Capture hangs forever on both Windows boxes 95% of the time!

[ambushed19]

The idea with the camcorder is to connect it and see if you can capture from it properly (or even just see it in My Computer). You can either put it in camera mode and just point it at something or put a tape in it. If everything behaves then it makes it more likely that the Canopus is at fault. If you still get choppy/no capture then it suggests an issue with your computers. It does seem unlikely that both computers would have the same hardware issue. If you don't have 4-pin to 4-pin cable, you can use the computer's FireWire interface as a hub. Just connect both the Canopus and camcorder to the interface with 4-pin to 6-pin cables.

Try the driver uninstall (see my previous reply), too.

Oh, and another thing to try that will help test the Canopus is to connect it to your camcorder via FireWire with a 4-pin to 4-pin cable. Put the camcorder in tape mode and, if needed, set the FireWire to DV IN instead of DV OUT (this depends on the make/model). Attach the Canopus to your analog source as usual. The camcorder should receive the DV from the Canopus and you should see the video on the camcorder's display. If this works properly then your Canopus is most likely okay (though some problems only happen with computers and not camcorders since the latter tend to be better designed as far as complying to the DV/FireWire specifications is concerned).

Thanks, Johnny; I'm going to try those things now...

[ambushed19]

Aargh. Just my luck, my camcorder is a Sony HDR-UX5, which does not have a firewire connection! It's USB only...

*sigh*


I'll keep on pluggin' away at repairing my other XP boxes, I guess. I am eager to try any and all other suggestions...

[ambushed19]

I just thought of this: I could connect my laptop to my desktop via firewire, leaving the Canopus entirely out of it! That would allow me to determine if the Canopus is the problem.

But what would I do then? How do I direct output to the firewire interface on one of them so that I can try capturing on the other?

Still around tonight, Johnny?

[ambushed19]

OK, I found a prog named "WinDV" which allows output to firewire...

[ambushed19]

That didn't work. When I connected the two machines, Windows didn't recognize either was connected, so WinDV reported that the output device was "not found".

Is there anything else I can try to simulate a firewire capture card on one computer to provide a sort of capture test bed?

Now that I think on this, if this were readily possible, Johnny and/or others would have suggested it already, so it's probably going to be difficult if not impossible. But any suggestions will be appreciated...

[jagabo]

You can hook two computers together via firewire but I don't think you can do DV transfers that way. You can set up a network just like with ethernet. That would allow you to verify the ports are working.

http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2006/050106internet.html
http://lifehacker.com/software/networking/geek-to-live-fast-one-wire-network-ip-over-f...ire-173973.php

[JohnnyMalaria]

The FireWire networking only works with XP. It isn't supported in Vista so in your scenario it won't work.

Your camcorder isn't DV - it's AVCHD. Only DV and HDV camcorders use FireWire and tapes. So you still need to rule out the Canopus by using a different device if possible.

[jagabo]

The FireWire networking only works with XP. It isn't supported in Vista...

How convenient.

[SHS]

The FireWire networking only works with XP. It isn't supported in Vista so in your scenario it won't work.

Your camcorder isn't DV - it's AVCHD. Only DV and HDV camcorders use FireWire and tapes. So you still need to rule out the Canopus by using a different device if possible.

Johnny so what if it is AVCHD camcorder the Canopus ADVC-50 has analog input so that shouldn't make any diff there read his post after all he said it some time works he could just used USB2 port on the camcorder or copy the disc on PC.
Johnny ADVC-50 can be used in two way, one with front panel 5-1/4" drive bays which PCI card is mounting to bay and or the PCI card can be remove and be plug into PCI stol but card and this card has IEEE 1394 output on the board it self to be used as standalone internally device which is "little brother" to the ADVC-100.
I still say there hardware problem with device it self as in bad solder joint some where on the board or bad trace is in broken on the board which in turn cuaseing bad connection even know that device still loads the drivers so the problem some other circuit chip

[JohnnyMalaria]

The idea with the trying the camcorder is/was to connect another DV device to the Canopus to see if there is a problem. Since the camcorder isn't DV, it can't be connected to the Canopus via FireWire. What I meant was:

[Any analog source] ---> [ADVC-50] ---> [MiniDV Camcorder DV In]

This is the only way to take the PC(s) out of the equation.

[JohnnyMalaria]

The FireWire networking only works with XP. It isn't supported in Vista...

How convenient.

I know.

During the beta phase of Vista, developers noticed this oversight. Microsoft's rationale was that there was such little demand for TCP/IP over 1394 that they chose not to add it to Vista. I think it part it had to do with Vista deriving its codebase from Server/x64 which didn't have it. At the time, they were probably right but it was around that time that FireWire started to become a de facto component of new PCs. That other useful feature - previewing the DV video within My Computer/Explorer - also disappeared. It, too, was not a part of XP x64.

