Thanks but sadly no, I should have mentioned i am using XP on all machines.
Could I have some how blown out my Firewire connectionsin both cams!? its strange that a std DV cam connects fine in all computers though.

I don't believe it is possible to modify camera software via the firewire. Sounds very puzzling behaviour. One could fear that your FX firewire card has failed, but most unlikely that this has happened simultaneously on your AU1. You've tried HDVLink too? Sounds like a case for Super Bob.

Yep, it's possible to blow the FW connections or circuitry. I would think highly unlikely on both cams though, but possible. Order of operation should always be - all devices off, plug everything in, turn on PC, turn on cam. Problems can arise by plugging and unplugging cams while hot to the PC.

Yes, we spoke of this last week: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=558992&Replies=34fried firewire thread[/link]

well im afriad it may be my firewire port on my main editing computer. As i have gone back and forth i went to plug the dv cam back into it though it was recognized once this time it did not recognize it. and now the dv is no longer recognized on a second computer.
Im thinking i have an issue with my firewire connection on the front of my machine which is in turn directly connected to my motherboard.
Now how do i test my firewire connection is there a tester or specs for the terminals.
I always perform the connections with the devices powered off when connectioning or disconnecting.
I hate the thought of having burned out connections on all cams now and having to replace my motherboard!!!
My fault was in plugingh in the AU1 into the machine thaty wasnt working before pluging it inot the one it just worked on earlier.

Brings back horrible recent memories.
Without going through all the details, suffice it to say that I lost the firewire circuitry on one external disk drive, one fairly inexpensive camcorder, and one prosumer camcorder.

It turned out to be one of the things you suspected --- a bad front firewire port on the new computer I had just bought. I did NOT do the "usual" firewire mistake of having camera turned on when connecting it... everything was off, on all the pieces of equipment that the connector fried.

The BACK connector on the PC worked properly and safely, but the front connector would burn out anything attached to it. I sent in our prosumer camcorder for possible repair, but was told that not only the firewire PORT was gone, so was the related circuitry on the camera's main board. Would be nearly $1,000 for repair. No can do. So that camera is a "shoot-only" camera now; can't be used for transferring footage to the computer.
Sigh...

I'd buy a new PCI firewire card - AMD or Pyro are two good brands, they're fairly cheap, usually have 3 ports and will quickly tell you if the camera connections are still ok.

UGGGH ! thats what i am afraid of most, the repair on the cams. There is a place in tampa here that does repairs. I guess Ill take them there tomorrow and see which one is the leaste expensive to fix for now.

I have a Pyro in the back my Firewire 410 is connected to. i went to plug in the cam in to one of the Pyro ports, it killed muted and started the FW 410 flashing imeadiatley. I quickly powered the whole system down, unplugged the cam rebooted and thankfully the FW 410 came back online and ok. I have since unplugged the 1394 connections on the MB to the front panel and will no longer use those..just dont have the stomach or pocket book to buy a new M.B. now too.
Think I'll lick my wounds, have the cams checked out before i go any farther with trying to connect them to anything else.
And that FW protector at B&H looks like its gonna be on my list too.

feel for you,, been there way too many times,, if in fact the cams firewire is fried,, for about the price of repair you may want to get a hc3 or similar,, use it for transfer and a handy vacation cam

hope you don't have to make such a decision... good luck

You said you have two cameras so why not test the firewire on the cameras by dubbing a tape from one camera to the other via firewire. That should tell you if the cameras' firewire ports are working properly.

Also, ASFAIK, most motherboards with firewire have two firewire ports. Are you using both of them? Is there an unused firewire header on the motherboard?

John

Win , thanks thats a good sug about the hc3, the place say they give free estimates so if it is $$ that is a good way to go.

yeah my MB has 2 1394s I disconnected both (the other one went to an adapter that fit into a pci space on the case. figured id leave them both offline and stick with the pci cards from now on. just in case...
call me gunshy but now im paranoid of everything "fry-Wire" just moved my all my external HD's to USB too.

don't know if this helps:

i used some old tapes on a shoot (prior recording sd dv), shot hdv over them, loaded into m15 deck - set sony capt. to hdv, NO device, tried camera, no device, panic'd, etc.,

swapped cables, still no dev. thought i'd see if there was actually anything on the tape (duh!), and found that the head was still dv, about 20secs in new hdv recording. and lo and behold, all back to normal.

moral - if you tell sony to capture hdv and play a sd tape - it's not recognised

leslie

It's time to have someone design an optical connection to transfer HDV/DV firewire connections.
Line of sight would be even better, no cables.

Here's another tidbit for the technically inclined.
Operating power supplies that feed camcorders or other electronic devices.
Many of the manufacturers use the battery as the filter, similar to a capacitor.
Without a battery in the circuit, the power supply is actually pulsating dc voltage/current.
The battery smoothes these pulses into pure dc before going into the electronic devices voltage regulators.

New cars aren't like the older ones. We use to disconnect the battery to see if the generator or alternator worked. Now doing this can damage electronics in cars because the cars battery is the filter, otherwise the alternator generates pulsating 3 phase DC voltage/current.
So always read the manual, because leaving a battery out and plugging in an adapter may also be a source of damage.
It's always the things you don't think of that happens.

