Firewire miniDV Camcorder not recognized by Laptop

[videogirl3]

Hi!

So the other day i got an old Panasonic pv-gs81 miniDV camcorder from a relative and i recorded some stuff onto it and wanted to transfer it to my laptop (hp probook 6570b). Both have a firewire 400 input and so i got a firewire cable to connect them but the laptop doesnt recognize the camcorder as a device. Its not listed in the device manager and when i plug it in that typical windows sound doesnt ring at all. I tried updating the drivers to the Legacy ones like everyone in every tutorial said but nothing works. I even got another cable since this one might have been broken or something but that still didnt work.

The Camcorder also has an AV output but im not sure if getting an AV to USB converter would work for capturing the footage or if it did if the quality would be horrendous since its converting from digital to analog back to digital.


What else can i try out to make this work?

[Barrythecrab]

FireWire, aptly named due to its ability to fry connections.
Try this...
Camcorder and PC off.
Make all connections.
Start PC.
Maybe here open transfer utility.
Start Camcorder.
Maybe another FireWire device gathering dust to perhaps test.
Never connect/disconnect when powered up.

[videogirl3]

FireWire, aptly named due to its ability to fry connections.
Try this...
Camcorder and PC off.
Make all connections.
Start PC.
Maybe here open transfer utility.
Start Camcorder.
Maybe another FireWire device gathering dust to perhaps test.
Never connect/disconnect when powered up.

Thanks for the fast response! Unfortunately it didnt work :(
Does that mean that one (if not both) of the ports is/are fried?

[Alwyn]

I doubt there would any frying here as both plugs are 4-pin.

What version of Windows do you have?

If it's Windows 10:

Without the camera plugged in, you should have the IEEE1394 Host controller entry:


[Attachment 70881 - Click to enlarge]

If not, install the Firewire drivers using the procedure on this page:

https://www.startech.com/en-us/faq/firewire-cards-windows-legacy-driver-swap

More info on Firewire here:

https://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/Firewire-1.htm

The Camcorder also has an AV output but im not sure if getting an AV to USB converter would work for capturing the footage or if it did if the quality would be horrendous since its converting from digital to analog back to digital.

It's a reasonable fallback option, especially if your camera has S-Video Out.

[videogirl3]

I doubt there would any frying here as both plugs are 4-pin.

What version of Windows do you have?

If it's Windows 10:

Without the camera plugged in, you should have the IEEE1394 Host controller entry:


[Attachment 70881 - Click to enlarge]

If not, install the Firewire drivers using the procedure on this page:

https://www.startech.com/en-us/faq/firewire-cards-windows-legacy-driver-swap

More info on Firewire here:

https://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/Firewire-1.htm

The Camcorder also has an AV output but im not sure if getting an AV to USB converter would work for capturing the footage or if it did if the quality would be horrendous since its converting from digital to analog back to digital.

It's a reasonable fallback option, especially if your camera has S-Video Out.

Yes its Windows 10 and i installed the same drivers a few days ago so thats what it looks like when i open up the device manager but when i plug in the camera nothing happens. theres no sound, no pop up and no new device in the device manager
Is reinstalling the drivers worth a try?

[TreeTops]

Did you try the legacy firewire driver ?

[videogirl3]

Did you try the legacy firewire driver ?

yes thats the one i have installed

[rrats]

did you try using an older system.. or linux?

[videogirl3]

did you try using an older system.. or linux?

as in a virtual machine? havent tried that
what version of windows do i have to go back to to make it work?

[Alwyn]

This is my driver; yours the same?


[Attachment 70893 - Click to enlarge]

[october262]

did you try using an older system.. or linux?

as in a virtual machine? havent tried that
what version of windows do i have to go back to to make it work?

do you have your camcorder set to PC Connection mode ?? - see page 48 - https://panasonic.ca/viewing/ALL/PV-GS85/OI/LSQT1187/PV-GS85.pdf

[Alwyn]

@October262, that's only for viewing still images on the SD card, not for video transfer.

[dellsam34]

What program are you using to dump the DV data? WinDV, Sclive?

[Moody_Blues]

Try Scenalyzer.