Aloha,

Well, I just blew the firewire on my JVC HD100. It was dark and I think I plugged in the cable upside down. DOH! It is weird, because DV works fine, but HDV doesn't work at all. My Mac sees DV just fine but nothing for HDV and my Firestore works fine with DV, but freaks out with HDV.

I have searched the forum and concluded I need to send the camera to JVC. I called the customer support number Carl Hicks mentioned in one of his posts and it is just a bunch of recordings that tell me to call the service center in Georgia. I call that number and get more recordings.

I have downloaded the "factory service request form" and filled it out. Am I just supposed to send my camera to JVC without contacting them first?

I also need to upgrade to the version A firmware. Do I just put this on my "service request form" or do I have to send it to a different location for this from the repair? I know I should have done this a long time ago, but it has never been a problem, so I didn't bother. Since I am sending it in now, I might as well do it.

go to JVC's professional site and pick any of their cameras to get info on.

on the left hand side of the screen will be an option to get more info. I think that one is a dealer locator button. click that and put in your zip code. you will be given a list of vendors, but at the top will be the contact info for your local JVC rep. contact that person and have them help you directly. They will point you in the right direction.

Good luck,

Dan Weber

You've probably already done it, but did you double-check the position of your HDV/DV switch?

HDV & DV are 2 different chips. That's why there is a switch for the firewire.

If you blow one chip, the other will still work.

JVC service is terrible, I live in California and contacting the Irvine branch and getting answers only happens in a perfect world.

I had the chance to get together with some JVC reps these past days at the HD expo in Burbank, they will be very nice and open about my problems (split screen, blow out firewire, etc) I think that's a good way to get their attention.

I have a business card from one of the reps if you want to give her a call and try to find out how to fix your problem.


Hope this works for you...

I had the same blown firewire. I live in S. CA so I took my camera to the Cerritos service center to be fixed. It took one month to the day to get it back. When I got it back the firewire was fixed, but the SD card slot no longer worked. Not wanting to be without the camera for another month, I just learned to live with it.

HDV & DV are 2 different chips. That's why there is a switch for the firewire.

If you blow one chip, the other will still work.

sorry but there is ONE FW port chip. the switch has to do with the _information_ being transported via the FW port, principly audio, and some differences in transport protocol.

sorry but there is ONE FW port chip. the switch has to do with the _information_ being transported via the FW port, principly audio, and some differences in transport protocol.
Sorry but having blown the hdv firewire chip and still being able to use SD I have to disagree with you that one chip is responsible for all firewire data transfer.The JVC technician was very emphatic that there are two chips responsible for firewire data transfer, one being for standard DV, and the other being for HDV data transfer, and that my HDV chip was fried. In the end it is immaterial as the whole circuit board needs to be replaced at great expense unless the camera is still in warranty.

Never plug in firewire when you are in a hurry and when its dark. I have had the same as you with my small Panasonic GS75. I plugged the cable upside down in my computer. It never happened to me before in the past three years. The strange thing is that i didn't have to use force, else i would have noticed something was wrong. I turned on the camera and the next thing i saw were flashing leds, (all of them, including ones which i didnt see on before :)) , like a christmas tree. I thought, o shit. This is not good!

I turned it off, but it was too late. The camera is dead! (and the firewire chipset on my computer too)
I am really feeling sad, as it was my first camera and i still liked it for quick documentary work. I think i will get a HV30 next month as replacement.

i did the same thing. Only my firewire port was dead for both worlds. I sent the camera to JVC in Atlanta and 1900.00 later got a new main board put in the camera. Funny thing is when I talked to he service rep the first thing he asked was if i used a Mac. Seems Macs have a history of blowing Firewire ports. Will never make that mistake again. i hope this helps others from doing it as well

This cable will not send power to the camera.

I think this is a must have for JVC ProHD owners:

http://fwdepot.com/thestore/product_info.php/products_id/356

$30 with shipping beats a $1900 repair bill. Call it insurance. JVC should have used the 4pin cable as it comes without power.

tup

This cable will not send power to the camera.

I think this is a must have for JVC ProHD owners:

http://fwdepot.com/thestore/product_info.php/products_id/356

$30 with shipping beats a $1900 repair bill. Call it insurance. JVC should have used the 4pin cable as it comes without power.

tup

I found this 6 pin male to 4 pin female adaptor on Maplin UK at £4.98:
(sorry for long url - hope it works OK)
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=45797&TabID=1&C=SO&U=Strat330&doy=search&MenuName=FIREWIRE%206-PIN%20%20TO%204-PIN%20ADAPTOR

Together with a 4 to 4 or 6 to 4 pin cable (depending on your camera) it should also isolate the bus power.

