Panasonic CF-28 MK1

Hi there I have a Panasonic CF-28 MK1 this is the 600MHz version, I have a problem with the BIOS which is a very old BIOS and I'm also getting the NTLDR is missing and can't install any Windows OS's other than Linux, I would like to get Windows XP on this.

My BIOS version is V1 .00L13 M31

I'd like to update the BIOS with maybe the BIOS for the CF-28 MK3 or is that not a good idea?

I can't seem to find any info on the CF-28 MK1. Is there any universal BIOS's available?

So it may seem I have hard drive failure which is a bit of a strange one considering the hard drive is band new... the hard drive checks out ok in the hard drive diagnostic tools and formats ok but as soon I copy files to the hard drive I get the blue screen of death, so I will take the hard drive out of the laptop and put it on another computer and try installing windows to determine if it is the hard drive or the laptop itself. I'll also blow some compressed air into the connections of the ribbon connector to see if that helps and I will try another ribbon cable as well to make sure that the cable itself is not the suspect if all fails then I have a problem with the laptop mother board or BIOS firmware.

 

A mk3 bios will not work on a mk1

 

That M31 bios is a special deal also.

 

What is it with the CF-28's all of a sudden? Some kinda club?

I have parts and pieces and a cupla CF-28's. I'm not sure if the 600Mhz is here or not.

Jeff

 

a corrupted or modified bios my cause the problem you are having .
go back to default settings and see if that helps .

beyond that , there are plenty of tutorials about this subject because it is more of a problem than one would imagine .
here is a great disk to have in your "tool box" :
http://www.wintips.org/fix-ntldr-is-missing-error/
tutorial videos can be found on youtube .

 

Bad optical drive or bad disk can also cause this error

 

Did you check the ram?

 

Ewe are the sheepman.
Isn't checking the ram your department?

 

Nah...I'm on the left coast....we call 'em bucks.

 

Don't you mean "trucks"/

 

Hi I found the problem which was bad RAM. I didn't think it was the RAM at first as it was brand new RAM but obviously faulty.

I have it running Windows XP now and everything is good so far apart from missing a few drivers.

I'm having a lot of trouble trying to find the video driver and also the driver for the modem. I have tried the ones on the Panasonic website and those do not work.

I don't suppose anybody knows where I can get the video driver?

Also one last question. The BIOS battery has gone dead which I will replace. Is the BIOS battery a rechargeable one or is it just a regular BIOS battery? Whats the best one to get for it?

Cheers.

 

as i recall , the bios battery is non-rechargeable .
you can buy them on ebay ... the connector polarity may be wrong .
i get one with solder tabs and use the old connector/wires .
they are pretty much just a stock CR2302 3volt lithium cell .
do not try to solder the wires onto one without tabs ...
most people will overheat the cell and damage it .

 

http://www.toughbookdrivers.com

A good place to get the older drivers.

 

Thanks for the link I really appreciate that but those driver files show as windows system files... windows gives me a warning... maybe I'm missing something?

 

They will need to be installed thru the device manager.

 

Oh ok thanks How would I do that? Sorry I'm a bit of a nob when it comes to more complex tasks in windows with drivers

 

Computer,system, hardware and open device manager. Right click on missing driver and direct it to the folder with the downloads.

If you are unsure which driver is which, just try them.

 

Ok thanks I'll try that. You learn something new everyday I must admit I was a bit mystified on how the drivers actually worked lol.