Vista + Sony Handycam + Firewire = Problem

[aims21]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi I realise this has been aksed before but I am actually at the beginning stage where I have my camcorder, my laptop and recetnly purchased cable and I dont know what to do first!

I have:

Camcorder: Sony Mini DV Camcorder DCR - HC35

Laptop: Compaq CQ60 - 216TU with Windows Vista

Recently purchased cable: USB to IEEE 1394 4 PIN FIREWIRE TRAVEL Adapter CABLE 5f

I have already established that my compuer does not have a firewire card or a pcmcia slot hence the Travel adaptor (as my last resort)

Can you please tell me I need to do next? Considering I have vista what is the best programme to try and download/edit my videos with? I am not the most technically minded person therefore any helps would be greatly appreciated!

Many Thanks
Amy
New Zealand

 

[petko]

Hi sujith

Did your Vista automatically recognise your camcorder or did you have to use the installation CD/in some models it comes with the camcorder/ before that.My problem is that I don't know if I need an installation CD or not/ my model is DCR-HC27E,bought it on ebay without a cd .It works fine except for the fact that no laptops can recognise it .I think it might be the cable but I would like to exaust any other possibilities first.Thank you.

Petko

HI ALL,

PROBLEM SOLVED.

HERE IS THE RIGHT SOLUTION. I HAD BEEN SUFFERED 3 MONTHS IN THIS SAME PROBLEM. MY HANDY CAM (DCR-HC28) WAS NOT DETECTING BY VISTA HOME EDITION INSTALLED IN MY LAPTOP.

I THOUGHT IT WAS THE PROBLEM OF VISTA... I REALYY FEDUP WITH THAT... REINSTALLING VISTA AGAIN AND AGAIN.... AND PROBLEM NOT RESOLVED....

IT ALL ABOUT BY USING A CHEAP FIREWIRE CABLE.. AT FIRST I BOUGHT A CABLE WITH VERY CHEAP RATE ALMOST 2$. AND THAT WAS NOT WORKING... AFTER THAT I BOUGHT ANOTHER CABLE COST AROUND 5$. STILL...NO LUCK....

AT LAST I BOUGHT SONY ORIGINAL I-LINK CABLE (4 TO 4 PIN). IT COST AROUND 40$(HMM...... VERY CHEAP..)..AND NOW MY CAM SHOWS "dv in" MESSAGE ON ITS LCD SCREEN..... AND I CAN CAPTURE THE VIDEO USING WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER...

SO FRIENDS.... DO NOT BLAME VISTA. VISTA ALREAY HAVE THE DRIVER FOR ALMOST ALL SONY HANDYCAM. USE THE SONY ORIGINAL FIREWIRE CABLE. SONY RECOMMENDS THAT....


CHEERS...

SUJITH KV

 

[Helimon]

I am extremely frustrated. I have Windows Vista 32 with SP2 and tried 3 firewire cards and 2 types of cables. I have no problem plugging my Canon ZR85 into my PC with XP OS and wahlah!, it finds it every time. I plug it into the PC with Vista and no recognition. The camcorder even thinks it's plugged in flashing (DV IN). I have updated the Firewire Driver, used the A/C adaptor, switched between 4 pin and 6 pin cables. I have moved the Firewire card to the other PCI port and nothing. I went to Microsoft and edited the registry line by line and nope! Any more suggestions?

Helimon

 

[DaveGil]

I found this forum when searching for solutions to the Handycam / Firewire / Vista problem which I endured for months. Like many others , my PC (running Vista and with a self-fitted firewire card) refused to recognise my Sony Handycam no matter what I did. Tried adding / reinstalling drivers and tinkering with numerous other settings - but to no avail.

