Now I'm Really Desperate!

Jay Gladwell wrote on 5/20/2005, 7:07 PM

Okay, I've tried eveything I could find here in previous posts to resolve my capture/DSR-30 problem. At least I was able to color correct out to my external monitor, now I can't even do that. And to top it all off, Vegas doesn't even recognize my camera, now--I'm totally dead in the water--I hve no way to capture, no way to color correct, and I have an upcoming project staring me in the face!

What in the world am I going to do???


Comments

rextilleon wrote on 5/20/2005, 7:13 PM
Jay, try Scenealyzer---it is one of the most bug free pieces of software I have ever worked with. It isn't expensive and there is an older free version that should do the job.

http://www.scenalyzer.com/download.html
craftech wrote on 5/20/2005, 7:22 PM
What about your capture card? Why not try an inexpensive Pyro card?
Moreover, any Vegas capture utility should work, even Version 3.0
John
farss wrote on 5/20/2005, 7:59 PM
Jay,
to answer your question from your last thread, I'm doubting changing the capture card will fix the problem, they all use pretty much the same chips and drivers. However 6.0b is here, maybe that's fixed the problem for you, I suspect it's not totally unrelated to the ADS Pyro problem and that is claimed to be fixed.
I had no problem with the DSR-30 IF it was the only 1394 device, I had to pull out my 1394 drive and Firewire 410 to get it to work with VidCap 4.
Bob.
John_Cline wrote on 5/20/2005, 8:58 PM
If the Firewire card in question happens to have the NEC or VIA chipset, then the Firewire card could possibly be the problem. As has been said here many times in the past, cards based on the TI chipset are the best way to go. ADS Pyro and SIIG cards are widely reported to be the "best of the breed." The SIIG NN-400012 is particularly well regarded.

SIIG NN-400012

John
Jay Gladwell wrote on 5/21/2005, 4:11 AM

John, Bob and John, the card I'm using now, that doesn't appear to be working, is an ADS Pyro. The Device Manager says it's a TI based card.

Bob, deep down inside, I'd have to agree with you. But desperate times call for desperate measures, hence the new card.

Rex, I know this may sound silly, but I'm the kind of person that would rather not have to go buy another app when he's already bought one for the task at hand.

Someone else mentioned that I reinstall everything down to and including the OS. I'm afraid I'm going to have to do just that.

Thanks to all for your help and support!


smurph wrote on 5/21/2005, 4:47 AM
Did you try V6.0b to see if that resolves the problem first?
Randy Brown wrote on 5/21/2005, 6:23 AM
May be a dumb question but: Windows doesn't see the camera either right?
Randy
rextilleon wrote on 5/21/2005, 7:26 AM
I can relate to that--but until they solved your problem I thought it would allow you to continue to work. An editor without footage is like a ---------------? Anyhow, let us know when you solve the problem.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 5/21/2005, 9:09 AM

Smurph, yes, I did. I was praying--literally--that it would fix it. It didn't.

No, Randy, it's not a dumb question, not for me, anyway. No, Windows no longer recognizes the deck or the camera. I think that's indicative of something, I just don't know what it is!

Thanks, Rex. This really has me stymied.


John_Cline wrote on 5/21/2005, 9:23 AM
Jay,

Forgive me for pointing out something as basic as this, but since all else has failed, have you tried another Firewire cable?

John
Jay Gladwell wrote on 5/21/2005, 10:11 AM

John, no, I hadn't tried that... duh! I tried another cable and that got me half way back, anyway. Now, I can send video out from Vegas through the deck to the external monitor! Now I'm only getting the device communication error message.

This is what I find confusing... it'll send video out, but it won't take any into the system. That seems very odd to me.

Thank you, John!!!!


Randy Brown wrote on 5/21/2005, 10:14 AM
Did you somehow toggle off "Enable DV device control"?
Randy
winrockpost wrote on 5/21/2005, 10:41 AM
OK, another you probably already tried, but power the deck down and unplug the power cable for a minute. (dont ask) worth a try.
vicmilt wrote on 5/21/2005, 11:23 AM
Jay -
do you perchance have a laptop?

I've got a PCMCIA Firewire card I'd be happy to send you, if you don't have firewire in your laptop - strictly for this obvious bind you are in.

Oh - and thanks for the heads up.
I'm going to test my capture later today. (
Assumed that if it worked with V5 it would continue to do so -

and - if you haven't erased V5, why not capture with that?

v
Jay Gladwell wrote on 5/21/2005, 1:27 PM

Randy, I don't know but I'll check. I keep getting a device communication error message.

Dave, I tried that, but it didn't have any affect.

Thank you, Victor, but I don't own a laptop. And it's not working in either Vegas 5 or 6, now.


