Fire wire card

Darryl · Post by **Darryl** » Sat Jan 16, 2010 12:05 am

My computer will not recognize my Canon Optura Xi. This is the first time I have connected a mini dv to my computer, so I do not know how it should act. Sometimes it will ask how I want to import, I select photo gallery and that is the end nothing else happens but most of the time it does not ask that. On my camcorder the DV IN letters just flash on and off nothing else. In trying to eliminate problems, I see I do not have an actual fire wire PCI card, it seems to be some sort of box. I wonder if I should buy a PCI card. In device manager I do have a 1394 working properly. I understand it could be my cable but I have no access to another desk top. I do have a lap top so I guess I could buy another cable to test to see if it is the camera. Thanks

DVDDoug · Post by **DVDDoug** » Sat Jan 16, 2010 12:32 am

I do have a lap top so I guess I could buy another cable to test to see if it is the camera.

The laptop has a different connector? That sounds like a good idea. It's cheaper & easier than buying and installing a new firewire card, and since everything is different except the camera, that should "prove" if the camera is working or not.

Either way you're taking a gamble... You may end-up paying for an "extra" cable or firewire card.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Jan 16, 2010 1:57 am

There are a couple of mysteries about your problem and we need more information to understand the details. First, I don't at all understand what you wrote about a Photo Gallery. Where did that message appear? In what program?

Second, I don't understand your description of the firewire connection being in some kind of a box. Is the box separate from the computer? If so, how is it connected to the computer?

Third, the firewire connection on a camcorder is normally a small 4-pin one whereas the input into a desktop computer is normally a larger 6 pin one -- while laptops normally have a 4 pin input just like the camera. So to test on a laptop you would need a 4 pin to 4 pin cable, whereas for a desktop it would need to be a 4 pin to 6 pin cable.

Can you also confirm that you have turned the camera on in PLAY mode. Normally, VS would detect the camera and switch automatically to DV/AVI as the capture format. What happens exactly when you click on the Capture tab in VS?

Darryl · Post by **Darryl** » Sat Jan 16, 2010 3:08 pm

Thank you so much for your interest. I decided, me and the computer and camera needed a good nights rest. The camera now functions. If you are interested I will fill in the info you asked for. #1 I was asked at one time what program do I want to down load the camera to; Import video using Windows Import Video Program or Windows Photo Gallery or VS, I chose Photo Gallery because I already tried VS......#2 The fire wire hardware connected to the computer seems to be a "can" similar to large capacitors found in non solid state amplifiers and radios....#3 You are correct about the cables.........#4 I switched the camera to play plugged into computer, asked VS to capture, received error message: "Unable to detect video capture device" For now, all seems to be ok Thanks

joosuna · Post by **joosuna** » Sat Jan 16, 2010 8:30 pm

Darryl, just following up on a comment from Ken ...
did you verify that you are indeed using a firewire cable from your camcorder to the computer? and not a USB cable ?

If the answer is yes, if you are indeed using a firewire cable....is your
firewire port turned "on" and operating with other devices ?
regards
Joe

Darryl · Post by **Darryl** » Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:47 pm

Yes it is a 4 pin to 6 pin fire wire. I have connected and disconnected a few times now and it seems to be ok. We will see what happens when I have an actual project to load

should be ok. From reading other posts, it seems to be a good option to just step away for a day and then ask your computer very nicely and remember to say "pretty please".