Windows 8 CLEAN INSTALL on CF-30 MK2 CF-30F 64bit or 32bit?

Hi
I have been playing with the Windows 8 clean install for days now. so far 99% of the drivers load on install and I can add Touchpad and Touchscreen 64 bit drivers from the CF-31 the newmisc and the hotkey drivers work fine. The hotkey appendix works too. looks like a bunch of stuff for VISTA and Windows 7 is not needed in windows 8 so that gave me hope for running the computer in 64 bit mode. Should I even care about running 64bit windows? seems like that is the direction everything is moving in nowadays.

one hiccup is that I cannot seem to get the ETM driver, also known as the Intel Dynamic Power Performance Management to work. Install crashes.

works fine if i do a win 7 32 bit installation first and then upgrade to win8, but I want to be able to start outlining a windows 8 clean install guide because at $40 it is a deal that can't be beat for some of the touchscreen CF-30 models.
thanks for any input

 

Hi There...

You always should try to match your OS with your system specs.... Windows 64-bit will tend to consume more RAM than its 32bit counterpart..but it also has the ability to utilize MASSIVE* amounts of RAM, while 32bit is limited to 4GB (The largest possible number with 32 bits is 4,294,967,295).. So if your system only has 4GB or less, it would be highly questionable to load a 64 bit OS on it.. besides... not only does it use more RAM for anything running in 64bit.. it also requires more effort on the part of the system bus to move that data around. IE.. it would actually be slower.

So in the end you would see no benefit to running a 64bit OS on that laptop... it would actually be a detriment. Almost all, if not all software is still being produced 32bit, and will be for a long time to come. Take Microsoft Office for example.. while it is available in a 64bit edition, you would never want to actually use it... If you do Forget about syncing up with something like iCloud, or using add-ins made by 3rd parties. You will soon realize you made an error, uninstalling it, and reinstalling the 32 bit version. The ONLY reason 64bit office is made available is for specialized functions... If you are a consulting geneticist for the human genome project and need to manipulate very large tables of data.. Then 64bit excel and access would be a great tool for the job at hand..

The coolest part of 64Bit operating systems are their ability to manage that large amount of ram and give each 32bit application up to 4GB of dedicated memory... which again becomes meaningless if you only have 4GB max to work with in your system.

Regards,

Rich



*Definition of MASSIVE. Are you sitting down? You could have a computer with 17.2 billion gigabytes of RAM..

 

Welcome to the Toughbook Forum Rich
Great post man

 

Thanks Rich for shedding some light on the whole 32bit vs 64 bit thing. For these older laptops 64bit doesn't seem to make much sense.
as for the ETM driver, also known as the Intel Dynamic Power Performance Management or the Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework I will try the windows 7 drivers after a clean windows 8 install

 

I will follow this thread with interest, because I also tried a clean install of Windows 8 32 bit RTM on a CF-30 mk2, and never could get the ETM drivers (Vista or Win7) to work.

ETM drivers previously seemed to work in the Release Preview version of Win8, but video was sluggish and SDHC did not work. Once the RTM version came out, SDHC worked but ETM didn't. I finally decided to see if someone else could get them to work. It may be a matter of install order. I wish you success!

 

theoak2,
If you want to give win8 a try on the CF-30F, I have found this to work
1. install win 7 pro 32 bit - do not bother with activating
2. install the CF-30K/L ETM driver for windows 7 32 bit only
3. reboot and run a win8 upgrade from a USB or DVD
4. install Intel 965 drivers, hotkey driver and hotkey appendix, panasonic misc driver, Touchscreen driver. panasonic common components. DO not use the TouchPad driver, seems to crash IE 10 bad.

that is the closest I can get to a clean install. oh well. hopefully someone figures out how to do a nice clean install of windows 8. the touchscreen interaction is really nice. the only thing that multitouch can do, I think is zooming in and out. ctrl + and ctrl - seem to work well for that.

CF-30FAS89AM 2GB RAM, 120GBHDD, Windows 8 PRO 32bit

 

A driver should either work or not. It does not make sense that ETM driver for Win7 works *only* if you upgrade. (Not saying I don't believe you, it just aggravates me that this is so.) If I can find a hard drive caddy cheap (fat chance) I would not mind trying to experiment with clean-installing Win8, trying different install orders.

