XJRGUY - Ford , 2 of them have the hdd ready to roll to my knowledge.....

MOTORCARMAN - thanks , I understand now. B4 it was just numbers and letters lol

Is there any kinda manual i can download 4 it? i have a booklet from ford about loading the cd's but not looked at it yet as as far as i know its only about software and as i said above in confident that 2 hdd's are ok with the data on them......

I will try the battery now but can only power from 12V at home. 2 be able to run battery conditioning i get to have the unit booted up and go into options once the software is running iirc......

Mark

 

Hi Mark,

Here's the Ford WDS installation guide, if it's of any help.

 

Thanks V12AM - i found that last night just before i read your post on the hdd for the WDS by searching for *.pdf - much appreciated!

I got WDS 2 working with just a new battery - seems windows must have a command on start up to check the batt and if it fails then it just wont load!!!! - one to remember!!!!!

WDS 3 according to the install guide has -

Diagnostic LED (E)

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=2][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=2]

This RED lamp illuminates to indicate that the PTU has a fault. If this lamp flashes or illuminates, refer to the

Troubleshooting section.

This is flashing and in the troubleshooting section it says call ford technical - who now dont help us any more but before i go any further i will try the new battery in the other 2 but WDS 2's HDD needed formatting so its running on WDS 3's at the moment with the new batt.

 

Hi Mark,

Glad to see that you are making some progress.

Any chance of some pictures on the strip down procedure and of the PTU internals. I may be of some help in the future.

Thanks.

 

Motorcarman, I have some disc's to trade that came with my Ford WDS 3500. I'm looking for WDS A6, WDS B43, and WDS C5 disc 1 & 2. Some that I have that may or many not work with the system are Jaguar CD40 & CD43, NGS+ V - 27, Volvo VSTG 2006 and a bunch of earlier WDS discs (too many to list). Hoping you can help me out to upgrade to the latest. Let me know if any of you guys can help.

I have a hardware device/tool to make an exact copy of any hard drive. It comes in handly with systems that use a special formatted drive. Kinda curious if I should buy a new drive and clone it for my WDS for a backup. Special format or just Windows 98 with the updates applied? Are the WDS hardware drivers standard plug and play in Windows 98? Maybe installed on the drive at the factory?

 

The only good way to clone (or GHOST) a drive would be to get a new install with printer drivers etc. and then copy it.

You might even want to defrag the drive before it is copied to get it as clean as possible.

If you need to copy the 'sessions' in the log you could just put them on a 'floppy' in the docking station and save them to a CD-R on another computer burner or a USB flash drive etc.

Jaguar B43 will not work without 42a installed first.
I would install CD2 (GHOST) and then 42a and then 43 (in that order) to have the latest version of the Jaguar software.

When the GHOST disc is installed (Jaguar CD2 or Ford A-6) the WDS docking station (and PTU) needs to have the original hardware installed. If you add a network card or some other PCI card the software will start looking for drivers for the 'alien' hardware.

All the drivers are there for the original configuration.

You can (and should) install some additional RAM to the PTU and that will not affect the software installation.

The original software for the WDS is Windows 98 (not Windows 98SE) so you can install 98SE upgrade if you want. I did upgrade to 98SE on one of my drives to see if it would work and it does.

bob gauff

 

Bob I'm looking to trade some discs for WDS A6, WDS B43, and WDS C5 disc 1 & 2 or get copies. Can you help me out?
I checked online last night and found a replacement drive. Think I'll pull the original one out and try a clean install with a new one. You suggest getting more ram. What configuration or model will work in the WDS? I've opened the unit. Thinking of replacing the battery while I'm at it.

 

There are different GENRAD threads on the General Tech forums (3 I think)
There are discussions about PC66 128MB RAM giving you a total 160MB.
This is what I am running in my PTU.

I have the Copies of Jaguar and Ford.

You don't have enough posts to send/receive Private Messages.

bob gauff

 

Cool. I'll work on getting that ability activated. Someone wanted pictures of the inside of the unit. I suppose I could post them once I take some photos. I'm thinking of replacing the internal battery. I find it hard to believe that they have it hardwired in. Looks like I have to cut it out and solder a new one in place. Thinking of hot melt glue to board.

 

The Battery pack unplugs from the PTU unless someone has 'modified' it.

The case needs to be opened/split to add RAM.

bob gauff

 

hi guys - i still have 2 dead WDS's (after getting the one working out of the 3) but im in the process of moving house so they are on the back burner..... I will take some pic 4 u all to see as to how to get them apart etc when i get chance to again.........

mark

 

I'll take some pic's tomorrow. Yea adding ram is a piece of cake. The battery looks like you have to remove another board and do some soldering to it. Not hard to get it apart. The trick is getting it back together on the pins. Slightly tickie but not bad. I'll try to my best how to.

 

Ok, I took pictures but how do I post them? Also how do I get an account to send and receive mail from you guys?

 

Inside of PTU. Notice the battery and the header lower right.

 

This is a picture of the header that connects the top and bottom half of the PTU.

 

I plug the header into the bottom half as it makes it easier to put back together.

Basically the case is held together by 4 screws that you'll find under the four rubber ends. This header connects the two boards together.

 

I'll do my best.

1) Remove the four rubber corners. This will expose two screws on the bottom edge.
2) Removed those two screws from case.
3) There are two other screws on the back near the top. You'll see them near the screws that hold the back bracket on. Remove them.
4) Remove the three screws that are on the back underneath the back bracket. Then open it up.
5) You'll see a hard drive and the batteries. You'll have to unplug those.
6) Then pry the case open slowly.
7) Once free remove the bottom half.
8) Now you can replace the internal battery and add ram.
9) Use my tips above for the header and reverse procedure for putting it back together.
I have more pictures if you have any questions or want to see more.

 

Did you guys know about this link? Very cool.
Ford WDS Training

 

hello everybody ,and thank you for sharing
now my turn to share
i have got a wds unit of ebay was a hertz machine
i have intsalled the ptu on the docking and pushed the green button
the application stop at the windows 98 screen and will not boot
i reatarted the system (holding red button and press the green turns off ,and again press green) i pressed external keyboard f10 and started it in safe mode.
pressed shell gds icon and got error
next i pressed battman exe icon got the wds preference ,without diagnostic (car tab on top)
try to test the battery by peeling the shrink sleeve at the and of one cell ,the reading was 0.7v
were can i buy a battery pack or cells , i know the there is an electronic pcb attached ,can i connect it to diferent pack
thank you all
yigal nissan

 

Hi , i have now got three WDS PTU units and two docking stations. The first docing station had a blown up power supply as it was switched to 110v and 230 volt switched on . This when bang and and that was when i got the system. I spent a long time repairing the power supply and could not get passed the psu just giving a short kick at switch on and then dead. I got another docking unit and dismantled the working psu and have now found the fault with the faulty one. I will now be rebuilding the docking stations ready for working on the PTU software faults. The last PTU i got looks like the battery charges and the WDS FORD software works but the other two PTU will not get passed windows . I an looking for a kind member that may be able to help me with the JAGUAR software for this system as when i get two working i would like to have FORD on one and JAGUAR on the other ptu. I will need to rebuild the battery packs and will also be looking for replacement cells for these packs on the net.

I wonder if it is possibe to copy and hard drive as a spare from my working ptu ?

So if any one has a faulty docking station power supply i am now able to repair them if required.
Please let me know if you can help with the jaguar software