Where did all the CF-19 GPS info go??? Will a U-Blox pci-e work?

AM I really failing that badly at search tonight??? (probably...)

For that matter, what about GPS in the CF-T7? Ohlip if your reading this, speak up! Are you using the U-Blox B39 PCI-E card?

But let me ask a very specific question. Can the U-Blox B39 PCI-E card be used in the PCI-E card slot on the back right side? I would like to avoid the price of the custom card, and the lack of inexpensive upgradability later on.

I "remember" that there were sierra wireless cards that could be opened up (cases removed) that slotted in there. But I am not finding that information out there... Oh wait there it is, the "tough book wiki"!!! Okay still not really finding what I am after there though.

Currently, I am using a Sierra wireless express card that slips into either my CF-19 or the CF-T7. Not ideal.

 

Try using the search in my sig . I find it works great.

 

For that matters you have two choices either use that one you posted or catch the USB port on the Pci e slot. If you choose the USB port, you need an shematic or you can identify it by trial and error using the VOM.

ohlip

 

I had already done that, and came up with pages of useless information that were not what I was after. Besides, it was in the wee hours of the morning.

Ohlip, you rule! This is exactly what I was after!!!! Soooo let me verify this thought. The advantage to using say that USB port on the PCI-E slot? Would turning GPS off in BIOS turn that whole slot off?

At the moment I am not sure the direction I want to go with this, collecting thoughts, advice and information. I do not have a WWAN card in there, and it seems that might be the simplest/cheapest route to go (grab one with GPS inclusive). The antenna are there, so this could be a reasonable direction to take. But not as accurate.

First problem to solve though, decent mapping software. MS Streets and Trips no longer supported/updated kinda blows...

 

The easy way is the one you've first thought but you need a separate antenna. The WWAN antenna will not work for GPS. Active patch antenna will do the job.

ohlip

 

Humm... I was wrong here! I was thinking of Garmin's Mobile PC that I can't find since they discontinued it. Garmin claims it needs a NEMA adapter to use, others have said it only works with the Garmin USB dongle. If I can score the software, we shall see. I like this option as I can load in my Garmin maps. Gotten decent at making those!

I scored on a Sierra Wireless Air Card 595U cheap. Toughbook wiki mentioned that one. As it is a USB dongle (crack open and you have the PCI-E card), any needed bits should be inside. The active patch antenna needed with the U-Blox, makes a $10 amusement into a $50 project.

Whatever the case, the Sierra should work well enough in the CF-T7, if it sucks in the CF-19. I will likely grab the U-Blox card, antenna and CF-19 hump shortly. There are all on the long boat from China, lol. The Sierra will be in my hands next week to test out though.

EDIT: I should have gone with the U-Blox from the get go. I saw Ohlips response here about ten minutes after hitting Buy Now... Sierra Wireless was bought out by Netgear. Finding software and drivers is proving difficult.... But I did FINALLY manage to get Garmin Mobile PC! And I think I will even be able to get it to work with whatever card I end up using!!!

 

I BOUGHT THE U-blox PCI-5S GPS PCI-E B39 Mini Wireless Card GPS Module AND INSTALLED IN MY CF 19 MK1 - IT HAS NOT BOOTED SINCE - I HAVE REMOVED THE CARD - I GUESS THE MOTHERBOARD IS GONE- NO VID NO DRIVE SPIN UP

ANY SUGGESTIONS
THANKS
TOM

 

Tom, that is an odd one... At the moment, I can't visualize all the connections on the inside of my CF-19, but I am betting you accidentally unplugged something. (Google "Toughbook Wiki" and they have some good pictures.)

Anyways if swiping the switch does nothing with a fully charged battery, or plugged into mains, most likely you have a bad switch, or a portion of your power circuit unplugged. Motherboards going out usually give some warning and usually at least try to post. Usually...

Give us a little more info, what does it do if anything?

And welcome to our forums Tom!

-=sighs=- I guess I need to post up my own "Help I am screwed thread" lolz...

 

The only thing i have not is put the back cover back on i wanted to test before i close it back up -
battery is full charged fresh xp load - i8 have used the computer about 10 hrs prior - it booted fine - when i did a irq search is when the computer locked up - turn off and has never come back on
thanks
tom

 

Pull the battery and AC adapter. Hold the power button on for 5-10 sec at a time for 15-20 cycles (discharging power from caps). Plug in the AC adapter, no battery, and see if it will boot to the BIOS. If it will, reset the BIOS to default settings, save and exit. Let it reboot and see if it boots into windows.

