my first TB - CF-C1 mk1

FWIW: My MK2 C1 only came with 2GB, NOT 4...

 

correct, from the current C1 specs Pdf:

Multi touch + digitizer model: 4-8GB SDRAM (DDR3-1333MHz)2,3
Gloved multi touch model: 2-6GB SDRAM (DDR3-1333MHz)2,3

Interestingly, the old mk1 model also had this option later on
• 12.1" widescreen 1280 x 800 WXGA LCD
– Multi-touch + digitizer screen
– Gloved multi-touch screen (available Fall 2010)

 

SOS

I am dissembling my c1 now, seems there are some hidden screws i did not take down and i cannot remove the panel. How to remove the keyboard as well?

HELP

 

which panel are you referring to ?

can you post some pictures ? someone with a lot of experience could figure it out.
A service manual would be very helpful right now. Those for the other models are available, but not for C1.

 

Gear,

The bottom, D panel. I searched, no service manual. It seems tricky than thinkpad i use which i replace and repair on my own.

Rob, i took down all visible screws, but the D panel still does not come off. Any ideas?

Thanks for input.

 

edited. edited

 

There are hidden screws under the hand strap that I noticed when I had to take off the strap to add the shoulder strap by infocase...

 

Rob,
I just received a new CF-C1ATAJZ1M which, while still a Mk1, according to the Panasonic configurator (and a confirming call to Panasonic Support) apparently does have the Gloved MultiTouch (per Gear6's post about late model Mk1s). I got it for $900 so I guess I should be happy, but my questions are:

1. What software shows off the multi-touch? The only software that comes with the computer that responds to "multi-touch" gestures is the onboard webcam - you can zoom in and out by squeezing and expanding your fingers. Nothing else seems to respond to these movements.

2. What are you supposed to be able to do with golves? This may be a function of the software question above, but I can move the cursor with my bare finger and gloved finger -- but I can also do this with my CF-19 Mk.4.

I aasked these questions to the Pana support guy and he said he'd never seen one but promised to get back to me in a few days (hopefully not the same number of "few" as the 2 weeks I'm still waiting for my question on activating the GPS in my GOBI2000!). I'm beginnning to wonder if I might have a bad screen. I found a control panelbo to "enable multi-tuch gestures" and have that checked but can't find any thing anywhere else that says "golved".

Advice?

 

There's not much you can do multi-touch, mainly because Windows and other software don't really support it.

However, if you have Windows 7, you can get a "Touch Pack" which has MS Earth view (or some name like that) which is quite cool to use with multi-touch.

 

I use digitized pen most of the time if i use the touch feature.

 

1. What software shows off the multi-touch? The only software that comes with the computer that responds to "multi-touch" gestures is the onboard webcam - you can zoom in and out by squeezing and expanding your fingers. Nothing else seems to respond to these movements. - I would try it on Google maps Works QUITE WELL

The gloved multi touch and a "touchscreen" as we all know it are the SAME EXACT thing... Except it has multi-touch, that's all

 

Sorry for not making it clearer. I can move the cursor of my CF-19 Mk.4 (which doesn't have gloved multi-touch) with my finger and while wearing a glove. What should I be able to do on the C1 with gloved multi-touch that I can't do on the CF-19 without gloved multi-touch (other than multi-touch gestures of course).

And thank for the Google Maps suggestion - I'll download it and try it tonight!

 

Wow, I just tried that gesture on mine and the screen expanded and got quite large (the letters I mean)...too cool! Just learning this baby but definately don't need the stylus for now.

 

Yes! 10 char

 

And so the 2nd battery AND the dock came in today... Once again, I was like a kid in a candy store! I have pics in this post that show the mod I had to do to made the computer fit into the OEM C1 dock station with the infocase shoulder strap kit attached to it. I used the Dremel to grind down both sides (circled in blue) where the clip (circled in red) was hitting on both sides.

The battery life still isn't quite what I want it to be at, but will do for now. MUCH better than the CF-31's batte life is by any circustance.

Index of ./CF-C1 Stuff/Modded Doc/

I also got a new desk and a new tech bench for free . I feel like a new man, although I'm not sure I like how high and far to the left the 2nd screen is

Enjoy!

 

And so I put my 256GB SSD Crucial drive into my C1 and cloned her over from the stock 320GB drive that came with it (Which, was suprisingly THIN (thinner than the standard 9.5mm drives! ) and GOOD GOD MOSES is this thing fast! WAY faster than the CF-31 for day to day work! Cold boots in 15 seconds flat! WOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!!!!!! I almost peed my pants at how fast this thing is!

I think the sandy bridge CPU's totally know how to manage this stuff faster than the 540 CPU's do!.

WOW!

 

Regarding the CF-C1 mk1 Twin Battery-am on battery power now with #1 reading 25% and #2 reading 99%...wondering, does unit run one down and then switch over? or do you have to do this manually?
Thanks

 

It's all automatic. no worries

 

you guys all received both winow 7 pro 32 & 64 bit recovery disc? i got 32 and xp recovery disc, no 64 bit one.

