Questions on CF-29

This thread is for CF-29 discussion

The bulk of the posts here were originally posted in THE CF-29FAQ sticky

I would like to thank Alex for his efforts in merging the posts

 

I have had several toughbooks and installed lots of drivers but this one is for the books.
I just bought a cf29 1.3 ghz cf-29ctjgzkm none of the 29 series drivers work at all it says not for this machine....
well I tried all the 30 series then all of the 28 series and guess what... the 28p series drivers all worked save the touch screen.

What sort of wild animal do I have here. What could possibly be going on?? Could this be some sort of hybred??

Help!!!
Here is the belarc printout
Operating System System Model
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States) Matsua Electric Industrial Co.,Ltd. 001
Enclosure Type: Notebook
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
1.30 gigahertz Intel Pentium M
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Not hyper-threaded Board: Matsua Electric Industrial Co.,Ltd. CF29-2 001
Bus Clock: 400 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies K.K. V2.00L17 10/06/2005
Drives Memory Modules c,d
64.09 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
55.95 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

TS64GSSD25-M [Hard drive] (64.11 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 002455390509, rev V1210, SMART Status: Healthy 1272 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'Onboard' has 256 MB
Slot 'DIMM' has 1024 MB
Local Drive Volumes

c: (NTFS on drive 0) 10.49 GB 2.48 GB free
e: (NTFS on drive 0) 53.60 GB 53.47 GB free

Network Drives
None detected
Users (mouse over user name for details) Printers
local user accounts last logon
chris 7/26/2009 6:41:11 PM (admin)
local system accounts
Administrator never (admin)
Guest never
HelpAssistant never
SUPPORT_388945a0 never


Marks a disabled account; Marks a locked account None detected
Controllers Display
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller [Display adapter] (2x)
Digital Flat Panel (1024x768) [Monitor]
Bus Adapters Multimedia
Ricoh R/RL/5C476(II) or Compatible CardBus Controller (2x)
Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller (2x) Multimedia Audio Controller
Virus Protection [Back to Top] new Group Policies
No details available None discovered
Communications Other Devices

Atheros Wireless Network Adapter
primary Auto IP Address: 192.168.0.194 / 24
Gateway: 192.168.0.1
Dhcp Server: 192.168.0.1
Physical Address: 00:02:8A:AB:83:AC
Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
Dhcp Server: 192.168.0.1
Physical Address: 00:0B:97:511:5E

Networking Dns Server: 192.168.0.1
Microsoft AC Adapter
Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery (2x)
Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
PS/2 Compatible Mouse
Unknown Device
USB Root Hub (2x)

 

Hello Good Toughbook people!

I read the FAQ and some threads and hope I have chosen the right Forum to introduce myself. I' m a new owner of a used CF-29 ,CF-29ETKGZKM (mk2) and can use any general advice as for upgrades and reinstalling my OS.
Or even some common sense advice for that matter.

At Present, I have uninstalled the previous owners personal software,pics,etc and now considering a reinstall. I do have the original 3 recovery disks (MK2-XP1AM-TSW) and spent some time familiarizing with the replacement parts and acquiring all the manuals on this model that I could locate.

Also I am waiting for the GlobalSat BU-353 USB GPS Receiver to arrive. I am new to using GPS and hope to take my Toughbbok hiking on some trails with me. Perhaps some Geo caching and driving on some unfamiliar back roads at night. Yes I have the back lit keyboard. Thanks for asking.

Any thoughts on this Receiver? I poured over several pages of info (or is that intel?) to chose a waterproof model that had good raves for signal reception.

And I purchased a Screen Protector from some guy on Ebay who specializes
in selling Protectors. If this brand of protector is no good, please tell me before it arrives. It seems to rely on static charge instead of adhesive to stick to the screen.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200331803213

Thanks for any replies. I hope to be able to share my experiences/mistakes in the future.