Clutching at straws and following advice from a couple of others on this forum, I decided to try a 4 pin to 4 pin cable. That meant me buying and installing a new firewire card with 4 pin socket but, halleluija, it seems to have done the trick. It doesn't seem to be the 4 pin to 4 pin connection that has made the difference as it'll happily work on 4-6 pin lead too, but rather the chage of card itself. The card I got was a nothing special cheapy from ebay at only a few dollars but it did specifically say that it was designed and tested to work with Viata. Call my a cynic, but I reckon they'll stick anything on the box to sell a few more units, but in this case it does seem to have made the difference.

This is the link on UK Ebay but presumably it won't to be hard to find in US

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-6-Pin-Port-Firewire-PCI-IEEE-1394-iLink-Adapter-Card_W0QQitemZ320400889713QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_ComputerComponents_InterfaceCards?hash=item4a99619771&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Reading others posts, it sounds like the problems aren't all identical and so the solution might be different in each case but I thought it woth sharing what my solution was in case it helps anyone else.

Dave

 

[ess-London]

Mahendra

I wanted to thank you so much for this advice. I was struggling with my sony handcam having never tried it with my very very old PC and then deciding to try it with the new PC which has Vista. I bought a firewire controller PCI adapter which has a 4 pin (and 6 pin) and I bought a Sony Handycam ilink cable - sony make for handycam IEEE 1394 which is 4 pin to 4 pin.
Then tonight I installed inside the PC the PCI adapter (so there is a "socket" at the back from the 4 pin wire) and then restarted the PC, it recognised it had the new firewire adapter inside. I then linked the handcam by the new 4 pin cable with the handycam running off power and its battery removed and my computer immediately recognised it and asked me if I wanted to copy the video and there we are. Perfect.

Thank you so much. I bought two 4 pin cables but decided to use the Sony handcam one and keep the other 4 pin to 4 pin as a spare and the PCI adapter came with a 4 pin to 6 pin but not used that.

ess Oct 2009

Hi There

I had similar problem with my Sony Digital8 (also called HI8 ) handycam. My vista system was not able to detect my Handycam with a very very cheap FIREWIRE PCI Card I bought in local market for only $4, yes four dollars. It came with 6pin to 4pin Firewire cable(Sony calls it i.Link). I was trying to connect with same cable 4pin at camera end and 6pin on PCI Card, with no luck. It was even showing DV-IN on camera LCD with this 6pin to 4pin cable. I tried everything an expert would do, but got only frustration. Even tried a lot on Internet for the solution but it seems no one knew.

Then I started from scratch, TO DECIDED TO READ MANUAL. While reading the PDF manual found on Sony Support site, trust me, I found those golden words "USE ONLY 4PIN TO 4PIN i.Link Cable for Firewire connection."

I ran back to market and bought 4PIN TO 4PIN Firewire Cable for $1.5

At first trial, trust me, it detected "SONY DV Camcorder" and installed drivers automatically. I confirmed by going into Device Manager and found same entry in Imaging Device section. Then what in every possible software existed on my system, DV Capture was available, which was found always disabled.

Now the funny part it, technically there is no difference in 6pin to 4pin Firewire cable as two pins are used for Voltage which is discarded at 4 pin end. But it seems SONY Handycam does not wants itself to connect it to 6pin socket at PCI card end.

So these are the final things to remember.
--------------------------------------------------------
1) Use only 4pin to 4pin Firewire cable (any cheaper make. $1.5 will do)

2) Use any cheaper FIREWIRE PCI card with at least one 4pin firewire socket. When installed XP or Vista will install driver automatically just confirm that "IEEE 1394 bus host controller" entry is shown in Device manager or not.

3) No matter you use cheaper or costlier PCI card or cable the quality will always be same coz D8 Handycams directly transfer encoded Video Data in Digital format thru Firewire cable. Firewire cable does not transfer RF video input. I get default video with 720x576 with 25 Frames/s in PAL mode.

4) No additional codecs are required to install in pc like others suggested. Required codecs are always there in XP and VISTA with windows movie maker.

5) No additional software is required, as you can directly capture with Windows Movie Maker in high quality. My choice is Adobe Premier CS3. If you want to make directly MPG file you may use ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO 8 or later.

