Toughbook CF-27

Hi all, I am very new here so be gentle with me lol

I am no tech head so keep it simple please.

I have just got given a number of CF-27s Toughbooks, I
would like to use them for lesson teaching for young adults
in a military youth organisation for when we are doing our field training,
so these will fit the bill just right.

They come as a standard unit with no operational system on them,
they came with a FDD but no CD ROM drive.

I have a Windows 98 SE OS so I can keep it as near as spec as possible
for them to run proper.

The problem I have is putting on the OS, from what I have read on the net
a external CD ROM Drive with a USB connecter will not work that way.

Is there a cheap fix here or do I need to get a CF-27 CD ROM Drive unit to sort
this out, I only ask this as these are like rocking horse poo to get or cost a arm and a leg to lol

The one thought I had can I use a standard flat CD ROM Drive and use the caddy of the FDD to mount and connect it?

Any help I would be grateful for or is this a trip down to the computer shop? Lol

TronRMC

 

Welcome to the Toughbook forum. No you can't put the cd-rom in the FDD...will not work. Please read this

This is what you need and its a very good price to. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-T...C_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item5649a7c9fa

 

I have seen this one thanks, but they do not ship to the UK.

 

Yes I see what you mean. I can tell you it would cost about $18.00 to ship to UK...Have you checked the price of them in the UK ?

 

They are about twice the price here in the UK, but the main problem is only one company in the UK does them as far as I can see so that is why prices are so high, supply and demand lol

 

@TronRMC:

Welcome to the forum.

It sounds like things are not going your way....CF-27's, Win 98, no CD drive, Blackburn Rovers facing relegation from the Premier League....that's enough to give a bloke Angina.

If you don't mind my asking....if you get an OS on the 27's exactly what are you going to be using them for??

o.g.

 

Basic word and powerpoint, not looking at GPS are stuff like that, as said to help with training in field conditions.

As for Rovers, that is what happens then you leave the chickens in charge

 

ha,ha,ha....same issue at the Villa.

You've probably already worked out that the Media Bay on the CF-27/28/29 is the same size, so I've got a DVD drive that will sort you. When you rack up enough posts for Private Messaging, send me a PM with your postal address.

I've never used a CF-27 so I don't know if there is a full compliment of Toughbook drivers after you've loaded Win98....I guess you'll find out soon enough.

o.g.

 

and one more post you should be able to PM members .

 

I've got a CF-27 , Pentium 2 - 300Mhz, with 320 meg ram, 20 gig harddrive. I installed Windows XP sp1 on it, and use it only for older games like HalfLife, Quake, etc.

It works smooth with Windows XP sp1. So. Lucky for me, i am able to use the CD and DVD-rom drives from my other 10 or more Toughbooks (CF-28/Cf-29).

Concerning your problem, you could use a disk with a USB driver on it, and then install Windows 98SE or Windows XP from an USB cd-rom drive.

Drivers for Windows XP can be found on the net. Sometimes you are able to use XP drivers made for other toughbooks that use the same graphic /sound chips.

 

What MasterBlaster said. If you have an install floppy for your WINXP cd, hooking the cdrom up to the USB and using the floppy CDinstall, you should be good to go.

 

Thank you Orange George for that offer.

I know the CF-27 is not the best Toughbook, but when free and working you do not turn them down.

 

This is where I get stuck, I am no tech head, so baby steps I need lol

I take it the floppy drive with a disc with the start menu will give me the first steps I need so I can hookup the external CD ROM drive so then I can put on the OS, is this right?

 

That was my next "Q", how many do I need lol

Thanks for the heads up info.

 

Hi Orange George, just lookup your profile and there was no contact info, I take it I have not got the points to make prizes yet lol

 

You can PM anyone now...

 

@TronRMC:

Here's the deal....My CF-29's are running "Tip-Top"....due in part, to the information gathered from this forum which has cost approximatley....nowt, nada, zilch, nothing.

If you are using the CF-27's for Voluntary Youth Work or Adult Educational purposes, I'll donate a Panasonic OEM drive that fits your Media Bay for approximatley....nowt, nada, zilch, nothing.

