1394 port on PC not working

[Jone.T]

The 1394 ports on my PC motherboard is not working with my Panasonic NV-DS5. I know that the camera is and software is OK because I managed to capture by putting my old Audigy sound card back in (which has a 1394 port and badly distorted sound).
The host controller is listed as "VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller" and the driver is 5.1.2535.0 from Microsoft.

Is there anything I can do to make this work with my camera?
Is it likely that this port will work with other cameras?

I don't know if it has ever worked, because I have used the port on the Audigy until it broke down.

OS is Windows XP SP2

[MOVIEGEEK]

Reboot and enter the BIOS(Delete,F12,etc) and make sure the port is enabled,if it is then there must be something wrong with the drivers:
http://forums.dvdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=236815

[MJA]

try using windv and see if it works with your cam

[JaMaHa]

I have the same problem, it even seams that the DV camera damaged the FireWire cards I replaced.

A workaround solution is though more simple:
1. Right-click My Computer, click Properties, or System in the Control Panel, and then on the Device Manager tab, double-click your IEEE 1394 OHCI controller (this is usually located under 1394 Bus Controller.
2. On the Driver tab, click Update Driver.
3. Select the option: Specify the location of the driver (Advanced),
and then click Next.
4. Select the option: Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the correct driver,
and then click Next.
5. Reselect the OHCI driver that fits your hardware
and then click Next.
6. Finish the guide and you may get back the connection to your FireWire device.

This may help for a while, but somehow, capturing from Pinnacle Video Studio Plus 10.7, this problem occours after each capture.

So: This is A solution but not THE solution. I am still searching.

[JaMaHa]

I may now have found THE solution on faulty FireWire connections.

The problem may be some Faulty Programs (Like Pinacle VS+10) break down
while capturing and take the 1394 FireWire driver down too, not to be closed properly.
First time this happens you may not notice, but next times the DV camera is connected,
windows can´t start the right software driver while the old is still open.

On my system windows XPsp2 has tryed to open up to 5 different drivers.
Confused which one to use, result in lacking video stream and a close down after few minutes.

This solution cleared my system back to main stream:
1. Disconnect all DV- devices
2. Right-click My Computer, click Properties, or select System in the Control Panel
and select the Advanced Tab.
3. Click the Environment Variables button.
4. In the System Variables panel click the New button.
5. In the New System Variable dialog box type:
Variable Name: devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices
Variable Value: 1
6. Click the OK botton to close the New System Variable dialog box
7. Click the OK botton to close the Environment Variables dialog box
8. Click the OK botton to close the System Properties dialog box
9. Reopen System Properties
10. Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
11. In the Device Manager, go to the View menu and select Show Hidden Devices.
12. In the device tree Expand the various branches
(like 61883..... and AVC..... and ImageDevice..... )
and look for the washed out icons, which indicate unused device drivers.
13. Uninstall all unused items pressing Delete and Enter.
(This may solve faulty USB problems too)
14. Close the Device Manager
15. Reconnecting the device will reinstall the drivers
16. A system restart may not be nessery but will not hurt.

I hope this will solve your problem too.