Panasonic CF-30 MKII with no wifi and black on black?

Hey guys,

Just wanted to see if this was a common issue with these notebooks.

I just got around to fixing up a toughbook CF-30 that has been hanging around the house, and found it really odd to see that there was not only no wifi at all, but no antennas wired up?

As much as I love the build on these things, I thought that was quite odd to not even include the wireless wires with the unit.

As well, this unit also has black on black casing. I've seen the blue ones which look neat, but never seen the black ones in my travels. Are they common at all?

Anyway, thanks for reading. I'm most interested on the lack of wires issues. Model is a CF-30GKH06AM if that helps.

 

Possibly a military issue or just someone repainted it..

Please post the full model number.....

 

That's the original issue of pana with a black color. Its a fed unit thats why no wireless on the system. For security reason.

ohlip

 

Hey there,

Thanks for your help!

This unit does not appear to be painted. I had the lid apart, and it appears to be factory created. The "panasonic" looks silkscreened in black, as well as the "toughbook". I can take closer pics if needed.

I have this number on the back:
CF-30GKH06AM

As well as these numbers:
AB3456789
8KKSB04563

T1260Y

Dates stamped on the inside of the lid indicate 10/2010, so it's somewhat recent.

Unit may be federal issue...not sure.

Hope this helps!

 

Now that would make sense. I guess they didn't want any radio waves going in or out. I also don't see any evidence of GPS or bluetooth, so maybe this was meant for standalone undercover use...

 

Its an standard for government unit that there is no wireless. No wireless means to them, no wif-fi, Bluetooth & WWAN but sometimes there is a GPS. Yours have nothing also.

ohlip

 

Well, there is now! . Quite useless without it...

thank you for the help ohlip!

 

some info.

CPU: G - Core 2 Duo L7500 - 1.6GHz, No Wireless
Display and Keyboard: K No info found
Hard Disk Drive, Base memory, Optical Drive and UL1604 (Haz Loc): H - 120GB HDD + 2GB RAM
Integrated Options: 0 - GPS + Bluetooth
Integrated Wireless Option: 6 - Wireless Ready Pocket
Operating System: A - Win Vista COA, WinXP downgrade
Destination: M - North America

 

Its pretty easy to install those missing component like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Its usually available on ebay. The antenna with cable and blutooth module with the included metal bracket like on thins link: Panasonic Toughbook CF 30 Bluetooth Card and Mounting Plate DL3UP1558BAA 117 | eBay

This one is for MK1 but it work though to mk3 as well.

ohlip

 

Thanks for the referral...looks to be a good link for some toughbook parts! For sure, I don't see any bluetooth module, nor any BT antenna cabling. I'll leave it as-is for now, as you can easily add a BT module via USB these days...

 

This may sound silly, but I had someone approach me online and tell me that there is no such thing as a toughbook from panasonic that is black from factory.

The one that I have has no indications of being painted or otherwise. As well, the labels looks very factory, right up to the panasonic silkscreening on the label.

This was a laptop that was given to me, but was turned in off-lease. Any idea on what he's talking about, or am I in possession of a laptop that was painted?

 

If Teo says it came from the factory black it did. We have seen numerous other models in black over the years. The online "expert" knows not of what he speaks.
CAP

 

The one on ebay right? Its yours, I knew right away when I've seen that. So, tell to the guy that he doesn't know anything about a Fully Rugged Panasonic Toughbook.

Let us know what is his ebay ID. Maybe we know who he is.


ohlip

 

Wow, that's a relief. I would hate to mislead people about anything I would sell online. Not worth the hassle or grief, IMHO.

I'm not looking to start any online wars, but I think the seller was toughbookspecialist. I do sell the odd toughbook, and am upfront about condition and hours. In essence, I'd want to be treated the same way if I was buying one myself.

Thanks again, guys. I Appreciate the help.

 

When Teo speaks, people listen....


For the youngsters who don't know the reference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX7ZEotoFh0

 

Really? I have never seen a Silver CF-25, CF-17 or CF-27. LOL. All Toughbooks use to be black. Some had heat problems in certain environments so they went with a cooler color since all of their fully rugged line use to be fanless.

