Panasonic CF-25 processor upgrade how?

Don't ask how to hack password. (BIOS Passwords)
Post Reply
rmay635703
Chip off the ol' block
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2002 6:25 pm

My friend has a Panasonic CF-25 toughbook and it has a standard socket 7 interface and had a standard pmmx 2.8v 166mhz cpu.
The pll is a
Microclock MK1491E-02r
(ps anyone have a cross ref or utilities to change the settings on this pll using cpucool?)

Anyway we put a p200mmx cpu in the machine and reassembled it, the machine posts but is still running at 166mhz even with the 200mhz cpu. The bios is an oversimplified useless make that has no settings for anything other than power management and plug and play settings, no mention of cpu settings.

I cannot find any utility to change the multiplier or change the bus speed on the web but I know that this model CF-25 unit came with anything from a p100 to a pentium 166mmx so there must have been a way of configuring the system.

We cannot find any jumpers or dipps either. We would like to put in a low volt p266mmx cpu or an Intel 233mmx depending on compatibility but without a means of configuring the laptop we're stuck.

Any help is appreciated
Ryan
KachiWachi
The New Guy
Posts: 1451
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 10:32 pm
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

Maybe the thing is hardwired to the CPU that was installed at the factory...did you try looking for pullup/down resistors/wire jumpers/blank SMT areas that connect to the BF pins? Some old fashioned continuity checks and guessing might need to be done... :roll:

Good Luck!!
rmay635703
Chip off the ol' block
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2002 6:25 pm

I really didn't see much of anything inside that could be used to configure the unit, I also didn't see the old fashioned "break box" (the little flat copper strips you could break)

I guess I will have to do something I haven't done in a while and hard wire the system. If I clip a pin I should end up with 3x.

Cheers
Blanko
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:26 pm

I am also working on a Panasonic CF-25 MkIII.
Well, I soldered pins y33 and x34 to pin y37 on top of the plasic case of a pentium 233, and then cut pins y33 and x34 off and covered the spot on the chip where the pins were with paint on mask. The dang laptop runs, but only as a 166! what gives? The chip I used and the chip I removed (a 166) were both p55's. I hard wired the dang multiplier for gods sake! :evil: :evil: :evil:
KachiWachi
The New Guy
Posts: 1451
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 10:32 pm
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

Did you verify with a DVM that both BF0 and BF1 are being pulled high?

Not a good idea to connect the pins directly to the 3.3V rail...you should have used a current limiting resistor.
Blanko
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:26 pm

You are correct, I should have used a current limiting resistor and will put one on chip. Do you have any reccomendations as to value? I have a few SMD resistors that might do the job. :oops:
I did check the bottom of the CPU via the pins to establish continuity, which was good. It would be very interesting if I wasn't getting voltage (3.3, VIO) at y37.
It seems unlikely, but would explain my problem neatly. :oops:

This laptop uses a phoenix bios that every user complains about. I find the CF-25 an outstanding laptop, very rugged and capable, but the Bios is a catastrophy. :!:
Int13h limits it to a 8.4 gig drive (I know, but I don't want to use an overlay!) the system doesn't support most cardbus (32 bit) cards in XP or Win2000 even though those card work in the same slots under Win98 (Bios again) and the only changes in bios to be made are to PnP or disable ports and sound card, and Power Management. :evil:

I am ready to take some risks and replace my BIOS with a non Panasonic Toughbook bios. Any reccomendations? It has a Triton 430tx chipset, an Intel 82371AB PIIX4 south bridge, and a Neomagic Magic Graph 128 zv VGA chip. :?:
KachiWachi
The New Guy
Posts: 1451
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 10:32 pm
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

I know I read in some Intel document about what pull-up to use, but I can't remember which one I read it in. It was either in the MMX CPU document or in the "Flexible Motherboard Design" document...probably in the latter IIRC...
Blanko
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:26 pm

DANG!!!
Gentlemen, I stand before you a humble man. I checked my continuity again and discovered that pin Y37 had a cold joint, which led to loss of conductivity. I was afraid that in soldering I might destroy the CPU, and in my haste to solder, I must not have adequetly heated the pin.
Long story short, once I resoldered, it worked fine. The system is stable at 233Mhz, leading me to believe that I have the worlds fastest CF-25's. Next step, fixing the blasted bios!
neisg1
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2005 2:28 pm

