newbie cf-18 questions

apologies if these have been answered somewhere already - I've googled for days with no success

I've recently acquired 3x cf-18 toughbooks, 2 are mk4 and the other is a mk1. All have internal wireless, touchscreens and the mk4's have bluetooth. I cleared the bios, formatted the hard drives and re-installed XP pro. Then my problems started!!

machine 1: when I got this one, it would not switch on/boot. I changed the cmos battery and it booted straight into windows, however, since being switched off it will NOT boot back up - no POST, no bios, nothing. I can hear the HDD spinning up and the LCD brightness LED is permanently lit on the front panel but there is no display or any other lights

machine 2: this one throws up a pci motherboard conflict error on POST, this can be bypassed with F1, windows boots fine but I cannot get wireless to work as device manager says it cannot start the device. Windows runs normally and everything else works. I do not get any error when the wireless card is removed, and cannot install device driver for MC75

machine 3: a mk1 cf-18 that is currently running with everything installed and no errors

so guys - what do you think? any and all suggestions will be more than welcome, I am fairly competent when it comes to all things PC as long as it's not too complex!!

 

Could you post the full model numbers please
And what O/S you have installed


Alex

 

That would certainly help!

 

CF18KHH08BE
CF18KHA08DE

all running genuine xp pro

 

So are you saying all 3 were in good working order BEFORE this?

First thing I would try is yet another BIOS battery to make sure you didn't coincidentally get a bum one. If that does not work, I would be concerned that the internal water integrity had been compromised and would open er up and with a bright light, and magnifying glass of at least 10x would pour over every inch of the motherboard looking for signs of wetness.

I would think this one might just be dirty contacts on the wifi card slot, or the wifi card itself. Hopefully its not damaged in any way as that would mean you need to replace the motherboard.

This one puzzles me... I would try and throw it around and dunk it in a pool, maybe even while its running. I'm sure we can get it to stop working somehow....

If I am off base at all in my assessments, rest assured that TBTech29 or MNEM (aka: Dragon) will jump all over me....

 

OK guys - glad to see some replies, let's try to clear up some confusion.

When I received my 3 toughbooks, 1 MK4 would not switch on at all so I swapped out the CMOS battery and it booted straight into windows. I switched this machine off to deal with it later while I tested the other 2. The second MK4 would POST, but then stop with the error

"resource conflict - pci network controller on motherboard bus 06 device 03 function 00"

but will F1 into windows. When the card is removed there is no error and it boots straight into windows. I have tried 3 other wireless cards with the same error result so this leads me to believe that the fault is board related but livable with as should I need to go wireless I can PCMCIA or USB it?

returning to the other MK4, after the CMOS battery change and subsequent switch off it will now NOT switch back on again, I get wireless LED on the front panel and the drive spins up but that's it, no display, no POST, no beeps - nada. I have tried 2 other batteries and purchased a brand new one but get the same results.

The MK1 machine is fine in that it boots straight to windows with no problems. Since these tests the 2 machines that I can switch on have been reformatted and windows xp pro installed.


Last night I acquired another MK4 and this one is perfect in that everything works how it should, xp pro went straight on, as did windows 7 on a different hard drive - the only problem now is I am showing an error in device manager next to MC75 and am unable to locate a driver for it and it's frustrating the hell out if me. I believe it's something to do with a GPRS modem as there's a slot for a mobile phone SIM card, but the missing driver is really bothering me


also, aren't time zones a pain I'm only picking up replies hours after they're posted!!

 

Dont quote me, but I think the MC75 is sound card related?

 

MC75 is cellular modem
If you plan to subscribe to a data plan you will have to install the watcher software for this, but most likely it is dated technology ,and you won't be using it and nothing to worry about

Alex

 

is there any advantage in removing the kit then? is it any kind of resource hog and am I better off without it? BTW - would LOVE the GPS kit but it looks damned expensive

re my problem with the machine that wouldn't boot, then did did boot after CMOS battery change but now won't boot - is it lid related? in that the machine goes to sleep when the lid is closed but something has happened to prevent it "waking up" again? i'm thinking out loud here 'cos the wireless LED's are on and the drive is spinning but nothing else?