Solved! - Last resort for help with VS11+ and PV-GS320

backert1 · Post by **backert1** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:52 pm

Hello,

I am having some major issues in using my VS11+ install with my Panasonic PV-GS320 via firewire. Here is what happens. Connect the camaera - windows recognizes it no problem. Start either winDV or VS11+ and windows drops its recognition of the camera and therefore neither program recognizes it presence. Anyone know what is happening here? If I connect the camara and then start either of the video capture/editing programs provided by Panasonic- they are able to recognize the camera and capture the video - although it captures the AVI files in multiple chunks divided by scene changes rather than creating one large file for the entire tape.

I have a further issue that complicates the process. I use several external firewire drives that are connected to a 3 port internal card. When I connect the camcorder it forces disconec of the drives from the other ports and they dissapear from windows explorer. Unfortunately that is where I capture the video to........

I have contacted Panasonic tech support and received zero help with either issue. They will only talk about operation with either of thier two software sets - not even with windows system issues!!!! Since the camera works with thier software, they will not even speak to me.

I have seen similar concerns posted on the 3CCD forum website, however the suggested "cures" are, wiggle the cables, get a new cable, etc - fine if there was a consistent connectivity issue. Anyone have any exprience with this type of problem? Why does WinDV and VS11+ casuse the camera to disconnect?

Clevo · Post by **Clevo** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 12:36 am

I have the NV-GS180 Panasonic Camcorder and it works fine on my system. (check below)

Are you sure it's firewire or is it USB you are connecting with..it's just that external drives are more commonly USB.

Either way several firewire external drives could be taking up too many resources. Is it possible to disconect them for the purpose of testing?

I turn VS on first, go to the capture section then plug in my Panasonic...usually in about 10-20 seconds the video camera is recognised and ready to begin capture.

My camcorder came with a USB cable and I had to buy the firewire cable separately.

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:00 am

I have the same exact problem using a Adaptec 3 Port Firewire PCMCIA card on my HP laptop. Doesn't matter what Operating system, Windows or Linux when I turn my firewire camcorder off the FW disk gets disconnected.

I've read where this is related to the FW chipsets.
It is a pain. For the laptop I ended up using the external harddisks connected as USB, then the FW cam was by itself on the FW card.
It does seem to be related to the auto-disconnect feature.

The Adaptec 3 port PCI FW card on my P4 Desktop computer doesn't do this and I do have external FW harddisks connected.

I never tried to assign a different FW ID for the Cam in it's setup menu though, maybe give that a try.
For the laptop I gave up and used the external connected as USB, performance was still pretty good.

mitcs0ke · Post by **mitcs0ke** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:28 pm

I use a Panasonic PV-GS35 and a PV-GS150 which is a 3CCD camcorder
and have not had a problem with video capture and I only use
VS 11.5+

I use a SIIG 3 Port Firewire card that has DV Camcorder Support.

When shopping for a firewire card to use I noticed that not all cards
say they support DV Camcorder input and some say they don't support
DV Input devices at all.

Maybe that may be your problem???
Take a close look at what your board can be used for.

Hope that may help some.

backert1 · Post by **backert1** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:55 pm

Thanks for the responses.

Yes - I am using a firewire cable - not USB. It is connected to a SIIG or Adaptec (will need to look at the unit) combination 3 USB / 2 FW card. I will check into the DV question. I have another similar Adaptec card in another desktop that I could check out as an alternative. That might solve the simultaneous camcoreder external drive issues - or not. I have never heard of manually addressing the FW devices so I will look into that also.

I am still puzzled as to why even when my external drives are disconnected that the camera disconnects when VS11+ is started. What is happening here and how do I prevent it? Any ideas?

Also whne I use either of Panasonics two DV programs, the camcorder connects fine and I am able to capture but have the following issue. Multiple scenes record in a single file, but if there is a break due to my removing the tape from the camcoreder at somepoint while I was originally filming, the capture stops at that point and won't capture the full tape content. Any ideas on this one?

Thanks!

Post by **lancecarr** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:37 pm

I can't answer everything for you but I do know about the problem with tapes that have been removed then put back in the camcorder.

Unfortunately that's just the way it is. Most DV cams will record a continuous time code as you are stopping and starting the cam taking shots.

However as soon as you take the tape out and re-insert the cam goes back to zero on the tape.

When you are capturing the software assumes it has reached the end of the tape and stops. You have to re-start it from that point.

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:29 pm

It is very bad practice to capture or edit to any form of external HDD and especially one using the same IEEE-1394 card as the camera. I recommend you capture to an internal SATA or IDE ATA drive with your external drives disconnected. If you wish to recover the space on the internal drive, you can subsequently transfer the files to the external HDD.

backert1 · Post by **backert1** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:48 pm

OK - I have a second desktop with a different FW adapter card - an adaptec AUA-3020 USB2/FW400 card that claims to support DV editing and even came with DV editing software. I will try the camcorder and VS11+ on that machine tonight just to sorft out any issues with my number 1 desktop/FW card setup.

