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  1. Member zoobie's Avatar
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    You believe this crap?
    I think I've just blown my firewire port on my new HD cam by fumbling around in the dark.
    Then I put 'blown firewire port' in google and tons of pages come up like a bad rash.
    I definitely think this deserves mentioning in a sticky somewhere like I've seen at other sites.
    This seems to be a very common occurance in cams.
    I've got a warranty and stuff...but then, just to top this off, I just read where Sony doesn't cover this problem.
    This is unbelievable
    I'm having a mild coronary...
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  2. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    Sorry to hear about your problem. Is there a common reason that the ports are damaged? With a four pin connection there shouldn't be any power there.

    FireWire pinout and info: http://pinouts.ru/Slots/ieee1394_pinout.shtml

    Or is the problem from putting the connector in upside down? I don't have a camcorder, but I do have a ADVC-100, though it uses the full size FireWire ports.
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  3. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    zoobie - how did it break?? what happened if you don't mind....
    --
    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
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  4. Member zoobie's Avatar
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    It goes from 6 pin which has power to it to the 4 pin on the cam. Evidently, if the cam is on and the firewire isn't put in exactly straight, it shorts out the port on the cam. The cam still records but the firewire port is shot. This now makes it impossible to get HD out of the cam.

    For the past 2 months, it's all been about the computer but I built this thing for video editing which is just a distant memory. I'm calling Sony now but can't remember when I've been this pissed...
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  5. this really sucks...I've never heard anything like this

    usually firewire on cams is 4 pins...SONY sucks man...
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  6. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    zoobie it's probably not shorted. the 4 pin end of the cable has no power at all. it's only got the data lines. forcing the cable in crooked may have broken the f.w. socket off the circuit board as they are only soldered on with four tiny bits of tin - no mechanical screws or bolts.

    check to see if the socket wiggles at all, it shouldn't.
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    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
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  7. Member zoobie's Avatar
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    Now that it's daylight, I think i see what happened...

    In a dark room last night, I tried to insert the ieee into the component port which bent the pins on the male end of the 4 pin ieee. Maybe there's hope yet...Sony Style is closed on Labor day but maybe Radio Shack isn't.
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    For the future:

    The best thing to do is power off all equipment before powering it up. I know FireWire is supposed to be hot-plug but there's a risk of using an interface which carries power to peripherals in spite of what Apple may say.

    The next best thing to do is to use a 4-pin to 4-pin cable and then, if you have a Mac with the 6-pin port, use a 4-pin to 6-pin adapter. This adapter may be found with a quick google search.
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  9. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    AFAIK, the six pin to four pin cable doesn't have power on it at all. The cable should be a four wire cable with just the data wires. The six pin plug on the computer end shouldn't have the two power pins hooked to anything.

    I hope it is just a bent pin for zoobie's problem, but I'm still curious how others have damaged their camera FireWire ports?

    Static electricity?
    Shorting one of the data wires together or to the grounded case?
    Inserting the wrong cable end like a Mini USB?
    Inserting a FireWire plug upside down?
    A improperly wired computer FireWire socket?
    Or just bent pins?

    Knowing how it's caused would be a good prevention. FireWire is hot pluggable by design, so it shouldn't be that fragile.
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  10. Member
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    Originally Posted by redwudz
    AFAIK, the six pin to four pin cable doesn't have power on it at all. The cable should be a four wire cable with just the data wires. The six pin plug on the computer end shouldn't have the two power pins hooked to anything.

    I hope it is just a bent pin for zoobie's problem, but I'm still curious how others have damaged their camera FireWire ports?

    Static electricity?
    Shorting one of the data wires together or to the grounded case?
    Inserting the wrong cable end like a Mini USB?
    Inserting a FireWire plug upside down?
    A improperly wired computer FireWire socket?
    Or just bent pins?

    Knowing how it's caused would be a good prevention. FireWire is hot pluggable by design, so it shouldn't be that fragile.
    The key word is "shouldn't" but, unfortunately, I've seen many cases of blown firewire ports both on camcorders and computers. Apple once replaced my G4's motherboard when the FW chip started flaking out. I had to take a photo of the screen (in single-user mode) to show the tech the messages that were coming up when the OS couldn't communicate with the ports. Subsequently I added a few FireWire PCI cards (one had a 4-pin port as well as some 6-pin ports) and only used the motherboard FW ports for iMovie (which, at that time, only recognized the motherboard FW ports).

