CF-29 Serial Port Not Recognized

[rebeltaz]

OK... in my 40+ years, I have never had trouble like this, and I've been working on computers since I was 10.

I am trying to get a Palm Symbol SPT1700 to sync with a computer. Finding a computer with a serial port nowadays is impossible, so I've been trying a Prolific USB-to-Serial adapter. On one computer I was able to get the Palm to sync once with the laptop through the adapter and it has refused to retain a connection again ever since.

I have this Panasonic CF-29 Toughbook that actually has a serial port. I have tried EVERYTHING but I cannot get Windows XP to recognize the port. In BIOS, there are three entries - Serial A, Serial B and MP (multimedia) Serial Port. I have tried every combination under the sun of 'enabled,' 'disabled,' and 'manual' for those three but nothing works. I have tried to scan for new hardware. I have even manually added the port. Nothing. I have tried to disable the touchscreen (which doesn't work anyway) as well as the modem and USB legacy support. Nothing has any effect.

I installed the USB-to-Serial adapter on the CF-29 and while it installs fine, the laptop refuses to acknowledge the Palm. I looked at the port of the adapter and it is set to COM4. In the port drop-down menu, it shows that COMs 1,2,3, and 7 are all in use somewhere.

On this laptop, I have Ubuntu and Windows dual booted. I looked under Ubuntu and the serial port is not showing up in dmesg there, either.

On my laptop, there is what looks like a thermal printed label on top of the barcode. The fifth digital is too faded to read, so I pulled the label off and I was able to determine that at one time it had said CF-29H3M50BM, but underneath that, on the original barcode sticker, it says CF-29LQQGCBM. According to this page - http://toughbookcentral.com/guides/15/ - it's either an MK3 or an MK4, but I don't know which or why the additional sticker.

ANY help at all is going to be greatly appreciated!

[Rob]

FYI,

Modern CF-31's have true RS232 serial too. They are current models Same with CF-19's and CF-53's

Thanks!

P.S, I did reply to your email too but here it is for everyone to see:

I’m not sure on the Linux part but on a computer as ancient as a CF-29 I’d lean towards a hardware issue.

Typically it should be COM1 on any Toughbook serial port.

You could hook up a serial mouse and test or try hyper term’ing into a cisco firewall or whatever on 9600, 8, 1, NONE settings.

Thanks!

[Karl Klammer]

You could try to force Serial A to be COM1 by assining this irq via bios: 3F8/IRQ4 ... if your particular bios supports this.
Also try running the BIOS Diagnostic utility, which afaik also includes some checks for the uart.

Also try to connect to the palm via PuTTY-COM1 ... you should at least see some gibberish (binary palm data) once a serial connection is established.
How many bouds are spoken by the palm?` How many are supported by the cf29mk3/4s uart?

I also have to ask if you have another computer to verify that the palm serial adapter is working correctly ;-)

[rebeltaz]

You could try to force Serial A to be COM1 by assining this irq via bios: 3F8/IRQ4 ... if your particular bios supports this.
Also try running the BIOS Diagnostic utility, which afaik also includes some checks for the uart.

I have tried manually setting the BIOS to 3F8/IRQ4. No go. OS still doesn't see it.

Also try to connect to the palm via PuTTY-COM1 ... you should at least see some gibberish (binary palm data) once a serial connection is established.

There is no COM port to which I can connect PuTTY. That's my problem.

How many bouds are spoken by the palm?` How many are supported by the cf29mk3/4s uart?

The Palm is capable of (nearly) everything from 9600 up to 115200. I have tried every combination of baud rate / handshaking / parity / stop bits. That's not the problem. The problem is that the serial port does not exist within the operating system.

I also have to ask if you have another computer to verify that the palm serial adapter is working correctly ;-)

I have several others that I am going to have to build just to have access to a serial port. I haven't gotten around to that yet, but again, it's not a matter of the computer not seeing the Palm. It's that the operating system doesn't even see the port.