Waynehdk

 

An easy reinstall then, just download the full version of xp sp-3 to update the reload as those disks will install sp-1 only
Then go to microsoft update and update all the upgrades
It takes a couple of hours total

You choice in gps reciever is good , you will be very happy with the performance

When you first install the Prolific PL-2303 driver for the gps and reboot you will have to go into device manager under mouse properties and disable the new device found , the microsoft serial ballpoint mouse , as this is an issue with the usb/serial adapter used for that gps
If you don't disable this the curser will go crazy on your screen
There is quite a few posts about that issue here on the forum


Alex

 

The recovery disks are self explanatory when you load them.

Personally I don't like the BT GPS stuff... One more thing to have to charge, drop, break or lose. I'd go for a USB model before BT myself. Or... Mod in your own GPS the factory kits are easy to install as is aftermarket. The people here pioneered adding GPS to the 28 & 29...

The screen protector looks good. As long as it is the rubbery backed static cling type. They are best, IMO, and is what Panasonic uses. ScreenPatronous on ebay also sells good ones at good prices. Be sure to read up on installing it. Others have suggested doing it in your bathroom with the shower and sinks spitting out steaming hot water in order to cut down on the dust.

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the forum!

 

Wayne,

This is a really fast spreading sickness. I mean I've only been on this forum since march and I can have a conversation about computers without mentioning how friggin awesome the toughbooks are. Hold on tight because it's gonna be a hell of a right

BTW: the BT GPS setups are a pain. My dad got one for his dull and he sent it back within a week and I gave him a Toughbook with aftermarket GPS and now all his buddies want one. Talk about marketing

Dan

 

Here is a link to the GPS that Wayne is considering
The ( BU ) in the part number have you confused
http://www.usglobalsat.com/p-62-bu-353-w.aspx



Alex

 

Ah USB not BT. I still stand by my statement

 

Me too... But I need to pay more attention!

 

Well I agree with you guys on bluetooth

I have been using gps devices for over 15 years
The best way to comunicate the data is serial
Either the 9 pin serial com port on the back, or using the built-in com port and installing a built-in gps unit

Second best is a usb gps unit which outputs the data signal in serial and then converts using a built-in usb/serial converter to end up with a standard usb interface

The last choice is bluetooth which will work with a bit of fussing around with the com ports
The usual issue with bluetooth is the basic configured com port assignments start at com port 8 and up
You usualy have to manualy configure to get a lower com port number that some gps applications require, and that is time consuming

The only time I have found that I prefered bluetooth was in an application that I use with my cellphone called motorola phone tools
I could never get the application to work using the direct cable method to the com port, but it worked great using bluetooth



Alex

 

I love the Moto phones and hack them to get them to do different things... Longer video, higher volume, custom screens, start-up & shutdown and menus... etc.... MPT is a great program and is what I use when I need to get on the Internet and I'm in the middle of nowhere*....


*But happen to have cell service.

 

