cf-27 mk1 upgrade to mk2

Hi guys, heres a few notes on an experiment to upgrade my cf-27 mk1 to a mk2.
I spotted a mk2 motherboard on e-bay going cheap so decided to shoehorn it into my mk 1 just to see if it would work. it's the 300mhz p2 with 128Mb ram and i added 128mb as well.
with a bit of adjustment to the heatsinking for the cpu, it slots in fine, all the connectors fit and it boots up xp no bother with no unknown devices.
A couple of things still concern me. the mk2 board i have has the serial port as part of the motherboard and no external monitor connector, this is fine for me as i don't need it. but when i plug in my parallel/serial board i don't know what the additional serial connector is now connected to, if anything.
Also, i want to replace the BT bios (it came from an ex BT machine) but don't know what bios to use. can anyone tell me if the one on panasonic's site is generic for all mk2's? (cf-27Exxxxxx)
On first boot it also found a yamaha ds1 game port and installed a driver for it. could this be my com2?
There is also a strange connector in the mutimedia pocket that isn't there on the mk1. what does it do?
Shame theres no comprehensive service manual available for the cf-27, it would answer all my questions.
EDIT: all indications are that my mobo came from a cf-27EJ6K??E
this explains why the board swap was so simple.
E=300Mhz
J=12.1" non touch screen
6=6.4Gb HDD
K=128Mb onboard ram
E=UK spec.

 

Man, with how cheap the CF-27's sell for I'm amazed you did all that work!

Wish I could help with the questions. I'm sure someone will chime in.

 

Have a look at the panasonic.ca site Bob. It has the most comprehensive list of manuals for the CF-27 that I know of, but I'm not sure if there is a service manual (go to support/downloads).

With regard to the BIOS - I used to have a couple of ex-BT machines and as far as I remember, they had the standard Pheonix Bios. I wasn't aware that BT ever had their own bespoke version.

The Canadian site also lists several BIOS versions with details of the updates. They are model specific, so be very careful. You probably know this already, but if you do decide to update your BIOS, you need to make yourself a bootable floppy and copy the BIOS update to it. Then re-boot and the bios will load from the disk and install the update.

I'm not sure about the strange connector in your media bay - could it be related to the RIM radio modem that was available for this model?

 

Thanks for your interest guys.
Aaron: it's just a play around really, keeps me out of mischief. lol.
Old-git: yeah, i found the canadian site, theres certainly more stuff on there than the uk one. I've flashed bios before so no worries on that score. i did it from a blank HDD last time as i have no FDD fitted.
The machine shows a BT flash screen at the start of boot which suggests it's a BT specific bios but if it's just the flash screen and the rest is standard that's cool. Bios is passworded which is why i want to flash it but don't want to upset anyone by discussing that on here.
My original mobo had the rim modem too but not that connector, maybe it's different on later models.
I checked out the extra serial port last night and theres nothing connected to it. that mobo should have a parallel only daughter board and a seperate rj45 connector for the built in 56k modem.

 

Bob, as per my pm, I'm pretty sure it's just a BT Logo flash screen. The bios on my ex-BT machine that wasn't password protected was the standard Pheonix bios and from memory, BT hadn't messed around with any of the settings. I think they used the administrator password just to prevent the field techs doing anything silly.

Just for the benefit of anyone else who may be interested.

 

I have a few CF-27's that originally were used by SBC these have yellow covers and have the SBC logo on the lid. These were originally equipped with VIP cable tester modules that plug into the media bay. The connector you speak of is for the VIP cable tester it is an RS232 serial port. I am assuming that BT stands for British Telecom? If so then I would also assume that the units you have were just like the SBC units.

 

Bob, I may be wrong about the BT Bios - just been trawling the site and there is an old post on here about your problem:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/290563-some-cf-27-questions-problems.html

I don't know if Greybeard is still around, but he used to be a bit of a whizz on the CF-27s, so you could try pm'ing him

 

Thank you tough-to-go.
That's just what i wanted to hear. i'm planning on building a microtracker gps into my 27. i can now build it into the media bay and use that com port.

 

Thanks again Old Git. i'll try Graybeard's methed. That remind's me, i know an ex BT engineer (with a gray beard lol), i'll contact him and see if he ever worked with cf-27's.

