MiniDV cam not detected by PC

[FlimsyFeet]

I have an old JVC MiniDV cam with DV output. I was under the impression that by simply connecting the camera up to the firewire port on a PC and switching it on, Windows XP would automatically recognise the camera and launch Windows Movie Maker. Instead it doesn't seem to detect that anything is connected, I can't find the camera in Device Manager.

I think the camera is OK, because I can connect it to the DV-in socket on my DVD recorder and it interfaces fine, I've recorded the video onto DVD-R that way before with no problems.

Where should I start troubleshooting this issue?

[setarip_old]

(JUst a thought) Have you tried FIRST turning on the camera and then connecting it?

[communist]

Firewire controller/card of your PC - does it work? Maybe it is dead? Try connecting it to your DVD recorder.

[mariush]

Did you try to use the Capture function of Virtualdub ? You should be able to select the Firewire device and capture the video to an AVI file on your drive.

[WorBry]

(JUst a thought) Have you tried FIRST turning on the camera and then connecting it?

I'd be cautious about that. Live firewire ports are all too easily fried. Blow a port on your PC card (as I have done several times) and you can replace it. Blow the mini-firewire port on your camcorder and you are screwed. As a precaution I always now connect my camcorder to my PC with both switched off, then boot up the PC and then switch on the camcorder. And after I've done capturing, I switch off the camcorder and close down the PC before disconnecting.

I would follow Communist's suggestion and check if it is the PC firewire card that is dead. Seems quite likely.

I use good old WinDV for capture myself.

[Ghitulescu]

I never had any problems with all 4 DV-devices I own and any FireWire-enabled PC I used, regardless of the on/off order.

One big problem of FireWire is however the grounding, as some devices are ungrounded and thus have a floating potential that could fry the other part or both. If the camcorder runs from batteries, not frying possible, but still connectivity problems.

In Xp the camcorder should appear in explorer as a device (My Computer folder). You can click upon it and use it as a preview etc. I'm not sure if it will appear in the DeviceManager. I don't know by heart all these, my video PC is available during WE only :(

[FlimsyFeet]

Sorry about the delay in responding to this thread. Thanks to all who offered suggestions.

I think I'm getting closer to working out what the problem is. The FireWire port on my PC is on the motherboard. I tested the camera on another PC running Windows XP, but with the FireWire ports on a PCI expansion card, and this didn't detect the camera either.

Next I tried a laptop, again Win XP, and it was detected straight away.

The key difference seems to be that the two PCs have "big" 6-pin IEEE 1394 scokets, but the laptop and DVD recorder have the smaller 4-pin type. The two different sockets should be compatible, shouldn't they? So I am thinking that, hopefully, it is just a fault with the cable I used that has a 6-pin pug on the PC end and a 4-pin plug on the camera end.

[Ghitulescu]

It's the floating potential, again.

Try using the camcorder on batteries. Or use the same mains socket as the PC, paying attention to the phase too. A multimeter should not indicate more than say 10V between any metallic part of the PC (eg the firewire slot) and any metallic part of the camcorder and/or its mains adapter. Otherwise you'll probably see some little sparks