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MiniDV Camcorder and 1394 Not Working in Vista
I posted this in the Vegas Basics forum, but Mike Kujbida recommended I post this here because he had not run across this issue before, or at least to the extent I’ve experienced this problem.
Equipment:
JVC GR-DV 900 camcorder using miniDV tape
Sony Vegas Studio Platinum 8
Acer Core2Quad Q6600 with 4 GB RAM
Windows Vista with SP2Initial issue: Vista (and Video Capture in Vegas Studio) recognized my camera and could capture footage off the tape, but the resulting footage was very choppy and even pixellated. Mike recommended using DV instead of the mini USB, so I bought a 4-to-6 DV cable.
Now the problem is actually worse! Vista recognizes the 1394a port built into the Acer motherboard (a VIA chipset), but it will not recognize my JVC camera. I contacted JVC, and they claim this is a known issue with miniDV tape-based camcorders, 1394a ports, and Windows Vista with NO KNOWN SOLUTION!!! They say it works in Windows XP, but my PC didn’t come with XP so I can’t roll it back.
Microsoft says the issue is that Vista “only enumerates a device that sets its link status to request enumeration. If an IEEE 1394a device does not report the correct status of its link, the IEEE 1394 stack in Windows Vista does not enumerate the device.” They suggested a registry hack (MS KB article 927827) and/or a firmware update. I couldn’t find the latter, and after applying the hack Vista still didn’t recognize my camcorder.
In performing a Google search, one user said to apply this registry hack, then power down both camcorder and computer; turn on the camera and start playing the tape, then turn on the computer, and Vista should recognize the camcorder. It didn’t.
I’ve also upgraded to Service Pack 2 (surprised it hadn’t automatically installed by now), but that hasn’t helped either.
An interim solution is to install a Firewire card on my work computer (XP Pro), capture the video and save it as AVI, and then copy that file onto my home computer with Vista.
As previously noted, I cannot roll back to XP since my home computer came with Vista pre-installed, so that fix is a no-go.
I’d really rather try to fix this rather than use the kludge solution. Any suggestions long-term?
Thanks!
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11 Replies
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If it’s a known problem with no fix then it seems rather impossible to fix unless you change something. I would buy a new firewire card that uses the TI chipset (not VIA) and add that to your existing Vista computer. Then plug your camera into that and it should work.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
I did purchase a Belkin 3-port 1394a card, but Windows Vista didn’t recognize it, and Belkin said there were no special drivers. I put said card in my Dell computer running Win XP at work this morning, and the system recognizes both card and camcorder.
The card does check out as having the TI chipset.
I may take the card out and try it at home over the weekend, especially since I downloaded and installed Vista SP2.
If all else fails, I’ll just render video on my work PC, then look at getting a new camera with a hard drive (like the one we have at work).
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I would return the card if it doesn’t work. I have found that it’s hit-n-miss with firewire cards. Some work fine while others give problems. I’m not sure what the ‘a’ is for in 1394a but I would try a regular 1394 card. You may have to try a few cards before you get one that works. The point is, don’t stop just because one card didn’t work. Try another. If Vista didn’t recognize it then look for one that specifically says Vista is supported. Good Luck.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
FYI, 1394a is the original 400 MBps standard, and 1394b is the newer 800 Mbps standard.
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OK, so the ‘a’ is the 400 Mbps card which is what you want. I had forgotten about the 800 Mbps cards. Gotcha!
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
BTW, I did try the Belkin card in my computer at work that runs on XP, and it works fine. Win XP recognizes the card, it recognizes the camera, and I was successfully able to capture video with Sony Vegas Studio.
I will take that card home tonight, disable the onboard 1394 port (the one with the VIA chipset), and see if Vista is able to “see” the new Belkin card. If that works, I’ll see if I can get Vista to see my JVC camcorder, and apply that fix to the registry again if necessary. If that fails, I’ll just use the work computer to capture all my tapes, then look at getting a camera that uses HDMI connections or a hard drive from which I can simply move files (as with the Panasonic camcorder my office uses, which worked fine with my Vista computer at home).
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Sound like a plan. Good luck. I hope it works in Vista for you.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
GREAT NEWS! Besides mentioning this in the Sony Vegas Basics forum, I am happy to announce that my setup now works…but sheepishly, I have to admit that after I got the new Belkin card installed, I forgot to hook up the Firewire cable to the camcorder. As soon as I hooked up the cable and turned on the camera, Vista recognized my camera and asked what I wanted to do and offered a couple of programs, including my Sony Vegas Studio Capture program.
So, if anyone else on this forum has a problem with Vista and Firewire/1394a, do these steps:
- If your Firewire card does not have a Texas Instruments (TI) chipset, buy a Firewire card such as the Belkin that does. Remove the old card or disable the onboard 1394 device in the BIOS before you install the new Firewire card.
- Apply the registry fix detailed by Microsoft in their Knowledge Base article https://support.microsoft.com/kb/927827
- Ensure the Firewire cable is connected to both the Firewire card and your camcorder, then set your camcorder to Play mode and start the tape. At this point, Vista should recognize the camera.
(I’m posting this because when I was using Google for further troubleshooting, I got a hit on my own question here in CC, so hopefully others who may run into this problem will find my solution, especially since JVC wasn’t aware of it. They will be shortly when I call them!)
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Joe,
Thanks for posting this fix. I’d been looking for a solution to my JVC camcorder not being recognised by my PC (Vista Home Premium)and there seem to be a lot of people in the dark out there (including JVC!). Using the microsoft registry hack, I’ve finally got the PC to recognise the camcorder but….it’s very intermittent, and after about 3 or 4 minutes of download it tells me that there’s no tape in the camera! I’m going to change my firewire card to one with a Ti chipset now and see if that makes any difference. I feel we’re getting there though!
Thanks again.
Paul
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