~Toughbooktalk~

I have a CF-30D that I added a wifi card to but it will not power the wifi switch up,I have changed switches to verify it is good,3 different wireless cards and booting into mint 15 or windows nothing.

In windows it sees the card in the device manager,says driver installed and working. I don't have a wiring diagram with power flow and voltage but with 2 units side by side running the voltages at the switch are way different.

Checked to make sure its turned on in bios and checked the cables for continuity from the switch back to the board. Soooo there we are,it is a mint condition low hour unit or it would ( and still might) get tossed in the parts pile.

Configurator say "no wireless". These "odd" numbers...or at least to me they are odd, mean special bios for Government and other special functions.

Since it is a MK1 have you tried using Vista Bios? 20/17 or is it the other one?

What bios and ec are you using now?

By Odd number I mean we rarely see a MK1 starting with "D".

Good luck.

You may get lucky and get it to work by flashing the bios. It is more than likely wifi locked. The cards will still show but you can not get them enabled.

It's a CF-30DAGZZBM BIOS is V1.01L20 V1.00L17 M21

whatever M21 is,I have the Vista bios so why not. Will report back soon.

The M21 indicates that it's a "special" bios... (special= handicapped or limited)

Flash that bad boy.

No good,bummer as it is a pretty one. Parts pile it is unless someone wants it cheap.:-)

Did it flash at all?

Yep,it was already flashed to vista. I flashed it back to xp and tried it then back to vista. Can't get rid of M21.

Read an old thread that suggested changing the model number to a wifi enabled model number.

Nothing to lose...

The following directions are exactly as given to me. This applies to the CF51 but can be applied to any model as long as you find the correct file for your model and MK. For me that was BU30M3.exe. (CF-30 MK 3) So in step 5 instead of bu51m2 I put in bu30m3. If you have to, download every BIOS file for your model regardless of the version number to find the file. I have made NO changes to the following as crazy as it looks. There are NO typos on my behalf.

How to write the Model Number and Serial Number to new main PCB.

If you replace the main PCB, you have to write the M/N and S/N to new main PCB.
First of all, please prepare following items.
- USB-FDD and Floppy Disk (DOS bootable)

[Procedure]
(1) Check the M/N and S/N of defective unit.
(As for the M/N and S/N, please see the sticker at the bottom side of unit.)
e.g.) CF-51JFVDCBM 5KTYA72467

(2) Create the 2 text files (M/n and S/N) into the FD like below.
e.g.) serial.txt <- only S/N (5KTYA72467) is written in this file.
model.txt <- only M/N (CF-51JFVDCBM) is written in this file.

(3)Copy the program "bu51m2.exe" into the FD.
If Object model is below, please use each program.
CF-51mk1High (CF-51xxxxA/H/Qxx) bu51m1.exe
CF-51mk1Low (CF-51xxxxB/J/Rxx) bu51m1l.exe
CF-51mk2High (CF-51xxxxC/Kxx) bu51m2.exe
CF-51mk2Low (CF-51xxxxD/Lxx) bu51m2l.exe
You can download these programs from Toughbook Web BIOS/EC site.

(4) Change the bootable device setting. USB-FDD is high priority by BIOS setting screen. And save it. And re-boot. (You can see BIOS setting screen when press F2 Key during Panasonic character appear on the LCD after power on..)

(5) Boot from USB-FDD, and type below.
bu51m2 -snserial.txt -cnmodel.txt

(6) Please hit enter key, and continue it by following message.

(7) Re-boot and press F2 Key. and check the M/N and S/N.





Hello,
I have tried the trick from xxxxxxxx today, on a CF30mk2, with BU30M2.exe from the canadian panasonic site, and it works like a charm.
I made the floppy with the XP option of having it DOS bootable, and remove all the files except command.com, io.sys and msdos.sys.
Then I've put the two files serial.txt and model.txt, exactly likexxxxxx explain it, and after the warning of having a battery and ac power charger, everything works perfectly.
Options used :
-sn(file) = serial changed
-cn(file) = model change

A good thread to read.....

http://forum.notebookreview.com/panason ... issue.html