camcorder not recognized through firewire

[Nien]

OK. I've had enough!!!

If I can't find a solution to this problem I'm going to drown myself in Bill Gates' pool!

In short, my Panasonic DV camera worked fine on my PC with XP and SP1.
I now have a Sony Vaio laptop, also running XP but with SP2 loaded. Now the camera isn't detected. I've installed hotfixes, uninstalled SP2, formatted, reverted to factory settings, camera not detected, reinstalled SP2. STILL NO JOY!!!

Does anyone have a solution? If not my hardware is going to find itself neatly inserted into a microsoft help desk employee's orifice!

[Nien]

Oh and by the way...

Speedy, that link looks promising. I only wish I could get through the Microsoft validation process

[MJS]

I've not been able to duplicate the problem, so I can't help fix it. Everyone I know that has upgraded to SP2 is doing just fine with their cameras.

Sorry about that.

[Nien]

I found the solution!!!!!

Assuming you have service pack 2 installed ...

Go to your control panel. Select the "security center" icon. Turn your windows firewall OFF.

Try connecting your camera now. TA DA!!!!

Hope this solves everyone's problem. It took me four days to figure this out.

[MJS]

Windows was treating your firewire connection like a network connection and automatically firewalled itself when you installed the service pack. You can fix the problem on the firewire connection only by going to Start/Control panel/Network connections and then right clicking on the firewire, 1394 connection. Then left click on properties, the advanced tab and uncheck the protect my computer button. That will take the firewall off of just the firewire if you want to keep your network connection safe.

Great job finding the problem. Good luck with the rest of it.

[chrisboarder]

Hi, first post for me. I posted on some skate filming sites...those people had no clue about all this stuff. I read the whole thing and...still have a problem. I'm running Xp home edt. trying to import with Premiere Pro, and the ZR50MC is (not) the camera of choice. It's not even my camera. Anyways.

"DV IN" is flashing...i assume that is abnormal since it only started flashing after i pushed on the brand new Firewire cable that i bought today.

When i go to the Security Center it says the firewall is on and cannot turn it off from here. When I go to Network Connections and left click 1394. It says the firewall is disconnected. This confuses me to say the least.

anyways, this is not fun, I have to give the camera back tommorrow and if I dont get the footage captured then it seems like I'm gonna have to use ethier Imovie or Windows Movie Maker. Blech...no thanks. So any help would be appreciated ASAP.

Oh yeah, I tried to copy the footage to the Memory Card, and it went through all the steps, and when I went to save the files the video files are not there.

[MJS]

I realize that this is probable too late, but was the camcorder being recognized by Windows? Once you have properly connected and let Windows load the drivers, you should be able to see the Camera under my computer. If this is not happening, your camera is not being seen by your PC. Make sure that you have run all updates, un firewall the firewire, reboot the machine and try again. You could always try the canon web-site to see if there have been any similar problems.

Good luck,

[philter]

I have been suffering with this problem too - after installing SP2 camcorder + PC just will NOT play!!!
Apparently IT IS a Microsoft issue - basically they have tightened up drivers to meet IEEE 1394 specs more closely - so drivers no longer recognise many devices as being FIREWIRE devices at all.
Anyway after trying many 'Fixes' to no avail - I found this set of instructions and BINGO my Panasonic NV-GX7 is working fine now - no problems at all!!
Hope this helps you and if you can spread the word (link) as there seems to be a lot of people struggling with this problem. Why Microshaft have not addressed this issue is totally beyond me, Christ! - they've had long enough to sort it!!!!

http://www.rme-audio.de/english/techinfo/fw800sp2.htm

Philter

[fretter]

I have another fix to offer - try re-applying SP2.

Everything worked fine before I installed SP2.

I've been struggling with this problem for a week now with a cheapo firewire card based on the VIA chipset, which was recognised fine by Windows but I could not see my Panasonic or Hitachi video cameras. I tried all the things that other folks have suggested in this and other forums to no avail. e.g. Rollback to XP-SP1 drivers, resetting registry entries, restoring original 1394.inf etc and the only thing I didn't try was re-installing Windows from scratch as I could not see that being any different as I would still have to install SP2.

I then bought a new (more expensive) firewire card based on the Texas chipset and it too was recognised but I could not get my camera to be recognised.

In desperation I decided to see if re-applying SP2 in case any subsequent Windows updates or other installations I've done may have damaged something crucial. To my surprise, it worked!

So, if you have already applied SP2, try re-applying it.

Kind regards
Paul Fretter

[tommygun]

thanks guys, I would have never thought of that myself, as I had windows firewall turned OFF, yet it was still blocking the IEEE 1394 (firewire) connection !

I am posting a pic to help anyone else having the same trouble

You need to uncheck this option to get firewire working again.

Damn you MS with your silly updates changing our settings without us knowing about it.

[Peter Vince]

I had this same problem with xp sp1 and can't get a handle on it. Any suggestions . . .

