panasonic cf 29 touchscreen and usb issues

we have this laptop for our son who uses the touchscreen to help communicate and recently i needed to reload the o.s (win xp) and the touchscreen isn't working right. anytime you touch it, it automatically goes all the way to the scroll screen to right at the height it was touched. i have tried cleaning the bezel for dirt or anything else but that hasn't worked and when i try to calibrate i get a parameter response.

i'm wondering if this is related to the o.s install and if there is an additional driver i need to install.

also, there is one external usb port that doesn't seem to see devices plugged in but when i go to device manager all appear working.

if i can get the usb to work he can use the mouse but with no mouse or touchscreen he isn't able to use this computer because he doesn't understand the touchpad functions

any advice i would be grateful for

 

Stupid question but did you load the proper driver for the touch screen? I don't think that XP comes with touchscreen drivers.

 

I just re read ur post you will find all drivers at this location Official Support Download Center of the Drivers, Manuals and FAQs | TOUGHBOOK | Panasonic

 

is there a way to know which one to download?

 

Trader... Can you please post your full model number? (CF-29XXXXXXX) Hopefully it is not one of the CF-29HTM50BM that have been sold... These are ex-SBC units and they are either trash or treasure depending on (from what I have seen and heard) the luck of the draw and, at times, the seller.

The CF-29 has known touchscreen functionality issues. Hopefully yours is driver related but we can find that out quickly.

 

i don't know if this will help but i bought it from tiger direct and here is the link to the computer
Panasonic Toughbook CF-29H3 Rugged Notebook PC - Intel Pentium M LV 738 1.4GHz, 1GB DDR, 40GB HDD, DVD-ROM, 13.3 TFT, Windows XP Pro (Off-Lease) at TigerDirect.com
it says cf 29h3 on the website but i don't know how to find the full name of the laptop.

any ideas on usb - if i can get that to work the touch is really secondary
thanks so much for the quick reply

 

update one of 2 things just happened
1) the drivers that i installed either magically worked when not working moments ago or
2) the business card i used to swipe up and down and sideways along the edges of the screen cleaned out what i couldn't clean out earlier

great forum and thanks all for your help - still need to resolve usb but at least one area of concern is taken care of

 

Yeah... That is one of the old Ex-SBC units. Some are having issues and returning them... Others muddle through and give it a shot.

You can read the stickies to gain more insught but you need to go HERE and register. (It's free!) and download an MK3 touchscreen driver. You can then install it (Should be an exe file that will install to C:/Util2/Drivers/Touchscreen) You then go into Device manager and update the mouse driver and tell it that you know the location and direct it to the folder above.... Let it update and reboot. You should then have functionality and should be able to calibrate the touchscreen. If you do not have functionality... You are among the approximately 75% who have bad CF-29 Touchscreens. You can read more about why they go bad elsewhere.... But they are failing in droves. Especially those that were used hard and/or in high heat environments.

Some of these SBC units were HEAVILY used! (Hence the worn out USB connection) Some sellers are using a light coat of silver Krylon to cover scratches and then throwing them on the market.

My advice? If you cannot get the touchscreen working quickly... DEMAND A REFUND! There are plenty of others here who can either sell you a Toughbook for a similar price or point you in a better direction.

For the record (again)... I will not touch an SBC unit except to dimantle it for parts. I know others here have had great luck picking one up for $120 on ebay and all works well.... But too many of them have issues and it's just not worth the gamble in my opinion... Unless you like to gamble and don't care... Knowing that you may have issues.

To me... This cheapens Tiger Direct's reputation as well as the other 3-4 resellers of the old SBC units.

Just my .02

 

Glad you got your tscreen working... You can try to clean the contacts of the USB connection... Let us know...

 

maybe u are using an plug or an stick, which will not fit completely into the deep hole of the usb-port. Had u tried an extension cable?

 

the 29-H3 is supposed to be a non touch screen model,
unless you got lucky like my co-worker who bought one and found when he turned the touch screen option in the bios on it actually had a working touchscreen......
When I bought mine in January they were supplied through planitroi, and were pretty nice,
the current ones some friends have gotten are rough and have aftermarket cd drive caddys, they appear to be supplied through Metro business systems...
both have had to be sent back for having issues, one with inop touch screen and the other with a wifi issue.

 

quick update -
1) the touchscreen is back to the way it was, not working. anytime it gets touched it goes all the way to the right at the height it was touched
2) aidan - when i bought this, i didn't think it had a touchscreen. it was a nice suprise and you may have bought yours from tiger, compusa or circuit city who were the buyers from planitroi. i had issues with wifi but panasonic was able to help me through tech support(i was suprised, dell would've charged)

i am going to try cleaning again but for the time being we are leaving shortly for a baseball game

 

Directory will be named "mouse", something like C:/Util2/mouse or C:/Util2/drivers/mouse, (not sure exactly which one 'cause I'm not at my TB right now)

 

This all goes back to the SBC units being mainly junk units. SOME have gotten lucky and found their thouchscreens actually work. SOME have actually received clean, working machines, but this is the minority. ALL of these units SHOULD have working touchscreens. But, as we have dscussed before, if the units are subjected to heat stresses the touchscreens do eventually go bad. Trader... I would STILL try to get a refund unless you can do without the touchscreen. That's just my opinion though.