Windows 7 issues + Toughbook Model Status

Official Support Download Center of the Drivers, Manuals and FAQs | TOUGHBOOK | Panasonic

Which particular Toughbook Model Number(s)?

 

Yes
At times have to make responses short and to the point as I am busy in other sections handing out infractions and banning members

You should of noted the ultimate resource sticky
It states read before posting
Open that thread up and look at all the good info links that are posted on the page
Caps thread Toughbook Drivers & Manuals Sources is listed
It gives you many options for driver downloads ,and you won't find that variety of options from us responding to your questions as we expect you have read it
Before Cap made up the guide , every third question on this forum was from someone asking where do I download drivers?
I would respond the .jp main site and link , if someone else answered first they might say the usa site , and so on

The correct driver order is the most important thing to get right
Screw this up and your efforts are wasted
Panasonic in general does not have a clue, the lists are just words on a piece of paper ,they use the restore disks ,why would they care
Members here in the past have resolved software issues that panasonic could not, or as these models are outdated ,won't provide support to
I have commented to a couple of them that Panasonic needs their expertise

The exception is the well written upgrade guides (Vista to W7)on the newest models that W7 support is provided from panasonic

I make $55/hr doing software troubleshooting I find this easy , and if I had a clue on networking I would be asking much more
I am not much help however on the W7 upgrades as I only install W7 on the latest models
My customers are running XP for the time being

 

This is the only forum I haven't been banned from. I must not be trying hard enough. <searches blackberry images for pr0nographic avatar candidates...ding!>

 

This section of NBR is unique

We are generally all adults here and can handle ourselves without moderator interference
It is very rare when I have to edit or remove a post

The other sections are heavily moderated , post an off-topic post in the wrong thread a few times and see where it gets you
The other sections are quite well organized , some mods are called mr mom , when the member is being nice or that german army word when members are mad at them

Anyway's better hope that nothing ever happens to me or Rick lol

 

Which makes this a good place to thank Rick and Alex for all their work here. I'm guessing that I am one of the few here who has run afoul of one of the other moderators. (he was wrong, I was right) He was doing a little diving and, long story short, Rick had to stay up all night to keep me from getting banned. Way back in the day, Rick set the Toughbook forum up as a little special, our own BST, no off topic policing, etc. I think he convinced the powers that be that we were all a little nuts and that most of us carried guns. Whatever, stop and thank these guys once in a while, without their hard work this wouldn't be the best forum on the interwebs.
CAP

 

Panasonic (as far as Toughbooks are concerned) by and large is a B2B organisation, not B2C.

If you are dealing with just a few units or something, you can expect to be left for a call centre, in which as you say the knowledge is somewhat lacking.

The skills are there in Panasonic for Toughbooks (no matter whether you are in America, Canada, Europe or Japan), you just have to be important enough to get at them, which basically means being a B2B customer and ordering many units.

I'm not sure of figures, but when some a large percentage of business comes from a few huge organisations, and a tiny percentage of business comes from the retail/consumer market, this kind of support is the outcome.

 

Sorry I have read and read stuff so much that I lost track of what I seen where I seen it and at what time I readed it. last night I fell asleep on a CF-29 looking for some name that match up like Panny site.. The Name did not ring a bell and no one would point it back to a spot for me to say O ya that is were I seen that.. I am trying to learn so much and work on 5 Cf models at work and still have time to sell the CF-29 L & N' on ebay.. I know that people just ask that same questions time and time again but all I need was a point to where in this GREAT site I had seen it so I could do it myself..

Thanks
Dale

 

So are you calling the Panasonic web site the Panny Site??

Thanks
Dale

 

OK lets start from the top...
I have a CF-30FAS89AM and I need to load W7 on it.. I have the drivers from Panasonic on my stick and I loaded that in the correct order and all worked well. Until I lost my sheet of what driver loaded in want order to make it work correctly. I have try 4 time and I now can not get the Screen control to work ( F1 F2 keys) I forgot where on the site I read the order for the driver load. I have spent days relooking on the pages and have given up and just asked for help to the spot of where I seen the info..I am not asking for some one to hold my hand I just need a point to that spot of driver list for the MK-2and what order I need to loaded them..

