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  1. Guys have had my minidv for about 8 months and has worked perfectly up until a cpl months ago. Now most of the time I get "error device not found" when I hook it up to the firewire cable. I can sometimes wiggle the cable and it will finally start to work so I am guessing its not making a good connection even though it is firmly in there. Now what do you think, can a firewire cable go bad after about 8 months and the connectors become worn out or do you think the minidv firewire connectors have become worn out after 8 months. I guess I will order another cable I am just trying to get a heads up on which or what else it could be. If its the cable no big deal, but if it the minidv than I am going to FREAK OUT. My cam is a low end JVC, but still it has done exactly what I need it to do and to me its a very good cam. I just cant belive it would wear out that quick. (I pray it hasnt anyway)
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  2. Member daamon's Avatar
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    Hi capman21,

    Do some experimentation as best you can:

    1) Identify all the components in the chain: PC, firewire card or port in PC, firewire cable, port on DV cam.

    2) Change one of these at a time - maybe using a friends set up - until it works. That'll give you a very good idea as to what of yours is playing up.
    There is some corner of a foreign field that is forever England: Telstra Stadium, Sydney, 22/11/2003.

    Carpe diem.

    If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room.
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  3. Member
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    Ditto

    With no spare cable on hand I would take the cam and cable to a brick and mortar store and hook up to a demo PC. If it doesn't work, test out a new cable at the store. If it doesn't work, call JVC.

    I don't know if the cam settings could have disabled the firewire, I don't think so. I guess it is possible to disable it on the PC, unlikely but check it anyways.

    Not too long ago I had the same horror story, but after a PC restart and a few hour break away from the setup it just started working again. Don't know why, but it was a BIG relief!
    IS IT SUPPOSED TO SMOKE LIKE THAT?
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  4. Thanks fellows for the info. ZAPPER, like you said Thur. nite was working fine, but than tried it Fri. and wasnt working. Wiggled the cable for about a solid hour and started working, but than stopped about 10 mins later. Gets on my NERVES!!!! If, and I say if and I pray it isnt but if it is the minidv I wonder how much it would cost to repair.
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  5. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    the first thing i would do is stop jiggling the cable in the ports. if you haven't already, you may break the solder connections on the interior pc boards. most likely it will turn out to be a bad cable, so don't turn it into something more..... buy the best quality firewire cable you can find as it does make a difference with high speed transfer devices.
    --
    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
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  6. Member
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    aedipuss is right! A quick wiggle to check the connection and that's about all. I often give out the "Wiggle the wire" suggestion but I should qualify it with a "Not too hard or too much".

    I really have no clue What JVC would charge. $100 maybe? I got lucky enough to find a kind of local shop with a guy that will do just about anything for $30 an hour. $170 to replace my laptop screen, I could have kissed him on the lips!

    Good luck
    IS IT SUPPOSED TO SMOKE LIKE THAT?
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  7. Yeah, I think I am done with tinkering with the cable. Guess I will wait until the new one gets here. I took my startup disk and reinstalled the video drivers, but no luck either. Could I still possibly missing somekind of driver. I mean I am just trying whatever until I get that cable. When I first got this think all I did was install firewire card, hook up the minidv with the firewire cable and it worked perfect. And all this is on a win98 machine working perfect.
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  8. Member
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    Ya see, now you have more willpower than me. I would have been down to Wally world or BB or Circuit ctiy or CompUSA by now!
    IS IT SUPPOSED TO SMOKE LIKE THAT?
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  9. Lol, I dont know about the willpower. Its just have worried myself to death over what it could be, or worse that its the minidv. What you talking about going to Wally World for..to buy a new firewire cable? I rechecked the firewire card it claims all drivers are installed, and also put the card in another pc (one thats a piece of crap ie: turns off ever 2-5 mins) and in device manager it shows the card listed.
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  10. Member
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    Nah. I would test your cam and cable on another PC at the store. If your set up doesn't work, then test one of the stores new cables with your cam and the stores PC. Then if it still doesn't work it is time for the crying to start.

    I know that there have been a few post like this where folks were worried that it was the cam, but I think that most of them were resolved in the settings or the cable.

    Do you have any other firewire toys to check your PC with?

    I hate that they make the interface so dainty. I mean a full sized port would not take up too much room would it?
    IS IT SUPPOSED TO SMOKE LIKE THAT?
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  11. Man if I knew WalMart would let me do that I would have already left, but that is a good idea. But how can you still know if it is working or not by looking at the device manager and see if your minidv shows up? I am getting ready to oder another cable and try it. BTW, my card has 6 pins and minidv has 4, so I need a 6 to 4 cable...correct? If I get the cable and it still doest work im going to have to find someone with a firewire card to check and see if its that. If its not well than the crying you hear is from me. Nah, dont have any other firewire toys, and I agree with the full sized port idea.
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  12. Member
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    Ehhh, Wally world may not be the best choice. The one nearest to me doesn't have anything set up in the way of PCs to play with, another one about 15 miles away used to, but I haven't been there in quite some time. I have actually tested stuff at a Radio Shack and at Comp USA. But if you have a neighbor that would let you check things out on their PC that would be cool.

    You said that the cable wiggle had worked before, so I would figure that the cable was the culprit. You could possibly test it with a multimeter if you could actually get a probe small enough to do the job.

    I am just saying to test the cam with a new cable before you buy because the cables ain't all that cheap.
    IS IT SUPPOSED TO SMOKE LIKE THAT?
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  13. Yeah my local WalMart has nothing thats why I was wondering. I found a cable off of newegg for 5 bucks. Sure it may be made cheap, but hopefully it last long enough to find out if it is the cable. I hope you are right about the cable being the problem.
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