The OFFICIAL Panasonic CF-29 Toughbook Thread!

Toughbook - thank you I have read the forums about how to add it just wasn't sure if my model would accept it can't wait it will be here tomorrow, I hope like someone else on here that bought one of the SBC off-lease 29's that the at&t mobile broadband card is still in there, if not i have found a sierrea wireless coard on ebay for $35, but first i need to get a cd drive for it!

 

My SBC machine came with the Sony-Ericsson GC83 card installed. The S-E card has a completely different antenna connection from the Sierra 860, so be SURE of the antenna connector before you buy something you cannot use.

For reference;

Sony-Ericsson GC83: http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/support/mobilebroadband/gc83?lc=en&cc=ca

Sierra AirCard 860: http://www.sierrawireless.com/en/si...Card/Legacy_Products/AirCard_860_for_ATT.aspx

FYI: Both of these fit under the PCMCIA Card door when closed.

 

NTTD ....... you are sliding fast down that toughbook slide. Welcome to the forum , pull up a stump and read the links below....you will be glad you did

 

...Or a CF-30, or.....

Thanks for the welcome.

 

Recieved my toughbook today it's in pretty fair condition, I took a look in the PC card slot and there was sitting a pristine Sony-Ericsson GC83 wireless card YEAH 1 more thing to take off the want list!

 

Since this is for AT&T LaptopConnect Data Service (and I assume that's who you are/are going with) you will need these:

AT&T Communication Manager 7.1 for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 operating systems
http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/en_US/download/Setup-ACM-7.1.030.exe

and:

Sony-Ericsson EDGE PC Cards GC82, GC83 and GC85 User Guide
http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/download/1/110/47/1192957337/GC8X_UG_RevC_EN.pdf

I suppose the antenna cable and retainer plate are present?

 

Yup everything is there. Just have to get a cdrom drive now so I can get windows loaded on the hard drive. I tried to use a pcmcia cdrom drive but it didn't work, so guess i will have to liquidate some stuff to afford a cd-rom drive + caddy.

 

Try this:

PANASONIC TOUGHBOOK CF-27 CF-28 CF-29 CD-ROM CF-VCD271
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260576031806

 

I am going crazy waiting for my CF-29 to show up!

UPS is reporting it scanned in at the local depot as of 2:15PM today my time but is showing the delivery date of Monday!!! So close yet so far.:cry:

Sometimes stuff will come on Saturday, maybe this time.

 

Unless you can install PCMCIA drivers during floppy boot, the PCMCIA CDDs won't work. Once in windoze, they work ok (driver install still required if running W98 ).

 

Thats what i though but I figured what the heck it was worth a try just driving me nuts having the 29 sitting there and not being able to use it!

 

Ordered my cd-rom drive last night should be here tomorrow or wednsday. Found a nice internal 20 channel gps kit for $159 that will be next on the list.

 

The CD Roms are out of sight price-wise these days... I should have bought ALL the ones that guy had for $23 each! Hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20....

 

Yeah no kidding, i just had to pay $65 for one shipped.

 

I do believe that was only about 6 months too. I bought 3 from that seller for $79.00 shipped.

 

Ahhh finally got the 29 up and running touchscreen works wonderfully, Took a couple frustrating days of fighting with drivers and OS disks but I almost have everything installed. 1 question I have is I need a new WM cover and one of the black plastic caps on the top of lid of the lcd case, where the antenna is one of the little skinny black plastic peices is broken, what would these parts run price wise from heartland?

 

Toughbook-CF-29HTM50: Did you have already have a copy of XP for the CF-29? I'm asking because I also picked up a SBC with the Edge PC card GC83 and have been stalled trying to buy a genuine copy XP with a product key that will load. TopCop and the other guys here have already been very helpful on the forum. So, did you have any problems loading a XP home, or XP professional version into one of these SBC unit from Deal Train?? Appreciate the info.

 

Don't jack around with loading XP Pro, then all the Toughbook-necessary drivers. Just spend your money well:

Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 Recovery CD - Restore CD
Model Number CF-29 MK3-XP2M-TSW
http://cgi.ebay.com/Panasonic-Toughbook-CF-29-Recovery-CD-Restore-CD_W0QQitemZ170468743734

All you will need then is:

AT&T Communication Manager 7.2 for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 operating systems
http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/en_US/download/acm-7.2.032-install.exe

 

OK TopCop, I like the way you cut to chase :>) Thanks again!