Thanks from a tired Tech.

Dale

 

Dale, I know it gets a little frustrating.
"You should of noted the ultimate resource sticky
It states read before posting
Open that thread up and look at all the good info links that are posted on the page
Caps thread Toughbook Drivers & Manuals Sources is listed
It gives you many options for driver downloads ,and you won't find that variety of options from us responding to your questions as we expect you have read it
Before Cap made up the guide , every third question on this forum was from someone asking where do I download drivers?
I would respond the .jp main site and link , if someone else answered first they might say the usa site , and so on" Tomcat 57

The term "Panny Site" refers to, I think, Panasonic.com. I can't stand "Panny", it sounds like something a nurse would bring you. I think that I saw something about the F1 and F2 keys not working with any current W7 installs on CF-30s, but I'm not sure. I really have no interest in W7 but I will suggest that you check the first post in this thread to see if that is the case. My Drivers and Manuals thread has not been updated lately, its closed and I can no longer edit the thread. That being said, its in the nature of this forum to have to dig info out of multiple wandering threads. Azrial's search tool works very well:
(TEST site:forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic) replace "TEST" with what you want to search for.
In our defense, you will NOT find this information ANYWHERE ELSE, so while we're not perfect we are sometimes the only game in town. Keep at it, you'll get there wherever there is.
CAP
EDIT: I looked for you
CF-30 MK1 Hot Keys not working TB2010
CF-30 MK1 Perfect Toughbook

CF-30 MK2 Hot Keys not working Toyo
CF-30 MK3 Perfect Toyo
There may very well not be a list of drivers for the CF-30 MK2. A lot of this information is not official, Panasonic is not supporting W7 on most of these earlier models.

 

Understandable.

And sometimes their Japanese-to-English translation lacks true clarity.

I have found just one so far:

CF-19K/L Windows XP Tablet 2005 Drivers and Utilities Installation Instructions [pdf, 432.1 kb]

View correct order of installing all drivers for CF-19K/L (Mk3)

 

Thanks I use ultimate resource sticky all the time and I did not understand the lingo of panny... I know New guy But if you are going to use terms like that then add a lingo sticky for us new guys to use so we will not keep asking what is a panny or where is the panny site when I have been there and spent hours downloading drivers. The funny thing is I use the link on that page to get there and had know idea that is what a Panny site was... I am sorry for overlooking a simple short cut on words but I am pulling my hair out all because I lost my sheet and I have Deputy's waiting on a laptop that I can not get to work... Again This is the best site and it has the best people to work with and I am greatfull for all the help...

Dale

 

W7 on CF-30 mk1 everything works.. Still trying to find correct order for CF-30C MK-2. I have the restore disks in vista and loaded it and did a w7 upgrade and l still have no F1 or F2 keys working... what did I miss??

thanks
dale

 

If you have tried to do the upgrade to 7 from vista and failed, you have to zero format the drive and start from scratch. You have to follow the upgrade install instructions from panasonic to the letter. I had the same problem on my win 7 upgrade on the cf-19. certain things would not work, display rotation being one. i kept starting over getting all the correct driver order and such. Nothing helped til i zeroed the drive. Seems some gunk gets left there and the new install reads it and gives you the same problems. This happened a few times in my XP install days too. Zero format the drive, not just format, and start again. Don't give up MK2 CF-30's are easier to upgrade than the MK1's and you done upgrade an MK1, lol!

 

Wow, I have not read this thread in awhile. I want to 1st say that I think I was the one who started using the word Panny. It was, is so much faster to type and I just figured people would know what I was saying. I will stop using that word. Sorry.