6) Do not blame SONY as they already told you which exact cable to use.

7) Do not blame Vista. Its nothing to do with it. Sony's PicturePackage for XP does not work on vista. For vista they offered PICTURE MOTION BROWSER which also have easy VIDEO Capture utlity with same high quality capture. Some people falsely claim that "VISTA DOES NOT WORK WELL WITH FIREWIRE" That is completely wrong. See, one or few people may have problem and they always keep shouting for thier fate. But it actually it could be thier local hardware or software problem or anything. There could be many reasons at the same time too. Many people even do not care to change to new cable and keep trying on same thing. Actually cables are very delicate rubber material. Many a times you get faulty cable in new petty pack box of devices. Or it could be some firewire chipset problem too. Last is driver problem. Many firewire card manufacturers have not yet made stable drivers for vista. Most problems are solved if newest drivers are downloaded and installed.

7) In handycam mode, you can control PLAY/STOP/PAUSE of Handycam from PC itself from all the video software you use, which is high convinience for capturing.

8) My sureshot capture sequence is as follows.....

a) Remove BATTERY from camera and switch on with AC Adaptor
b) Put it on PLAY/EDIT mode (also called VCR mode).
c) Connect 4pin to 4pin firewire cable on camera side and in firewire PCI Card. Now you see the words DV-IN on LCD of camera, if LCD is open.
d) Now start any Video Capture Software of your choice. You will find CAPTURE command in FILE menu in almost all softwares.
e) Enjoy.....

Trust me I am going to add this information in almost all forums where similar problems were asked but nowhere the solution found. May be I can help them. Trust me I signed up this forum only to add this information.

Thanks for listening

Mahendra
Mumbai, India

 

[eroka]

After reading loads of reviews and forums, here is what I found worked for me:

1. The issue of whether to get 4 pin to 6 pin or 4 pin to 4 pin is totally dependent on your Firewire socket on your PC. Either would work, pending what y7ou have.

2. It took ages to figure out a way to install the PMB software (Picture Motion Browser) by Sony. I managed in the end - do it from here - http/support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/www/disoft/jp/pmb/download/info_e/update4303_e.html. You will be asked for the CD ROM part number - that is SO cheeky of Sony to ask this as who said that the PMB should be downloaded only by the original purchaser of the camcorder?! - so just simply use this number: 266675301 (I found it here - http/www.agoraquest.com/viewtopic.php?topic=33900&forum=32 - thank god for kind souls...!).

3. Details on the PMB content - http/support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/www/disoft/int/pmb/ver/matrix.html

4. Did managing to download the latest version of the PMB made any difference to my connection issue?! Nope!

5. What made THE difference for me was not the PMB at all. It wasn't getting a cheap cable either. It was buying the SONY CERTIFIED cable at 30 pounds at the Sony store (this is what I got - http/www.sony.co.uk/product/cac-cables---connectors/vmc-il4615). The minute I connected the camcorder to my PC using this cable my troubles were over. So I suspect that ALL our issues go back to the bl**dy cable. Annoying, but basic.

So before you go on bit*hing about the problem of connecting your Sony camcorder - simply get that cable. God knows why the Firewire cable is not a standard thing (well, maybe it is; my issues with the camcorder detection started a year after the detection went without a glitch; I then used a standard cable - no problems; a year on - Vista's many updates - no recognition. Go complain to Bill, eh?!) so investing in a Sony cable will release you from wondering what else is wrong with your set-up. I don't know if thjis would solve everybody's issues, but if you have gone and spent your good money on getting the Sony camcorder - fork out an additional 30 pounds - about 40 some USD - and get the original cable.
All the best boys!

 

[review72]

Okay we have had the same problem for over a month.
We have a Sony HandyCam DCR-HC62 and upgraded (if you can call it that) from XP to Vista SP1.

