The OFFICIAL Panasonic CF-29 Toughbook Thread!

Sorry I haven't been around for ever . If I had even a little time I'd contribute something . Instead I have to ask . What or who is the reliable replacement Battery deal ? I'd like to have one before theis one goes south .
~kop
kop-laptop - OS: Linux 2.6.24-26-generic/i686 - Distro: Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS LTS - CPU: Intel Pentium M 1.40GHz (1400.000 MHz) - Processes: 116 - Uptime: 5d 1h 14m - Users: 2 - Load Average: 0.19 - Memory Usage: 751.32MB/1256.15MB (59.81%) - Disk Usage: 33.79GB/68.59GB (49.27%)

 

There is two sellers that have batterys for sale in the buy and sell section
Its important to buy a brand new battery
Here is a link to the best deal
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=438508

Alex

 

I have a CF29HTPCHBE and cant find it on the configurator. Any idea if it will be GSM or EVDO. It has the sim card slot in it. I have removed it from the CF29 to see if there is any brand name on but no luck. It doesnt seem to be working as the checknet software on the computer can not detect it.

 

Andy -

Welcome to the forum. You've kindof picked up on a really old post of mine, but I'll try and answer.

If it has a SIM card it has to be one of the GSM variants; given the age of your Toughbook, probably 3G but could be as old as 2G.

EVDO is a an IS-95 CDMA technology; it doesn't use a SIM card.

mnem
Toughbook phone home...

 

Andy,

try this,

go into device manager and then try truning on the card by pressing the switch on the left on the CF-29.

If 2 unknown devices show up then you have a 3G modem in there.

this can be done with or without a sims card in there.

if nothing shows up you have a grps modem.

you could take it out and google the numbers on it which should be part numbers and then you should fine the make of it

 

Thanks for the pointers. I forgot to mention that the switch on the left stopped working about a week ago!? Maybe something i've messed with. The device manager shows a Siemens AG WM USB modem but when i look in the properties it says "device cannot start (code10)", probably to do with the switch not working. Apart from a dodgy switch is there anything else which could have stopped this? Everything else is working spot on.

 

Andy,

check the bios to see if you disabled the modem. when starting up the laptop keep press the key F2 and them use arrow keys and go right once to the next menu and you should see wan modem.

you could try diffrent setting there and see can you get the button to work again.

Did the button stop working after you took out the card or before.

you could also try booting up the laptop without the modem in it to see if it disapares in device manager

 

The modem is enabled in the bios. The switch stopped working before i removed the card. I'll reboot with the modem out and see what happens, i had best check the internal switch connection aswell.

 

I have one of the early trans-flective screens. There is a light sensor on tne edge of the screen. Does anyone know if there is a different driver for the trans-flective screen rather then the standard one

 

Andyb0378,

Any news on getting you wan switches working,

If you go into the bios you can set the modem to come on when you switch on the laptop and when you trun it off it also will go off.

 

Tobyclown,

the drivers are the same. I have CF-28 and the drivers were the same for that.

What problems are you having.

 

I have instaled all drivers and all work fine. But the screen looks a little dim. It could be becouse it is old. The computer looks brand new. Or is this the nature of the trans-flective screen for outdoor use.
Thanks

 

Transflective always look dim with washed-out reds. You can try tweaking the gamma in the display driver.

 

Thanks That makes sense. I also have a Mark 4 that I love.

 

Hi Folks!
Well, I was mucking around with my CF-29 MK3 and now the touchscreen doesn't work. The touchpad does, and the screen works, but the touch function is not. I tried to restore it by re-imaging the disk, but that did not fix the problem and suggests that it may be hardware. What could I have jostled and where?
Thanks & 73,
Gordon Beattie, W2TTT

 

Gordon -

If this is a "new to you" CF-29, you may have just found out why previous owner got rid of it. The Mk3 & Mk4 CF-29s have a common failure in the Touchscreen; it's sometimes intermittent before total failure.



Otherwise, you may be lucky & just have something screwed up in your driver stack - Teo, Alex & Toughbook know the ins & outs of troubleshooting in that arena better than I, so I'll let them take it from here.

mnem
Time flies, but pizza flies on the roof!

 

The switch is working again without me doing anything??!
The checknet software runs and indicates a good signal. I just need it to connect to internet now. Reason i want it is to free up a USB port which is used by my internet dongle.
Havn't tried setting up a connection with it yet but fingers crossed........