Hi, I just completed a 233mhz MMX upgrade on my 166mhz MMX CF-25 laptop. On the top side of the cpu I used two surface mount 1k ohm pullup resistors (as far as i could find intel says 300-1k ohm) soldered to VCC3 pins y37 & w37 and connected to BF0 & BF1 pins y33 & x34 with insulated 28ga wire. Pins Y33 & X34 were cut off and covered with a small piece of tape so they would not contact the socket pins, I also placed a layer of tape over the resistors to prevent contact with the heat sink. Make sure to remove the copper plate from the old processor and reuse it on the new, it is required to make proper thermal contact to the case. The cpu is now hardwired for x3.5 multiplier. I did a processor speed test and it's running at 233.7mhz.
SSDD
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2005 10:13 pm

5
neisg1 wrote:Hi, I just completed a 233mhz MMX upgrade on my 166mhz MMX CF-25 laptop. On the top side of the cpu I used two surface mount 1k ohm pullup resistors (as far as i could find intel says 300-1k ohm) soldered to VCC3 pins y37 & w37 and connected to BF0 & BF1 pins y33 & x34 with insulated 28ga wire. Pins Y33 & X34 were cut off and covered with a small piece of tape so they would not contact the socket pins, I also placed a layer of tape over the resistors to prevent contact with the heat sink. Make sure to remove the copper plate from the old processor and reuse it on the new, it is required to make proper thermal contact to the case. The cpu is now hardwired for x3.5 multiplier. I did a processor speed test and it's running at 233.7mhz.

Hi All, please can you guy's give me some step by step info on how to do this.I have just bought an old toughbook CF-25 off ebay and would like to upgrade it as you have done

Thanks Steve
neisg1
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2005 2:28 pm

The instructions I posted are pretty much a sep by step. Removing the motherboard and existing processor require some time and patients. There are a lot of screws to remove and the copper plate is glued to the processor, I used a thin knife blade to remove it and heat sink compound during reassembly. Remember to use anti static precautions. You will need a very small soldering pencil and solder a magnifying glass is also helpful. The pins on the 233 mmx are accessible on the top side (this is where the resistors and jumpers are soldered on). If you google “pentium 233 mmx pinout” you should fine some intel pdf files with the processor pinout diagrams. If your not used to soldering small part I would suggest you practice on junk parts first. This procedure hardwires the clock multipliers that are normally set with shorting jumpers on the motherboard.
KachiWachi
The New Guy
Posts: 1451
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 10:32 pm
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

I was just reviewing this for a post on another message board.

I looked at the HX and VX chipset documentation for sure, but I forget if I looked at the one for the TX. In any case, all of the texts say to use 100 Ohms or less for the pull-up...though the schematic diagrams have different values shown for their "example motherboards". 1/8 W should do just fine for the size.

Does this motherbaord have jumpers for the multiplier, or is it hardwired?
Blanko
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:26 pm

Hard wired. You must make sure to cut the pins off pretty completely. I bent them back and forth with hemostats. Worked a treat!
mike316
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 3:30 pm

I read your post about the BIOS of a CF-25. Did you find a solution to this? I have a PCMCIA USB card that will not work because of the BIOS. Does not seem to be a solution anywhere I searched on the internet.. Wondering if you found another BIOS Chip that worked?
:!:
garyaveck
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu May 05, 2005 4:10 am

The Bios for the CF-25 MK III toughbook is proprietary. Panasonic put out its last major revision almost 10 years ago, and put out its last bios patch in 2003. In the last year or so, Panasonic has quietly abandonned all support for this dinosaur taking down seemingly all references to it on its Americas and European websites. But, there are thousands of us out there that still have & love these things because they go where our dell's and vaio's cannot -- and you can literally drive a small pickup truck over one of them and then boot it up. They work fine on 98 SE, but the BIOS flaw that makes the laptop unable to recognize and/or use a pcmcia card with USB ports is starting to take its toll now that floppies are becoming an archaic storage and transfer medium.

I don't know how (or if) it is possible, but I would certainly be willing to pay or donate something if a qualified BIOS programmer could write a patch that would give my laptop a new life. Judging from the wide scatter across many tech sites of people looking for a fix, my guess is that lots of other cf-25 owners feel as i do.

If possible, I'd appreciate if the Moderator of this forum could share some advice about how one might be able to convince a programmer to write a patch that would open the ability to use usb on these virtually indestructible machines.

Thank you!
Post Reply