 

Kevin, I already had a copy of XP professional that I used, it gave me fits because it was an upgrade copy and not full retail so I had to find one of my old win 98 cds to get it running, ended up just formatting the hard drive installing WIN 98 and then upgrading to Windows XP Pro. I had all of the drivers downloaded it is not that hard if you go to one of the links on here for the drivers, the main drivers you have to install is the Touchscreen driver if you bought a touchscreen model, the video drivers, the wifi drivers, and the modem drivers. On a side note I have a unknown device coming up on the device manager, and can't figure out what it is does anybody know what device on the 29's comes up as unknown in the device manager on XP?

 

OK, so I have an old copy of WIN98 and I posted because I've been thumbing through all the wacky Ebay "sealed" "full version" ads for XP home and Pro, wondering if I do throw out the 75 to 100 bucks, whether or not the damned thing will arrive with a genuine COA / product key and will it load on what I think was an SBC that originally ran with XP Professional. So, are you saying I could just load a full version of WIN 98 (which I already have) then turn around and just buy a new upgrade version of XP home edition or Pro??

 

I do not think it is a company secret that you can buy "parts" now that have the XP Pro COA on them for $25-$35 bux.

Then just load any XP Pro disk and use YOUR COA.... And, of course, TRUE panny drivers from THEIR site(s).

 

I have a saying I try to live by:

"You can do it right once or wrong three times."

While you can use the Win98 disks to allow the use of an XP Pro upgrade set, the question is WHY?!?

Using the Panasonic Recovery CD set gets you the OEM version of XP Pro, along with all the Pany-specific drivers and utilities; installed in the right places and directories, along with the proper SysTray icons.

Moreover, you get something you cannot get from the Win98/XP Pro upgrade route: the correct Panasonic logo and Support Information on the "General" tab of the System Properties of Windows Control Panel.

It's your choice: "...right once", or .... ???

 

Using the Panasonic Recovery CD set gets you the OEM version of XP Pro, along with all the Pany-specific drivers and utilities; installed in the right places and directories, along with the proper SysTray icons.


TopCop: OK, now I get it! I thought the recovery disk you pointed me to was just going to reinstall all drivers, known updates, and reform at the orginial CF-29 drive that had been wipe by whatever DOD software the vendor used! Didn't realize the disk you were talking about actually would contain the OEM XP version - (which would make perfect sense, if it it was a restore/recovery disk) If so, 35 bucks, what a deal!

 

Found out what the unknown device was, it is the hot keys, so now all drivers are installed, it wasn't that hard, for those of you that don't have much experience with drivers and updating yeah the recovery disk would work great, but for those on a budget it can be done with out it, I plan on buying a recovery disk in the future, but for me I had the 29 sitting there with everything I needed to get it working but I was out of money and couldn't buy the recovery disk, so I just played around and found all the drivers I needed, got the touchscreen working and the wifi, and everything else, and just now got the hot keys working. If I didn't have the XP upgrade CD laying around then yes I would have bought the recovery disk since it is only $35 and a new copy of XP is 100-200 dollars, (I paid $199+tax for my upgrade copy at retail) When it comes to software, I would not recommend buying it off of eBay unless you know the seller is reputable there are a lot of sellers that will just make 1,000 copies of the CD and sell them as legit copies, and if you get caught with it it is you butt that is in the wringer remember possession means everything.

 

Thanks Toughbook-CF-29HTM50. Yeah, ......"don't have much experience with drivers and updating"....pretty well describes me :>) But I'm also a persistant bugger and hope that the goods folks on this forum (man, I'm glad I found it!) will continute to put with the dorky, questions - I'll have more as this stuff I've ordered arrives.

 

Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll send you the Panasonic logo and Support Info file for your WinXP Control Panel's System info screen. Then it will look like a factory install.

 

Also one more great thing about the restore disks.....It only takes about 22 minites to load the 3 disk set and you are up and surfing ebay for your next toughbook

 

Well... After 45 minutes of updating.....

I was really surprised to see how fast the recovery disks load.... I was used to a 45 minute windows install and then another hour or so of loading drivers. One of the things that I TRULY love about Panasonic Toughbook restore disks... NO BLOATWARE as EVERY other laptop/PC has installed by its manufaturer.... Gotta love it!

When I reformat PCs and laptops for others... I always try to install only the drivers needed. This can be very difficult as sometimes the driver is built into the bloatware and takes some doing to get it all. I keep copies of all PC drivers that I install. Some take some digging to get!