Last night I upgraded one of my internatl drives from 200G to 500G so I have a little room to spare to manage the capture internal move to external setup.

Still does not explain why even starting VS causes the camcorder to disconnect..................... (no external drives connected)

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:49 pm

Still does not explain why even starting VS causes the camcorder to disconnect..................... (no external drives connected)

True, no real solutions posted yet.

Funny how when starting VS the camcorder gets disconnected.
Normally when we all plug the cam in, after windows recognizes the cam and mounts it then clicking on "My Computer" you will see the cam listed (along with your local & external drives).

I know that VS does make a call or similar action to this listing when you first start the program.

On your system I'm curious what happens when you start VS with the cam OFF, then turn on the cam On either in the timeline screen or in the capturing screen.
On my systems if I'm in the capturing screen and turn the cam on VS displays a popup menu asking me if I want to use this new device.
I'll answer "Yes" and VS will use the device to then capture from.

backert1 · Post by **backert1** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:09 pm

I actually have tried that order -start VS then power on the camcorder. The result is 1) windows dings a ding of recognition, 2) approximately 10-15 seconds pass, and 3) windows dings a ding of disconnect. The DV camcorder never appears as a selectble device in the VS capture from pull down box.

It'll be interesting to try the other machine and FW card tonight. I'll let you know what happens.

Thanks,

Todd

backert1 · Post by **backert1** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:51 pm

Wow, This one actually got solved and is now working great. I tried the camcorder on our other desktop with VS11+ (yes, I have 2 licensed copies) and had no problems with windows xpsp2 recognizing the camcorder AND both VS11+ and WinDV work fantastically fine. (This is a 3 day old fresh install of Windows due to a drive failure) Unfortunately the machine is too slow to be a real editor but at least I had an exisitence proof.

Now back to our main machine. I called Startek(manufacture of my USB/1394 card) and he told me that windows xp has had reported issues with windows either failing to recognize 1394 devices or disconnecting them if more than one was connected. Although I keep my XP installation up to date, he also told me that these may not have been routinely included in the auto updates. So I searched the Micorsoft site for XP updates related to 1394 and found the following two. I installed both of them and you got it - no more issues with 1) the camcorder disconnecting when starting WinDV or VS11, 2) both softwares recognize the camcorder and appear to record just fine, and 3) no more issues with the camcorder disconnecting the external drives or the other way around. Yahoo! (or is that copyrighted now......). I did see a number of other posts with similar erratic 1394 issues - this may be a useful remedy for others also.

Update for Windows XP (KB885222)
Brief Description - After you install Windows XP Service Pack 2, some 1394 devices (such as digital cameras that use S400 speed) may not perform as expected.

Update for Windows XP (KB904412)
Brief Description - Install this update to address several possible issues associated with connecting a Serial Bus Protocol 2 (SBP-2) device, such as an IEEE 1394 device, to a Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2-based computer.

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:28 pm

Thanks for the info.

2Dogs · Post by **2Dogs** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:47 pm

Thanks a lot!

When I first started with VS, it was with VS7SE that came bundled with a cardbus firewire adaptor, which I successfully tried out on my wife's laptop.

that prompted me to buy a desktop pc specifically for video editing, and that of course had built-in firewire ports.

Having recently acquired another three laptops in the household, I was interested to try the old cardbus adaptor in them - but couldn't get it to work.

Installing the two updates you mention has solved the problem. thanks again!

KB885222

KB904412

CycleWriter · Post by **CycleWriter** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:26 pm

lancecarr wrote:I can't answer everything for you but I do know about the problem with tapes that have been removed then put back in the camcorder.

Unfortunately that's just the way it is. Most DV cams will record a continuous time code as you are stopping and starting the cam taking shots.

However as soon as you take the tape out and re-insert the cam goes back to zero on the tape.

When you are capturing the software assumes it has reached the end of the tape and stops. You have to re-start it from that point.

An easy way to prevent that is to stripe your tapes before use. Striping is the process of putting timecode on the entire tape before it is recorded, thereby eliminating problems with gaps from FF or REW the tape into blank portions while in the camera or removing it in the middle of a recording. Simply put the blank tape in the camera, make sure it is rewound all the way to the beginning, then record its entire length with the lens cap or cover on/closed. This will put unbroken timecode on the casette and eliminate the return-to-zero problem when taking the tape out or moving past the last recorded section during playback. It will also help reduce problems during capture. Most editing programs (Incl. VS) will stop capture when there is a break in the timecode. By striping your tapes prior to use you will eliminate having capture disrupted because you inadvertently created a break in the timecode when recording.