 

They do come in black from the factory but they are VERY rare and you usually don't see them. I had 2 CF-29s that were that way... Extremely rare... So your online guy is full of it and it just goes to prove my point that everyone who sells Toughbooks on eBay think they know what they are doing when in fact there are only a handful of people that know anything... And they are on THIS forum!

Personally I would not listen or read anywhere else but here. Between us all we have been there, done that with just about everything.

 

Very well said Rick. That is the reason why I only sell "new Toughbook Parts" and I leave the Toughbooks to you guys. When I sell to a new customer I make sure if they ever need help with a Toughbook problem they know where to come. I include a card with there item that says...

Have a Toughbook problem...check out the below forums...free to join
My user name : toughasnails
~Toughbook Talk~ Toughbook Discussion • Index page
Panasonic Forum & Toughbook Forum

 

The reason Federal Issue laptops (of ANY breed, not just Toughbooks) have no Wireless is twofold; number one, so that it can ONLY connect at the workplace via a known secure hardline connection, and number two, so that it is impossible to connect to that laptop via Wireless WHILE it is connected at the workplace. Part of the regulations includes speccing out machines with no Wireless antennas so it's harder for users to install such unauthorized hardware; some locations even require that their machines have all forms of serial data except the Ethernet port disabled in BIOS and BIOS password protected.

At the same time, domain restrictions are SUPPOSED to prevent users from storing data locally on the machine; anything stored locally is SUPPOSED to be wiped at logoff. Of course, there is nothing that is truly foolproof; the closer you get to that state, the more inventive the fools become. This is the source of all those "lost government data" stories we all hear about.

This really is just fundamental network security; the only difference is that the Fed doesn't have to put up with every whinea ss middle-manager who wants to plug in a WiFi router in his corner office because he's too lazy to keep track of an Ethernet cable, they just fire them for Breach of Security Protocol. In the real world, we IT folks have to work around those id10ts because they can fire US, even though it's their fault the network got compromised.


mnem
*Basstard Operator From Hell*

 

Another thing those Fed models don't usually have is the Absolute Bios, which is used for that lojack crap. Thing is that program embedded in the bios can be activated over wifi or lan without having to even boot the machine it is in the specs. It survives hard drive wipes etc. as it is in the bios itself which reinstalls it again at boot. This is only if it activated. You usually buy a subscription from lojack or whatever turn it on and it helps tracking down stolen laptops and securely wiping from remote as soon as it connects to the internet via hard line or wifi.
Now if someone really wanted they could turn yours on without you having to pay a subscription fee . Possible but unlikely. Tin Foil Hat off.

 

I think you are you referring to the Intel Active Managementor Engine (AMT), present in laptops with Intel vPro feature.
I have played with it a few months ago. I could connect to a web interface on the laptop, see system status, re/boot it, change bios settings, etc - all while the laptop was off, in sleep or hibernating, but connected via LAN. But you first need to activate in BIOS, and then setup the Management Interface.
There is also KVM support, through an embedded VNC server on recent chipsets with integrated graphics, accessible during boot, os operation, etc. This I have not tried.
The latest intel chipsets support remote access also through WWAN modems compatible with AMT.
This started with the Centrino 2 (Core 2 Duo) platform.
You can see you have this, in Device Manager, System Devices, with the name 'Intel (R) Management Engine Interface", or at boot, showing also its version (i.e. 6.0), if it was activated.

 

Hello,

I'm in the Canadian Forces and came upon this thread looking for the info on the chipset on this laptop for the Windows7 migration.

Indeed the CF-30GKH06AM is one we have here for official army use; the CF-30 is a popular model, especially for field use. Not the most powerful, but we use the Toughbook as it's designed, to be tough..All laptops, no matter the make or model, have their Wifi and Bluetooth cards removed for COMSEC reasons, but the cabling should still be there, just have to get the controller and pop it in. I know we have a box of a bunch of removed controllers, but I personally don't know if they were removed from a CF-30 or other models.

For the case, I never noticed the black cover and if it came in other colors, it wasn't really something I needed to notice, but I wouldn't be surprised for tactical reasons.

 

Welcome to the Panasonic Toughbook forum and thanks for the info :thumbsup: