Problems with installing OS on cf-27

Hi
I have old panasonic toughbook cf-27 with p2 333mhz, 192MB ram, lcd 1024x768, probably touchscreen (don't know yet)
Everything seems good, but i just can't make any OS working on it. I tried win98, but too many things didn't worked, so i go for windows XP. But after every install somethings goes wrong - few times some files were missing, but it was bacause of bad install CD. Now i have win XP with SP3 from MSDNAA, so I'm sure its OK. I started my toughbook from win 98 rescue disc, run smartdrv.exe and after that winnt.exe from i386 directory. Installation went good, but after first restart it says "No operating system found". I'm sure that HDD is OK, because I was using it in my other laptop and with another HDD the result is the same. Any help?
Maybe somebody can tell me how to install linux (Debian preffered) on it?
Of course I don't have internal CD/DVD, only FDD

 

Go into bios and make sure it is seeing the harddrive and then make sure the computer is set to boot from harddrive. If you want to try linux and you don't have internal cd drive and have a external one try out Plop linux boot manager to force the older computer to boot from usb.

 

On that slow of a machine, I would try xp without service packs or sp1. The system requirements are much less for the first versions.

 

Hi, E-Mati , I had the same problem installing Windows XP sp1 on my CF-M34 without having a cd-rom or diskdrive.

Did you read my topic about how i solved it ? It might also work on your CF-27.

1 - Boot your CF-27 with a Windows 98SE bootdisk (you wrote that you have a diskdrive). Then FDISK the harddisk to one big partition. Then format C:/S
2 - copy the whole Windows 98SE and Windows XP disks onto the harddrive in 2 maps (example Win98SET and WinxpSET)
3 - copy himem.sys and smartdrive.sys to C:
4 - make a small config.sys file with "DEVICE=C:\himem.sys"
5 - go to the directory where the copy of the Windows 98SE cd is, and type setup. Install Windows 98SE. (use the minimum install option, for saving some time)
6 - (its is handy to also have copied the videocard driver to the harddisk beforehand) - install the videodriver for Windows 98SE aswell.
7 - When windows 98SE is running, use file-manager and go to the directory where the copy of Windows XP is.
8 - start setup.exe
9 - install Windows XP (choose upgrade)
10 - It can take a very long time to install Windows XP, (more as 2 hours)
(update: i tried the above procedure on another 20 gigabyte harddrive and the install of Windows XP took 1 hour)

but the result is hopefully

11 - A working Windows XP on your Panasonic Toughbook CF-27 without a CD-ROM drive.

And if my trick works, then you might be a happy camper aswell !

hehehe.

 

Has the BIOS battery ever been changed inside your CF-27?
I would suspect it is about 10 years old that is why the "No operating system found" message is happening with a known good hard drive.
It may or may not be worth your time to change the battery, the computer needs to be taken completely apart and the mother board removed to get to the battery. Expect at least a 2 hour job.
I had to do this on my old CF-27 laptops a few years ago when I was having the same problem.
Good luck and happy disassembling.
Take lots of pictures with your digital camera to help with re-assembly or you may end up with a table top full useless very tiny parts.


Bob

**time for some good new precision screwdrivers?**

 

I also have a CF-27 with an empty bios battery, but my Windows XP installation still works. I only have to change bios settings each time i use this laptop. (once in a month or so).

 

Bios battery is OK it think (at least settings, clock and date are not going default after restart, but the main battery is in good condition, so maybe it's bacause of that). HDD is 60GB, and BIOS recognise it. I will try installing win98 and after that win XP or win 2k

 

Depending on your software application needs, I strongly recommend you put Win 2K on your CF-27. XP really is too much for these old boxes and if you need to run software that won't run on 2K you probably should look for a good CF-28 at least.
CAP

 

XP works fine on my cf-27. I have to admit, that i did upgrade my CF-27 300MHz machine to 320 meg ram (yep a 256 mb added), a fast ide harddrive.

I dont use multitasking a lot , and also dont use my CF-27 for the internet. I mainly use the Cf-27 to play some games, or to read the occasional pdf/e-book.

And indeed , as capt. dogfish said: it just depends on your software application needs...

Concerning the clock/bios settings, if your RTC/bios battery is empty, but your accu/main battery works, then the clock stays correct, because it then automatically just drains the main battery a little bit....