Hey all,
I just wanted to add a little about GPS systems. I Have been using the Deluo Universal GPS WAAS for almost 6 years now. I started using the Deluo GPS unit that is on the top left, and then went to the SIRFIII on the upper right (If you click on the Deluo link). These are Sony based GPS units and have performed extremely well for me. As you can see below these two, they also have some OEM versions of their GPS systems (none are SIRFIII). When I bought these, Deluo was selling them direct to the public, and I paid about $35 for the plain universal (6 years ago), and just paid $45 for the SIRFIII (about 6 months ago). Both of these come down to a simple mini-din (PS/2) connector at the end, to which you can hook a PS/2 to USB adapter if you choose. I use these for HAM Radio (APRS) with adapters for the Kenwood TH-D7A(G) and TM-D700A Handheld and Mobile radios respectively. . I do however, make my own Kenwood to GPS module adapters and have made one specifically for handheld that uses a battery pack that clips onto the D7A(G) so I don't use the portable battery for GPS operation. I get 10+ hours use out of 4 AA batteries, and 14+ hours use out of a 9V (Still testing this, as 9V battery is still powering after 14 hours of typical use - On for 12-14, of for 8-10, on again, etc..). (If anyone is interested in these set-ups, I make these cables for re-sale as well as being willing to pass on my wiring diagrams**Forum Members ONLY** - PM me if interested). The Deluo GPS Pinouts are fairly easy and straight forward. I have had these systems working with computers, Open Tracker & Open Tracker II, TinyTrackIII, Kenwood TH-D7A(g) Dual Band Handheld Radio, Kenwood TM-D700A Dual Band Mobile Radio, Icom IC-2820H Dual Band Mobile Radio, and several different SAR radios & utilities. I actually modified a Dell computer (C810), taking the PS/2 for external keyboard and connecting it to an internal USB port (Loosing the exterior keyboard and one (out of four) external USB in the process) they are fairly fast to get a signal and have maintained tracking when many others were not able to! The WAAS version takes about 40 Seconds for me on cold start, and about 1-2 sec. for hot start. Here are the Specs for the WAAS. For the SIRFIII I get 35 seconds or so for cold start and a solid 1 sec for hot start. Here are the specs for the SIRFIII.

The older Deluo Universal GPS units were able to operate from 5-9 VDC, however; newer Deluo GPS units specify a MAX of 5V (I know 10+ people who run them a 5.5VDC from USB bus)

I am seriously considering using the PMB-288 GPS unit listed for all three of my TBs. One of the reasons that I am looking at it is the rechargeable battery that it has as well as the MMCX active antenna in addition to the patch antenna on board. It also has low power consumption (80mA at 3.3V) and ultra mini size at only 33mm x 39mm. The SIRFIII unit is more tempting to me (20 Sats, Lower Power requirements, and still has the rechargeable battery), but it is already in a case that I would have to break open, and I don't know how difficult it would be to add an active antenna. Has anyone used this for TB integration??

Anyway, I just wanted to add my experience with the Deluo units and let you know that I have found them to be extremely reliable and accurate even in canyons and under forest canopies.

As always, HAVE FUN. Otherwise you might as well call it work!!

 

There are scores of threads devoted to adding internal Sirf III GS to the Toughbooks... As well as several different types of antennas.

 

Hello Tough Users

Here is a late update on the GlobalSat BU-353 USB GPS I ended up purchasing.

It worked excellent for the entirety of half a day. Then It died.

Although some reviews for this unit were quite positive,
I later read on another other GPS thread that someone took their dead GlobalSat apart and they found that the chip was not even soldered to the wire! Lesson learned....

The good news for me was that I purchased my GlobalSat from BuyGPSnow and RMA'd it back and got my refund (minus the cost of S&H for sending this doorstop back.)

They gave me a S&H promo code for my next purchase. Which didn't work with my order anyway. But I picked up another USB GPS instead:

Navibe GM720 Water-Proof USB GPS Receiver - SiRF Star III(WAAS Enabled)

http://www.buygpsnow.com/navibe-gm7...-receiver-sirf-star-iii-waas-enabled-779.aspx

I have only used it for a couple of days on and off and so far... so good..

It only works at it's default baud of 4800. But works fine with the trial version of MS Streets and Maps 2010 (after I defragged my HD, post-install.)

Whenever I powerdown then powerup my CF-29 and run MS S&M it locates my position fine.

During one of my test car trips, MS S&M would try to direct my trip through abandoned or dead end roads. So, I just use the program more as a location finder (Where am I?) then as a typical GPS navigator. The receiver is a little bit laggy at pointing out my position near an intersection (with MS S&M) on those terribly rainy days. But I haven't lost signal yet. I have the receiver magnetically attached to the rear passengers belt seat buckle. Have not mounted it on the outside of my car at all. If this one dies on me. I will post a message to all of you sooner next time.