 

The drivers WORK, it is the driver INSTALLER program that does not start under windows 8. I am sure it is possible to map all the changes the installer makes to the system during setup of the drivers, and then to manually modify the registry entries and copy the files by hand to required locations. or maybe write a batch file to do what the installer does. For me, however it is not worth the time.

either way i'm sure as more people try windows 8 over the next few months a solution and maybe even nice win 8 installation guide will be available

 

Hello forum,

I have a CF-30 MK2 (F) and have put a clean Win 8 64-bit on it and I believe I've found the solution to the problem;

Heres device manager, after a clean install of Win 8 Pro 64-bit



The 'PCI Data Acquisition and Signal Processing Controller' is the Intel Extended Thermal Model MCH device (VEN_8086_DEV_2A08)

One of the 'Unknown Devices' is the Panasonic HotKey device, the other is the 'Panasonic Misc' device.
The Video Controller is the embedded video for the mobile 965 chipset.
The last three are trivial to get installed, its the MCH device thats the pain.

I've been all over the Panasonic website trying various ETM (intel dynamic power performance management driver) packages, 6.0.2 , 6.0.5, 6.0.6 (all those bluescreened the machine.)
ETM package versions 4 & 5 just didn't work.

The problem was that these later packages do not contain a driver for device VEN_8086_DEV_2A08, you can check this by viewing the driver inf files.


So I downloaded the ETM package specifically for the CF-30F , for Windows Vista from panasonic here

Intel® Extended Thermal Model Driver
Model: CF-30F/G(mk2) Windows Vista Business
Operating System: Windows Vista
Language: English(North America)
Release Date: Jan 09, 2008
File Name (Size): etm_1930_22_d071197.exe (2.9 mb)
Index No: 011053

It contains both a 32-bit and 64-bit driver.
I unzipped it, didn't bother to run the setup, just did a manual device driver update in device manager with 'have disk' , pointed it at the 'etm_1930_22_d071197\drivers\2.0' directory and it installed correctly.







So get etm_1930_22_d071197.exe (Intel package version 2.5.1.150) and it should work.

 

Welcome To The Toughbook Forum
Thank you very much for sharing this with us...great post. :thumbsup:

 

I had Windows 8 installed with ckrowi's method of installing Windows 7 first, then upgrading to Windows 8. All seemed to work OK, but I'm not sure ETM was acting right. My laptop felt like it was running hotter than normal. It was warm to the touch even after being asleep all night. So I went back to Windows 7 (again).

silver30,
Does your Windows 8 install make your CF-30 feel warm to the touch even after being asleep all night?

 

I can't say for certain at the moment, it seems to be running ok though.

Background is, I just got this CF-30, it came with Win 7 32-bit on a HDD, but I immediately put an SSD in it and started with a Win 8 install figuring out if it was going to be ok.
I got the etm stuff figured out last night and posted the solution.
It was set to hibernate rather than sleep overnight, so I'd expect it to be cool. Today in use its running fairly cool (Compared to other Core 2 duo laptops with onboard gfx).

I'll repost in a week or so if I think its getting too hot, but for the time being it seems fine.

Task manager is showing the cpu throttling the frequency up and down as required.

The only thing I can see with ckrowi's suggestion that may be causing the issue that your describing, is that the etm driver for the CF-30K/L ETM model is for the Mk3 model which looks like it has an Intel GS45 chipset, so whilst it may contain a device with the same matching VID/PID possibly the revision is slightly different.

By using the driver specifically for the CF-30F (MK2) its a close a match as you're going to get.

 

Re the 32 vs 64 OS argument, I'll add some more detail.

> 4GB of RAM you'll want to run a 64-bit version of windows.

<= 3GB of RAM you might as well run 32-bit windows.

4GB RAM, is where its a grey area. 64-Bit windows will see all of it correctly, but yes it will use more ram as a 64-bit dll is larger than the same compiled 32-bit dll.

However if you run 32-bit windows, chances are it will only report 3.25GB / 3.5GB / 3.75GB of RAM usable even if you have 4GB physically installed.
This is because certain areas of memory are reserved for system devices, embedded graphics, bios limitations etc and the usable ram is limited because of these areas.

(I'm simplifying: google for 3.25GB ram 32-bit windows to get more details) (although the amount varies depending on the installed hardware, 3.25GB is a fairly common number reported on desktops.).

Personally, as I've got 4GB RAM installed in the CF-30 I want windows to be able to see it all, even if I can't fit any more because the chipset is the limiting factor, so I'll run 64-bit windows. Other people would probably be perfectly happy with 32-bit windows and the system performance would probably be much the same.

ps - If you run 64-bit Windows , you can't run old 16-bit applications (or any 32-bit application which uses some 16-bit components), only 64-bit and 32-bit applications.
32-bit windows will of course run 32-bit and 16-bit applications, but not 64-bit applications.