I imeadiatly restore the registry to before but is it poss that has done something to the cams???

No, it is not possible to clobber an external Firewire device from firmware or software.

All the electrical causes mentioned here are possible. The problem is related to the use of Firewire to power devices, so if you use 4-prong Firewire jacks, you should be safe.

well after talking with a tech at Video One Repair( excellent people to deal with BTW. It looks like the best solution is to buy a new cam for capturing.
SOooo Im looking at poss the sony HC5, or maybe the Canon HV10 or HV20 anyone i should stay clear of? image capture is not real important as this will be used as a playback and capture unit primarily. The FX and A1U are still my primary cam's.

FYI as someonementioned in this thread or the otherfirewire thread, repair for sony cams for the firewire port requires complete mainboard replacement.
Est cost: FX-1 $1500.00...A1U $1353.00

So a cam for under a Gnote is the way to go.

Spend a few dollars more and buy the M15 HDV VCR.
You will love it and you can write 4.5 hours of HDV to one tape.

Bob.

Bob i would love one of those (been on my wish list)but unfortunatly even the 850.00 I will spend on a HC5 was not in my budget , let alone 1700.00 which is about the lowest I have seen the M15. Got a spare one you wanna part with for a grand? ;-)
plus the xtra dollars i will spend crying in my beer tonight too....

There is a video somebody posted http://www.romerwood.co.uk/I-link%20fried%20my%20sony%20wmv.wmvhere[/link] by someone who was obviously pretty angry about exactly this situation.

I usually leave the computer on but have the camera turned off when I hook up the firewire connection. After several years of doing this I have had no problems, but am I risking my camera each time I do this?

After speaking with the tech at the repair center she said from her experiences in repair that it is not enough just to power off the cam you should have the battery removed and no power to the cam. connect the cable, then apply power to the cam. Via batt or plug, and yes as someone else mentioned on some models the batt is used as a filter.
She said most people dont do it that way and more often than not your ok, but simply a loose firewire connection can cause failures when pluging in and that power is still applied to some of the connection even when the cams switch is off.

Laurence,
I have always done the same. Making sure the camcorder is off before plugging into the computer since firewire in my opinion is not hot-plug. Firewire is plug & play (software).

I would always make sure though not to have other ground loops, such as having the analog adapters plugged in & connected to a TV (hdmi etc).
Most manuals warn against plugging the the usb port and the firewire port at the same time.
Then there's always static electricity to be careful with.

I find it rather unusual that this poster has a problem with both cams on more than one computer.
I suspect other problems, and would look for other possible causes why these firewire ports aren't working.

Video cams are computers, sometimes you may have to reset the firmware (discharge cmos) on the cam along with restoring the default settings. Unlike analog cams you adjust digital HD cams register settings using a special remote that lets you into the Bios & chipsets registers settings.
Optics lens section is still manually adjusted.

As a last resort I would find the reset pin on cam. I would think expensive cams should have a lockout circuit to protect the FW interface, sometimes that's what you get for thinking though.

And one last suggestion, take a very good look at the 4 pins on the camcorder and take notice whether they have gotten PUSHed in to the cam or they are damaged.
I've seen where someone has plugged a cable into a cam only to end up pushing the 4 FW pins into the cam or damaging them so when the cable is plugged in there is not connection being made because the pins on the cam are now to recessed to far into the cam to make the electrical connection.

Another reason not to drink & plug.

>"I find it rather unusual that this poster has a problem with both cams on more than one computer.
I suspect other problems, and would look for other possible causes why these firewire ports aren't working"<

Nope that was the problem, the issue was the steps i did that caused the problem. main computer(#1) and FX pluged in with a different cable (6-4 pin)than i normaly used. (that one was in use somewhere else). I assume the damage was done then to both the cam and that firewire port on my computer.
what I did was take the camera to the other computer and test it there. That computer connects w a 4 pin to 4 pin.It did not recognize the FX 1. What I should have done at that point was plug in my second cam(A1U) into the second computer that I just captured on earlier in the day, it probably would have worked. This is not to say I woundn't have gone and tried it on the first computer after that. Instead in my haste to get the tapes captured I brought the A1U and connected it to computer #1 first. hence smoking it,then chasing my tail.

On the bright side, I went to the local Circuit City to pick up a HC5 that I can use to capture my tapes and get back on track. They had them on sale for 850.00 ,as the kid was searching for one( they showed them on hand but he couldnt find one).As he was pulling boxes out from under the counter he popped up a dusty old box.. it was an HC3. I said "how much is this?" he said "its and old model let me see in the computer...$625.00". I jumped on it! I know there were some improvement on the HC5 )they didnt have any in stock anyway) as far as pic quality but i\I am planning on using it for capture only,plus it has the component outputs ,where the HC5 only has HDMI. I often like to monitor on component for capture since we dont have batch capture in HDV and I dont have any monitors with HDMI.
Anyway all future captures will be off this cam that will stay connected up to the computer via 4 pin to 4 pin only.