VOGONS


First post, by Wilius

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Hi everyone!

I'm the proud owner of a working Panasonic CF-41 with 16 MB of onboard RAM, and I would like to upgrade the memory to its maximum supported size of 32 MB.
Unfortunately, this laptop has no traditional RAM slots and is instead equipped with a somewhat proprietary slot for RAM cards (it looks kind of like the connector for JEIDA memory cards).
Sadly, these Panasonic or Matsushita branded RAM cards have become very rare and are hard to come by at fair prices.
However, I borrowed a RAM card from my Siemens Nixdorf PCD-4ND that looks like the one I've been searching for.
Out of curiosity, I carefully inserted it into the CF-41's RAM card slot, and it surprisingly fits perfectly.

This makes sense, as I’ve read somewhere that these older Siemens Nixdorf laptops were actually manufactured by Matsushita, which is basically Panasonic.
However, I don't know if it has the correct pinout.
The last thing I want is to fry my perfectly working CF-41.
I do have a beaten-up secondary CF-41 that I keep as a donor machine, but I'm still hesitant to turn it on with the RAM card installed.

So, I'd like to know if anyone has ever attempted to use one of these Siemens Nixdorf RAM cards in their CF-41 before.
And if so, did it work?
My RAM card is a Siemens Nixdorf TS16 MCF 580.

As always, thanks for your help!
It's much appreciated.

Last edited by Wilius on 2024-12-16, 19:06. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 2 of 5, by Wilius

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Thanks for the quick reply!

Thermalwrong wrote on 2023-08-22, 17:49:
I think that Siemens may have been using Panasonic as the OEM for these, the RAM card you've shown in it possibly corroborates t […]
Show full quote

I think that Siemens may have been using Panasonic as the OEM for these, the RAM card you've shown in it possibly corroborates this since they look similar to the Panasonic RAM cards, assuming the pin configuration is the same.

If so then those are half-length JEIDA standard (88 pin) memory cards - take a look at the picture on this page for an example: http://www.snarkdreams.com/personal/tinker/index.html
JEIDA cards have 2 diagonally offet rows, compared to PCMCIA where the rows are in-line.

My Panasonic CF-41 uses the same half-length DRAM cards like your picture and I can upgrade the RAM on it by installing a regular length JEIDA memory card, but it sticks out. Nice to bump it up from the stock 8MB though.

16MB is loads for this type of system. It might already be maxed out at 20MB with 4MB integrated and 16MB card.

Does this confirm, that the Siemens Nixdorf RAM Card will work in my CF-41?

Reply 3 of 5, by Wilius

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

My curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to take the risk and install the RAM card.
And yeah, it actually worked.
That's really dope!
I can now confirm that Siemens Nixdorf RAM cards are indeed compatible with the Panasonic CF-41.

With that being said, my question has now been answered, and I'm satisfied.

Reply 4 of 5, by Thermalwrong

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Wilius wrote on 2024-12-16, 17:24:

Thanks for the quick reply!

Thermalwrong wrote on 2023-08-22, 17:49:
I think that Siemens may have been using Panasonic as the OEM for these, the RAM card you've shown in it possibly corroborates t […]
Show full quote

I think that Siemens may have been using Panasonic as the OEM for these, the RAM card you've shown in it possibly corroborates this since they look similar to the Panasonic RAM cards, assuming the pin configuration is the same.

If so then those are half-length JEIDA standard (88 pin) memory cards - take a look at the picture on this page for an example: http://www.snarkdreams.com/personal/tinker/index.html
JEIDA cards have 2 diagonally offet rows, compared to PCMCIA where the rows are in-line.

My Panasonic CF-41 uses the same half-length DRAM cards like your picture and I can upgrade the RAM on it by installing a regular length JEIDA memory card, but it sticks out. Nice to bump it up from the stock 8MB though.

16MB is loads for this type of system. It might already be maxed out at 20MB with 4MB integrated and 16MB card.

Does this confirm, that the Siemens Nixdorf RAM Card will work in my CF-41?

So to start with, I was incorrect in saying that Panasonic may have made the PCD-4ND - I've since seen the FCCID on the underside of the PCD-4ND and it starts with HFS which means it was made by Quanta.

Well, I don't have the siemens card and I can't check but if your memory card has two rows of pins, one offset from the other then they should always be JEIDA memory cards and those have a defined pinout. The only part to be concerned for is whether it's 3.3v or 5v. Most of them are 3.3v especially if they're from pentium or DX4 systems.
Have a look at the pictures of this laptop running: http://laptop.pics/panasonic-cf-41-toughbook/
It's not mine but I have a similar picture of mine someplace, they've got a KTT-4600 (3.3v FPM for Toshiba T4600) in the memory slot on their one. There was some japanese site I can no longer find where I first found out about being able to use full-size JEIDA memory cards in the CF-41's half-size slot. I've used the 4MB memory card from a Compaq LTE Lite in the CF-41 and that worked.

From what I can see it looks like the memory in the PCD-4ND is JEIDA standard since this part code visible on the memory slot: JST ICM-D88H-SS19-2202WTM does show me an 88-pin connector with two offset rows, so JEIDA standard.
I think it should work, but I cannot confirm it.

I've since located a possibly original 8MB module for my CF-41 so here's what it looks like inside and on top:

The attachment CF-BA1908W.JPG is no longer available

Reply 5 of 5, by Thermalwrong

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Wilius wrote on 2024-12-16, 19:06:
My curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to take the risk and install the RAM card. And yeah, it actually worked. That's […]
Show full quote

My curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to take the risk and install the RAM card.
And yeah, it actually worked.
That's really dope!
I can now confirm that Siemens Nixdorf RAM cards are indeed compatible with the Panasonic CF-41.

With that being said, my question has now been answered, and I'm satisfied.

Haha awesome 😀 That's actually really good to know since those Siemens memory cards seem much more common than the panasonic specific memory cards but both are half-length and both are JEIDA standard pinout