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After doing some camera angle testing in college, I've borrowed the Sony Handycam DCR-HC30E I was using to upload the footage to my home computer. The tech gave me a firewire cable, and advised me not to connect the camera while the comp was on, but to connect it beforehand and then turn on the computer, as doing otherwise could damage the camera in some fashion.

So, I've connected the cable to my computer, then to the camera, turned on the computer, turned on the camera, and of course the comp won't detect it. I've never used a firewire before, and I've discovered that although my computer has a firewire port, it has no firewire card, which may or may not be relevant. I've disconnected the cable and reconnected it, against the advice, to no avail. I've connected the camera to the mains to boost power, also to no effect.

This is going to be one of those situations where when I go in on Monday and say to the tech it didn't work he'll claim I did something wrong, and of course I won't get another chance. So, in less than 48 hours, can anyone here fix the problem? Thanks

The tech gave me a firewire cable, and advised me not to connect the camera while the comp was on, but to connect it beforehand and then turn on the computer, as doing otherwise could damage the camera in some fashion.

I didn't think Firewire shorts are a problem for anything but the oldest plugs...

So, I've connected the cable to my computer, then to the camera, turned on the computer, turned on the camera, and of course the comp won't detect it.

Do you have capture software that detects it? I don't think it shows up as a removeable drive - at least, my ancient camera doesn't. The idea is that you play the footage on the camera and the software captures it through the Firewire cable.

Right, well all I have is Movie Maker, so all I need to do is to playback the tape on the camera while its connected? I ran WMM before, but there being no removeable drive icon I didn't know what else to do. I'll give it a shot.

Ok as far as I can determine, I'm supposed to run the capture wizard in WMM, which requires going to File, then Capture Video. However, when I do this I just get a 'no device detected' message. I've never used the firewire port before, and the computer (well this part of it anyway) is over 2 years old, so there is a possibility it's a hardware problem.

Lazarus wrote:Ok as far as I can determine, I'm supposed to run the capture wizard in WMM, which requires going to File, then Capture Video. However, when I do this I just get a 'no device detected' message. I've never used the firewire port before, and the computer (well this part of it anyway) is over 2 years old, so there is a possibility it's a hardware problem.

Make sure the camera is in "VCR" or playback mode. If it's in the recording mode, its Firewire out may not be active. Failing that, I would have to assume that there's something up with the PC's firewire port.

I suggest getting Media Player Classic and going file>open device on it, it tends to find anything even theoretically possible to supply a video image. Fiddling with the camera's settings would probably be a good advice as well.

I thought I had it then, the DV out setting was diasbled for some reason, but enabling it still hasn't worked. WMPC can't find anything.

do you have IEEE1384(firewire) entries in your device manager? I've seen cases with firewire/usb ports but not hooked up to anything.

Lisa wrote:do you have IEEE1384(firewire) entries in your device manager? I've seen cases with firewire/usb ports but not hooked up to anything.

Much along the same lines, the default BIOS settings for some motherboards with integrated 1394/Firewire is 'disabled', so checking the BIOS would be worth looking into if your board does have integrated firewire.

I've checked device manager, it says the port is fine, and I've checked BIOS, where I found the '1394 Device' entry under peripherals, and it was set to Auto. The only other option was disable, so I'm still stuck.

Guess I'll have to go in tomorrow and say it didn't work, at which point I'll get a 'you weren't doing it right' response (despite no instructions other than 'here's a firewire, go nuts'). Naturally a request for assistance, or for another camera to try and upload the tape from, will get a 'Don't be silly, student cameras are far too valuable to let students use' type response...

Unless there's any other ideas...
Thanks for your help

Make sure your camcorder is on VTR/Playback mode. I've imported stuff from a camcorder onto Windows Movie Maker before, and that's what I did. Plug & Play is somewhat iffy. You sure you didn't do this? Just checking.

WMM is actually easy to use when this is involved. Having to use Hi8 or Digital8 tapes on Final Cut Pro is a bitch-and-a-half. All these hoops that I can't even remember. DV tapes, for Final Cut, are easier for importing.

I took the camera in today, and after the expected 'You probably didn't do it right', the tech tried it and found the camera is just a bit knackered and won't upload. Brilliant. Gonna have to go back tommorrow and get one that does work...
Thanks anyway guys.