[ambushed19]

Hooray -- An adequate solution has been found!

I've finally finished repairing one of my other desktops (what a chore!) and have successfully installed Windows XP Pro SP3. The mobo is an Asus P5WDG2 WorkStation Pro, which comes with two onboard IEEE 1394 ports. All I installed on it was XP and all official MS updates, in order to avoid any potential corruption caused by installing third-party software (to me, it was this purity of installed software, rather than the third computer, that was the final clincher).

Alas, I saw the exact same problem on this third Windows computer!

As every respondent here has known full well all along, whether they made it explicit or not, my problem might well have turned out to be with the Canopus capture device. It was making that final determination that I needed so much help with, and I am extremely grateful for everyone's help!

But before surrendering finally and completely to the inevitable conclusion that the Canopus ADVC-50 has an intermittent, though very frequent, hardware fault, I tried one last gambit. Someone suggested earlier that since the Canopus ADVC-50 is actually a PCI card that comes removably packaged in a 5.25" drive bay container (powered in that configuration using an on-board 4-pin molex 5 + 12 volt connector), I should try removing the card from the case and plug it in directly to a PCI slot in my computer.

I could not do that in either of the two computers I had been using (one's a laptop and the other had only one PCI slot, which I needed for the firewire card), but now that I've got the third high-end desktop machine working again (which comes with two firewire chips on the mobo), and it had an open PCI slot, I did as suggested and inserted it directly.

I was disappointed at first since I expected XP Pro to recognize the Canopus card as a plug&pray device, but it didn't. I tried the Add New Hardware wizard also without luck.

I thought that was the last thing I could try, but just for the hell of it, I connected up the analog inputs and firewire output into the firewire front panel connector of the Asus workstation, and to my surprise, the capture device was recognized and the MovieMaker auto-play popup came up.

And it captured in DV mode perfectly! I could even pause and resume capturing, and the file played back perfectly, too!

But before I got my hopes up, I tried it again to see if this was just another 5% of the time it had been working all along, and, sure enough, it failed again with the same old symptoms.

Again, pretty much for the hell of it, I rebooted and tried it again. And lo (as only verbosely pretentious people like me would say), it worked perfectly again! I've now tried it a dozen times, and as long as I start capturing first thing after booting, it works every time!

I have just enough hardware debugging experience (I'm an embedded real-time and systems programmer) to posit the following as my working hypothesis: The Canopus will work correctly only after a fresh electrical initiation signal reaches it across the PCI bus. After the user stops capturing, the Canopus will not capture successfully again until after it receives a fresh PCI bus initialization signal.

For what it's worth, I tried several times over the last several months to see if the Canopus would work in its drive bay enclosure if I freshly applied power each time, and that didn't help. That's why I suspect the PCI bus signal is the secret.

So I now have an adequate solution, and I'm delighted I won't have to buy a new high-quality DV capture device!

Let me close by expressing my sincere thanks to all respondents. The support I've received here has been phenomenal! I posted my problem in a few different fora, but here's the only place I received such extensive help. VideoHelp.com delivers what it promises!

As for JohnnyMalaria in particular, who stuck with me through the whole mess, please accept a virtual six-pack in profound gratitude for your patience and assistance. If I ever get the opportunity to convert that into real beer, it would be my pleasure...

[jagabo]

As I understand it, the ADVC-50 fits in a PCI slot only to get power and as a convenient physical location. It's not a PCI device (which is why there is no plug-and-play recognition). Pictures I've seen show that it doesn't even have fingers on most of the PCI connector. You probably just have more, or cleaner, power at the PCI bus.

[JohnnyMalaria]

ambushed19 - you must be very relieved. Props to SHS for identifying the PCI option.

[ambushed19]

As I understand it, the ADVC-50 fits in a PCI slot only to get power and as a convenient physical location. It's not a PCI device (which is why there is no plug-and-play recognition). Pictures I've seen show that it doesn't even have fingers on most of the PCI connector. You probably just have more, or cleaner, power at the PCI bus.

Thanks, jagabo. That explains why XP's Plug-n-Play didn't recognize it as new hardware, because it's essentially just a passive load on the PCI bus.

But it seems to me it's got to be more than just additional and/or cleaner power from the PCI bus, since I can only capture once after each reboot. That's why it still seems to me that it has to do with the bus initialization signal that only arrives each time I power-up/boot. Just because the Canopus card is passive as far as sending signals out to the bus, that doesn't mean it doesn't it doesn't act on the init signal that comes in from the bus...

[ambushed19]

ambushed19 - you must be very relieved. Props to SHS for identifying the PCI option.

I'm very much relieved! In the present economy especially, the Depression-era adage of "make do, or do without" has renewed resonance.

Thanks again.



p.s.: Taking nothing away from SHS's valuable contributions here, the idea to remove the PCI card and install it directly first came from Malcolm Fowler on another board...