We could not import our video with the USB, which we learned can not work with Vista, so we got the IEEE 1394 Ilink 4to4 pin cable.

No luck we have spent hours searching the web for the answers, as we all know the Sony, and Mircosoft help is anything but help.

We tried hooking it to another computer, turning on and off the camera the computer, and the uninstall and reinstall the driver. Nothing worked.
Then we read a post that said you needed to get a Sony brand firewire 4 to 4 pin cable...we had bought a Belkin cable.

So we went to Best Buy and $25 later....IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YEAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get the SONY cable, it works not the other brands!

I hope this helps someone esle. I normally don't do a good job following up with my solutions, but I was so frustrasted and no one had any consistent answers, I thought I would let people know what worked for us.

 

[robertevans7847]

I am having problems with Windows 7 with sony dcr-pc1000E and pinnacle studio 14.
My current solution I hope temp until someone can suggest an i-link fix is to usb DV file through Windows movie maker then edit etc in pinnacle studio after.

 

[mrcleanisin]

I don't believe any of these posts about wires making a difference in whether camcorders are detected by a computer. All a cord is is wire so how could sony make a wire thats different. Four pins on one end connects to four pins on the other.

 

[kpie125]

I have an "inherited" Sony Handycam (DCR-TRV320). It's pushing 10 years old, and came with a serial port connection cable. Toss that in the trash! I did a bunch (but obviously not enough,) of research to get a modern cable: I ended up purchasing a Sony-branded i.Link cable: 4-pin at the camcorder's end, and 6-pin at the PC's end. My HP has two 6-pin sockets, and zero 4-pin sockets. Amazon's product listing had a list FROM THE MANUFACTURER (which is Sony) of all the camcorders that were compatable, and mine WAS listed! So I bought it! It wasn't until I plugged it in and discovered that it didn't work, that I went to Sony's eSupport site and typed in my model number. I got to a page regarding transfering video to the computer usin an i.Link connection. (http/www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/documentLink.do?externalId=C111893) It says, "NOTE: The computer i.LINK ports and capture cards may have either 4-pin or 6-pin connections. Sony digital camcorders use i.LINK ports with 4 pins. If your computer only has a 6-pin i.LINK port, then it will be necessary to use a 4-pin to 6-pin i.LINK cable." Hmmm. Sounds like I should be able to use the cable I purchased. Sony made it, didn't they? So I downloaded the owner's manual and yes, it states clearly, "Use the Sony i.LINK 4-pin-to-4-pin cable (during DV dubbing)." What is going on??? Why is Sony singing two different songs?

So the bottom line is, HELP! Is there some sort of converter I could use to change my 6-pin to a 4-pin? (And then use a 4-pin-to-4-pin with that?) I'm not sure I'm comforable changing/adding cards in my computer. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[eroka]

IMHO, the whole 6 or 4 pin on the PC side do not make a difference.
You did not say which OS you have.
The non-Sony cables are dodgy, and I think Sony does something that they don't always work. But if you DID buy a Sony cable you are now down to the driver issue. Sort that out - look in my post above - if not - download the Sony Picture Utility 4.2 - http/sony-picture-utility.software.informer.com/.
I had a nightmare with this issue...

 

[Guest]

OK... I am so confused. I THINK i have it. I have a laptop with NO firewire connection. I have a Sony Handycam. My laptop run Vista. Am I reading correctly that I can NOT get the video from my cam to my computer?

If it is possible, could someone please help me understand how to do that?

Thank you!

 

[eroka]

Hi,
Get one of these -
http/www.1topstore.com/product_info.php?language=en&currency=GBP&products_id=460
No reason why it shouldn't work as advertised.

 

[Guest]

Hi Mahendra,

Just replying to your solution to the Sony/Vista problem with a heartfelt thankyou

I have a DCR-PC109E Pal handycam and had the same problem as all others at this forum.

