HVR-V1U and FireWire/Driver Issues... Help, Please?

[stevenhorr]

My brand new computer doesn't recognize my used Sony HVR-V1U pro camcorder. Just had a FireWire card installed on my new computer with Windows 7 on it. I have brand new Sony Home Studio software. My computer recognizes my old cheap canon camcorder, but not the HVR-V1U! I've adjusted all of my camera settings (according to manual instructions), tried turning the computer on first and the camera first. I can run my HVR-V1U to my old camcorder, no problem, so I assume it is a driver or compatibility issue. Sony says there is no driver for this camera. Tried IEEE 4pin to 4pin and 4pin to 6pin. Nothing works. The best I get is an error message saying that my computer failed to install or recognize the driver. Any idea what is going on here?

Thanks in advance!
Steve

[aedipuss]

are you talking about hdv or dvavi? or both?

[stevenhorr]

In this case, I just have some old MiniDV standard def. video that I am trying to digitize. Does that answer your question (I'm kind of just getting back into digital video after an 8 or so year hiatus, so I'm not sure if I did)? Anyway, the fact is that my computer (and my old laptop) doesn't even recognize the camera (under device manager, or via the software).

[aedipuss]

an hdv cam has to be put into the export dv mode. then turn on cam plug into computer and start windv. if it doesn't find the cam, start playing the tape and see if windv can find it then.

[turk690]

My brand new computer doesn't recognize my used Sony HVR-V1U pro camcorder. Just had a FireWire card installed on my new computer with Windows 7 on it. I have brand new Sony Home Studio software. My computer recognizes my old cheap canon camcorder, but not the HVR-V1U! I've adjusted all of my camera settings (according to manual instructions), tried turning the computer on first and the camera first. I can run my HVR-V1U to my old camcorder, no problem, so I assume it is a driver or compatibility issue....

Putting aside the HDV camcorder for now, does your new computer recognize the FireWire card you just installed to begin with? FireWire is a standard but according to my experience its implementation varies. For example, VIA-chipset FireWire cards seem OK with external FireWire HDDs but flaky with DV/HDV camcorders. The most consistent FireWire h/w IMHO are those with Texas Instruments chipsets. Windows 7 has built-in drivers for FireWire cards and if everything was successfully installed, under IEEE1394 Bus host controllers in device manager the particular card you installed should be listed after reboot. That card should an OHCI (open host controller interface) card, as opposed to UHCI (universal), for it, & your new PC, to recognize an attached DV camcorder.

[stevenhorr]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Yes, Turk, my computer recognizes that the IEEE1934 is there. It is a Texas Instruments chip set, it looks like, and it does say OHCI under device manager. Additionally, I was just able to capture some vid using my old canon miniDV, no problem. It just doesn't recognize my Sony HVR-V1U. Nothing. A couple of times, Windows looked like it was about to load it, and then it gives me some error thing saying "failed to install (or recognize) driver".

Not sure what else to try.

Thanks again, though.

[turk690]

Not sure what else to try.