I don't see a Diagnostics screen in BIOS. In the service manual it talks about a diagnostics floppy disk. I do not have that disk or an image of said disc. I did plug a loop-back connector that I built a while back into the serial port and it does flicker when I first start the laptop, so I know it's at least getting power, but it never flickers again during either OS's boot up.

[rebeltaz]

FYI,

Modern CF-31's have true RS232 serial too. They are current models Same with CF-19's and CF-53's

Thanks!

P.S, I did reply to your email too but here it is for everyone to see:

I’m not sure on the Linux part but on a computer as ancient as a CF-29 I’d lean towards a hardware issue.

Typically it should be COM1 on any Toughbook serial port.

You could hook up a serial mouse and test or try hyper term’ing into a cisco firewall or whatever on 9600, 8, 1, NONE settings.

Thanks!

Yeah, but the CF-29 is the one I have

I just hooked up a serial mouse and it didn't see that or an associated COM port. Like I told the other guy, I did plug a loop-back connector that I built a while back into the serial port and it does flicker when I first start the laptop, so I know it's at least getting power, but it never flickers again during either OS's boot up.

[SHEEPMAN!]

Yeah, but the CF-29 is the one I have

Exxxxcellent. Good response....my 2 1/2 cents:

1. I like CF-29
2. Never heard of a H3M50BM (HTM50BM...yes)
3. Minimum baud of 9600 is a little weird. 4800 more normal.

And I speak a bit of Linux....in fact using it for diagnostics when I am not feeding sheep or cutting wood...

Code: Select all

dmesg | grep input

What does this say?

Code: Select all

lsusb

If you continue to have problems , I have 25 or so CF-29's.....plus parts galore. PLEASE I am not a salesman. I will send you one if you need it.

Good luck,

Jeff

[rebeltaz]

Yeah, but the CF-29 is the one I have

Exxxxcellent. Good response....my 2 1/2 cents:

1. I like CF-29
2. Never heard of a H3M50BM (HTM50BM...yes)

That was the thermal printed label on top of the original and yeah.. it's a 3.

3. Minimum baud of 9600 is a little weird. 4800 more normal.

That's as low as it goes and that is also the default that the USB-to-serial adapter defaults to.

And I speak a bit of Linux....in fact using it for diagnostics when I am not feeding sheep or cutting wood...

Code: Select all

dmesg | grep input

What does this say?

Lid Switch
Power Button
Power Button
Macintosh mouse button emulation
AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
Video Bus
Panasonic Laptop Support
PS/2 Touchpad
LBPS/2 Fujitsu Lifebook Touchscreen

You didn't ask, but I also did a grep on TTY (never thought to do input) and nothing at all shows up unless I plug the USB-to-Serial adapter in.

Code: Select all

lsusb

Bus 004... Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003... "
Bus 002... "
Bus 001... Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

If you continue to have problems , I have 25 or so CF-29's.....plus parts galore. PLEASE I am not a salesman. I will send you one if you need it.

Good luck,

Jeff

What would you want for one of the 29's? Having a working serial port would be a GREAT help! (and a working touchscreen wouldn't be bad either.)

[SHEEPMAN!]

I have several MK4 that I can't give away these days.....(krap).sticky A key is handy...(working on the client's CF-30 with the rice on the keyboard)(One of his mechanics likes rice and bean burritos apparently)

I need at least shipping cost. For the 120 hour MK4 the price goes up:).....talk later and PM about that.

PM your address and I'll find a box. Pay me whenever/whatever. BTW medium flat rate is +- $20.00. Priority USPS.

[Rob]

Jeff,

H3M50BM would mean NON-touch. Your HTM50BM is a touch model

The 2nd digit being a 3 back in those days meant non-touch. Same with CF-30's

[rebeltaz]

Jeff,

H3M50BM would mean NON-touch. Your HTM50BM is a touch model

The 2nd digit being a 3 back in those days meant non-touch. Same with CF-30's

That wouldn't make sense, though. I am (pretty damn sure) that the number reads 3, not T. I am, however, 100% sure that the model I have is a touchscreen model. I had it working for a little bit, but there is a broken connection to/in the digitizer so it quit working again.