Firewire problem when trying to capture DV

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Devon Steve

New Member
Hi guys, hope someone can help, my equipment is as follows:-

Hewlett Packard Laptop running Vista Home Premium with Firewire port.
Sony DCRPC2E mini dv cam

Im trying to capture video from mini dv using a new firewire lead into my laptop. With windows moviemaker open I plug in the cam and turn it on to play but no option comes up as though its not seeing the cam. When I use the 'import video' my cam doesnt show. Nothing in explorer to say it is a drive. The only reference I can see to 1394 in the device manager is 'RIOH OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller. How can i check if the firewire slot is configured properly? Any help would be apprieciated as I thought it would be a plug and play job.:-(
 
You should still need to have some sort of drivers installed for this type of function I believe. Did you get a disc with the camera?
 
You will need to have your camera plugged in before you open Windows Movie Maker for it to be recognized properly. There are no special drivers you need in this situation.
 
Dont remember having a disc with the cam but did buy it about 8 years ago. Im sure I tried always of doing it all ways. Plugging in and powering up then turning on movie maker but nothing seems to work. Im sure a firewire port should be listed in the device manager but i can only see the 1394 controller. Is there a way of checking if the port is configuered/ recognised, working? If it should be in device manager where should it be and how can I re-install it?
 
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OK. Are you not seeing the camera under the input devices when you click "Capture from video device" link? That you are seeing the 1394 controller means that the your port is recognized and should be working.
 
Zatharus said:
OK. Are you not seeing the camera under the input devices when you click "Capture from video device" link? That you are seeing the 1394 controller means that the your port is recognized and should be working.
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In the "Capture from video device" link of windows movie maker there is nothing listed as it isnt seeing my camera. I am seeing the 1394 controller only listed in the device manager list. Hope this makes sence?
 
Devon Steve said:
In the "Capture from video device" link of windows movie maker there is nothing listed as it isnt seeing my camera. I am seeing the 1394 controller only listed in the device manager list. Hope this makes sence?
Click to expand...

Yes, that makes perfect sense. I just wanted to make sure that we were on the same page. :)

I am starting to think there may be an issue with either your camera's Firewire port or your computers. Do you happen to have a Firewire drive you can test on your computer's port?
 
No mate I dont, Ive never used the firewire port on the cam before so can only assume the cam port is ok. The only thing I can think of is that Ive deleted the port on my laptop somehow. Should the firewire drive be listed in the device manager somewhere as a port or something?
 
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Devon Steve said:
No mate I dont, Ive never used the firewire port on the cam before so can only assume the cam port is ok. The only thing I can think of is that Ive deleted the port on my laptop somehow. Should the firewire drive be listed in the device manager somewhere as a port or something?
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No, by Firewire drive, I was speaking of an external hard drive that you could plug in through the Firewire port. It won't show up as a device unless it is plugged in.

I just thought of something else worth looking into. On your camera, is there an item in any of the menus where you can enable/disable the Firewire port?
 
Zatharus said:
No, by Firewire drive, I was speaking of an external hard drive that you could plug in through the Firewire port. It won't show up as a device unless it is plugged in.

I just thought of something else worth looking into. On your camera, is there an item in any of the menus where you can enable/disable the Firewire port?
Click to expand...

Ah right, no mate I dont have any other firewire devices I can try on the port. I wondered whether there was anything on the cam menu but there is nothing. The nearest thing is an option for NTSC or PAL playback.

Just thought about trying it again and still nothing. I have read somewhere that when you plug in the first time, Vista should see it as a new device and install drivers. Also isnt the tape supposed to automatically rewind to the start when you plug it in?
 
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Devon Steve said:
Ah right, no mate I dont have any other firewire devices I can try on the port. I wondered whether there was anything on the cam menu but there is nothing. The nearest thing is an option for NTSC or PAL playback.

Just thought about trying it again and still nothing. I have read somewhere that when you plug in the first time, Vista should see it as a new device and install drivers. Also isnt the tape supposed to automatically rewind to the start when you plug it in?
Click to expand...

Hmmm... It may have to install some drivers. I'll do a little digging and see what I can come up with. It sounds like Windows is just not seeing your camera.
Has this worked in the past?
 
