PC Tech issues - 1934 IEEE firewire port

[Polak76]

Greetings all.

Thought I'd post this here as there are so many PC gurus on Layo.

Anway as the story goes you have a baby, buy a video camera, film the baby and try to download the pics through DV firwire and 'BING! Houstan, we have a problem'.

Now the weird thing is that the first time I plugged it in everything went sweet.  immediately windows XP Home picked up the device and automatically started rewinding and captured the tape.

Then a month later i wanted to do it again but failed as windows failed to recognise a connection between the PC and Video Camera.  The odd thing here is that the VidCamera says DV In yet the PC says otherwise.

So here I began a journey trying to fix it.  All my drivers are up to date.  My firewire is on an Asus Premium motherboard (can't quite remember the model) and I've got all the right software for capturing.  The main issue is that none of the software can pick up the VidCamera.

LAstly just to throw a curve ball, if i uninstall the 1394 Firewire connection form device Manager, plug in the Video Camera, nothing happens.  Then if I unplug the Firewire Cable i get the typical sound of a plugin and the port reappears....very odd.

Anyway if anyone has had similar issues please let me know.  I was close to testing the impact strength of my Video Camera versus a gyprock wall with the amount of frustration it has costed me.

Cheers,
Polak76

[Tanman]

Polak76,
Unplug your Firewire cable fromyour video cam to the computer.

Before you start, make a restore point of windows. Start--->All Programs-->Accessories-->Sytem tools-->System Restore..Go through the wizards and when then choose "create a restore point" when it asks for it.

Then navigate your way to the device manager (right click on My Computer--->Properties-->Hardware--->Device Manager>...see if the Firewire is there....and uninstall it..
Then replug the cable and see what happens.

[Polak76]

Polak76,
Unplug your Firewire cable fromyour video cam to the computer.

Before you start, make a restore point of windows. Start--->All Programs-->Accessories-->Sytem tools-->System Restore..Go through the wizards and when then choose "create a restore point" when it asks for it.

Then navigate your way to the device manager (right click on My Computer--->Properties-->Hardware--->Device Manager>...see if the Firewire is there....and uninstall it..
Then replug the cable and see what happens.

Will try it tonight.

Cheers,
Polak76

[Polak76]

Polak76,
Unplug your Firewire cable fromyour video cam to the computer.

Before you start, make a restore point of windows. Start--->All Programs-->Accessories-->Sytem tools-->System Restore..Go through the wizards and when then choose "create a restore point" when it asks for it.

Then navigate your way to the device manager (right click on My Computer--->Properties-->Hardware--->Device Manager>...see if the Firewire is there....and uninstall it..
Then replug the cable and see what happens.

Same thing happened as i mentioned before:

LAstly just to throw a curve ball, if i uninstall the 1394 Firewire connection form device Manager, plug in the Video Camera, nothing happens. Then if I unplug the Firewire Cable i get the typical sound of a plugin and the port reappears....very odd.

No success.

It is almost as if plugging the firewire in disables the port somehow.

[Tanman]

What about checking the resources of this device under  the device manager to see if there are any conflicts....is it possible to change the resource settings on the firewire?

[Nyralotep]

What happened to the PC between when you first used the camera and last used the camera?  Any updates run?  It's entirely possible there could be some sort of driver conflict.

[ycleption]

It could be something as simple as the default drive name being used... have you added any hardware in the time between trying the thing the first time? Or do you have a flashdrive or something plugged in that may be using the drive letter name?

[bytor]

A couple of random thoughts:
  - You ruled out the cable? (tried another cable, tried that one with different device if possible, etc.)
  - Firewire port(s) is/are listed in Device manager? (also check IRQs for possible conflicts)
  - Check the event log; there's a slight chance it might contain some useful clue...
  - A friend of mine had a similar problem, but since you said you have everything up-to date, this probably isn't related... (still, you might want to check you have applied this, this and this; it did the trick for us, even though as far as I'm concerned, it might've as well been full moon...)
  - What camera is that? (if you don't mind me asking)

[Polak76]

What happened to the PC between when you first used the camera and last used the camera? Any updates run? It's entirely possible there could be some sort of driver conflict.

I thought about this but the only downloads would be windows automatic updates.

It could be something as simple as the default drive name being used... have you added any hardware in the time between trying the thing the first time? Or do you have a flashdrive or something plugged in that may be using the drive letter name?

No to all.

- You ruled out the cable? (tried another cable, tried that one with different device if possible, etc.)

Now i haven't tried this yet.  I didn't think it would make a difference as the device states i'm locked in.  Perhaps it's worth wasting $20.00 to try or even better it might be the simple cheap fix

Firewire port(s) is/are listed in Device manager? (also check IRQs for possible conflicts)

 Haven't tried this either.  I'll definately have a look.

What camera is that? (if you don't mind me asking)

Canon MVi series.

[Polak76]

A couple of random thoughts:
  - You ruled out the cable? (tried another cable, tried that one with different device if possible, etc.)
  - Firewire port(s) is/are listed in Device manager? (also check IRQs for possible conflicts)
  - Check the event log; there's a slight chance it might contain some useful clue...
  - A friend of mine had a similar problem, but since you said you have everything up-to date, this probably isn't related... (still, you might want to check you have applied this, this and this; it did the trick for us, even though as far as I'm concerned, it might've as well been full moon...)
  - What camera is that? (if you don't mind me asking)

I applied all the windows files, held my breath as i restarted the PC and plugged it in but alas no success.  I'm going to use a PC from a friend of mine tonight as a control experiment.

Cheers all.

Polak76