We want to know if the problem (or limitation ...) is the camcorder, card, PC, windows 7, or something in between. Try these:
-Power off the computer & install the card in another PCI slot (or PCI-e if that).
-Turn the computer without the Sony connected. While either playing a prerecorded HDV tape set to HDV out, or in the HD camera mode, plug the Sony into the card. I use this technique to jolt Premiere into recognizing an NTSC Sony camcorder playing back a PAL tape (some Sony DV camcorders do play back PAL & NTSC without a hitch but capturing is another matter).
-You want the card to recognize an HDV device, but for now set up the Sony to just DV-out & see. Does the card see DV only?
-Is that card PCI or PCI-e? If PCI maybe you can put it back into the old PC to see if works & sees the HDV.
-Is that purely a FireWire card or a mix-n-match card with USBv2 or 3 thrown in? Flaky multi-interface cards abound.
-There is more than one FireWire flavor. Some camcorders DV & HDV have been known to balk at being connected to FireWire 800-capable cards for some reason, but work OK with conventional old FireWire 400-only cards; some work OK with XP but not 7, or vice-versa, & all the permutations in between.
-There are many DV & HDV capture programs out there freeware & otherwise. When they are not running, some HDV camcorders are not recognized by Windows. For example, the Canon HV30 is not seen in the current PC I use, except only when I open Cineform capture. Also, I have never encountered the HDV files as they are (MPEG-2 program streams), like I have for type-1 /2 DV *.avi files, but only as the converted VfW *.avi Cineform files. I like to think maybe some special MPEG-2 codec or *.dll has to be in place somewhere before camcorder gets recognized & HDV capture commences.
-DV camcorders connected via FireWire should be recognized as imaging devices. There may be 32/64 bit issues with that particular card & with that Sony as an imaging device (I assume you have Windows 7/64). There is an additional layer of control for HDV (for MPEG-2) on top of DV. It should be transparent but...
-The order of program installation is sometimes significant. For example, Nero is known to wreak havoc with registry settings if it's installed after some other programs that do some of the same things (capture, convert, etc). Was the Sony software installed before or after putting in that FireWire card?
-Some DV & HDV camcorders do not present themselves (& allow capture) when connected to a computer FireWire port if they are not powered using the AC adapter (as against using just the battery).
-Male & female 4-pin FireWire connectors are incredibly fragile things (Apple-instigated, so they want you to come back for more). I have an ancient Panasonic NS-DV28 that only gets recognized when I plug it in a certain way (the plastic tongue on which the 4 conductors sit on the camcorder FireWire port is chipped).
-With a myriad combinations of s/w & h/w, each HDV capture scenario is unique. When your case gets resolved it may well be something I haven't encountered...

[aedipuss]

Also, I have never encountered the HDV files as they are (MPEG-2 program streams), like I have for type-1 /2 DV *.avi files, but only as the converted VfW *.avi Cineform files. I like to think maybe some special MPEG-2 codec or *.dll has to be in place somewhere before camcorder gets recognized & HDV capture commences

time to format/re-install o.s. on that one. hv20/30/40s work fine on every computer(xp and 7) i've tried and always capture original HDV format .m2t files.

[stevenhorr]

Thanks, turk. Lots here to consider.

-Power off the computer & install the card in another PCI slot (or PCI-e if that).

I might save this for a later experiment, as I really have no clue how to do it.

-Turn the computer without the Sony connected. While either playing a prerecorded HDV tape set to HDV out, or in the HD camera mode, plug the Sony into the card.

I will try today.

-You want the card to recognize an HDV device, but for now set up the Sony to just DV-out & see. Does the card see DV only

No. I've set the camera to DV out and the computer software to DV (and tried every other combo, too). Nothing.

-Is that purely a FireWire card or a mix-n-match card with USBv2 or 3 thrown in? Flaky multi-interface cards abound.

Firewire only. 400.

-There are many DV & HDV capture programs out there freeware & otherwise. When they are not running, some HDV camcorders are not recognized by Windows.

Thanks. I'll have a look for some of these today.

Was the Sony software installed before or after putting in that FireWire card?

I had installed the Sony software prior to having the card installed.

-Some DV & HDV camcorders do not present themselves (& allow capture) when connected to a computer FireWire port if they are not powered using the AC adapter (as against using just the battery).

I tried it with the camera plugged in.

Anyway, I really appreciate all of the suggestions and insight! It's a steep learning curve, and this has been helpful. I'll try some of the things you suggested and post my results.

[stevenhorr]

Update: I called Sony, and one person there made a suggestion that at least allowed me to capture some standard def. miniDV footage. He suggested I install an older Legacy driver for my IEEE 1394. Something about an older camera and 32/64 bit confusion. Anyway, it still doesn't show any device in my device manager, which sucks, but the Windows Video Import kicked in and I was able to do a capture. Now I just have to figure out how to get Sony Home Studio Platinum 12 to jump in as my default capture software...

Again, thanks for the suggestions.