I did read 1 negative review for Navibe. I guess one buyer "dropped it on the counter" and it quit working. He still gave it a good rating.

Waynehdk

 

Gps units are getting so cheap nowdays I suppose they are forgetting about quality control
You get used to the lag
It’s noticeable in town when you are approaching an intersection
They are a real time saver for those of us that travel in unfamiliar areas and absolutely refuse to ask for directions lol

Alex

 

I have a few OEM GPS units if anyone is interested. I was going to either use them or put them up on ebay... PM me if anyone is interested...

 

Hello Tough Users and NBR Modder-ator

What are these OEM units? I might be helping my girlfriend in getting a laptop with some sort of GPS setup. She likes my CF-29 for the whole durability factor.

I also posted a thread mentioning that I am looking for some PCMIA cards or reccomends.

Compatible PCMIA cards for CF-29ETKGZKM
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5364893#post5364893

Thanks

Waynehdk

 

They are OEM GPS modules. They are very easy to install. It requires that you take off the 20 or so screws on the bottom, remove the bottom, take out three screws for the black plastic hard drive "cage"... Run the ribbon cable. Screw the rails down for the module to slide in. Then remove the top cover on the left palmrest (Above the battery) and slide in the GPS... Boot into the BIOS, set the GPS for AUTO and there you have it! Takes me about 15 minutes but I do it all the time. A first timer should be finished in well under an hour.

PM me if interested...

 

Hi Toughbook,

Would the gps units work in a CF-28 ??

I have gathered all the bits, I need to mod buletooth into my CF-28. Just thought to ask before I do the mod

 

Nope... No worky in CF-28...

Do you have the RIM board to mount your GPS to? It makes installation a breeze!

 

As a result of recent insomnia, I've just edited the CF-29 FAQ for dumb stuff & dead links. If there's anything else that really needs to be there, let me know before the urge passes.

mnem
Checkin' my eyelids for pinholes...

 

A fellow insomniac Toughbook Geek!




Thanks Paul.... You Da Man!

 

Blink....blinkblink...

Ummm... thanks?

mnem
*Makes mental note to invent machine that teleports all pocket protectors EVERYWHERE into the sun*

 

OK Guys - first time posting so hope I am in the right place -- was wondering about adding an external mouse but afraid of what it will do to my touchscreen setup - had a he** of a time finding drivers for this model - (CF-29FTTGZKM) and don't want any more troubles! had a CF-72 prior and never could get the touchscreen working properly - and also -does this model have wireless?? Can't seem to locate it. Thanks in advance - any help is greatly appreciated

 

No problem with adding a usb mouse, it should work at the same time as the touchscreen and trackpad

No wireless on your model
Take off one of the black antenna covers on the lid and confirm that the antenna's are there
If they are you can just add the minipci card and you will be wireless
Here are your specs:
DESCRIPTION:
***Federal Only*** PentiumM1.3G LV, 13.3Transmissive Touch XGA ,256MB,40GB, NON-WIRELESS, WinXP,SmartCard

Alex

 

Just to update the FAQ with some new info.

You can get to the battery recalibration utility by pressing F9 at the blue Panasonic screen during bootup. F9 has the battery logo on it, so it's easy to remember. This also works on a CF-18. Quite useful if you don't have Windows installed.

nine

 

How the heck did you find that out? Did you read that somewhere or did you find out on accident?

Another forum genius.... We sure do have a lot of them.....

 

Can't remember where I came across it; it's in the reference manual...

The other one I know of is that if you press Esc at startup, it gives you a boot menu where you can select a boot device (Floppy, usb, hdd, cd/dvd), without changing the boot order in the bios.

nine
nine

 

Yeppers... I knew about that one. Cool about the battery recal though... A time saver for me! I'll have to try it on ALL my Toughbooks as I recalibrate all (Or try to) Toughbooks before shipment.

 

I posted this in another post but I will add it here.