Now....If Blackburn Rovers get relegated at the expense of Aston Villa staying in the Premiership....guess who's a happy bunny.

Right....I've just got a PM from you, so PM your shipping address & I'll send you a DVD.

o.g.

 

TronRMC,
For your edification and amusement query "PlopLinux". I use it for older machines to add USB to the boot order.

Information-ally yours,

Jeff...Maybe I should get a CF-27 to see what they look like........

 

What...you don't own one .Must be the only one you don't have

 

Well what can I say lol

A CF-27 drive unit or we keep the chickens???

Drive unit please )

Once again a big thank you Orange George, PM on its way.

 

Thank you for your heads-up info, will investigate once I get a OS on.

 

Thank you guys for your help here and treating me with kitten gloves.

I like the idea off the backlit keyboards, so I maybe bending your ears on this one to at a later date, but first lets get the buggers working lol

 

A question if I have a CD ROM Drive how do I go about putting on a OS to the CF-27?

At the moment it only powers up to the Panasonic set only.

What are the steps I need to please?

Make sure it is as easy as 1,2,3 please lol

 

Step 1. Open up the bottom of the unit and confirm it has a hard drive caddy, and that the caddy has a hard drive inside, and that the ribbon to the hard drive is conected to the computer.

OR

Check in the bios that it shows a HDD.

If I'm reading this correctly you report you have the cf-27s, have the OEM Windows98 CDROM, and are getting from OrangeG the CDROM drive, so now would be a good time to confirm you have the HDD and caddy. If no caddy, let me know and I'll see what i have.

END STEP ONE

 

JEFF, I CAN FIX THIS BY SENDING YOU A CF-27 TO WORK WITH. IT EVEN HAS A RUBBER KEYBOARD, MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE IT SO YOU CAN SPEAK MORE ON THE SUBJECT:

sam

 

@TronRMC:

Your drive is in the post, you are now reliant on Royal Mail.

There is more than one way to skin a Rabbit so each to there own....but try this;

1. Place your DVD drive in the media bay. Use a pin to open the drive door & place your CD in & close the door.

2. Turn the unit on & press F2 to enter the Bios Setup utility. There are six pages in the Bios utility, on the Information page you need the model number....CF-27??????....you need this for the Panasonic drivers.

3. Using the keyboard arrow key's, goto the EXIT page...a previous user could have changed some of the settings so select GET Default Values, save the values when prompted.

4. Using the arrow key's go to BOOT page & set the DVD/CD drive as first in the boot menu using F6 to change the order if DVD/CD is not already at the top of the list.

5. Using the arrow key's go back to the EXIT page & select SAVE VALUES & Exit. Select YES when prompted to save.

6. It now tries to boot your OS but you don't have one so, turn off & then back on. When you turn back on it should search the DVD for the setup files....If the DVD drive is not spinning you've not set the BOOT order correct! you will be prompted for user input whilst the files are loading.

7. When prompted to remove the CD & reboot, you remove CD, but when you reboot, press F2 & go back into the Bios, on the BOOT page change the Boot order to set your HDD as first in the boot list & the DVD/CD drive as second in the list. Now goto the EXIT page & SAVE CHANGES & EXIT. Select YES when prompted.

8. When you exit the Bios setup it boots your OS....I hope.

Now for your Panasonic drivers....tune in with your model number....as in CF27?????? from the INFORMATION page in the Bios utility & I'll have a look on the Panasonic driver site.

Now....how many units have you got? If you say a dozen it's going to hurt.

o.g.

 

@Orphanlr:

You beat me on the draw....I guess I forgot to say....CHECK THERE IS A HARD DRIVE IN THERE.

o.g.

 

Maybe we need a "Why Jeff needs a CF-27 Thread!"

 

I'm thinking UNLESS the Panasonic Image/CDROM/OS is available, based on the user's stated needs...yes, UBUNTU might just fit the ticket...

 

Step: ONE, done.

