No capture device found -- VideoStudio 5, DVIO, ...

[PictureLake]

I'm a newbie, but I've been doing a LOT of reading. I just bought a new miniDV camcorder (Sony TRV22), installed a generic firewire card (VIA chipset), connected them, turned the camcorder on, and tried:
o VideoStudio 5.0 (came with the card)
o scenalyzerLive (trial version)
o DVIO

The first two claim "no capture device found"; DVIO just disappears when I press "Capture Video from Camera".

I've tried this in Win 98SE, and Windows 2000. I've been concentrating on the latter for now. It's got Service Pack 3 installed. DirectX 8.1. The card shows up as being installed with no problems in Device Manager ("VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller"), using Microsoft drivers. I've tried moving the card to different slots, with no joy. I removed my analog capture card, so it's the only card in my system, other than my graphics card (Matrox G450).

Since the card, cable, and camera are all new, I can't rule out any of them as suspects. Does anyone have any ideas on what I might do or try? I've spent hours searching this forum and Usenet, but to no avail.

I've also just tried the card in another Win 2k box, with the same results. This Win2k box has SP1 installed, and DirectX 8.1, so perhaps it isn't a good test (I've read SP2 or higher should be used). But it's a different mobo & cpu, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Oh, well.

PLEASE help!

Thanks,

Ken (apologies; I posted this on the Newbie forum 5 hours ago, but after 0 replies, I felt it might be more appropriate for this forum)

[cerburus]

Howdy! Have you checked to see if your ASPI layer is installed/valid?
VidStu needs it to see the input device. Even if it (the ASPI) was installed properly before, installing new software can mess it up. I installed VOBInstant & Nero and one of them buggered the ASPI. If reinstalling the regular Layer doesn't work, find Force ASPI in the Tools section and try that. It worked for me. Also, if you like VidStu get Ver6 w/patches or Ver7.
Less trouble and better quality.
Have a Good One!

[PictureLake]

This might be a stupid question, but does ASPI even enter into the picture? The 1394 card is PCI, and my disk drives are working fine (I'm sure I'd know it if not!).

My problem might be even more basic. After more searching, I've found that when I turn my camcorder on, it should appear in Device Manager under "imaging devices". Even after doing a refresh, I never see "imaging devices", let alone my camcorder.

I'm beginning to suspect that either the 1394 card is defective, or there's some sort of incompatability with my motherboard.

And I thought I'd be able to just plug it in, and go.

Thanks for the suggestion,

Ken

[PictureLake]

One more piece of info that is apparently relevant:

The camcorder shows "DV IN" when connected to the card. That seems to indicate that there is some sort of working connection between the camcorder & the card, though I don't know whether or not that means all 3 (+cable) are ok, and it's a software problem.

[cerburus]

Hello again! Had to think on my original video setup a bit. First, let me say that I'm using Win98SE.
My input device (a Hollywood Bridge) did not show up in device manager. A little research turned up this update: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q242975. My Bridge was then recognized. I don't have a DV camcorder, so this is a guess, but the camcorder has recognized the connection at it's end without any valid function at the other end. I've seen this with other electronic equipment. As for the ASPI layer; Yes, it is needed (though at what level I can't say) for many functions. When my layer bit the dust, not only was VidStu unable to see the Bridge, it (as well as all the other video software) could not see my DVD-RW drive (driverless IDE Toshiba). Go through the ULead database and look for VidStu5's requirment for the 1394. There may be a entry for Win2000. And give Force ASPI a go.
Oddly, my regular ASPI check utility said it was OK. But, everything didn't start working again until Force ASPI was installed. Force comes with an easy backup feature in case you don't like it. Good Luck!

[PictureLake]

Hi, cerburus,

Thanks again for the reply. I ran out to Circut City and bought another firewire card, thinking that was an easy way to determine where the problem lies. They had a $50 rebate on Dazzle cards, so for $25, I figured, what have I got to lose.

As it turns out, the Dazzle card uses a TI chipset instead of a VIA chipset. Well, for me anyway, the TI chipset hangs when this problem occurs.

So, turn the camera on, the computer is frozen. Turn it off, and it works again. That actually made it easier to debug (though I doubt that was the intention!).

Bottom line: My Sony TRV22's firewire port is bad. If I jiggle the cable and hold it in just the right position, then it works great. As soon as I let go, bam, the computer is frozen again.

My first firewire card also works fine, once I hold the cable in the "correct" position.

So many different causes of the same problem. No wonder it's so hard to diagnose. Anyway, again, thanks for your help. Looks like the TRV22 is going back.

Ken

[vhelp]

hi picturelake..

sorry I'm a bit late on this.. just wanted to say I had the exact same thing
w/ my setup - - haning or shutting of my pc if i touched the DV cable.. even
slightly.

My device was the ADVC-100. And, the cord it came with, was flimzy, and
the head was a bit too small. I went out and purhased another cord, and
it had fitted VERY snuggly and tight.

So, it was the cable after all, and not my driver setup or device.

(stupid question) Did you ever replace your DV cord ?? ..instead of returning
your CAM ??

-vhelp

[PictureLake]

Hi, vhelp,

Hardly a stupid question at all. But, I actually did try it with 2 different cables. The one that came with my original firewire card, and the one that came with the Dazzle card. The cables were manufactured quite differently (i.e., they looked very different), and since they both gave identical results, I'm assuming it was the camcorder.

I'll be getting a replacement via Fedex in a few days, and hopefully it will work as expected. If not, the scream you hear ....

Thanks for your comments,

Ken

[vhelp]

@ PictureLake,

Well, please definately report back here, your findings.. success stories
or not (success, prefereably)

Good luck.
-vhelp

[PictureLake]

Success! The replacement TRV22 came today, and it works perfectly. Yes, I admit having a small amount of fear & doubt as I tried it for the first time. But I've plugged and unplugged the firewire cable a few times now, and everytime, it worked perfectly, immediately. So, it really, really was a bad firewire port on the TRV22.

Ken