If i can't get it to work i'll be asking more (probably dumb) questions.

 

Ok got my cf 29 eventualy, want to upgrade the H/drive, whats the largest size H/drive the cf 29 will see, (dont have to be the fastest )running xp pro ser pac 2?
thanks
steven

 

Steven, Which model of CF-29 do you have. If you are showing an "H" drive, you either are looking a partitions of the "C" Drive or you are looking at RAM media stuck in the SDHC slot of a CF-29 Mk 4 or 5. The CF-29 will normally only take one (1) EIDE Hard Disk Drive and that will be the "C" Drive.

The answer to the question when you figure that all out is is 320 GB.

 

My guess when you say H/drive you mean (HD) hard drive ? Just remember putting a big drive in a 29 and start filling it up is going to slow it down a lot. I have a 80GB 7200 RPM and its fast , I installed a 160GB 5400 RPM but it slowed it down some and I never had more than 30GB installed on the drive so I put the 80 back in.
Blair

 

If you partition the drive in two so that the O/S is on the first part , which is the fastest part of the drive you won't run into issues


Alex

 

Gentlemen,
I need to find out who is the best supplier for parts for the cf-29's.
I just installed the wan sled and have lost the touchpad,buttons. I checked the ribbon cable and several of the connector attachments are damaged, ergo, new ribbon cable needed. Who's best. Thanks

 

Hi Liamw652,

The best would be Hartland. I have bough some parts for my CF-M34 from them and I was very happy with there help and service.

I know a lot of others here woul say the same

 

Maybe me

You yanked that cable out and tore those fine conductors didn't you
If you are careful, one fix is to cut the flat cable back a bit and attach it properly to the motherboard
Look and see if thats possible
I can look and see if I have a cable

btw: I have done the same thing


Alex

 

This is what happens........

 

Thanks for the "SLAP" guys. hehehe.
I'll try the cut back.
I'm pretty well experienced with most puters.
These are their own breed.

 

Oh yah, the sled worked fine. Now I can take the pcmcia out. Time to think about what other mods, mischief, I can get into with my mk3.
When I got it refurbed, it was to replace two other computers that I used in a Tractor-Trailer. They got shaken to death. Keyboard failures, HD failures, self destruction. My mk3 (CF-29J) takes a licking and keeps on ticking. (As Timex says). The most I have had a regular laptop last in the truck is about a year.

 

I have gotten the sataide-pos adapter to work. First, remove the jumper off the front of the adapter. I had to remove the small 90 deg brace strip glued to the cover of the caddy. Then I removed the two large black foam cushions off the plastic HD shield. I removed these three parts with a razor blade, (being careful so that if it didn't work, I could replace everything.) Carefully lay the hard drive bundle in the lower case and carefully route the connector strip over the plastic shield and install in the holding mount on the upper casing. Everything is a tight fit which continues the shock-proof feature of the hd caddy.
Right now I'm running a 160 gig sata WD and getting ready to attempt increasing the HD size to see what this CF-29 mk3/J model will take.
Hope this helps for the Interested.

 

Not sure what the rest of the guys will think but without all those foam, you compromised the shock absorbing capability that the caddy is originally designed for. Ok, I suppose, if the CF29 is desk-bound but it ain't gonna survive that accidental drop in the field...

 

The only pieces removed were from the lip of the plastic shield. The only reason these were removed was because of the new height of the adapter and the original ribbon connector. No foam was removed from the caddy. All pieces are still intact and the hd actually fits tighter into the caddy.

 

Thank You TomCat. Your suggestion was so noted and acted upon. Everything back to normal with touchpad/keys. Took the cable back just enough to clear the damaged area. Of course it had to be the toughest connector on the mb. Now I think I may get into more mischief and attempt an internal GPS install.
Thank You.
Bill

 

Yes, actually.. we ARE interested, since you were able to get YOUR SATA/IDE adapter to BOOT.

Please, post pix when you have it apart next, and PLEASE... a MFR and Part #, and a link to where you got it if you can find it.

There are MANY here who would like to experiment as you have; we just haven't had any luck getting them to BOOT from the SATA drive.

Once you have these information, I will GLADLY add them to the CF-29 FAQ.

mnem
Mmmmhmm.... SATA in my CF-28? *SQUEEEE!*

 

This all started back when I first found the thread and read through all the posts. I saw MrBungles posts about attempting this, #215, #217, #228, and then no more. I got CURIOUS.