Difference in 29 top cabs.
MK 1/2 have ps2 ports in rear instead of a usb port in the rear.
MK 3, USB Port in rear, NO SD Reader slot in pcmcia bay.
MK 4/5 USB Port in rear, AND SD Reader slot in pcmcia bay.

Rear cabs will fit any mark.

Bottom cabinets
MK 1/2/3 have just the metal heat sink for the thermal compund,
MK 4/5 have that as well as a heat sink that attaches near the speaker for a chip on the mainboard..... The cabinets themselves are the same between the marks, just the heat sinks are different.

Front/Rear LCD cabinets
both cabinets are interchangeable between marks.

Screw Differences
On a mark 1/2 the screws holding the pc slots to the cabinet are silver, marks 3/4/5 are a black screw.
Also on some top cabinets the screw can change for the touchpad bracket/serial flap bracket, They will either be the same screw as the dc/lan/usb flaps, or will be the same screw as the door hinge screws.

Helpful utilities.
CTRL-F9 is the battery recalibration utility.

 

Hi, I'm a newbie, just joined and enjoying checking out the posts. I use the Toughbooks for equipment repair and such. Only had the CF-29 a short time but very happy now it is running correctly. So impressed I shall get a newer one for every day stuff, but a bit faster.

I was interested in the "Heater" around the Hard Drive as I can't understand why you would wish to heat a Hard Drive, unless it was realy cold. I have used things like this for cooling, one side cold one side hot, but not sure if this is it's reason for living.

Thanks for the site, I'm sure I shall be back for more hints.

 

You answered your own question. These machines are designed for outdoor use in a wide range of conditions. Harddrives do not like to be too hot nor too cold. As I understand it, the heater will come on when the machine is first turned on and before booting if it is below a set temp.
Imagine the machine is stored in a car overnight in winter at 25°F. You turn on your Toughbook because you need to use it even though you know it's really bad for the HD to turn it on at this temp. Never fear, the HD gets heated up and voilà it boots up fine.
Now imagine a similar situation, except you're in Deadhorse, AK or at McMurdo Station and it's quite a bit cooler than a balmy 25°F. Your Toughbook is still going to work.

 

X2... What he said.

Big desktop PCs usually have steel ball bearings in their hard drives. Laptop (2.5") hard drives have what they call "fluid bearings"... If the fluid is too cold and viscous it will fry your hard drive as it tries to fight spinning up. So... If it is too cold.... You will notice that it takes a while to boot up. I've never put one in the deep freeze to test it but I have heard others say that it works. I'm not sure if you get a screen shot saying, "Please be patient while I heat your drive!" of not.... But they do work.

Glad to have another member! Welcome to the forum!

 

Okay that makes sense. Might try the freezer test, See if the light goes off! Think I should use a different thread to ask questions, but thanks for the welcome.

 

OK, so I'm finally going to ask a question. For starters, this forum is great, just purchased a CF-29N and I'm pretty impressed. It has all the usuals, including an HSDPA modem, model number DFMD3128. I located the Novatel software for it on this site and it loaded fine and appears to be working. When I start the Mobilink Network Manager, I keep getting the massage, NO SIM Located, Check Orientation. The SIM card only goes in one way. I have removed the sled and made sure everything was clean and connected and put it all back together. The driver manager recognizes the device and shows all current drivers. Any ideas of what I'm doing wrong. I am using a SIM card from my ATT EDGE Card. When I use the PCI card with Communicaitons Manager everything works fine. Can this SIM card be used in the Novatel device? I don't mind using the EDGE card, but its not very cool looking sticking out of the side of the machine and since I have an installed modem I figure I should use it instead. One day I will replace it with the GPS, but untill then.... Anyone have any suggestions of what I'm doing wrong?

 

Sounds like the one in this thread that was not identified.

 

Try this, remove the main and media bay batteries and power supply. Insert the SIM card. Reconnect power and start the computer.