Zatharus said:
Hmmm... It may have to install some drivers. I'll do a little digging and see what I can come up with. It sounds like Windows is just not seeing your camera.
Has this worked in the past?
Click to expand...

Ive had the cam for about 8 years now and never tried connecting it to a pc till now. Ive never used the firewire port on the laptop either till now, so its a first for me all round. I read somewhere that there maybe a problem with windows updates un-installing the firewire port. If this is the case I dont know how I can re configure or re install the firewire port.
 
I've not heard of that before. Hmm... Well, since you are seeing the 1394 controller and port in the device manager instead of "unknown device", I would have to say that the driver for that port is installed and working.

I'll have to grab a camera and give it a go tonight. Either the camera is not working properly or we are missing something very simple. Do you hear the connect "bing" when you plug your camera into the computer?


Edit: Were you ever able to find a Vista driver on Sony's website? Or an XP one? You could try loading an XP driver if there isn't a Vista one.
 
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Zatharus said:
I've not heard of that before. Hmm... Well, since you are seeing the 1394 controller and port in the device manager instead of "unknown device", I would have to say that the driver for that port is installed and working.

I'll have to grab a camera and give it a go tonight. Either the camera is not working properly or we are missing something very simple. Do you hear the connect "bing" when you plug your camera into the computer?
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In device manager I only see '1394 controller' under 1394 bus host controllers but no actual 1394 port anywhere in the tree. I assume that 1394 port should be under network adapters? I have no 'bing' or notification that the cam is plugged in.
 
Thanks for your help thus far mate. Ill check on here tomorrow evening to see if youve had any further thoughts. Thanks again, Steve
 
My pleasure Steve.

I've put a call out for a loaner to try it on my Win7 machine here. In my experience, there really haven't been specific manufacturer drivers for DV over Firewire on the commercial level. I'm used to just plugging in the camera and it works - even on Windows. A couple months back I walked a colleague through the same process with a Hi-8 and MiniDV to transfer some of his home video footage. Honestly, you have me stumped. :)
 
I think my money is gonna be on the 1394 port missing from the device manager. Im sure i should have a 1394 controller AND a 1394 port listed seperately in the device manager tree. I think i will have to re install the port somehow. If the hardware is there but not installed then surely if I run the 'add new hardware' wizard it should see the 1394 port as not installed and automatically install it? Its a real wierd one I agree. I do know a bit about PC's but this is bugging me now lol. If the port has been knocked off due to some update then I think I will use system restore and go back a couple of months and see if I can find the point where the port goes missing.
 
Devon Steve said:
I think my money is gonna be on the 1394 port missing from the device manager. Im sure i should have a 1394 controller AND a 1394 port listed seperately in the device manager tree. I think i will have to re install the port somehow. If the hardware is there but not installed then surely if I run the 'add new hardware' wizard it should see the 1394 port as not installed and automatically install it? Its a real wierd one I agree. I do know a bit about PC's but this is bugging me now lol. If the port has been knocked off due to some update then I think I will use system restore and go back a couple of months and see if I can find the point where the port goes missing.
Click to expand...

You should should only see the bus controller listed under bus host controllers. You won't see a Firewire "port" listed per se, just the controller. In other words, in the device manager, you will see something like "Firewire Bus Host Controller". Expand that and you should then see something like "1394 AHCI compatible Firewire bus controller." Or something related. Take a look at the USB controller listing for a comparison. You see the USB hub/controllers listed and you should also see devices that are plugged in.

Now, when you plug the camera in, you should see it listed on (under) that Firewire bus. If you are not seeing that happen, then the laptop is not recognising that a device is attached. You can try this: right click the Firewire bus, select properties, then repair or re-install the driver from there.
 
Hi mate, kinda making headway on this. I used system restore to go back to a restore point from february. I checked device manager after doing so and saw there was a new 'unknown device' I right clicked and it said driver not installed so i reinstalled the driver which then made it show up as SPB2 complianent IEEE 1394 device. I thought 'great its gonna work now'. Tried it ten mins ago but still nothing when I plug cam in. So at last the laptop can see a firewire port which is working but still not seeing the cam :-(
 
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