1) What is the FULL MK or Mark model # of your unit? Turn on your Toughbook, when you see the PANASONIC LOGO hit the 'F2' key to see your BIOS screen. Panasonic Toughbook support says that each WWAN module is locked to its specific carrier. That is, you cannot use a Cingular card on the Rogers network in Canada even though both use the same GSM technology. Panasonic Canada says there is no HSDPA module for.

A CF-31 Toughbook. Currently the only fully rugged TB to have a dedicated GPU and active cooling.

Toughbooks are Panasonic's line of tank-like laptops. They were first manufactured in 1996 with the CF-25, and as of today Panasonic still makes them.

Current models are generally used in US military active duty, clumsy cops and field work type people. Where Macs are hipster Facebook machines and ThinkPads are virgin *chantard machines, Toughbooks are for the clumsy, autistic, 'off-roaders', people who work on the road often, or people who unironically collect them.

That means: long battery life, extremely bright screens that are sunlight readable, drop, dust and water resistance, hotswappable batteries and hard drives, passive cooling and lid catches, and on older models, 4:3 XGA displays. Yes, they are expensive as FUCK. Yes, they last longer than any other laptop out there, they are built like a 80's Volvo, aka a tank. No, they are not blazing fast, especially the ULV models.

You can do games like Deus Ex natively on a 19 or 30 Mk2 and up though. Contents • • • • • • • • Acquiring Toughbooks Password-locked BIOS Ensure you don't buy a Toughbook with a password-locked BIOS! You CANNOT reset them in any way as you can with!

Additionally, don't purchase Toughbooks that don't have a internal WLAN and/or WWAN card in it. They are Federal models 90% of the time which have the WLAN/WWAN slot BIOS restricted and you can't run a WLAN/WWAN card in one, they will not work. If you do get lucky and have a non-custom BIOS one like some 19 Mk4's, you can enable WLAN/WWAN with the right card(s), see here: By the way, the password for the Optional Kit Configuration is 'toughkit' minus dashes. Some untested ways to reset TB passwords, I can't vouch for these if they work or not: Very interesting info about a easily swappable CF-52 BIOS chip, removing the BIOS PW in the process: Short-circuiting the EEPROM on Toughbooks does not work!

I tried and failed! General Tips. A Toughbook CF-19 Mk6 (dot in the right corner is the Ambient Light Sensor) with the optional X-Strap displaying the Toughbook InstallGentoo wiki page. Hard drive caddies for older models like the CF-18 and 29 are somewhat cheaper than newer ones for the CF-19 and 30/31. Hosts file entries to block adobe activation servers. Caddies from all generations of CF-19's are interchangeable, as they are all SATA.

On some newer (Mk5 and above, not sure) CF-19's, Panasonic used a composite plastic/steel caddy which is hell to take apart. The older ones are fully made from stainless steel and are held in place by two screws. The CF-30 and 31 caddies are also interchangable: Yes, you can also use a CF-18 dock with a CF-19, the only difference with the VEB191 and VEB181 dock is that the PS/2 port has been removed and blanked off on the VEB191, electrically/aesthetically it's the same. Older models, like the CF-18 and 29 tend to have broken/non working touchscreens because of delamination, the Mk1 CF-19 and CF-30 had this too sadly. With the Mk2 models it seems to be fixed however.

Port covers from China are shit, get original Panasonic ones if you want waterproofness, the Chinese ones don't keep out the water and you will ruin your Toughbook when you get caught in a rainstorm that way. Same story with batteries, Chinese/clone batteries and chargers for Toughbooks are shit and should be avoided.

Need a cheap charger? Use a IBM 72 watt adapter from a older ThinkPad, like a T4x. They also have ones with a built in car/12v cigarette lighter socket cable.

Be careful around 19v adapters, even though I ran my Toughpad G1 on a 19v adapter a few times, I don't know what long term effects it may have! Don't stare blindly on the maximum memory Panasonic describes for most models, the 19/30 Mk2/3 for example can use 8GB RAM, 4GB DDR2 modules are extremely expensive however. Most Toughbooks are limited to SATA2 so don't bother buying a extremely fast SSD. Always, ALWAYS permanently disable CompuTrace! It's a botnet and your TB can get bricked by remote with it enabled. Plus it has numerous exploits and vulnerabilities, just like Intel's vPro. Newer Toughbooks also have Intel AT/Anti-Theft, disable it permanently.

Recovery DVDs are 95% bullshit and 5% truth, the truth being if you're A. Have a unusual model like the CF-U1. If you're lazy then by all means call Panasuckit or Heartland in the USA, order a restore DVD for 35$ (ayy lmao >buying Windows) and reinstall, or if you're a /g/ or /tech/ user:, acquire Windows+activator from The Pirate Bay, save 35$, congrats you just installed Windows on your Toughbook for free.