I switch my SIM card between a Sierra modem, a Gobi 1000 modem and a Novatel modem. For some reason the Novatel modem is picky about the SIM card.

Glen

 

The battery pull completely fixed the problem. Now I don't even have to use the Mobillink Software, I can continue to use the ATT Communications Manager that I'm use to. Thanks, This computer rocks.

 

Hi,
I was wondering where I could find info on how to control the SpeedStep function of my CF-29HTM50BM 1.4GHz? I realize that it slows the processor down to 600MHz when on battery, but there are times when I would like to throttle it up while still on battery. Anyone have any ideas? I Googled like mad but could only find basic info on SpeedStep, not how to adjust it.

 

If you used the genuine Panasonic Product Recovery CD set you already have the power setting utility.

If not, you can download the CPU Idle Setting Application from Panasonic's Japan download site and install it to your retired CF-29HTM50BM SBC CF-29 Mk3.

After it is installed it will give you two selectable powers settings: "Battery (Windows XP Standard)" and "Performance".

 

Great Advice as usual! I got it to work and it will come in handy, when I don't want to be patient! I saw another thread that mentions a program to control the CPU with even more detail. I downloaded it from the website <http://www.diefer.de/speedwitchxp/>, but when I run sswitchxp152 I get an odd message.
"The installer you are trying to use is corrupted or incomplete. This could be the result of a damaged disk, a failed download or a virus. You may want to contact the author of this installer to obtain a new copy. It may be possible to skip this check using the /NCRC command line switch)NOT RECOMMENDED)

Has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone else know of any free programs that work with XP? What the heck is /NCRC ?

I think it would be great to be able to run the CPU in a range of speeds.

 

Anyone know what year(s) the CF-29 MK5's were being produced? When were they discontinued? Just curious

 

I think late 2006 or early 2007 was the production year on the cf-29 mk-5's
My cf-30 mk-1 (the replacement for the cf-29 series)was built in 2007 and my cf-30 mk-2 was built in 2008


Alex

 

Ok been looking and not seeing anything for it. what is the hole in the right hinge cover. sound recorder isn't picking it up as a mic imput.

 

Hey all!

First of all, thanks for the thread! Certainly helps a person like me who is unsure about the Toughbooks.

Secondly, I'm thinking of getting one of these (CF-29HTM50BM) as I am doing my Cert 3 in Agriculture next year, then doing my Diploma... So alot of my study will be outdoors. Would you recommend one of these? I'll also build a desktop for home use, but still... Also, should I get a touchscreen version? I guess that would be easier to use out in class.

Anyway, any help would be great!

Thanks,
Joel.

 

I love my CF-29HTM50BM but it never sees outside or much daytime use besides an air conditioned car(GPS turn by turn). How hot does it get there and how much direct sunlight are you seeing in this class?

 

Ummm.. Alex, I think you need to add ten years to those dates. I'm not positive but I don't think my CF-30 MK1 is 13 years old, more like 3
Time flies when you're having a good time.
CAP

 

Good catch Cap, time sure fly's when you get old
I was reading the serial number info and it gives the single year digit only



Alex

 

Joel; the CF-29HTM50BM Mk3 Toughbook is a "touchscreen version" :

CF-29HTM50BM DESCRIPTION:
***SBC ONLY***
Pentium M 738-1.4GHz LV (Centrino), 13.3" XGA Transmissive Touch Screen, 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD, Intel 802.11a+b+g WLAN, Windows XP Pro SP2, Tempo VIP Sidekick/ADSL Tester I/F, EDGE(GC83) WWAN, SBC Logo, asset tag, replaceable RJ11 jack

I have two of these myself.

I updated one of these with an emissive backlit keyboard from JB2007Rules for night use.

Finally; why build a desktop when you can use a port replicator with the CF-29?

TopCop1988; posting from a CF-29NDLGFBM Mk5 Toughbook

 

wait I had no sbc logo or asset tag Me no feel special