 

Yes, Win 7, two discs, one each 32 & 64, no xp here.

Regarding twin batteries, my first battery ran down and in the middle of posting an ad for sale the system shut down. Win 7 did not like that maneuver (ouch). So, is there a setting I missed that automatically switches over from battery #1 to battery #2?

 

I didn't know of this... I will test it out tonight if I have a chance

I didn't get ANY recovery discs, so I ordered a 32 bit one from Heartland. It works good as I had to use it to re-do my entire system because of the stupid tablet buttons not working.

Thanks

 

my tablet button also did not function AT ALL EVEN though i followed the installation instruction strictly. Ended up using the recovery discs. I only have a small 128gb ssd for this one (plextor m3s), so after the factory recovery, it only leaves one partition. time to get a closure for my intel ssd as backup disc.

Overall, like it very much. purchased a new battery for $70 and the should strap, that's it. It will last for another 2 years.

you guys should try Autodesk SketchBookPro 2011sp1. it's awesome for any tablet.

 

I only got a Win7 32bit recovery disk. The system came with XP preinstalled, but no XP or Win7 x64 recovery dvd's.

 

it seems to me dif distributors provide dif recovery discs i wish i had the 64 bit version as well

 

Just finished charging the 2nd battery (1st time). The original one was also discharged, and up until there was a 75% charge on the 1st one, the 2nd didn't start charging.

As the first one required less watts as it got near full, the 2nd started getting a bigger charge rate. Seems to be limited by the ac-adapter output; max, charge rate was 36W on the 1st one, with system almost idle, and then divided between the two (~33w total).

Note: the C1 was docked.

I'll see how this goes with the other 2 batteries, docked or undocked.

P.S. the original battery (which came with my factory refurbished unit) has lost 4% of its capacity after 27 full cycles.

 

Is there any slim slim power adapter available for c1? i like the R9's power adapter, but not sure if it works w/ c1

 

recently (a week ago), I wanted to replace the 2GB DIMM on the first slot with a 4GB one, for 8gigs total.

I unscrewed 2 dozen screws, hand strap, dome shaped plastic part, removed batteries, hdd cady, wwan card, stylus, etc.

The upper part of the base (the one with the keyboard) was almost loose enough to be removed, but something seemed to lock it in the middle.
The only thing left was the WiFI card. This is where it got nasty. Up to this point I used a PH0 screwdriver, with no problems.
One of the screws holding the card didn't budge, and until I realized I actually needed a PH00, I spoiled the + head: there is a big difference in hardness between this black screw and the chrome ones used for the base plate.
The second one came undone really easy using only a PH00.

I tried all heads I could think of (PH000, PH0000, Pozidrive 0, etc), but too late.
I even tried using metal Epoxy bi-component glue to stick a PH0 to it, or to stick a bit of glue to the head, just so I can unscrew it somehow.
No luck.

Is there really a screw under the MiniPCIe slot, holding the MB and the upper half of the base ?

 

i know your pain. i broken the case w/o success......

 

I was trying to use a 2.5A (tiny adapter) on my C1 and it simply wouldn't do it. It would make the battery light flash orange after a few minutes.

 

rob,

i purchased this one. top of notch. yang

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

 

Okay, wanted to post my most recent adventure: Thanks to Sadlmkr aka Jefe on the left coast...I used my 120GB SATA drive (spare) and just finished a triple boot: Used Panasonic CF-C1A Recovery DVD and installed Windows 7 Professional 64 bit, followed by Joli 1.2 and then followed by 10.04 LTS. Have not updated anything yet, but did install Chrome as my browser...and wow....things are very fast on the browsing front! This is my spare drive in caddy (yes, I believe in having at least two caddy's)....and its going to be fun exploring the world of UBUNTU...Thanks

 

No offense man, but you are FOOLISH to use an IBM charger with a Toughbook... On top of the fact that they are GARBAGE, they are NOT designed to work on a Toughbook. I'm not going to take a POS $22 IBM charger and use it on my $3000 Toughbook...

 

Why would the IBM Chargers be rubbish ? I guess that would make the Lenovo versions utter crap.
I've used 3 types: 65W, 90W, 170W (huge heavy brick), and other than feeling warm or almost hot at full load, they're well built, and never failed.
You're right though, they're not designed for Toughbooks, but that never stopped everyone from using them ; I personally never had the need to test if they do work, I have 3 original C1 charges (laptop, docking station, 4bay charger).

 

Wow, nice combo. Are all 3 OSes on the 120gb HDD ? what boot loader do you use, grub2 perhaps ?

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is just around the corner, Beta 1 Released 20days ago.

Where did you buy the caddy from, and at what price ?

 

They are good for cookie cutter IBM's, but compared to the Toughbook chargers, they suck. I have TONS of experiance with both to base my opinion on too!