An update for you Tomcat. I have the CF-30 MK2 all working perfectly. I have performed more freakin W7 installs on that model with different HDD's and it is so easy now. Also, I have gotten to where I don't even load the sound drivers and alot of other Panasonic drivers. It just seems to work, run so much better. My boot times on my MK2 are down to 25 seconds and it's so freakin stable. I wish I could say the same for my MK3. I think my MK3 is cursed by a demon

 

hey everyone I have a cf-29htlgzbm running w-7 and everything works I had to use the hot key driver from cf-30 mk1 vista to get the fn key to work,but all the normal drivers worked the intel video control worked the first time
I installed it 82852/82855 gm/gme I still need some upgrades like ram and such but i'm running 3.81 gb of readyboost that helps greatly.I also have a cf-29 mk-1 with w-7 but it seems to have some problems but I will keep trying with it. I also want to say I read this forum alot but I try not to bother anyone so thanks for all the info. and everyones hard work.

 

I just found the driver for the hotkeys for a CF-29 mk2. I used the driver from a CF-19 mk2.It works great!

 

I have the same issue.
Tried the Fn+F4, no good.
Every mute key I could find is turned off.
Hotkeys are working. Just no sound from speaker or headset, I don't have USB speakers to try.
The PO of this TB told me to wait for sound card driver due in 4/11.
Ubuntu booted on another HDD got the same result.
Should I see a screen response when hitting the Fn+F4 key?
CF-29H

 

Maybe someone still doesn't know - there are Win7 x64 drivers now on Panasonic website. Just choose MK4

 

I am still working on getting my hotkeys to work with 7 cf29N Mk5. My screen is at full bright sometimes and others dim. It does it on its own.

 

Am not too sure if I should start a new thread or continue this, so pls excuse me. I have a CF 19 CDBAXVM which Pannasonic told me is MK 1. It has 3G ram 160G HDD. I have a friend do a clean Win 7 install for me (it originally came with XP) After [/B]the Win 7 installation I lost i) the pannasonic program from the all program start up, ii) fn keys and front keys, iii) display rotation. Internal speakers were working. I follwed the instructions in the "How to for CF-18" which seems to be working for a whole lot of folks. After many hours of trying I tried ENO801's post in this thread {see post #64}. It resulted in me loosing the internal speakers functionality. External speakers attached to the computer work just fine. When I checked in the device manager it states "no drivers are installed for this device". All efforts to install the driver gives error message The folder you specified does not cotain compatible software driver for your device. If the folder contains a driv er, make sure it is designed to work with Windows 320bit systems I am completely stomped. Oh, the screen brightness via fn keys and in front panel work. If I can get the sound back in the internal speakers I will be alright. thanks in advance for any help that can resolve this problem

 

I kept trying installing and re-installing something weird happened. I got the internal speaker now functioning but when I checked in the Device Manager under the system speaker it still says "no driver for this device is installed". Now am a confused neophyte. Anybody knows what this means? All I need now is the display rotation tool to function.

 

CF-W7 - mostly ok, some hotkeys maybe not but can't remember specifically as sold it away already.

CF-W8 - no issues (has official support & Panasonic drivers)

 

Hey everybody i just installed win 7 ultimate on my toughbook cf-29 mk3 after many hours of searching i only have wifi sound and vga graphics.

im looking for someone to help me get my touch screen and Fn keys to work

cf-29/ 1.5 gb ram/ 160 gb hd.

 

Read the Sticky on how to install. Pay very close attention to the proper order and the proper way to install the Drivers. Some are not done by simply using the setup.exe, you must use the Device manager. Read the support pages here and you will get it.
Keep us posted.

Alex, I have my CF30MK3 fully functional.

 

CF19 MK1 work just when you disable sound with FN Key impossible to enable sound for enable it's very hard : restore or delete sound drivers and install again but it's long . I don't know how it's possible to solve .

 

CF-28 MK2,

Touchscreen with Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 works. Original xp driver works for some reason. (didnt a few months ago)

Hotkeys work until reboot. They are then disabled by Windows because of "compatibility issues". I've been unable to block this feature (bug?).

 

@ares93
Added to the first post
Same issue as member KLonsdale had

 

Ta, mate. But you got it backwards. Touchscreen works fine. But the hotkeys only work until you reboot.