    I still would like to see a four-pin firewire port on my Mac (so there's no power even coming from that port!) but the four-pin to 6-pin adapter adds a bit of safety.

    Frankly, the only reason you need power from FireWire is if you have a device (usually a 2.5" hard drive) that needs power and doesn't provide its own with its own power adapter. Other then that, power over FireWire is worthless and dangerous.

    I've seen some PC's (notebooks and even some desktops) that have the 4-pin FireWire port as well as a 6-pin port.
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  11. Member 1st class
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    I blew the firewire port on my Panasonic DV camcorder. When I looked into the manual, there was a loose addendum sheet that said both the camera and the computer should be powered off before hooking up the cable. It was a real hassle to get Panasonic to repair. The repaired camera lasted about a month before the firewire blew again, and you can be sure I followed the instructions on the repaired camera. I replaced it with a Sony, thinking it would not behave the same, so I am not delighted to see Sony's name in this thread.
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  12. Member zoobie's Avatar
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    I read this huge sticky warning peeps to turn everything off before connecting the FW. It's filled with horror stories.
    http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=64873&highlight=blown+firewire+port

    My box kept complaining it couldn't see the cam hopefully due to bent pins. I'll find out tomorrow if the port is blown. I see 4-6pin adapters and even whole cables on eBay for 80 cents up. I called Radio Shack...they wanted $42....
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  13. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    I've assembled several computers with front FireWire and USB 2.0 ports that both had power. I can tell you that not all case manufacturers use the right wiring on their front panel sockets. Twice, especially with USB 2.0, I have had to change the position of the connectors on the plug going to the motherboard. I recommend if you are building a computer and you are not sure that the USB and FireWire front sockets are wired correctly, Don't connect them.

    It can damage the USB/FireWire device and your motherboard. I should add this was with inexpensive cases. The major case manufacturers may be a little more careful.

    That said, the rear FireWire/USB jacks that are part of the motherboard or a add on board should always be correct. If not, someone owes you some money.

    I suppose also that a few '$1.98' FireWire cables could be wired wrong. A good reason to go for a little more expensive/name brand cable.

    I do have a ADVC-100 that uses FireWire, though it has the 4 pin non-powered cable and I have a couple of 2.5" external drives that can be powered from both USB and FireWire ports. One will run off the ports and the other needs external power or just sits there and clicks. I use an external power source for both, though.

    USB is capable of supplying about 500MA or 1/2AMP @ 5VDC per device. Any more load than that and the port should shut down, hopefully with no damage. More from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usb

    I found this note on Wikipedia about FireWire power that I find disturbing, especially about the voltage variations:
    The 6-pin powered connector adds power output to support external devices. Typically a device can pull about 7 to 8 watts from the port ; however, the voltage varies significantly from different devices.[11] Voltage is specified as unregulated and should nominally be about 25 Volts (range 24 to 30). Apple's implementation on laptops is typically related to battery power and can be as low as 9V and more likely about 12 Volts.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire

    I still would like to know the most common cause of FireWire port damage, though.
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  14. Member 1st class
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    My firewire port was on a PCI card, so I assume it was wired correctly. What really chafed me was the addendum that Panasonic put into their manual, warning about firewire shorting. Clearly, they knew there was a problem and they "addressed" it by sticking a pink sheet into the manual most people don't read instead of engineering a circuit that could anticipate voltage issues and withstand them.
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  15. Member
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    IEEE-1394 FireWire adapters at buyextras.com

    6-pin Female /4-pin Male Adapter C01_30E3-01300 $2.25
    6-pin Male to 4-pin Female Adapter 11-12-004 $2.25

    4-pin to 4-pin cable - $2.95
    http://buyextras.com/4fii13ca6fe.html

    This will help isolate the power away from your equipment if you can't buy a card with a 4-pin mini-FW port.
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