Asking for help with capturing video from Sony TRV340E

[itaiy]

Hello,

This is my first post and i'll be grateful for any help.
For the past few days I've been trying to capture videos from
my old Sony TRV340E video camera.
Without success.

Short background and things i've tried :
1) On my old computer, with Windows XP, I could easily
capture videos using Windows Movie Maker and a firewire cable.
2) On my current computer + Win.7 + firewire card :
Getting the following error from the movie maker :
"One of the devices being used to capture video has been disconnected from your computer.
The wizard will now exit.
Please check device connections and try again. "
3) I've read online that Win.7 doesn't support capture of streaming video.
I've tried different capture software but all didn't work.
4) I've downgraded my machine to Windows XP.
I'm still getting the same error.
5) I've tried connecting a DV cable instead of a firewire cable.
The movie maker just freezes.

Can you please help me understand what i'm missing here ?

Thank you,
Itai.

[Taney2]

I have similar equipment and it should work. I have a Windows 7 laptop with a Firewire card added. I have a Sony DCR-TRV520 Digital8 hooked up to it via Firewire. Just tested with Movie Maker and it works just fine for me. I've been using WinDV, not Movie Maker, but either work on my set up and I would think it would work on yours.

[DB83]

Have you installed the correct drivers for your firewire card ?
Your new PC might not support the card if it was removed from your old PC
We need more info - new/model no of the card
More details about your PC
Win7. No problems with correct drivers - I capture DV fine
BTW DV = Firewire. Sony may have a different name for the cable but it is still firewire/DV

[newpball]

Have you installed the correct drivers for your firewire card ?

Exactly he needs a FireWire card that supports his OS and if he runs 64bit it must support 64bit as well.

Chances are he is using some old FireWire card.

[usually_quiet]

Maybe installing Windows 7's legacy FireWire drivers would help. https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/65cb7a25-2a84-4875-aa27-b084...rewire-problem

[itaiy]

Thank you all for replying.

I've attached the following images :
1) My machine & firewire info.
2) The error message i've just received.
I've restarted my PC, connected the Sony using the firewire, followed
the media player steps and once i clicked on play (to preview my video) the
error message appeared.

Comments:
1) On my new machine I've installed Win.7.
2) 3 days ago i've downgraded it to a clean WinXp SP3 to try and
overcome the problem.
3) About a week after I bought my new PC, I bought a new firewire that
according to the salesman should be compatible to 64bit.

I'll be happy to hear any ideas...
Hardware...
or maybe a menu configuration inside the cam that I forgot about ?

[newpball]

3) About a week after I bought my new PC, I bought a new firewire that
according to the salesman should be compatible to 64bit.

What's the brand and model?

[DB83]

Bit concerned about that Via chipset on the firewire card.

But what does the Driver tab report ?

[itaiy]

Added 2 new images :
1) my firewire card.
It seems like the most generic card.
I didn't see even a brand name.
2) Firewire driver info.
(remember that i'm using now Win.XP)

Thanks.

[DB83]

That looks like standard Windows Drivers.

So the card did not come with any other driver on a disk ?

[newpball]

Added 2 new images :
1) my firewire card.
It seems like the most generic card.
I didn't see even a brand name.
2) Firewire driver info.
(remember that i'm using now Win.XP)

Thanks.

So the salesperson just gave you the card like that without a box or any drivers? Is this a new card?

I hope he just did not sell you some crappy old card with free salesmen's promises.

[turk690]

Bit concerned about that Via chipset on the firewire card.

In my experience, even with WinXP, any FireWire card that used VIA chipset was always hit-and-miss. To better the odds, a FireWire card intended to be used to control and transfer DV from a connected camcorder should

• be OHCI, not UHCI
• always have a (Texas Instruments) TI chipset (avoid VIA, Promise, etc)
• be conventional FireWire400, not 800
• preferably have stable drivers that come with it (especially if to be used with a 64bit OS)
• if a PCIe card, best mounted in a bonafide slot (x4 or more; some mobos have slots that look like x4 but are only x2)
• preferably not be a multi-purpose card (with USB, etc)

[itaiy]

Thank you guys.

The card is new.
I received the card in a hard plastic package.
I don't remember if they gave me a driver as well... (I think not).

So it seems that the main suspect is the firewire card.
I hope that's the case.
What would be the best solution ?
( Since I would like to upgrade my PC back to Win.7 please suggest
a solution that will support Win.7. )

Possible suggestions :
1) Software solution...
Such as try and update the driver.
I tried that in Windows 7 but it didn't work.
Maybe on the XP it will ?
2) Hardware solutions:
a. Buy a new and more reliable firewire card.
If so, can you please recommend on one or two cards ?
b. Buy an external hardware such as www.pinnaclesys.com.
any other better options ?
3) Other suggestions ?