 

Oops
Corrected

 

Hi there,
I read this forum several times since I bought my toughbook. I appreciate your posts very much, especially the support links. Thanks, everyone!


Now, has anyone a some information on Windows 7 on CF-52 mk1?
Panasonic support in Europe advised against it and stated something like "no support and no drivers at all". However, I would like to try it on my CF-52 CCABVAG. Just ordered a SSD to replace the 80 GB S-ATA I drive, planning to install W7 from the scratch.

Cheers,
Bot

 

Even though there is not OFFICIAL support, you can still run Win 7 on your CF-52. It will involve some work on your part getting drivers but don't let that stop you. Start by grabbing all the Vista drivers you can. You will not need most of them but it doesn't hurt to have them on hand. When you install Win 7, it will install the drivers for most everything but there will be a few it doesn't pick up. After your install, go online and do a Windows update. That will grab more drivers. Still not everything. After that point, then you do do a bit more research to find the drivers for what is missing. You may find that drivers for later MKs will work on your version.

 

My used CF-52D (Mk.1, low end) came from the seller with W7 ult. x64 installed and I'm very happy with it. There were some drivers missing but it's fine now, and really quite fast.
Starting from scratch I'd probably go with 32-bit though - finding drivers for 64-bit was a chore.

 

I have 32-bit 7 running on a CF-51 and a CF-73.

The CF-51 locks-up often when playing online vids on youtube, NYT and blogs.
When/if it comes back, there's often a message that the video driver failed and restarted.
Someone on this forum said it's due to Intel and MS no long supporting the chipset.
I and others have noticed the same problem on a Lenovo 3000 n100 but NOT on an IBM T41, X31, X60s all of which are older than the 3000 n100.

The CF-73 works fine except for the touch screen. Someone said most CF-73s touchscreens are worn out but now but I think it's just a driver issue. I got some of the TS software to run or rather to try to install. It placed X's on the screen for me to touch and it recognized when, where I touched the screen but after installation, I have no TS functionality.

I haven't tried CF-74 TS drivers on the CF-73.
I haven't installed the misc hardware driver or whatever it's called on either TB.

 

I have better luck on the Intel drivers just looking up the series and windows 7 drivers and leaving toughbook out of the Google search. The older ATI drivers play hell with windows 7 too. I usually have to use the omega drivers and just extract them for a manual install.

 

I cloned my SSD in my CF-30 MK3 running W7 Pro and stuck it into my CF-52 MK2 and it works perfectly. From this I deduce that you could use all of the CF-30 Win7 drivers and they would work in a CF-52, at least a MK2. Check the hardware differences, you might get lucky. I do not have a touch screen but neither do you.
CAP

 

I just tried Windows 7 on my CF-30 mk2, using the toughwiki howto posted here:

Windows 7 on CF30 mk2 - ToughWiki

I cannot get sound working at all. Windows thinks sound is working, but it makes no noise. Speakers are not muted, volume is up. Drivers are installed in the correct order (according to the wiki). If I use a Live puppy CD, sound works, so it isn't a hardware malfunction. I have clean-installed W7 twice, and used the wiki install order. What am I doing wrong?

My BIOS & EC versions are the same (V2.00L11). I don't think there is a BIOS update for the mk2. What else? I will try a complete clean install again, but is everyone else's sound working?

 

All is well in Stupid Land. I had left a hinged cable connector to the I/O panel open. Closed it and now sound works!
(I feel so dumb!)

 

sounds funny

 

OT:
Onirakiss, how did you know to check the I/O PCB when I had that problem?

 

Ok I have cf-30 mk 1 cf-30CAQAZBM ex police use. they wiped hard drive and loaded Windows 7.
I then took to a different department to load a mapping software reader program.

Worked great at the shop, but on the road in a truck in daytime screen is hard to see.
I did reasearch and landed here, knowing its a hot key driver issue. F2 DOES get me into BIOS, so the key does work.
The Function and Fkey to dim the keyboard works.

