Toughbook CF-30K Mk3 Wireless Issue

Hello all,

I've recently purchased a CF-30K that was running Vista Basic, through a series of ordeals I'm now running XPMCE SP3 however the wireless 'Adapter Driver Is Not Installed' according to the Intel ProSet application. The wireless switch doesn't light up on the front either.

I've updated the drivers for all devices on the laptop, the only thing I haven't done is the BIOS.

Any ideas?


Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome to the forum
Do you have the wireless switch turned on in the front of the 30...also we don't use the Pro set, we let windows run the wireless card.

 

Thanks for the welcome, looks like a really useful forum!

The switch is in the on position, however there are no lights illuminated on the switch in either position

I'll remove ProSet then

 

Did the wireless ever work? Are you sure it has a card installed? Please post the entire model number. It may be a model without a wireless card.

 

That was my next question since no lights are coming on. It makes me wonder if no card was installed would the light come on ??

well I was going to pull the card in one of my 30's but both of the keyboards are stuck down good with double face tape...figures

 

The model number is CF-30KTPAZAE. After reading information on here and many other websites I was curious as to whether the wireless card had been installed on this model so i flipped the keyboard off and unscrewed the silver plate beneath, the car is definitely install. Intel 945G if I remember correctly, has two wires 'Main' and 'Aux' running from it.

 

Hi Matty

At boot press F2 to enter the bios...arrow over to Advanced. Verify the Wireless Lan and the Wireless switch are enabled. The MK3 should have a 5100AGN installed.

-Nick

 

Thanks Nick, will try that when I get home and let you know.

On another note, does anyone know why there is no version of the BIOS to download for the CF-30K on the Panasonic drivers site only for the C/D?

Surely they've updated it since the model was released?

Oh and yes it was the 5100 that was installed when I had a peek previously.

 

On my MK2 with the wireless switch off / wireless lan off in the BIOS the light still stays on , only thing is different is its not in device manager when they are off in the BIOS so that said maybe you have other problems

 

I've checked the BIOS Advanced settings and all appears to be normal i.e. set to enabled. Any other ideas? Would flashing the BIOS help maybe?

 

K - Core 2 Duo SL9300 - 1.6GHz, vPro, (Centrino 2 Duo) 802.11 abgn

T - 13.3" Touch-1,000 nit

P - 160GB HDD + 2GB RAM (SL9300 CPU) or 80GB HDD; 512MB RAM

A - None

Z - No WWAN

A - Win Vista COA, WinXP downgrade


I am thinking someone has had it apart and forgot to plug the switch in.

 

I can't see that helping or a driver problem because I can pull the HDD Caddy out on mine and turn off and on the switch so for sure its a hardware problem . Did this come from ebay or do you know who owned this before . It may be time to take the bottom off and trace the lines for the wireless switch to see if its plugged in. If it is then I hope its just a bad switch...

 

Possibly someone put in an IBM or HP only card in it. I still say it's the switch.

 

From Linux LiveCD:

From a terminal
dmesg | grep Intel #case sensitive...this will show if the system recognizes the wireless

I vote with Shawn though. Cable or bulb.

 

CF-30Mk3 has known bad issue on wireless(wi-fi) card. Try to remove it and replace it. Not necessarilly with same card just to test the system.


ohlip

 

I am with you on the cable but you would think if the bulb was bad and the wifi was turned on the wifi would still work. This might be some thing to try...only $15.96 shipped Panasonic Toughbook CF 30 WiFi Wireless on Off Switch Board | eBay .Would not hurt to try what ohlip said and replace the wifi card

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys, will look into this when I'm home.

I'm still curious as to why there is no available BIOS update to download via the Panasonic website? I've seen threads to people referring to the file BU30M3 but cannot find a link to it? Is there a reason for this?

I'm very particular about my computers, I like to have updated the BIOS & drivers for everything (even if they're the same versions - just so I know it was installed properly) haha

 

Well the file you are looking for is this one cf30k_mk3_bios_r-2009-0027-binary.zip but Panasonic took it down over a year ago and my guess the only way to get it is to send it to Heartland services which will cost you around $200.00 and don't bother calling them for it because they don't and won't give it out. They only repair and sell parts...no tech support

 

Thats odd, anybody know why they took it down?

 

Probably because a post here linking to the file.

 

That's ridiculous, the link was free to find anyway! I assume nobody has the file downloaded?

 

Well there's a bit more to the story. But I'm not going into details. if you find the posts you'll figure out why.

 

What you could do is email or call Panasonic tech support and give them some sad story and maybe they might send it to you. I have called them before back a couple years ago and they were very good.

 

I'll have a scout for the thread then!
Thanks toughasnails; will send an email tomorrow

 

Found it here Panasonic Contact Technical Support for Computers & Tablets

 

I don't recall the latest BIOS update having anything to do with any wireless problems. Panasonic does not have many BIOS updates for the TB's since these updates generally correct problems. They work the problems out 1st.

 

Also yes you might check the bios settings, then if no luck then go back to the drivers and see which one is active in high memory and which one is not. On occasion I've seen conflicting driver code creating havoc in the registry and the bootfiles. -Just some thoughts-

 

Here is a picture of the base and all the screws you will need to take out . Please remove battery before starting You will need to remove the memory first.

 

Who are you replying to? The last post was almost 2 months ago....I am confused...

 

He sent me a PM today so I posted the picture of the bottom for others to see here.

 

Ohhh..I thought maybe you lost your mind and just started replying to random posts...