Thank you for trying to help.

[newpball]

The card is new.

Then step one should be to immediately go back to that nice salesperson who told you it was compatible and ask him the brand and model (and optionally revision) of the card.

If he can't then demand your money back.

[turk690]

Since I would like to upgrade my PC back to Win.7 please suggest
a solution that will support Win.7.

If you can still get your old computer back, why not rig it up as it was and use it solely to capture DV? Do you still know its specs? I bet it had a Texas Instruments (TI) chipset for its FireWire function.
A lot of generic interface card manufacturers can't be bothered to write or include the correct stable drivers with what they sell. This is where TI chipset-based FireWire cards are better: they work especially well with the drivers that Windows XP and 7 provide (in a way that VIA and others seem not to) so there is no need to look further. The current mother board I'm using is an ancient circa-2009 Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R, v1.6 which has a built-in TI-chipset Firewire card. I did not have to be bothered about drivers; the ones Win7Ultimate/64 automatically installed work well with WinDV, Premiere Pro 5.0.3, and Cineform capture for detecting, controlling, capturing DV and HDV from the camcorders I connect.
It's not hard to see what a particular FireWire card's chipset is: on purchase, just look at the biggest chip on it and see that "TI" is emblazoned on it, and away you go. You have to sadly one-up a lot of computer store sales associate on this and be better at it than them.

[itaiy]

My old PC has long gone.
I couldn't work with it any more.
It had an on board firewire.

I'm going to ask the shop for the relevant driver.
Will update again when relevant.

Thank you.

[itaiy]

Hello again,
I've returned to ask for your help again.

My current status is :
1) PC with Windows 7 and the same hardware as detailed above.
2) After a long...long... wait I've received the firewire manufacture name from the shop I bought.
From browsing the firewire manufacture site I understood there's no need for a driver when using Windows 7.
3) My cam is still Sony TRV340E.
4) Now when I connect the cam to my PC using a DV cable a process named WLXVideoAcquireWizard.exe
takes up to 30% of the PC CPU and just doesn't function.
When I try to use Movie maker to import from device it just gets stuck in Not responding message.

Can you please help me try to solve this annoying problem ?
I just want to capture my old video cassettes and nothing works as expected.

Thanks you.

[turk690]

...After a long...long... wait I've received the firewire manufacture name from the shop I bought....

Is that a TI chipset-based FireWire card? Is it PCIe? Please post a picture of it showing the chip in detail so we can see it's indeed Texas Instruments, and another picture showing how you installed it inside the computer. I would do the following at this point:

1. Shut down computer, remove plug from AC, remove the card again.
2. Power up computer, and perform scan with the latest updated anti-malware and anti-virus programs you have. You may have to detach that system drive, connect to another known virus-free computer, and perform it there.
3. Open msconfig and uncheck all unnecessary programs that get loaded in start-up, including some that pertain to s/w or h/w that no longer exist (using previous capture devices can leave files this way). Turn off computer.
4. Try putting the Firewire card into a PCIex16 slot (it may be a x2 card, which will be ill-served by a x1 slot); power on computer.
5. For the moment, disable LAN and wi-fi; do NOT open browsers
6. Camcorder should always used with its PSU, plugged to AC; remove the battery to prevent it from charging. It should be set to DVout. If in camera mode, no control should be chosen in capture program (stream only); if in VTR mode, enable control should be chosen.
7. Camcorder should appear as an imaging device in device manager as "Sony DV camcorder" if successful.

[ackboo]

Hello, I did the same with a sony trv-320e digital8 connected to a windows pc with a generic firewire 400 card.

No additional driver needed, my card is listed as IEEE1394 VIA OHCI

-connect the camcorder to the pc using firewire
-turn on the camcorder in playback mode
-it should appear in windows explorer

If it does not you might want to check your firewire cable and the firewire port on your camcorder. Is there any oxidation? Dirt? Or try with another cable. As a last resort you can also update the bios on your motherboard.

http://www.jakeludington.com/dv_hacks/20051210_capture_video_from_sony_digital8_camcorder.html

[itaiy]

Thanks guys.
I'll try your suggestions.

If it won't work...
Can you recommend of a relevant hardware that I can use to transfer the videos ?

[ackboo]

Also, can you try to connect your camcorder to another pc? To test it, with a friend or in a shop. Generic firewire is usually painless, you should try to test your firewire card in another computer as well.

The relevant hardware will need a firewire port, such as the Canopus ADVC-110. Or you can go the USB route but someone else will have to recommend a unit.