I wished I purchased the port isolator when this was first discussed a year or so ago. I blew the DV firewire chip last night. I'm sorta relieved that HDV still works. Finally ordered the isolator just now. Thanks for the reminder.

Would the same thing happen to the BRHD50U deck? Let's say the deck is already on when you turn on the computer you have it connected to, would it blow the firewire port on the deck?

Seems Macs have a history of blowing Firewire ports. Will never make that mistake again. i hope this helps others from doing it as well

be interesting to do a body count regarding this. Any PC users blown their FW?

Check this place out, I called them and they claimed to be able to fix a GY-HD100's Firewire port in a few days for about $650. When I get my income going again im going to try them but it wont be until June.

http://www.cwservice.com/contact.htm

Check this place out, I called them and they claimed to be able to fix a GY-HD100's Firewire port in a few days for about $650. When I get my income going again im going to try them but it wont be until June.

http://www.cwservice.com/contact.htm

I coulda sworn the part alone was about $1100?

Well I guess it depends on whats wrong plus JVC may not do board level repairs. I dunno give them a call it may save you a bunch of money it may not.

I one of the idiots still just being careful when I plug in. Of course, I have 4 kids now so I'm ordering the port isolator TODAY because accidents do happen!

you know what I noticed today, someone here said when they called the tech asked if it was a mac suggesting they are having more problems with mac owners. I check one of my macs today and it looks like the firewire port is upside down on the mac compared to other machines.

I emailed FWDepot yesterday requesting shipping cost to Australia & guess what...? They no longer ship outside the USA.

Every search on Google for any kind of firewire port isolator kept leading me back to FWDepot. In my frustration and short of pulling apart my own FW cables and cutting off the power bus strand, I stumbled upon a 4 to 6 pin converter which essentially does the same thing.

Forget $21! You can get them from Jaycar Electronics for $6.95AUD.

See: http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=PA0912&CATID=20&keywords=&SPECIAL=&form=CAT&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=435


JT

I emailed FWDepot yesterday requesting shipping cost to Australia & guess what...? They no longer ship outside the USA.

Every search on Google for any kind of firewire port isolator kept leading me back to FWDepot. In my frustration and short of pulling apart my own FW cables and cutting off the power bus strand, I stumbled upon a 4 to 6 pin converter which essentially does the same thing.

Forget $21! You can get them from Jaycar Electronics for $6.95AUD.

See: http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=PA0912&CATID=20&keywords=&SPECIAL=&form=CAT&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=435


JT

FWDepot is one of those operations that jacks up shipping fees too. I hate that.

I kinda made a check list of things to be carefull of with Firewire since my meltdown. 1. Make sure you put the connector in right side up 2. use the little pig tail thing 3.dont connect when either power of camera or computer is on. 4. Watch out for static. I dunnno guys I have been using Firewire since it came out and I have hotswapped drives (USB and Firewire) cameras everything under all sorts of condidtions and I have never had a failure like this I just think JVC has a issue they need to address and I dont think they have the right to charge what they have been charging to fix it. Thats just my opinion. With this seemingly fragile Firewire system I can't see myself going tapless with my GY-HD100's. with everything that can happen in the field in my buisness I cant be sure that one day the cable isnt going to come out and that I will have to hook it up hot and blow something. If JVC wants to market this camera as a ENG they really need to fix this issue.

Oh, I'm so depressed. Purchased a lightly used, second-hand, HD100, everything -- including firewire -- worked perfectly. After following the instructions for hooking up the FW TO THE LETTER -- everything powered down, hook 'em up, turn 'em on -- my HDV firewire no longer functions. By the way, this was on a PC workstation with 6-pin FW connectors.

I've got a call in to the Aurora, Illinois service center, but have yet to hear back.

So now, I'm looking at shelling out two grand that I cannot afford (if I could, I would have bought a Sony Z7) to repair the dang thing, or spending twice that to buy a JVC HDV deck.

Beautiful camera, CRITICAL design flaw.

What a nightmare!

Check this place out, I called them and they claimed to be able to fix a GY-HD100's Firewire port in a few days for about $650. When I get my income going again im going to try them but it wont be until June.

ComputerWorksTechnologies repair services for printer, desktop, notebook, monitor, LCD, pro audio/video, and networking solutions (http://www.cwservice.com/contact.htm)

Hey, Randy

Did you ever have any luck with these guys? I've tried leaving a service request on their website, and e-mailing them, but so far, I 've gotten no response (not encouraging). $650 sure sounds a lot more reasonable than $2000! Does anyone have any experience with this outfit?