I had to purchase a PCI Firewire card as my Dell PC didn't come with one installed. I did however have a 4 pin to 4 pin cable for transferring between compatible camcorders.
When I connected everything as per your advice and, even when DVin was shown on the LCD, it didn't work. Everything I tried was unsuccessful and I was beginning to despair until I thought I would try as a last resort what you found initially didn't work for you.

The Card I bought was a StarTech 2 + 1 Port Firewire PCI with Digital Video Editing Kit. It has 1x4 pin port and 1x6 pin port. Included with this was a 6 pin to 4 pin cable and as soon as I connected my camcorder to my PC using this cable, it worked immediately.

It would appear that if one cable doesn't work the other will. At least it did for me.

Mahendra, thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.
You saved me from spending £149 on one of Pinnacle,s capture devices.

Jim,
Scotland

 

[Guest]

OK... I am so confused. I THINK i have it. I have a laptop with NO firewire connection. I have a Sony Handycam. My laptop run Vista. Am I reading correctly that I can NOT get the video from my cam to my computer?

If it is possible, could someone please help me understand how to do that?

Thank you!

Hi O'Nameless one,

Go to StarTech.com and view their range of Cardbus 1394a Firewire Adaptor Cards for laptops.
They have one with a Digital Video Editing Kit, complete with cable, which might solve your problem, and they are all Vista compatible.

Good luck,

Jim 796

 

[tjtuner]

From another Tortured Tom I have the same problem - If your PC has a slot available to insert a PCI card with a fireWire port it might work but I haven't tried it yet. All other lines have led to frustration so far.

 

[amsyed]

Hello.

I have a sony mini DV camera that I connect to my computer running windows xp through a firewire cable.

The camera is detected ok, the camera shows DVin. But the problem is that windows movie maker does not show any DV controls and neither does it show the "capture method" page which lets you select whether you would like to record the entire tape or record parts of it manually. I have to press the buttons on my camera to rewind/forward the tape. I cannot manipulate the tape from my PC.

Does anyone know why this is happening?

 

[hondomagic]

Mahendra-

I see your posted solution to capturing video from a Sony Camcorder (mine is TRV38) into a pc with Vista HP. I realize that I need to go from 4-pin to 4-pin in order to capture via Firewire. However, I am unable to locate any ExpressCard Firewire adaptors that have a 4-pin port. They all have 6-pin. Please share with the world where to find such an adaptor that has the 4-pin input.

Thanks you very much.

Hondo (PS. I am a professional magician. You can imagine my frustration in not being able to make the proper adaptor APPEAR!)

Hi There

I had similar problem with my Sony Digital8 (also called HI8 ) handycam. My vista system was not able to detect my Handycam with a very very cheap FIREWIRE PCI Card I bought in local market for only $4, yes four dollars. It came with 6pin to 4pin Firewire cable(Sony calls it i.Link). I was trying to connect with same cable 4pin at camera end and 6pin on PCI Card, with no luck. It was even showing DV-IN on camera LCD with this 6pin to 4pin cable. I tried everything an expert would do, but got only frustration. Even tried a lot on Internet for the solution but it seems no one knew.

Then I started from scratch, TO DECIDED TO READ MANUAL. While reading the PDF manual found on Sony Support site, trust me, I found those golden words "USE ONLY 4PIN TO 4PIN i.Link Cable for Firewire connection."

I ran back to market and bought 4PIN TO 4PIN Firewire Cable for $1.5

At first trial, trust me, it detected "SONY DV Camcorder" and installed drivers automatically. I confirmed by going into Device Manager and found same entry in Imaging Device section. Then what in every possible software existed on my system, DV Capture was available, which was found always disabled.

Now the funny part it, technically there is no difference in 6pin to 4pin Firewire cable as two pins are used for Voltage which is discarded at 4 pin end. But it seems SONY Handycam does not wants itself to connect it to 6pin socket at PCI card end.