 

Tom,
Sorry for your trouble ...but I must agree...YOU did something. Please this is not personal.
A few times each year we get posts saying...I DID WHAT YOU SAID...NOW IT'S BROKE"..intimating "it's your fault".
The people talking to you here have been in the business of monkeying with Toughbooks and other computers for a long while now.
Please explain "when i did a irq search is when the computer locked up".
I agree with Morgan (mklym)..the why is ummmm I just read this the other day...that setting the irq's in an inappropriate condition could "lock up the computer". Morgan suggested a "power pull re-set". Good call on his part. Basically this erases any saved information on the mother-board.....Then you start over.
My usual advice is to:
[F2][F9][F10] "f2 to bios,f9 set to defaults f10 to save".
Do a power pull re-set.
It was suggested the other day to:
1. Un-plug cmos battery
2. Un-plug ram
This should not have happened...and I am back to " when i did a irq search is when the computer locked up". Let's get this sorted.
We are here to help....as time permits.
Welcome to NBR.

Jeff

 

i guess the lower case being off was the problem - i started to put the cf 19 away for parts and closed up the lower half case not just the access door - i had removed the the u blox gps and reset the dip switches - powered it up just to check and it powered up to xp - so i installed the gps and set dips and the gps work very fine inside my house- 3d lock in 20 secs - thanks to all that said i must have made a mistake - it made me go back thru my process and i found the issue - i am not stupid just naive - yahoo it works -
thanks again
tom

 

I love it when a plan comes together.

Tom... I hope you stay on the forum and become one of the regulars! Not too many people can admit when something goes wrong. God knows I have had some FLAMING mistakes I have posted here in the early years... Those things where you cover your eyes and peek through expecting to see white smoke. But the Toughbooks are VERY forgiving on most things as long as it is unplugged from the mains and the battery is out. I have even forgot to take the battery out several times and things still work...

Stick around!

 

What?! Your supposed to remove the battery?

This morning the missus knocked a whole cup of coffee over into my open CF-19. She was freaking out. And lost it when I went over to the sink and just washed it off.... :hi2:

 

I wished you could have caught that on video! LOL

 

Tom, can you please toss out an update for us? I really want to know how that ublox b39 card worked out for you! Signal lock, etc.

I am slowly collecting parts. I am not completely decided on the final direction I will take here though... I got one of TECHTOUGH's bigger GPS bumpouts installed at least. I need an antenna, but some of the options I am sussing out come with them.

LOTS of good things in these forums about the Sirf based ones. Sirf III and IV it seems. Problem here is in ultimate configurability. Most "seem" to have baud rate set and unchangeable. But I have the MS Streets and Trips dongle now to play with and decide if I want to do an internal install.

Next is the UBlox. Amazing configurability and a proprietary configuration program just to do so. The most positive things seem to be said about them. But update rate seems to be limited to 4hz max. I want/need 10hz. But lots of UBlox choices from plug in PCI-E cards, to TTL type modules.

Mediatek's 3339 or whatever seems to be the fastest. Not sure about ultimate configurability though. And no PCI-e choices. No biggie there as I can get a card cheap for USB access to my PCI-e slot, then convert to the TTL with a quick USB dongle.

Simplicity of the UBlox combined with lowest price, might win. For now. Obviously, I am up for some experimentation!

I still have two Seirra Wireless cards to fool with, only the internal card will see any use with this CF-19 though. I think it was the AT&T AC890 express card that whacked my wireless software (rambling about this in another thread).

Anyways Tom, I would at least LOVE to see some testing and maybe benchmarks with that UBlox B39 card!

 

Why????
CAP

 

First and foremost, I use the GPS as an input to several specialized automotive tuning applications, then secondary use for mapping (most of the time I just use a dedicated Garmin there). 1hz update rates are too slow for track/course plotting, or "street dyno" tuning. 4hz is starting to approach usable on the track, but not ideal. For dyno, it really isn't accurate enough without further inputs. While my daily driver has enough extras to make 4hz almost acceptable, most of the rest I work on don't.

An accelerometer input on the laptop side of things would quickly fix this issue. But none of my software supports that. It has to be input from the hardware, or ECU side of it.

I want a UBlox 7c setup...

 

Anybody know how to set the dip switches to get a Ublox 5s B39 pcie card to work properly in the WWAN slot?

I have it halfway working..The GPS does not show in BIOS..I am pretty sure that's my problem..






2 more........

 

Well, I eventually gave up on the Ublox.PCI-E. I had a lot of funky driver issues. It did not want to play with Garmin Mobile PC.
I thought it was something I was doing.
Turns out that Ublox mini PCI-E card was designed for Toshiba. From what I read, Toshiba owners had a lot of issues also. It has to do with the virtual serial port.

The Ublox 6m I installed instead is connected to the standard GPS 12 pin connector. Virtual GPS finds it on com3. No virtual port needed.