USBFirewire will ship this port isolator to Australia (or anywhere else I presume).
FireWire Port Isolator - 6pin - 6 inch (http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-cfe-66-np06.html)

They also make some useful right angle cables that change the angle the cable exits the camera to directly back and keeps the cable very close to the camera body for those using the DR HD100.

I just got a call back from my local JVC service center, after they had taken a look at my HD100 with the blown HDV firewire port. They initially told me they would have to replace the entire mainboard at a cost of $1800. However, when they took apart my camera they found that they could replace just the firewire chip instead. As a result, the cost for the repair is only $425! Whew!

It seems JVC may have used two different designs for the mainboard in the HD100: one with a firewire chip permanently attached to the circuit board, and one with a more easily removable chip. Fortunately, mine was the latter. The tech told me that they would also replace the 6-pin IEEE-1394 connector with a "beefier" one that JVC has been using in more recent models, which should, hopefully, help prevent the problem from happening again. Even so, from this point on, I am sticking nothing into the firewire port unless it's a 4-pin cable with an adaptor, or with the port isolator (which I just ordered) firmly in place.

So, if you find your camera afflicted with firewire burnout, make sure to take it to a tech first, before giving up on it.

I'll post back here after I get the camera back next week and let you know how it works. So far, I feel like a dodged a bullet.

We have the GY-HD 100UA and normally use the HD-100 firestore with tape backup. On our last shoot the camera wouldn't see the firestore so we just shot tape. Upon trying to capture into Final Cut the software won't see the camera. In doing searches it looks like some folks are having trouble with FCP 6.04 and Quicktime 7.5 seeing the JVC decks and cameras. So, I'm not sure which is the problem. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

No one really know if a port issolator will really work or not because no one really knows why they blow. You can ask 3 people and get 3 answers. In theory you should never be able to blow it if it is 4 pin because 4 pins dont have power but they blow. and why does JVC have a 6 pin anyway there not powering anything? I wish JVC would step up and cut us a break I have seen more JVC blown firewire port threads than any other camera clearly JVC had a design flaw and were paying the price.

We have the GY-HD 100UA and normally use the HD-100 firestore with tape backup. On our last shoot the camera wouldn't see the firestore so we just shot tape. Upon trying to capture into Final Cut the software won't see the camera. In doing searches it looks like some folks are having trouble with FCP 6.04 and Quicktime 7.5 seeing the JVC decks and cameras. So, I'm not sure which is the problem. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

Please check here: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/jvc-gy-hd-series-camera-systems/234430-recording-dr-hd100-without-recording-tape.htm
Also make sure your DR100 module is also set properly: split or synchro slave or external.

The port isolators being talked discussed while they improve your chances still don't give full protection.To be safer you need to use firewire protector with a fuse in it such as those being produced by Kramer. I have had 3 sony boards replaced as well as the jvc camera board replaced due to these problems so I would suggest that it is not a JVC problem but widespread problem with firewire in general. Since I have used the kramer box as well as using proper power down protocols before changing switch positions or disconnecting any leads I have had no further problems.
The cause is quite simple in most cases. It is usually caused by a short between the powering pins on the firewire lead and the non powered pins when either plugging or unplugging firewire leads. The other cause is a simple static charge caused by inferior electrical grounding in the computers themselves. G5 Macs and their predecessors were supposed to be very vulnerable to these problems, however all my problems have occured using non mac pc's.

regards
Ian Skurrie

Well, I'm joining the club. Lost my firewire port today on my JVC HD-100. I'm so mad I could throw this camera out the window. Very mad!!!!

That's too bad. I found that a JVC CU-VH1 portable deck works fine for ingesting 24p and 30p footage. I bought my CU-VH1 for $700, but one sold recently on this board for $400. I will no longer let a firewire cable touch my HD100.

Well the main reason I love the firestore is recording events that last longer than a tape. I've already done a few concerts with it (when the firewire worked). Now I'm just not looking forward to doing my next concert and missing a song part while I change tape.

I do have an XDR recorder too, which can actually record a better picture (4:2:2 220Mbps Intra) but it would require me to get a component to SDI and the handheld rig also starts to get real big at that point.

The component to SDI seems to be about the same price as it might cost to just fix the firewire port. As much as I hate to do it, looks like I'm going to take it to the service center.

Sigh...

Aaron,

please see my posts on fixing the firewire.
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/jvc-gy-hd-series-camera-systems/337001-fixing-firewire-fuse-jvc-cams.html
You may merely have lost the contacts through pressure on the firewire port since you also use a firestore like I do, and you may not have necesarily shorted your circuits which does more damage and requires part replacement.

A local technician can solder those ports back for you.

Ted