So these are the final things to remember.
--------------------------------------------------------
1) Use only 4pin to 4pin Firewire cable (any cheaper make. $1.5 will do)

2) Use any cheaper FIREWIRE PCI card with at least one 4pin firewire socket. When installed XP or Vista will install driver automatically just confirm that "IEEE 1394 bus host controller" entry is shown in Device manager or not.

3) No matter you use cheaper or costlier PCI card or cable the quality will always be same coz D8 Handycams directly transfer encoded Video Data in Digital format thru Firewire cable. Firewire cable does not transfer RF video input. I get default video with 720x576 with 25 Frames/s in PAL mode.

4) No additional codecs are required to install in pc like others suggested. Required codecs are always there in XP and VISTA with windows movie maker.

5) No additional software is required, as you can directly capture with Windows Movie Maker in high quality. My choice is Adobe Premier CS3. If you want to make directly MPG file you may use ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO 8 or later.

6) Do not blame SONY as they already told you which exact cable to use.

7) Do not blame Vista. Its nothing to do with it. Sony's PicturePackage for XP does not work on vista. For vista they offered PICTURE MOTION BROWSER which also have easy VIDEO Capture utlity with same high quality capture. Some people falsely claim that "VISTA DOES NOT WORK WELL WITH FIREWIRE" That is completely wrong. See, one or few people may have problem and they always keep shouting for thier fate. But it actually it could be thier local hardware or software problem or anything. There could be many reasons at the same time too. Many people even do not care to change to new cable and keep trying on same thing. Actually cables are very delicate rubber material. Many a times you get faulty cable in new petty pack box of devices. Or it could be some firewire chipset problem too. Last is driver problem. Many firewire card manufacturers have not yet made stable drivers for vista. Most problems are solved if newest drivers are downloaded and installed.

7) In handycam mode, you can control PLAY/STOP/PAUSE of Handycam from PC itself from all the video software you use, which is high convinience for capturing.

8) My sureshot capture sequence is as follows.....

a) Remove BATTERY from camera and switch on with AC Adaptor
b) Put it on PLAY/EDIT mode (also called VCR mode).
c) Connect 4pin to 4pin firewire cable on camera side and in firewire PCI Card. Now you see the words DV-IN on LCD of camera, if LCD is open.
d) Now start any Video Capture Software of your choice. You will find CAPTURE command in FILE menu in almost all softwares.
e) Enjoy.....

Trust me I am going to add this information in almost all forums where similar problems were asked but nowhere the solution found. May be I can help them. Trust me I signed up this forum only to add this information.

Thanks for listening

Mahendra
Mumbai, India

 

[hondomagic]

Roobah-

I have similar problem caprturung video. Do you have a solution?

Thanks.

Hondo

Sorry Mahendra,

Your suggestions are still not working for me. But I have the 64-bit version of Vista, and my computer came with the 4-pin firewire pre-installed in my laptop (and I have 4-pin on the Sony DV camera). I'm using a 1.5-meter 4-pin to 4-pin firewire cable. I've used this same camera for about 2 years on another XP desktop (6-pin to 4-pin) and it always worked flawlessly, so I know it's not the camera. I've transferred enough video to know how to set the camera mode for transfer. I also have Adobe CS4 Premiere Pro which just tells me my capture device is "offline". Windows Movie Maker does not recognize anything hooked up. It is going to take some kind of driver or something... this definitely is not plug-n-play!

Come on Microsoft, get with the program here! My Sony DCR-HC28 is NOT that off the wall, even XP recognizes the model as plug-and-play.

My system is HP DV9700T w 4GB ram and NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GS 512MB video card, running Vista 64 OS.

Roobah

 

[hondomagic]

Bill-

Did you ever find a solution to this problem. i have a similar one that has yet to be solved. thanks.

Hondo

I have a Sony mini DV camera. There is no solutions in vista for those who do not have a firewire port on their computer... I tried a firewire to usb cable, but Vista does not suport uSB streaming. I talked to Sony support and they confirmed it.
Anything through Linux??

Thanks for any tip
Bil