 

My latest findings on the vip sidekick module connector that tough-to go led me to (in case anyone is following this or needs it in the future).
As i couldnt find a cf-27 full service manual, i had a look at the cf-28 one. this shows a tester connector with full rs232 and power connections. it also shows a speaker line and a module detect line which has to be connected to ground to enable power to the module and presumably to enable the port.
The connector on the cf-28 is different to the cf-27 one but i'm hoping to discover the detect line by probing with the meter and carefull trial and error.
If succesfull i can use the module detect line as a gps enable line to switch gps power. if anyone has a schematic for the vip sidekick module i would be most interested. (always the optomist)

 

Ok... my internal gps mod works!
If you probe around the connector with a meter and find the pin with 3.3v on it, this is the enable line. connect it to 0v. the port is now enabled.
Probe around with the meter and you'll find the +5v line.
If you then open hyperterminal and configure com2, by probing around the connector with a scope you can find the TX line by tapping letters on the keyboard and watching for dips in the scope signal.
Once you've found the TX line, the Rx line is the pin next to it.
you can use the +5v to power your gps module and the Rx line to receive data from it.
Be carefull though, this is a TTL level com port not RS232 so your standard serial devices will kill the port. if you have a gps that outputs TTL level data then you're in business.
Now i just need to design the circuitry to switch the enable line from the wireless power button and also flash the power led when the gps has a fix. oh yeah, and decide where to mount my antenna.

 

i tried to show the connector pinout here but what i type in the box is not what shows in my post.

 

I often have the same problem between what I think in my head and what comes out of my mouth

But seriously, sound like a great mod - keeps us other CF-27 nuts informed

 

I know that feeling only too well. lol.
I built a little circuit last night to switch the gps power from the "wireless" power button. To keep it simple i have it so that the gps power comes on when you press the button but it stays on until you shut down the machine. this is fine for me as the gps stays off until i need it and i usually shut down when i'm finished with gps anyway.
The wireless power LED shows when gps power is on, I had originally planned to flash the power button when the gps has a fix but the pulsed output from the gps board is only 20uS, too short for the human eye to see.
Just the antenna to do now and i'm done.

 

Just a heads up, if you use 'code' tags it presents the text as monospace (like you see in Notepad) so "ASCII pinout diagrams" will display correctly.

Code:

like so

 

Cheers Kishy.
Latest update to this project- i had the lid apart to run an antenna cable, while screwing it back together i trapped the cable under the lcd and cracked it. i now have a black leaf shaped patch on my screen about the size of my thumb. oh dear i said that's a shame. or something like that anyway.

 

When you finished deleting the expletives - do you have a spare? If not, I'm pretty certain I have one you can have when I get back.

 

Cheers old git, pm sent.

 

This project is pretty much final now.
I found a low profile ceramic patch antenna which fits not too bad over the antenna hole in the lid and picks up satelites no bother. it's held in with hotmelt glue which has a bit of flex in it so shouldnt get knocked off, i might mold some potting compound over it in the final version once i replace my screen. i keep meaning to post some pics but always forget when i've got it in bits.

 

Anyone now in simple terms how to create a flash screen on a cf -27?

 

Ummm....

1) Set your CF-27 up on a stump. (Hickory is preferred)

2) Get Charlie Daniels and a flash grenade. Give Charlie a fiddle, tie a long string to pin of flash grenade.

3) Duct tape flash grenade to LCD of CF-27; unwind string as long as you can go. Maybe you should be a BIT farther away; get more string.

4) Toss bottle of Jack Daniels (you may want to "taste test" it first... a time or three) at Charlie. Wait for him to start sawin' on that fiddle.

5) Look AWAY... as in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION (Just makin' sure - I know you've been hangin' out with Jack) from your CF-27. PULL STRING.

6) Let Charlie and the Devil take it from here.

7) Grab a chair and a cold one; enjoy the show.

mnem
A flash a what to the whoozat on the CF-27 thingamabob?

 

Or, once you complete drinking the Jack, you can go get that chair and wait for the flatulence to build and then set it on fire as it is released...has pretty much the same affect, just more up close and personal. Oh, and make sure you do it in the direction of that 27 which is up and running! Wa La! A flash screen anyone would be proud to display!

 

You would have to fully document this whole procedure too. I think a video would suffice.

 

Here's your video, Rusty:

YouTube - no protection available

mnem
I aim to please... so you aim too, please.