 

Temperature update : It's been running fine and fairly cool for the last week and a bit. No problems at all.

 

Thanks for checking that out. I may yet try Windows 8 again, since I bought a copy, and happen to like it.

 

I hate to ask a really dumb question, but what is Windows 8 doing that Win 7 can't. Are you getting full functionality of the touchscreen like an IPad or is it just punch and enter like it's always been,,,,

Thanks, Jim

 

the (main) benefit I see is the reduced boot time. Haven't tested any (multi)touch screen features yet, or the digitizer.

 

Another benefit of a newer OS is buying time. The hardware in these Toughbooks lasts a long time, but as time goes by, older OSes lose support. For example, no newer browser or no support for current media formats such as flash player, and no security updates. After all, Microsoft has said that they would no longer support XP after 2014. Once it becomes "insecure" businesses that have clung to XP will have to move on (or risk worse problems with viruses than they already have).

Oh, yeah, and the touchscreen does not become multi-touch by installing different software. It remains as you decribed it, "punch and enter".

 

of couse, with a new OS, as any piece of software, it's wise to wait for the first errata (i.e. service pack1/ v1.1, etc).

 

Hi guys, thanks for your info to date. I just purchased a CF-30 MK2 from Ebay. I installed 2 x 2GB DDR2 memory sticks, and a Samsung 840 Pro SSD hard drive today. Its a very quick machine now. I have installed Windows 8 Pro 64bit. Without installing any drivers I see that the graphics driver is already identified and working under the device manager. I have just installed the panasonic newmisc, touchpad, touch display, and hot keys from the CF-31A Windows 7 64bit drivers. I also followed Silver30's directions on getting the ETM driver installed. SO, my device manager shows no errors. The laptop operates fine, and I only notice a tiny amount of heat coming from palm rest area above the hard drive, which I consider normal. Is this all that is needed? Is the default display driver alright to use or is there another version I should download? Also, I noticed that the SD card slot is not working.

 

I found that the default win8 touchpad, touchscreen, chipset drivers are fine.

Re the hotkeys package, if you only install that you'll run into the sound/bios mute issue as reported in other threads on this board.
If you install the hotkeys package + the hotkey appendix package the sound problem is fixed, but you'll lose the ability to control the screen brightness using the keyboard function keys.
Take your pick which is more important to you.

Re the SD card slot not working. I had exactly the same issue, device manager lists it as working with the windows 8 driver, but it does nothing.

I changed to using the Ricoh Co Ltd - R5C822 driver downloaded from here which I found linked on this site

It gets the SD card slot working again, although it does seem to take 5 to 10 seconds for windows to display the drive in windows explorer once you've plugged a card into the SD slot.

Other than a HSPA+ card driver I haven't installed any other drivers.

 

Thanks Silver30! You've pretty much created a simple clean install for Win8. I just changed the SD card slot to the driver you mentioned. Yes it takes mine 18-20 seconds before it appears. But I'm happy it's working now. Many thanks.

Also, after I installed Windows I installed the hotkey package + appendix. My hotkeys all work, and my sound works. Its all from the CF-31A Win7 64bit drivers.

One thing I have noticed, when I turn on the laptop I hear a single "pop" sound from the speaker just before the login screen appears. It does the same thing when I shut down. Is this normal?

 

I get that on a number of my Toughbooks even my girlfriends dell does that

 

drivers, bloody poppy drivers

 

I don't get the sound-pop, but then my sound is muted.

Re the hotkeys+appendix, can you confirm that you can operate the screen brightness controls using the FN+ F1 / F2 keys and when you release the key combo, it doesn't immediately revert to the brightness level it was at before?

If that is the case I'm going to have to try those 'CF-31A Win7 64bit drivers'

 

Hmmm... very annoying. For the last four hours I've been able to play with the F1 and F2 buttons, and it would bring up both the Windows brightness icon and Panasonic icon at the same time. And yes, it would stay at the setting I wanted. However, I just installed the SD card slot driver, and played around with some Intel 965 chipset drivers and now the keys are no longer working. I might do a clean install again and see if I can get them back.

The suns almost coming up here in NZ, time for me to get some sleep before I crack into it again!

