cf-27 hdd caddy modifyable for cf28?

so i've ben have a hard time finding a caddy for the 28 but i found a lot of cheap cf-27 caddys. so i started thinking (i know its gets dangerous when i do that ) and i was wondering if the connector (aka ribbon cable) fits the cf-28 so i could reverse engineer a caddy from the connector, gel packs and some duct tape

RGDS
ares93

BTW if this has been discussed before i apologize. my search turned up nothing...

 

I have a 27 caddy in front of me right now but I don't have a 28 caddy. The connection looks similar but the cable itself is too short without some sort of extension....

 

thanks for the pic.
that should be an issue, as long as the connector that interfaces with the motherboard is the same. the pata connector is modifiable quite easily.

EDIT: i dunno check this out :

looks similar, but then again it doesnt...

 

I doubt you could do it and have it maintain the integrity of the Toughbook. There are a few people making caddies now to fill the void... They aren't worth much. I would pony up the duckets for a factory caddy.

 

the integrity is a secondary objective. i needed the toughbook to stand the oil stains and crap like that. so as long as the thing doesn't fall apart, i'm pretty much satisfied. i wont be running over it with a car or dropping if from a balcony, atleast i'll try to. my netbook doesnt like working on cars with be... although the amount of punishment that thing got, i think i would have passed panasonic's tests.

 

Well, im the guy i think your talking about who built his own caddy, it involves cutting your toghbook up a lite but, but is unnoticable under normal operations, ill post pictures later on tonight.

 

what caddy did you base it on? because the ribbon cable is still needed.

 

With the CF-27 ribbon cable you don't have the bend of the CF-28 type. That means you would need to mount the hard drive 90 degrees different from stock. I'm not sure you'll have the room to do it. But I have been wrong before...

 

The CF-27 caddy. It has the foam lid, the gel, and the ribbon cable.

 

Alright. I got to thinking one day about how the CF-28 was designed. And thought, there should have been some space behind the mobo plug for the hdd. So I ended up taking apart the 28, just to have a look around inside, and to my discovery, I was right about space behind the plug. So i took a dremel and grinded out the magnesium until it was as wide as a hard drive. I then carefully assembled the toughbook, and inserted the plug and hard drive through my home made slot, screwed the toughbook back together and vola. A tip though wouldve been to insert the foam pad before the toughbook was re assembled. After that, just fill the remaining space with the gel(i cut/shreaded mine) and there you go, one hard drive caddy for the 28. The only problem i see is that you cant remove the harddrive without dissasembly of the toughbook. But who removes their harddrive anyway?

Also, the last pic, what is that for, its under the ram chip...

 

thanks, athough the mod wont be needed. i'm gonna run a makeshift ssd. and the CF-pata adapter+the cf card is approx. half the length of a normal hdd http://www.cablesonline.net/442idematoco.html

EDIT: looky looky! http://www.cablesonline.net/644fetomaide.html

 

Sorry to thread revive, but did this ever work?

 

It has been tried, with less than stellar results. The cost of CF cards with a useful size AND acceptable speed has made this kind of mod not cost-effective as compared to this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/pan...ic-cf-29-toughbook-thread-44.html#post5865194

and the added incentive of being able to use it in conjunction with one of the new crop of inexpensive SATA SSDs makes it VERY attractive, even with a dinosaur like the CF-28.

mnem
Are you SERIAL?

 

sorry to bump this but i've given this another go. a few weeks after i made the last post, the boss bought a tablet that i borrow when i need to. so that made this machine obsolete. however, it died the other day, and i started glancing at my toughbook again. so i gave it a shot...

and it does work. i'm trying to install XP as we speak. (keyword: trying)

anyway, i had to cut part off the case itself to make the cable fit physically but simply speaking it works. the HDD is recognized and everything.

i scrapped the CF idea and i'm running a 100gb fujitsu drive atm. the cable i linked a few posts back should do the trick and has been ordered.


Overall, if you're willing to get you hands (and in my case, clothes) dirty. it works .