miniDV with Firewire not working

[Deux_Vega]

Hi All,

I've been reading a lot to fix my problem, but they all somehow skip the fase i have problems with, so here's my question / problem:

I've connected my HandyCam to my computer using Firewire, but Premier and Cyberlink Director doesn't recognize it. I've tried it with USB first and that worked, but the quality sucks bigtime, so i really need the firewire link.

I have a firewire port but it doesn't seem to work.

Do i need a special Capture card with FireWire or something?

Please, anyone out there who can help me out?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
DV

[aedipuss]

no easy way to test a firewire port. try a different cable. try the cam on someone's computer with a known good firewire port. the easiest software to use is windv, it's small and loads fast. turn on cam, plug in cable, run windv. if everything's working windv will find the cam.

good luck

[opalbug]

power up the camera before you boot windows, so that the os can load your "imaging device".

you should also disable the 1394 net adapter listed under network adapters in your device manager.

hope that helps

[JimBennett]

I am having issues also although my cam is detected ok and have a 1394 network adapter listed in network devices. I tried to disable it (right click/disable) and nothing happens for some reason. Could this cause audio issues, thats my main problem right now.

[redwudz]

Most 1394A adapters are listed as networking devices, no problem there that I am aware of.

If your FireWire adapter is on the motherboard or on a sound card, there are some combinations that seem to be problematic. MBs with VIA chipsets seemed to be difficult to set up.

If you have either situation, you might try a add on PCI FireWire card. They are relatively inexpensive and seem to sometimes solve the problem. Most any OHCI Compliant card should work.

[edDV]

A comcorder test on a known good firewire computer will quickly confirm or remove the camcorder's guilt.

The other way is to test a known good camcorder on your computer.

If the computer appears to be at fault, first check to see if the camcorder shows in the scanners and cameras list under settings, control panel. Also see if WinDV picks it up. If neither sees it, DirectShow isn't seeing it.

Motherboard IEEE-1394 ports need the proper drivers to be installed. You can always test the hardware with Linux.