Firewire & Camcorder woes

[yani]

:shocked:

I hate to admit it, but I am beaten? and I hate it!

I need expert help (and psychiatric help too by now!) on an issue I have with getting my camcorder recognised by my PC via Firewire port.

Here?s the lowdown:

I have 3 Desktop PCs, and 2 Laptops. These are:

1. ASUS P5K Deluxe, Q6850, 4GB RAM, Vista Premium ? Agere Firewire chipset on this board. All Windows updates done
2. ASUS P5W DH Deluxe, E6600, 2GB RAM, Windows XP Media Center ? XXX Firewire chipset. All Windows updates done
3. Compaq W6000 Workstation running Win XP Pro, no Firewire, all Windows updates done.
4. T61P ThinkPad, T7700, 2GB RAM, with firewire
5. Z60T ThinkPad, with firewire

I have 2 mini DV camcorders, there are:
1. JVC GR-D820
2. Panasonic NV-GS5

I have purchased 2 PCI firewire cards:
1. NEC Chipset
2. VIA Chipset

I also have 3 Firewire cables:
2x 4 pin to 6 pin (for camcorder to desktop)
1x 4 pin to 4 pin (for camcorder to laptop)

So here goes the story. Over the last week I have spent all my spare time trying to get my camcorders recognised by ANY of the above PCs, and have tried all combinations of cables. I have tried to have these recognised by Windows Movie Maker, WinDV and Adobe Premiere CS3 trial. I have ensured the onboard Firewire chipsets are enabled in the various PC BIOS and that they show up in device managers as working properly?

Nothing, absolutely nothing? no sign of life?

I have read many forums & posts and cannot find an answer as to why none of the above permutations work.

Maybe I throw it all out and invest in MACs?

I appreciate any help!

 

[corkyg]

Have you installed the software that goes with your camcorder? Is it powered on?

 

[RadiclDreamer]

This may be a dumb suggestion, but is the camera in "play" mode when you try to get the software to see it? I know mine requires this before it can be seen.

 

[yani]

Thanks for the replies, and yes, I forgot to add this...

I did have the cameras on play not record, and I do not have any CDs with the cameras. The cameras are definately powered on. I have used my Panasonic with an older PC 94 years ago) and it worked fine, but not today on any of the current PCs.

I tried JVC & Panasonic sites but could not find any drivers as well as many forums.

The Panasonic has USB connection also for stills transfer and it works OK on the USB piece, but neither is recognised via FW.

Thanks!

 

[yani]

I meant 4 years ago, not 94...!

 

[corkyg]

You should have gotten a CD with the camera.

 

[olmer]

PC and camcorder would not necessary acknowledge a correct firewire connection/transfer nor system should automatically ?recognise? the connected device/ ask for drivers. It all depends on your soft really. I?d try ripping with Premiere while turning camcorder on/off and using different modes(Play/Record/AV/etc) and different cables. At some point it should get the feed providing the cable is good.

 

[yani]

Olmer,

Thanks for the reply, but I have a trial of Premiere CS3 that I have tried this with. I have tried it with the different cables and cameras too.

I have booted the PC on with camera hookled up and on Playback, and I have tried hooking it up with the PC already running.

I cannot seem to find anywhere where I can download INF / Driver files if these are required and camera manufacturers are not too helpful on this since they have my money now, and it is a difficult thing to debug.

Thanks again, but have tried your suggestions already. It has me stumped...!

 

[yani]

Also, Corkyg, thanks for your suggestion but I did not get one with either. And I have had the Panasonic for 4 years now and have had it working with old PC (which is now in PC heaven!).

It is frustrating that if SW is needed for this to work that I cannot find on the manufaturer sites on the net.

Thanks.

 

[corkyg]

You might try here for your Panasonic drivers:

Drivers

The Panasonic website also has downloadable stuff. What model is your camera?