The original link was posted by MrBungle back in post #215

 

Pretty interesting! I am of a mind to ditch my new 320GB and get a
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 1TB. Which is currently the largest 2.5″ HDD available.

Not that I would benefit much from its 3Gbps speed through the adapter, but it would most likely be as fast as what I have now.

I am on a budget, so I guess that it depends on how these sales go!

Thanks for the informative post and good job!

 

At this time "Cool Drives" is saying in the website that the largest drive this adapter will handle is 500 gig. But who can say for sure. When the adapter was developed a 500 may have been the top mark at that point.
A lot is going to depend on how large a drive the computers bios will handle.

Azrial,
Like you I am working on a budget. I have spare sata's sitting so I was at least able to benchmark a 160. When I get the chance, I will attempt to move up in HD size. For now, I have 2- 1Tb's running externally (1- WD and 1- Iomega) as they were inexpensive at the time.

________________________________________

CF-29 J/mk3 (Fed) Touch with 160g SATA, Internal Wifi and more to come.

 

The modem is now working (almost). I have set it to switch on/off with the main power. The signal indicator reads " -89db gprs/gsm". Is there any particular port that the modem should be set to and will I need to set up a new connection to use this modem?

 

Congrats on getting that going. I wound up using my adapter with the 500GB drive I bought as an external drive for backups.

 

When you used the adapter, did you find You had to remove the jumper also. When I received mine there were no instructions. It was trial and error to figure the adapter out.


________________________________________

CF-29 J/mk3 (Fed) Touch with 160g SATA, Internal Wifi and more to come.

 

Done and Done I have an 80 GB 7200 rpm sata travelstar in my CF-28 no boot issues at all.

 

The system sounds great and we as a fire company's ambulance corp is looking to buy one. My question is, does the touchscreen allow to capture signatures?

 

Yes the Panasonic has a Handwriting feature (software) for the Toughbook. The software is as squiggly as a UPS signature pad, but it will capture signatures.
If this group is in NY, I may be close to you in Syracuse. I can show you My Toughbook to assist you and help you decide.

 

These pictures are continued from the previous post. Post # 433

Picture #1- shows the HD in the shield package, being slide back into the plastic envelope.

Picture #2- The ribbon cable back on the mounting tab of the upper cover.

Picture #3- Laying the ribbon cable back over the HD to keep from damaging the ribbon.

Note: Being CAREFUL of the adapter and ribbon cable are the main concern.
Picture #4- Starting to squeeeeze the HD bundle back into the lower case half.

Picture #5- Shows the HD caddy squeeeezed back together and screws installed.

Picture #6- Screen shot of Bios registering the 160gb HD.

 

Click on Go Advanced and move to the next window.
Attach photos by then clicking on the little paper clip up by the smiley face...


Bob

 

Hi all,

Just recently purchased a CF-29 refurbished toughbook model CF-29HTM50BM.

Have been chasing one for ages but never seemed to have the coin at the right time. Picked this one up for $450 on ebay.

The question i have is when i open the PC card bay door there are 2 slots plus a small grey wire hanging out of the left of the bay with a small square connector on it...not sure what type of connector it is but...sorry...Just wondering if anyone has any idea what this is for????Have called Panasonic tech's and have been told this should be connected to the motherboard somewhere....Wireless works great so not sure what it is...

please help and Thanks in advance

Mick

 

Mick! You could have gotten this exact SAME laptop from tigerdirect.com for $360... ALL of these models are backed by PlanitROI and Green Planet...

Do you have a picture of this mysterious wire? That would help quite a bit!

Thanks

 

Hi,

The price is Aussie dollars, not sure if that makes a difference, I'm at work now...lol...so when i get time and can sneak it i'll get a photo and post up


cheers

 

the wire is the pigtail for a PCMCIA WWAN card, and is connected with the antenna on the left top of the screen.

 

Hi Denrosten,

thanks for that, so i'm presuming that if my wifi connection is working at the moment i don't neccessarily need to worry about it....

 

Correct
It's used for an optional cellular data card and plan, for use away from your wi-fi connection



Alex

 

that is correct, but if you cheaply want to add 3G cellular access all you need is a cheap Sierra Wirless Aircard 850 instead of the crazy expensive panasonic option $40 instead of $10000000!!!