 

Update on my (frustrating) quest to upgrade the elusive soDIMM (the one inaccessible):

I got rid of that screw that got unusable, drilling a small hole in its head close enough as to be able to use narrow pliers to unscrew it (i'll post a picture later).
Then I could remove the WiFI card, but, to my surprise there wasn't any other MB screw holding it to the palmrest.

I tried prying the palm rest half (the one with the KB/tpad), from both ends - the batteries compartments, and from the front, where all the leds and audio jacks are.
It seems there is still something keeping it tight, somewhere aound the CTRL, FN, Windows Key, or somewhere around that row of keys.

I don't want to force it, because probably I'll break something, and getting parts won't be cheap, easy or fast.

I remember that Rob, and UNCNDL1 successfully upgraded their RAM, can you give me a hint as to what I'm missing or doing wrong ?

Thanks,

 

Dude, I'm sorry, but I have NO CLUE what you're talking aout...

 

err, my memory it's not what it used to be... sorry, I see now that you have 4GB, meaning that's what your C1 came with.

But still, at least one forum member here upgraded his base RAM.

 

Mine actually came with only 2GB...I popped another 2GB chip I had laying around in there to bring her up to 4...

 

Gear- I believe that the model with "multi touch & digitizer" can take 4-8 GB RAM, and the "gloved multi touch" takes 2-6 GB RAM see this link From the Specs:
Panasonic Toughbook C1 Convertible Laptop - Panasonic Toughbook C1 Rugged Tablet PC
Things are working well as is, mine came with 120 GB HDD and 6 GB RAM.
Have you discerned for sure which model you have? Also, do you have access to a repair manual or drawing sheet?

 

I found oem caddy with new 500 GB Hard Drive using Google Search with my model number. There were quite a few choices, I went with the least expensive which was $118 / 7200 rpm WD

Panasonic 500 GB - 7200 rpm
I loaded Ubuntu after running a Win 7 64 bit. Ubuntu distros do all the work and repartition the drive. Upon booting up, you have a choice between Win 7, Ubuntu & Joli. BTW, I did this on the 120 GB SATA Hard Drive that came with the CF-C!

 

They both take 8GB, you just have to take the entire damn thing apart to get to the 2nd ram slot... Haven't we already gone over this???

 

Mine is MultiTouch+Digitizer (I'll put the number in my sig soon). It came with 2GB.
I think there is no difference for supported RAM capacity, between MultiTouch+Digitizer and Gloved MultiTouch. It's the same CPU (which integrates the RAM controller), the same chipset, etc, so 8GB should work on all.
It's just that they're being shipped from factory with different base RAM, depending on the configuration.

As a side note, Rob, having a Mk2 w/ i5-2520M, should theoretically be able to use 2 sticks of 8GB, for a total of 16GB, at least that cpu supports it. Not sure how much that would cost, though.

I asked here before, I have googled a lot, I even tried to convince a UK Toughbooks Retailer's Sales Rep. to send me a Service/Repair Manual, but it seems it's a really well GUARDED SECRET.
That kind of obscurity is not the best thing for a manufacturer.
Lenovo, for example, publishes the full HMM (Hardware Maintenance Manual) for every new model, with guides, drawings, specs, replacement part numbers, almost everything you (as a user) need to know to service your laptop.

 

I guess from the later post from Rob that it is possible, however no one seems to hav e4 a good procedure for taking it apart without breaking something. I'm happy with the 6 GB-Hope you find the info you are needing

 

I'm fine with 4GB myself.

I have taken it apart... IT SUCKED THE BIG ONE! Almost as bad as a U1!!!

 

So I remembered something right, you did take it apart !

I could as well forget about that 2GB DIMM, and call it a day (actually 2 weeks :| ), 6GB is plenty of ram. The thing is that I prefer to have 2 identical DIMMs (capacity/specs/manufacturer) for symmetrical dual-channel and temperature sensors (as I have on the Crucial 4GB dimm).

I'm eager to buy a CF-19 in the near future, I think it'll be a real pleasure to take it apart, compared to the C1. But hey, it is (was) the lightest 12" convertible tablet.

Can you tell me, after removing all the screws/cards/covers/etc from the bottom half's underside, how did you manage to remove the upper half (with the keyboard) ? did it come off easily ?

 

I have a CF-19 Mk4 and, on it, you also have to rip the entire bottom off in order to get at the first, bottom factory installed memory strip. The second, top memory strip is easy. (I stopped at 6MB rather than void the warranty. If I ever HAVE to go inside I'll do it then.)

 

My CF-C1 has THREE mk1 said slot
CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

Has anyone raised the entire lid

Both the OS says it supports more than 8 gigs as the chipset of the board next to the bus that say supports 8 GB of RAM

The back cover gives access to only 1 tablet of RAM

However the software of CPU-Z tells me that there are three pills to RAM SLOT

 

Naw, CPUz is always like that on most laptops man! Just 2 slots.