I want to try installing all the drivers shown in this forum, but nervous about screwing up the computer and having to go back to BOTH departments and asking them to redo what they did.
Can I just go back to a previous restore point if i am unsuccessful?

Also This laptop has an opening where the wwan thing goes. Is there a cover I can get for that? and ideas?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

Welcome to the Panasonic Toughbook Forum

Since this is a CF-30MK1 with Windows 7 on it then you have some reading to do here http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/476149-how-load-windows-7-cf-30-mk1-model.html . Are you holding the "Fn" key down while you are pressing the F1 or F2 ?

If your IT guys know how to load W7 on a CF-30MK1 then check the BIOS version. If it is "BIOS v1.01L20 Embedded V1.10L11" then they know but if it is not the same then don't take it back to them...they don't have a clue...sorry . If you read the above link we have done all the hard work for you and will be here to help you get it up and running.

 

WOW... An old post started by Alex... He hasn't been around in years!

1. Make sure that you have "High Brightness" selected in the BIOS. This allows you to get to the 1000NIT rating... Otherwise it tops out at about 500NIT.

2. Make sure that you have your BIOS updated to use W7. Read the entire thread Blair (Mr. Nails) posted above. If you do not update the BIOS you will be missing the 2nd "unknown device" in Device Manager that is the Misc Driver.

3. You will install the video driver first per the thread Blair mentioned... The Toughbook WILL do the BSOD but will recover and then you install it a 2nd time and it will take. Then do your Hotkey driver, Hotkey Settings and Hotkey App drivers. The Hotkey driver will install by you clicking on one of the Unknown Drivers in Device Manager and then you pointing it to the correct folder. If it doesn't install on the one chosen... Try the other Unknown device. The hotkey driver will install. Then the other Unknown Device is the Misc Driver.

4. Once the hotkey drivers and Misc drivers are installed... You can install all the rest of the drivers. Some will NOT install without having the Misc driver installed first. This is why you must do the BIOS update... Without it, W7 will not see the Misc driver and the rest of the drivers will not install. If you have already started loading drivers... You can do the BIOS upgrade now and then go back and install what you need...

5. "Restore Points" are for losers... Don't ever use them. Just do it right. I disable that whole system in my PCs.

6. The missing port cover is noted as a "WM Cover" in the parts manual. You can most likely find one on eBay or buy one from one of the guys here.

7. Welcome to the wonderful world of Toughbooks.... And the forum!

 

Ah, Thank you to all!
I have started reading and saw notes about updating BIOS first, before W7, so I was just nervous I was going to make a mess and then not be able to use the toughbook.

Our department got it for nothing, SURPLUS from another department. I LOVE it.
This one came without a cd/dvd, no problem there, but no DOOR either, so there was a huge area for debris, pens, coins screwdrivers etc, as this will be in a Public Works truck, probably on the seat until I can install the cruiser mount I have access to.

I really did not think I would get approved to buy the media bay door for a whopping $60, the only one I could find, refurbished, but It is on the way. after I get the above mentioned "WM Cover", I will be all set except for the screen issue, but Im now convinced it can be done, even by me, with the help available here.

Thanks!
Kevin

 

Also, I am not finding the WM Cover anywhere, and the site I found for Heartland seems to offer services but I cant find a link to order parts unless you have to call them.

I'd prefer to buy from someone here, so If someone has the WM cover, please let me know.

Thank you,
Kevin

 

60 bucks...ouch , think you should of asked here first. Just to let you know you will need 5 posts before you can PM.

 

Heartland will charge you about $12 plus $25 shipping. See if you can email me as you cannot PM me yet. Click on my name and see if it pops up. I'll send you one.

Also... Some of the things on the CF-29 will fit the CF-30. You can swap the bay door from a 29 to a 30 as long as you also swap the latch mechanism. Sorry you already bought that as I have those too.

 

Ok, I can not see an email address for you, mine is what you see listed , @XXXXXXXX
Thanks

 

We are guessing that your user name goes before the "@" ?

 

Yup... I just emailed him...