an "XP-Like" toughbook and should be able to seamlessly connect to your wireless network. Trust me, you'll be glad you did, at least until your drive issues are solved.
This is an example of what you might need, and as they work in several model numbers, you should be able to get one for a great price, not necessarily this example:
http://www.bobjohnson.com/panasonic-toughbook-cf-27-cf-28-and-cf-29-cdrw-dvd-combo-drive/
Make a great day:hi2:

 

Zorin is a great OS from the Linux folks..

Panasonic CF 29 DVD ROM CD R RW CF VDR291U | eBay

CF 29 28 DVDROM CDRW CF VDR282 | eBay

CF VDR291 CD R RW DVD ROM Drive for Panasonic Toughbook CF 27 CF 28 CF 29 | eBay

 

Cheers for the advice guys and sorted the issue reflashed the firmware on the drive and worked seamlessly.

 

Not necessarily that example? Shucks.

I talked to Bob about it. We're going to bring the price down to $39.99.

Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

 

That's a fair and reasonable price


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk