F'd Up Firewire Connection

[MCAN]

Hey guys. Here's the problem.

I just got a MiniDV camcorder the other day and am having problems capturing onto my computer.

When I first plugged in my firewire to both the computer and camera, there was the XP ding for a new device connection. There were no bubbles popping up so I disconnected the cam. Right after I did so, the bubbles popped up and of course since I disconnected I was informed that installation did not complete properly.

As soon as I connect the camera now, it is recognized and I am asked what I want to do. That's good but when it comes to capture, I have problems.

I've tried five programs (Pinnacle Studio 9 & 10, Pinnacle Liquid, Adobe Premiere, Windows Movie Maker) and they all react the same, so I know it's not the software.
When the software loads, it:
1) locks upon entry to the capture page, then is fine when I disconnect the camera
2) allows me control to start, stop, rewind, etc. the tape but freezes when it is capture time, and the tape continues to play
3) allows me to click play, stop, etc. but freezes when I click the button, and the camera does nothing
4) Works perfectly and I can capture. This has happened twice in 4 days of trying

I have isolated the problem to my computer. First I thought it was the low grade firewire cable that came with my firewire card. So I got a new one and got the same results. Today I tried capturing on my friend's computer which is older and slower than mine, and there were no problems. I'm thinking it's the firewire card. Too bad I just sold my extra one a few weeks ago.

BTW, my rig is:
P4 3.6 GHz
1GB RAM
ATI 256MB Video card
Windows XP

I know my computer can handle the capturing.

and my camera is a Sony DCR-TRV22

Does anyone have any ideas? Ask me for more info to help you figure it out.

[lmnobs]

did you let the hardware config go through the setup on your friends computer with the camera connected ??? If so you might uninstall the camera on your computer and hardware config and then reboot computer with camera connected and let it setup again ...

[bufordt]

Originally Posted by MCAN

Hey guys. Here's the problem.

I just got a MiniDV camcorder the other day and am having problems capturing onto my computer.

When I first plugged in my firewire to both the computer and camera, there was the XP ding for a new device connection. There were no bubbles popping up so I disconnected the cam. Right after I did so, the bubbles popped up and of course since I disconnected I was informed that installation did not complete properly.

As soon as I connect the camera now, it is recognized and I am asked what I want to do. That's good but when it comes to capture, I have problems.

I've tried five programs (Pinnacle Studio 9 & 10, Pinnacle Liquid, Adobe Premiere, Windows Movie Maker) and they all react the same, so I know it's not the software.
When the software loads, it:
1) locks upon entry to the capture page, then is fine when I disconnect the camera
2) allows me control to start, stop, rewind, etc. the tape but freezes when it is capture time, and the tape continues to play
3) allows me to click play, stop, etc. but freezes when I click the button, and the camera does nothing
4) Works perfectly and I can capture. This has happened twice in 4 days of trying

I have isolated the problem to my computer. First I thought it was the low grade firewire cable that came with my firewire card. So I got a new one and got the same results. Today I tried capturing on my friend's computer which is older and slower than mine, and there were no problems. I'm thinking it's the firewire card. Too bad I just sold my extra one a few weeks ago.

BTW, my rig is:
P4 3.6 GHz
1GB RAM
ATI 256MB Video card
Windows XP

I know my computer can handle the capturing.

and my camera is a Sony DCR-TRV22

Does anyone have any ideas? Ask me for more info to help you figure it out.

ATI makes great video cards and they are my card of choice. But the NVidia cards are much better suited to video capture. I have two systems, one has an ATI card and is used for just about everything. My second system has an NVidia card and is used almost exclusively for video capture.

[MCAN]

I'm not capturing with the ATI card. I'm using a firewire card.

[MCAN]

Originally Posted by lmnobs

did you let the hardware config go through the setup on your friends computer with the camera connected ??? If so you might uninstall the camera on your computer and hardware config and then reboot computer with camera connected and let it setup again ...

Yeah, it went through the config. I uninstalled the camera on my comp last night. Capturing then worked and I thought the problem was solved, but then it kept doing the same old thing on subsequent attempts.

[MCAN]

And how would I uninstall the camera?

I've tried already. I went into my Device Manager and uninstalled the camera under it's driver tab. It came back and worked for a short period and went back to its misbehaving.

I just tried to do the same for my firewire card but it was even less successful.
Should I physically take the card out, reboot the computer, then put the card back in and boot again?

[Zero Tolerance]

You are interfacing via firewire...but you are indeed capturing via the video card. You cannot see the preview of video thru the firewire card.

If I were a betting man...I would bet its the ATI card or its drivers

[MCAN]

Originally Posted by Zero Tolerance

You are interfacing via firewire...but you are indeed capturing via the video card. You cannot see the preview of video thru the firewire card.

If I were a betting man...I would bet its the ATI card or its drivers

But I am using the firewire card for playback control am I not? There is a problem with the connection between the computer and the camera preventing me from even control the camera to capture. The video isn't even getting through.

Capturing isn't the problem. It's the connection between the camera and the computer.

[lmnobs]

Originally Posted by MCAN

And how would I uninstall the camera?

I've tried already. I went into my Device Manager and uninstalled the camera under it's driver tab. It came back and worked for a short period and went back to its misbehaving.

I just tried to do the same for my firewire card but it was even less successful.
Should I physically take the card out, reboot the computer, then put card back in and boot again?

Coulldn't hurt .....and try what Zero sugested bout the drivers

[MCAN]

I took out the firewire card, rebooted, put the card back in, and tried again. Still the same old garbage.
What am I checking for with the drivers, Zero?