JJKizak wrote on 5/21/2005, 2:15 PM
A device communication error is a port not working, bad cable on the port, no device on the port, driver messed up, too many devices on the firewire port, latest Microsoft fix for the 1394 under SP2, the vicap is half way between save and not save, in other words you did not save the last capture tape menu (the first menu that appears) in V6. Does the DS30 have a Digital/Svideo switch on it? Do you have another unit to plug in for capturing, like a camera?
Your in a panic now so the best thing to do is get a nice fresh cup of coffee, grab your butt cheeks with both hands and sit yourself down and go through the whole schmear by the numbers and don't gloss over the simple stuff.

JJK
farss wrote on 5/21/2005, 2:37 PM
Well put!
If you've had a cable fault I'd also begin to suspect the 1394 interface in the PC, at least one other user here has had a faulty cable kill the interface chip in a camera, as neither of two devices will work hopefully it's the PC end.
Bob.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 5/21/2005, 2:51 PM
James, as I've so many times before, I'm not a technician, so some of what you said was Greek to me.

The firewire cable has been replaced.

It's not working with Vegas 5 or Vegas 6. It worked in 5 before I installed 6. I've uninstelled 6 and still having the same problem with 5--I can send video out to the the external monitor via the DSR-30, but the system (Windows and/or Vegas) has a problem "communicating" with the deck for captures.

The input/output switch is properly set.






JJKizak wrote on 5/21/2005, 3:19 PM
Have you tried re-installing the driver for the 1394? Also when you open up your vidcap just hit the save as and save it anywhere, then see what happens.

JJK
BrianStanding wrote on 5/22/2005, 3:46 PM
I'd try uninstalling the card driver entirely from Device Manager, then rebooting and let Windows redetect the firewire card and re-install the driver for you.

If that doesn't work, trying another card isn't a bad idea. I had an ADS Pyro that completely flipped out on me after a power surge. I bought a $13 no-name brand OHCI card that's worked perfectly.

Also, are you using Win XP SP2? If so, make sure you've got the 1394 fix installed. (Search for KB885464 on Microsoft's download site).

Finally, one last thing. I was having really sketchy performance of both firewire and USB devices. I found out I had an old USB 1.1 hub on a USB 2.0 port that was somehow messing everything up. Unplugged the hub, and everything's fine.

Hope one of these ideas works for you.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 5/23/2005, 4:28 AM

James, I did try reinstalling the driver, but it didn't have any affect.

Brian, I did install the 1394 fix from MS and that hasn't done anything either. But I'll give uninstalling the card a shot.

I'm not certain how to check the ports to see what's going on there. Maybe you or someone else could guide me through that operation.

Again, my sincere thanks to everyone that has offered suggestions and support!


wakiyan wrote on 5/23/2005, 5:18 AM
Jay
I have had all sorts of problems of the type you are describing. I am by no means knowledgeable in this area.
I'm assuming you have external firewire hard drives.If you disconnect all firewire devices from your system will your dsr-30 then be recognized?
My problems went away when I changed to USB on my external drives.This setup gets me by for now until I can find a real fix for my 1394 issues.
Just 1 more thing to think about in your troubleshooting adventures.

Jon
NickHope wrote on 5/23/2005, 5:21 AM
Jay, on my Sony laptops I had funnies with 1394 since installing XP SP2. Even the fixes mentioned above didn't work. I actually ended up going back to the SP1 drivers and now all is fine. You could give it a try. It tells you how to do it half way down this page from RME Audio.

I'd also like to vouch for Scenalyzer as mentioned above. Very good value, more features than Sony Vidcap, and has been serving me well for 4 years. Even the latest beta hasn't crashed on me yet.
BrianStanding wrote on 5/23/2005, 5:22 AM
Jay,

It sounds increasingly like you either have a bad OHCI card or a bad firewire port on the deck.

Here's what I'd do to isolate the problem:
1. Try plugging another firewire device, like a camcorder, into your system. If you can see the camcorder through Explorer, Vegas and Video Capture, it's likely the deck at fault. If the other unit doesn't work either, unplug all USB and other firewire devices from the system and try again. If it works now, there's some kind of conflict going on over the USB or firewire bus.

2. If you can, try the deck out on another system. If it doesn't work on another system, it's likely the deck at fault. If it does work on another system, it's likely something with your computer (probably a bad card).

3. Try different firewire cables to see if the cable is damaged.

4. Try a new firewire card. (This is certainly cheaper than getting the deck fixed, so I'd try this first.) New Egg has a dozen or so OHCI cards for under $40.

5. If all the above fails, I'm afraid it's time to send your deck in to have the firewire port looked at.

I recently went through this with my Panasonic AG-DV1000. It cost me $150 to have the firewire port replaced... and then I found out about the USB hub conflict!