Problems connecting MiniDV cam w/ FireWire

Armueller2001 · #1 05-05-2008, 06:02 PM

Well, my mom's JVC MiniDV cam will NOT connect to her computer at all... I plug it in thru the firewire port, open Movie Maker, and it says it is not connected... camera is powered on... shouldn't it make a noise like the USB does?

Does Firewire typically require drivers? I can't find the driver disc..

nickn · #2 05-05-2008, 06:24 PM

First you'll want to make sure the firewire port works... assuming you use Windows, go to the Control Panel, then to System, then to the Hardware tab, and then the Device Manager button. Go to the "IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controllers" listing and expand it by clicking on the plus sign. Does the icon for the IEEE 1394 controller have a yellow exclamation mark or a red X on it? That would indicate a problem with it.

I'm fairly certain Firewire connections don't require any special third-party drivers to work, but it's been a looooong time since my video editing days so you should take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Also, it may be prudent to make sure the camera is in Playback/VCR mode.

Armueller2001 · #3 05-05-2008, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickn

First you'll want to make sure the firewire port works... assuming you use Windows, go to the Control Panel, then to System, then to the Hardware tab, and then the Device Manager button. Go to the "IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controllers" listing and expand it by clicking on the plus sign. Does the icon for the IEEE 1394 controller have a yellow exclamation mark or a red X on it? That would indicate a problem with it.

I'm fairly certain Firewire connections don't require any special third-party drivers to work, but it's been a looooong time since my video editing days so you should take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Also, it may be prudent to make sure the camera is in Playback/VCR mode.

Thanks for the reply.. I checked device manager and it says there are no problems... and the camera is in play mode. I tried looking around JVC's site and they don't have firewire drivers... I have no idea why the computer is not picking this up right away.

nickn · #4 05-05-2008, 06:36 PM

Hmm, that's odd. Have you tried any other software? If you don't have any other video editing software you can just download a trial version of some other program. Here's a link to a trial of Adobe Premiere Elements, my personal favorite for a straightforward, easy-to-use editing program. You have to register with Adobe to download it but it's worth it.

Armueller2001 · #5 05-05-2008, 10:03 PM

Yeah I tried a couple different video capture programs and they both said that the device cannot be found.... this is so frustrating!! I checked BIOS and it said 1334 connection was enabled..

nickn · #6 05-06-2008, 12:39 AM

It would seem, then, that there are only two other things to try. First is to try another cable. Second is to hook up a different camera and see if it works. I suppose you could also try plugging into a different computer. You gotta just keep knocking out all the different possibilities until you find what's really causing the problem.

Armueller2001 · #7 05-06-2008, 03:07 AM

Thanks for the help troubleshooting nickn