Hi,

I just got a new DCR-HC96 camcorder, and I'm having a very difficult time connecting it to a PC. I have two computers, one running Vista, one running XP, both with OHCI 1.1 compliant firewire cards (based on the VIA VT6307 IEEE 1394 controller).
In both cases, the computer sees the card just fine, and it certainly looks like the camcorder knows it is connected by firewire, yet I'm not able to see the camcorder through any of my capture programs (I've tried the Vista windows movie maker, the XP version, both the Vista and XP versions of the Sony software and Vegas Movie Studio 8 on my Vista system). In all cases, the software can't find a digital camcorder.
When I connect the HC96 to the docking station and put the camcorder in play/edit mode, the iLink icon appears on the camcorder's LCD screen, but it always shows "DV in" never "DV out".
So far, Sony's tech support has been worthless, suggesting that I try other computers and resetting the camcorder. I know there's a firewire connection, but for some reason, my camcorder thinks it should be receiving rather than sending (at least, that's what it seems like to me).

I'm at my wit's end, so any help would be greatly apreciated.

thanks!

Firewire Troubleshooting

A lot of people are having Firewire problems with Vista. I would try XP first.

Check your Firewire setup:

1. Go into Device Manager by Right Clicking on My Computer and select "Manage".

2. Under System Tools select "Device Manager", the "Computer Management" window will open.

3. Verify you have an "IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controller". It should have a device listed. If not, you do not have a Firewire card installed or the drivers have not been installed. Install the hardware from the Control Panel by selecting "Add Hardware" and let it do a hardware scan. Follow the instructions given on the screen.

4. If you have a listing for IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controller but it has an ! (exclamation point) or ? (question mark) to the left of it, the drivers are corrupted. Expand the listing and right click on the driver for the card. Select Uninstall. Reboot the computer and let Windows detect and reinstall the driver for the hardware.

5. Right click on the host controller and select "properties" then "Troubleshoot".

Attempt to transfer video:

1. With camcorder off and in tape playback mode (VCR or VTR), plug the Firewire cable into the computer. Turn on the camcorder and verify that Windows XP

detects the camcorder. On some camcorders the computer might not detect unless you switch the camcorder from one mode to another. Switch the camcorder to the record mode then switch it back to the tape playback mode (VCR or VTR).

2. Make sure you have a recorded tape in your camcorder.

3. Turn your camcorder to the VCR or VTR mode.

4. I would try WinDV or DVIO in this thread Easy Capture Program to try to transfer video from your camcorder to computer.

5. Reboot your system before you attempt to transfer your video.

6. Do not run any other programs during capture. You should not be doing anything else with your computer during capture. Other programs can easily interrupt the high rate of data flow to the hard disk during capture that can cause dropped frames. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and view the Task Manager to see a list of applications that are running. Any unnecessary operations can be stopped by selecting the process and clicking the End Task button.

7. If all of the above does not work Click on "Start" on your task bar, then select "Run..." enter the following line in the "Open.." box:

regsvr32 %windir%\system32\qdv.dll
(you can copy and paste the line in the box)

Click on "OK"
You should get a "DllRegisterServer succeeded..." message. Try capturing again.

8. If the camcorder is not detected, take the camcorder and cable to another computer with Firewire, plug in, turn on and verify the camcorder is detected.

If not, replace the cable and try again. If still no connection, the camcorder's Firewire port is probably bad. If the camcorder is detected on the other computer then there is a problem with Firewire on the first computer.

Comments:

1. "DV-In" in the camcorder display means that there is some communication between your camcorder and the computer, I have never seen DV-OUT displayed.

2. You might want to reinstall/update latest DirectX: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.aspx Many applications use DirectX files for the Firewire IEEE 1394 transfer.

3. Try deleting the Firewire driver and let Windows detect the again camcorder.

4. You might also look at this page: http://www.pana3ccduser.com/article...-3CCD-Camcorder

5. There are many times more than one IEEE 1394 on a computer. Sometimes one in the front and some on the back. There have been several people what found that all their IEEE 1394 sockets were not connected, so try all available IEEE sockets. Sometimes there is also a socket internally on the IEEE 1394 card.

6. Windows XP comes with OHCI Firewire drivers, so drivers are not normally needed.

7. Firewire and USB are not related, just because one works does not mean the other will work.

Rich

__________________
FireWire Survey

thanks for the info. I've tried the steps you listed, not luck yet. one strange thing, though. on the play/edit screen, I followed the steps to set up the camcorder to convert an analog source to digital and pass it on to my PC by setting A/V -> DV Out to on. Now, the i.LINK icon on the camcorder's LCD screen shows "DV out". Still, software won't see the camcorder.

Today, I will take it in to work with me, where I have access to a couple of MAC systems. One theory I have is that the VIA VT6307 IEEE 1394 controller on both my firewire cards is not the most reliable option. Both cards were really cheap, so maybe the controller is to blame. It is one of the constants through out this. I'll test on a PowerMac and an iMac G5 and let you know.

Well, exact same problem on a G5 iMac as I saw on the two Windows systems. There seems to be an iLink connection, but video capture software won't see the camera (iMovie this time). I also tried WinDV on the Vista box.

I hate to say it, but maybe there is a hardware problem on the camcorder. I also followed Poncho's list of troubleshooting steps (all good ideas, too), with no luck. I've been in the computer industry for nearly 15 years, and even did tech support for a major PC company about 10 years ago, so I know my way around a computer. My gut instinct says configuration problem, but I'm pretty much out of ideas.

A quick question: when I plug in the camcorder (either by firewire or USB), should I see the camcorder in device manger? shouldn't windows detect the new hardware and install a driver for it? because, with either firewire, USB or both, on Vista or XP, that doesn't happen. With USB, windows makes a sound like it is recognizing something new, but I never get the dialog indicating that new hardware has been found. Shouldn't I get that even with just USB? The fact that I don't even see the camcorder through USB tells me it might be a bad camcorder. Thoughts?

Maybe its just my bad luck, but I've always been disappointed in Sony products, and the DCR-HC96 is no exception. Not that it is a bad camcorder. On the contrary, it seems to be an exceptional piece of hardware, but having burned through many hours in the last two days trying to get support from Sony, I've learned that you do NOT want to depend on Sony to support their products. Maybe I've been spoiled by other electronic manufacturers, but Sony's support was awful.

It looks like a dead firewire port, I was able to get the thing to connect to my older XP system by USB, but no luck at all with firewire. Sony's chat, email an ultimately phone support ranged from poor to insultingly bad, and their only solution for a $600 product of theirs that I've had less than a week was for me to send it in for repair, and most likely be without the camcorder through the holiday's, the very reason I bought it to begin with. So, while Sony may make a nice product, it has been my experience that they do a poor job of backing it. Contrast this with other companies, such as Nintendo who will go the extra mile to keep happy customers. I've bought my last Sony product, it seems...