Detecting my HD DVR (Cable TV) with 1394 / Firewire

[elister]

So I have a HD CableTV DVR box with a firewire output port on it and im trying to follow the HDJunkie guide.

http://hdjunkie.com/tutorials.html

Now when I plug in the firewire cable (6 pin to 6 pin) into my PC, nothing happens, Win2k doesnt detect anything. Checked device manager, 1394 is enabled and appears to be working fine. Ive used the port before with my DV camcorder, so I know it works.

Is it the cable box? Is there a setting I need to enable in the cable box options? Tried both ports, got nothing.

[MozartMan]

Win2k is not very good for 1394/Firewire. You should upgrade to WinXP.
My set up works like a charm: Comcast 3412 DVR and WinXP Pro SP2.
You can try this guide too: http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/dct6412/index.html

[elister]

Yeah I have that cable box (DHCT 3412) with Comcast. The firewire port in Win2k works fine, I can get it to detect my DV Camcorder, but for some reason it doesnt detect the box.

Whether I can get it installed properly or not, it should at least detect something, right?

[JohnnyMalaria]

Whether I can get it installed properly or not, it should at least detect something, right?

Alas, no.

Stand-alone DVD recorders with FireWire input are a good example. Even XP doesn't recognize many (if not most) of them. It depends upon whether the DV encoder/decoder chips in the unit send the right information to the computer to say "Hey, I'm a DV device!".

[elister]

Now for some reason the two AMD 32 bit machines I have simply do not like WinXP, it locks up upon first boot after the initial install so testing this out on those is not an option.

Went out and bought an OHCI 1394 card and slapped it into the AMD 64 machine which has WinXP SP2 installed. Booted up as normal, it detected the card and installed the proper drivers. Device manager shows its working fine, when I plug my DV camcorder into it, it detects it.

Plugged in the DVR, still nothing. WinXP does not detect anything.

[elister]

I went into the settings and confirmed the following ...

1394 I/O Device: INST.
Active Ports: 0
Data Xmission: No
SC Implementation: 0
Loop Status: No
Root Status: Yes
Cycle Master Status: Yes

[elister]

Upgraded to Windows Media Center, still nothing. WTF is going on?

[MozartMan]

I went into the settings and confirmed the following ...

1394 I/O Device: INST.
Active Ports: 0
Data Xmission: No
SC Implementation: 0
Loop Status: No
Root Status: Yes
Cycle Master Status: Yes

elister,

I think it looks like Firewire ports in your box are disabled because it says Active Ports: 0

There is a big thread on AVS forum dedicated to DHCT 3412 DVR. Post your settings here and you might get help.

Here is the link: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=604142

[elister]

Thanks for the link, ill follow up on the AVS forums.

[elister]

Swapped out the DVR at a local office, all is well. The box I got (at the install) had the Firewire ports disabled.