Caddy, Hard Drive and Ribbon there and connected.

 

Thank you kind sir.

The numbers I have are only these as the rest do not have any labels on.
CF-27DB, CF-27EJ6K3EE and CF-27EJ6K3AE

I have 6 to do lol

 

What is a UBUNTU ?

 

Google is your friend... ... Ubuntu (operating system) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Some say that the CF-27 is not very good , kinda obsolete ->too slow and so. But i say : I still love my CF-27, even when i use a CF-29.

I never sell it. Its durable, and you can play games on it, use it for wardriving, hacking, etc. My CF-27 has the nice built in GSM antenna.

So people, never under-estimate the power of the Schwartz... Uh, i mean CF-27 !

May the force be with you !

 

OK thanks, yep google good lol

 

When you get around to it, I have all the drivers for all marks of CF-27. If you are not going to use some variation of Linux you should go with Win 2000. Someone will jump in and say they have XP running on their CF-27 but it's just too much for that old machine. They are great machines if you don't ask too much of them.
CAP

 

If you do decide you need xp on your machine think about using nlite. It allows you to cut windows down to the size you need and remove unwanted stuff, example IE.

 

Thanks for the info and offer to, will look into that once I have mastered the art of getting the buggers going lol.

As said no tech-head, but willing to learn lol.

 

now you have really lost me, it is like looking at the Matrix lol

 

nLite and vLite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

OK get it now lol

"Q", How good is Linux compared to Windows and if I was looking at it, which one would be the best?

Also what do people think of Ubuntu 11.10 compared to the two above in the last "Q"?

And another "Q" lol can Windows Office run on Linux and Ubunto or do they run on Open Office?

If this is the case will Windows documents open with Open office?

 

Ubuntu is going to be your most Windoze-like user experience with LINUX. I haven't used any version of Ubuntu newer than 10.something on the ASUS Netbook in my sig.

Windows Office will run in LINUX under WINE; as long as your version of Office is compatible with Windoze XP. They may have support for newer versions by now; Azrial & Sadlmkr would know better than I. It's a pain in the all the way around, IMHO.

Open Office was made to provide LINUX users an easy means to work with MS Office documents; it became popular enough that they ported it back to Windows as well. Yes, it works well with all supported document types, the only issue is that MS deliberately tries to "break" documents so that their latest version of Office (whatever it may be) creates documents which only MS Office can open. At least until the developers at Open Office reverse-engineer it and release a patch.

mnem
*UnPatched*

 

Well decide now if you want the blue pill or the red pill. It gets deeper past this point.

 

Thanks for the info that was very useful.

Blue pill please lol

Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

 

Did this but did not work, went to the OS start up log then crashed.

How do I strip it back off the hard drive so I can start again please?

On putting on the OS it asked number of things on the OS its self, now I have to admit this could be my fault here not selecting the right set-up lol

 

Bios Setup utility only gives me limited access.

Here are page 1 and 2 info.

http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u403/TronRMC/WP_000078.jpg
http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u403/TronRMC/WP_000074.jpg

 

Can u pls make pic more far away, so we can c the entire screen?

 

Will do 2 new once. )

http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u403/TronRMC/WP_000082.jpg
http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u403/TronRMC/WP_000081.jpg

 

If u push F10 or F12 instead of hitting F2 for the BIOS while booting?

 

@TronRMC,

That's a CF27, MK2....wow, that's Stone Age.

As said, I've never used a CF-27, so it looks like your default settings are different. Try;

NumLock: Off
Display: Set to Internal or Simultaneous
Serial Port A: Auto
Serial Port B: Disable
Serial Port C: Auto
Parallel Port: Auto
Legacy USB: Enable

Then goto EXIT & SAVE CHANGES.

I assume you are going with Win98 just to get one going, look at the attached link regards installation....creating & formatting a Primary Partition etc, etc.

How-to install Windows 98 - Geeks to Go Forums

o.g.

EDIT: As said above....Google is your friend....when you try a freebie OS on the second unit, check the hardware requirements first, yours are on the LOW side.