Camera says dv in
control panel says firewire port working
but
no capture in either premiere elements 6.5. or pro 1.5 or movie maker or windv

other forums say it's a fried connector on the camera. I'm a high school vid prod teacher working with sony trv 19, hc30, hc 85 vx2100 and panasonic gs33 cameras on 8 different work stations--xp and 2000 -- swapped out cables, swapped out pci firewire cards, switched slots in the computer--or all my cameras fried?????????

thanks for any help

[krn_2k]

Hello,
I have the exact same problem as Graham described in detail (reproduced below):

Turn OFF DV camera and windows signals new device detected "bong": and the
"1394 net adapter" is added to network connections. While camera is ON during boot then
"1394 net adapter" does not detect/start - but neither does the camera.

Ruled out cables, camera and general hardware problems.
Closest possible solution seems to be "Windows XP -- 1394 Net Adapter interferes with existing network setup.":
http://ask.adaptec.com/cgi-bin/adapt...Z2U9MQ**&p_li=

and similar threads:
http://www.rme-audio.de/english/tech...sp2.htm#update

but they do not work despite describing the problem well. Also opened up 1394 in windows firewall (even though it is turned off) as suggested by tommygun above.

Hardware: Asus P5B Deluxe motherboards onboard 1394a Firewire.
Panasonic NV-GS5 camcorder.

although this problem has been described with a lot of other manufacturers hardware
combinations, so it does not look specific to any makes/models.

Windows XP Pro SP2 - could be the culprit. All hotfixes that could possible be applied have
been without success (and removed again after they made no difference).

The really strange part is that the setup works on same machine if I plug the Camcorder into
1394a port that is located ON the motherboard. But when I plug it into the 1394a port exposed
via the back panel of the motherboard then it does not work with "1394 net adaptor" behavior
described. For reasons too long to go into, I cannot just step around this problem by using the
system from the internal motherboard 1394a socket (it will be needed for something else and out of
daily use reach anyway).

Any suggestions or pointers more than welcome for this seemingly common problem without solution!

Thanks,

Keith.

Graham Triggs Wrote:
> One observation I have made which may give you a clue
> ( but means nothing to a relative layman like me) is the following...

> I've been experimenting with both cameras attached, each to a separate
> firewire card, one on my Audigy and one on my new Belkin. If I boot up the
> PC with the cameras turned ON and connected nothing happens, the PC boots
> normally, no devices are detected and usual error message in WMM.
>
> If I then turn off a camera there is a "BONG" as if something has been removed
> and a "1394 net adaptor" appears in the device manager that wasn't previously
> there. If I then turn off the second camera there's another "BONG" and another"
> 1394 net adaptor" appears. One is #2 and the other #3. Turning the cameras
> back on has no effect at this point
>
> If I boot the PC with the cameras turned OFF these two net adaptors are
> already showing in the device manager. Once again turning the cameras
> on has no effect.

[kkolbo]

other forums say it's a fried connector on the camera. I'm a high school vid prod teacher working with sony trv 19, hc30, hc 85 vx2100 and panasonic gs33 cameras on 8 different work stations--xp and 2000 -- swapped out cables, swapped out pci firewire cards, switched slots in the computer--or all my cameras fried?????????

thanks for any help

Did all the cameras stop at once or one by one? Did you change anything in the computers before they failed? Are you computers connected to a network where they might have received an update remotely?

Letting students plug and unplug firewire devices is very risky. The 6 pin side can be inserted backwards with a little pressure reversing the polarity of the power and cooking the device on the other end. I lost five tape decks this year to that. I am having them repaired, adding two more and putting firewire switches in to share the decks between two dedicated stations to prevent the problem again. The decks failed one by one over a two week period before I figured out that the plug was in reversed each time I found one dead.

That is why I am asking if they just all magically stopped on the same day or failed in quick succession. I would either bring in a known working camera and try it on a station, or take a camera home to station that you know connects with another device to see if you can eliminate one cause. You have to have one confirmed working item to trouble shoot a system.

[kenski]

Hello,
Its my first post.I have exactly the same problem with my Canon ZR25MC camcorder. My pc ( XP OS SP2) could not recognize my cam through the IEEE 1394 Firewire adapter. I am trying to find solution to the problem.
Thanks for any help.

[skangadang]

I didn't read every post, but I just fixed my issue regarding my computer not recognizing my camera. I use a Power Man G-4. and the software supplied is only for PCs. The supplied USB doesn't work with Macs.......I had to go firewire. Still, no camera icon popped up. So I opened iMovie, and there she was, plain as day.

If you are using a Mac and a firewire, try opening iMovie, and it should show up.

[rolierop]

Today I discoverd my Sony Digital wasn't recognised by my computer. A few months ago it was working just fine.
After reading in this forum I tried several things, but ......

My pci Firewire card is installed correctly. I can see it in system, and no problems. Device is working properly.
After trying that firewall stuff I discoverd my firewire isn't in my network at all! Only LAN, wireless and bluetooth. No IEEE

I can't find it anywhere and my guess is that that's the reason my computer can't find my camera. It seems my system isn't able to find or activate the installed firewire hardware??