 

@kevin13. For what its worth and with all due respect to topcop's extensive experience. If you are having a problem finding restore disks, and by now you shouldn't be, I'll say it again. Dell OEM XP disks will load on your CF-29 just fine, all the Panasonic splash screens will be there (I think its in the bios), and in my experience it takes about the same amount of time to manually install the drivers as it does to update the now 4-5 year old XP which is on the restore disks. Like Rick says, the restore disks might be slightly faster. Now, I have only done this about 75 times, and I might be wrong, but if you have a valid Panasonic COA there are absolutely NO issues with loading any Toughbook I have ever messed with with a Dell disk, and it is perfectly legal!
CAP

 

Ditto what Cap said about Dell discs. Those are the only discs I have used to load XP Pro onto at least 25-30 Toughbook/Dolch/Getac/IBM laptops. After doing them for a while, I can now do the OS load and the drivers in about 2-3 hours, then another 2-3 hours downloading and installing all the updates and patches. If you have a valid COA, it matters not which disc you have to load.

 

Hmmm now what do I want next CF-30, or CF-19 Decisions Decisions.............................

 

Many thanks Capt. Dogfish and to you also Silver Trooper. I did take TopCop1988's advice and buy the recovery disks. I looked into the Dell XP's because they were selling for something like $35.00 for a reinstallation disc on Ebay. Not every Dell forum I hit said you'll never be able to activate it, but several did, so I passed. Obviously, those guys didn't know what they were talking about. Love Edison quote by the way - not many people realize the hell that guy went through finding just the right type of filament needed to produce the first "electric light"

 

Kevin - let me know how the recovery disk works for you I am thinking about picking up one, but I am not too sure about buying software on ebay, I have been burned too many times with software i can't install due to worried that I will no be able to activate it.

 

You really can't go wrong with the original recovery disks there is no activation required ever. Just make sure you get the correct set intended for your specific model.

 

Just a wild guess but I am guessing you have a CF-29H which is a MK3. It will be a 3 disk set and can only be used for the MK3

 

My Recovery Disk set for my Mk3 came from eBay.

And there is no "Activation" with Mickeysoft, just the entrance of the COA numbers off the bottom of your machine.

Once you get it loaded the first thing you do is go to the Microsoft Windows Update page: http://www.update.microsoft.com/ and let it update your XP to Service Pack 3, then go back to get all the Security Updates installed.

 

Yeah I already have my windows updated to SP3 I just would like to have the disk laying around in case I have to restore the hard drive like I have had to do many times (Damn viruses are sneaky nowadays), but I have bought software off of ebay gotten the disk put it in the drive and since it was just a copy the software wouldn't install, but sounds like everybody has had luck with this seller so I will have to pick up a set next time I have an extra $35.

 

Once you've updated all you want, fully configured settings with favorite applications and utilities, why not just clone or image the d@mn drive? Dumping that image back to a glitchy OS is a breeze, rather than starting from scratch again.

Think about it.

 

When using the Dell disks on non-Dell machines do you end up with the Dell logo on the Settings/Control Panel/System/General (properties) tab?

If so, what did you do about it?

 

Yes, you will have the Dell OEMLOGO and Info.

If it bothers you just delete:

c:\ windows\system32\ oeminfo.ini
and
c:\ windows\system32\ oemlogo.bmp

You can add back in the Panasonic files if you like.

 

I used to install custom OEM.ini and oemlogo.bmp to my toughbooks You can write a whole book in there! (As Panasinic did) only the first three lines show, IIRC... Then there is a button for "More Information"... You'll also want to delete C:/Dull from the main drive. It has nothing in it as you have no Dull drivers to install there.

 

Yup! That's exactly the two Pany-specific files I e-mailed to NTTD and Toughbook-CF-29HTM50.

Moreover, you can use Windows Notepad and edit the OEMInfo.ini file to read what you want it to say.

For example, my original OEMInfo.ini file was edited from CF-29 to read Toughbook CF-29 Mk3.

 

Or you can just delete the pointers to those files in the registry... that way you don't have funny looking empty spaces in those dialog boxes.

mnem
OOBE DOOBEE DOO...

 

And thank you very much for that!

 

I am not sure what you are talking about here, every time I have done this, I have never had a blank, it just like retail.

I have made and installed custom OEMLogo and OEMInfo for years on my PC, usually with ownership and contact information, complete with a picture of my handsome visage!

 

Yes and thank you very much for them they worked great with my retail version of Winblows XP

 

Okay... Your actual picture or the pig's?

 

No No No...

If you just delete the .ini files, Windows will still reserve space in the dialog box for the text that isn't there. The Dialog box is longer than it needs to be as a result.

Either way, I'd be scared If I bought that machine...

mnem
plotz.

 

Hey guys just like to add if you're using dell or other branded oem diskd w/svc pack 2 microsoft has an iso file download for svc pack 3. Use nero or other program to burn image to disk and you have svc pack on cd. Saves time downloading!!