 

Ok, so I just completed another clean install of Windows 8 Pro 64 bit on my CF-30F MK2

Here's what I did:

- Install Windows from USB.
- When Windows starts, in Device Manager there are 4 driver errors.
- I selected the default display adapter that Windows had chosen and told it to update via internet, it then installs the correct Mobile Intel 965 Express WDDM 1.1 driver, then restarted computer.
- Now theres only 3 driver errors in Device Manager.
- Then I unpacked and updated the ETM file Silver30 mentions, this fixes the PCI Data Acquisition error. I restarted computer again.
- Then I fixed the last 2 errors by unpacking the Hot Key Driver and Panasonic Misc Driver for the CF-31A 64 bit, then manually updated the errors with the unpacked files.
- I downloaded the trackpad driver for the CF-31A 64 bit, and manually updated the mouse in Device Manager (this allows for scrolling on the right side of the pad)
- I also installed the Touch screen driver for the CF-31A 64 bit and ran the calibration program.
- I then installed the Ricoh SD card driver R5C822 x64 that Silver30 mentioned, this enables the SD card slot (although it does take 20 seconds before it starts to read the card after inserting it, but its better than not working at all)
- I went to the Intel website and downloaded the Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset Device Software (not sure what it does, but installs fine)
- And finally, I managed to fix the single loud "pop" sound the speaker makes when it boots up into Windows or shuts down. Windows 8 installs a standard sound driver, which I found to be the problem. I downloaded the "Asus SoundMAX Audio Driver 6.10.2.6520 Windows Vista 64-bit". I unpacked it, and in Device Manager manually updated the sound driver, the file needed is in the AMD folder>vista> "ADlHdAud.inf". No more "pop"!

I'm very happy with Windows 8 on the CF-30F MK2 with this method. The only thing that doesn't work is the F7, F9, F10 hot keys, but they are just for standby/hibernate/battery check, which I never use. The battery level is already displayed in the taskbar anyway, and you can select standby/hibernate from the menu or by closing the lid or pressing the power button. The brightness and volume hot keys work perfectly and use the standard Windows animations when pressing them.

I just finished installing all the Windows updates. With the 4gb DDR2 memory, Samsung 840Pro 128gb SSD, and now Windows 8 Pro 64bit, its very quick!

 

man, you really are a helpful reality

 

I was wondering if you could start a new thread like " Windows 8 on a CF-30 MK2 64bit " and copy and paste post #27 and then I will add this to this thread. http://forum.notebookreview.com/pan...sting-ultimate-toughbook-resource-thread.html . I could do this myself but want you to get the credit for this...very good job :thumbsup:

Now we just need one for 32bit

 

Hi, thanks. I just created a new thread with that info in it.

 

That's great... I just added here http://forum.notebookreview.com/pan...sting-ultimate-toughbook-resource-thread.html

 

This is slightly off topic as I installed Windows 7 on my CF-30/F but in practical terms it is the same, unfortunately I was unable to find a BIOS update for Vista for my model, it came with WinXP on it so must have been previously modified. This left me with the slight problem that I was unable to boot from an external drive. I got round this by installing Windows 7 on another machine, I then put the hard drive in my toughbook and much to my surprise it booted up and installed the relevent drivers and worked! I then used a registry cleaner to clean up the messy install and installed Driver Identifier (which is free!) and it found all the relevent drivers for me. I also had the issue with the pop on the sound so I downloaded the driver suggested above and with the slight exception that I used the i386 driver as I have an intel processor that sorted the issue. I now have a perfectly working Toughbook running Windows 7 (Windows 8 is annoying as hell what were microsoft thinking?).

If anyone knows where I can find the BIOS update for a CF-30/F I would be very grateful...

 

CF30F uses the same BIOS for Vista and XP...
You have a different issue if it won't boot from an external drive...
Toughbooks are very picky about external drives booting..
Most of the time you need a real Panasonic external drive....
CF30 internal DVD drives are dropping in price...I saw one on Ebay for $30 just a few days ago.

 

for $30 just a few days ago.[/QUOTE]

That will be why I can't find it!
I did have a look at the drives on eBay but as I use the toughbook for vehicle diagnostics I would never use it again and I'm a cheapskate! Whilst I was surprised that Windows 7 booted up as it's normally picky, its all working now and I didn't have to part with any cash.

 

Well most of us are to but when it comes to spending hours messing with the OS and drivers we would go for a the CD-ROM and $20.00 for the recover disk and be done in 30 minutes. Most of us have lost to much hair installing drivers