Please help!

[Dasm2000]

I've just had the same problem...
I've read as many posts as possible on this topic on various fora but havent found a satisfying answer. I still have to find a sp1.cab for the retrieval of the ohci files and try that fix. In the meantime, i found a different temporary solution that i have used for several times now and does the trick everytime!

When my camera stopped being recognised, i removed the firewire cable and i shut down the IEEE1394 interfaces in the device manager. Next i switched them back on and replugged my cam. Untill now, he gets recognized on the fly everytime...

Not the cleanest solution but it satisfies my current needs...

Hope this procedure helps others to overcome this irritating driver bug...

Greetz from digital videoland...

Me

[lagoausente]

Hello, I have problems with my DV Canon DV800.
Have Thinkpad T40. SP1 installed.
A cardbus-pcmcia adapter with Texas instruments chipset.

The camera and the carbus adapter works ok in a Dell at my work that has SP2, but in my T40 can´t capture nothing, with no app. Can recognize the camera but no data captured, even with Sp1.
Drivers are ok in device manager, camera slowly detected, but detected, 0 frames captured.

Have searched and researched, the only thing I have found was about disabling a option in Bios, what have done but didn´t work either, so don´t know what more to do, unless recored my movies in the Dell at work...

Any idea?

[Skyman]

what video editing app do you use? the camera doesn't show up as a device when in capture mode with this app does it? I am assuming you are using the firewire connection to capture the video? the only other thing I can think of would be if your computer was older then the disk drives and or bus speed may not be fast enough, but i really doubt this.

[mjs1973]

My turn. I'm having a similar problem, only it's not with Firewire. I have a Panasonic PV-GS15. We have had the camera for almost 5 years now. When we first got it I can remember hooking it up to my laptop and downloading video from the tape to my PC (XP). My laptop does not have a Firewire port on it so I know that's not how I connected it to the PS. I have more video I want to download and edit but I can't seem to figure out how to do it.

When I hook the camera to a PC using a USB cable it recognizes the camera, but only what's on the SD card, and not the video. There is an I DV jack on the camera, but from what I have found, the other end of that cable would be a Firewire plug and since I don't have a place on my laptop to plug it in, I know that's not what I used before. There is also a plug on the camera for AV out but since my laptop doesn't have AV jacks on it, I know I didn't use those either.

The only other option I have left is S-video. Both the camera and the laptop have S-video jacks so I'm assuming I must have used those. I couldn't fine an S-video cable so I bought a new one. Now when I hook the camera up to the PC, nothing happens. I have tried this on both an XP and a Vista machine. Any suggestions as to what to do, or what software to use to try to download the video? (Somewhere along the line we lost the software CD that came with the camera.)

[Skyman]

what program are you using to capture the video? if you set the camera to playback mode and your capture/editing software to capture from the analogue source (s-video) you should see what the camera is playing back. you might need to specify that you are using an analogue source though, most editing apps will look for a digital source first, so it could be trying to capture through a usb device or something.

[mjs1973]

what program are you using to capture the video?

This is the key question. I no longer have the original program that came with the camera so I was trying to use Windows Movie Maker. Can you suggest a program that I could download and try (preferably free). I do have PS CS4 Extended. I know the extended version has some video editing features, but I don't know if I can use it to import video from an analog source.

Dealing with video from the G9 is so much easier!

[Skyman]

the idea that a gold or other more expensive hdmi cable is better than cheaper cables is a myth perpetuated by people who don't understand the difference between an analogue signal and a digital signal. with an analogue signal the quality of a cable matters as the signal will weaken more through a lower quality cable than a higher quality cable. This still happens to a digital signal however since it is sending 0's and 1's rather than a waveform as long as at the other end of the cable you can still determine the difference between a 0 or a 1 no matter how weak the signal, the quality will be unaffected. So as long as the signal gets through it doesn't matter about the cable quality. If the signal doesn't get through then the cable is faulty. There is a grey area where the amount of degredation effects the quality (if the odd 0 or 1 is corrupted or not sent it probably won't matter but as this become the norm it does) Theoretically a higher quality cable is less likely to be in this grey zone but it can happen. The other thing is that with a longer cable the signal degrades more, so for cables longer than say 5 meters I would be buying the best I can afford but for cables shorter than 3 meters it really doesn't matter. It is a great way for Hi Fi sellers to make money though. Typically the margins on big priced items such as tv's and surround sound systems are low, but the margins on accessories like cables are much much higher. Often a salesman will be able to offer you a "discount" on a package that includes the "higher quality cable that you really need" where all they are really doing is discounting a cable they already make a lot of money on and you really don't need to buy.

[samgood]

Having faced a similar tech-related issue recently, I can empathize with the frustration of dealing with camcorder connectivity problems. In such situations, it's beneficial to reach out to Sling TV customer service . They have a track record of providing helpful assistance with various technical issues. Hopefully, contacting their support can help resolve the firewire problem and get your camcorder recognized.