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Sony DV CAM Decks.
Alright, I am stumped. I’ve got 3 Sony DV Cam decks. 2 DSR-25s and 1 DSR-45. I can’t get any of them to mount in FCP 5 via firewire. I’ve tried this with all versions of FCP 5 and Quictime 7. I even tried the little QT downgrade from 7.0.4 as well. I’ve got 2 Panasonic 1200As that mount just fine via firewire. I can take any camera – panasonic or cannon – and mount them with very same firewires I’m using with the DSR decks. I don’t know what has happened. They were all working just fine a few months ago. We have done some upgrades, but still taking them to computers that haven’t been upgraded (FCP 5.0 and QT 7.0) doesn’t work. Even worse is I took one to another location using a PC and Adobe Premier Pro, and it wouldn’t mount there either. Are they just cursed!
Any help or suggestions or even some down right sympathy would be greatly appreciated.
-neil -
9 Replies
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Thanks for the response, Debe. I appreciate it, unfortunately I have tried all of those things. Definitely a good thought though. Thanks again.
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did u just re-install tiger?
if u did, and kept any firewire devices, hard drives, etc, plugged in…
you may need to re-instal!
-ben
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Hi
Try copying deck to deck directly via FireWire – this will indicate if the decks can send/receive via FW.
Also is there a deck Reset button like there is on a DSR-11? -
Thanks Paul, this helped put me on the right track. It seems that the DV board is fried in all of these decks. This happened because we were using the decks at different stations – plugging and unplugging – and evidently the wrong way. After calling Sony, it sounds like this isn’t a rare occurrence. We’ve just been plugging and unplugging the firewire without thinking about. What you do have to do, is plug into the CPU first, and then the deck. So the 6 pin first, 4 pin second. Doing it the other way could fry the DV board, and it seems this is exactly what we did. Darn.
Thanks again, Paul.
-neil
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Sheesh, I never thought of that, Neil.
This might be a bonehead question…
Do you know if it matters if the deck is off?
I think I usually plug into the deck first, then the CPU, but the deck is usually off.
I’ll definitely be changing my ways, regardless.
I’m sorry you had this problem, but I’m glad you posted to share with the rest of us!
debe
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Not a bonehead question at all. To be honest I’m not sure. They recommend pulling out its power chord from the AC outlet before plugging and unplugging the firewire, and also plugging in the 6 pin first. It’s odd. I also realized that this has suddenly happened because when we had them plugged in before, the firewire was going through an A/B switcher. We’ve been using them less and less, and have just started plugging them in and out directly to the computers when needed. So I would just take the precaution or before you know it, you’ll be out 3 decks like I am.
-neil
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Blowing the FW boards is far easier than most folks realize. The six-pin plug is easily reversed sending current down the data bus wires and that instantly pops the FW chip on one or even both ends of the connection.
It’s even worse in dark edit rooms or installations where the FW is only on the back of a difficult to reach computer.
The front panel connectors on the G5s aren’t all that much better since you can still eaisly insert the plug inverted. We have FW hubs on our G5s.
It won’t matter what you tell your people, they will only plug and unplug FW their way and if anything goes wrong, they’ll find a way to blame anyone or anything.
bogiesan
This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”
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Thanks for the info, guys.
Although I think I’m a careful person when it comes to these things, there’s going to be that time when I do before I think. Hopefully this thread help me to remember to think before I do!
debe
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