I just bought a brand new V1, shot some footage and tried to import but it would not connect to any of my computers. I've tried my other cameras, other computers, I have tried different firewire cables but nothing seems to work. Is there a setting in the menu options that I am missing? Any other V1 users have this problem?

I just bought a brand new V1, shot some footage and tried to import but it would not connect to any of my computers. I've tried my other cameras, other computers, I have tried different firewire cables but nothing seems to work. Is there a setting in the menu options that I am missing? Any other V1 users have this problem?

Which type of system you are connect to? MAC or PC?

What software you are using to capture from V1?

Have you switch to VCR mode on V1?

Do your system pop up any error message on Firewire connection?

May be you are using to downconvert HD to SD Im right?

I came across this problem when capture Downconvert. Always may sure you select the correct format project. I used APPCS3. HD-SD select SD format widescreen. HD capture select HD format.

The V1 is going to require xp sp2 otherwise there is a problem, the V1 only came out a short while ago and sp2 has the drivers to recognize the camera, I had same problem till I put sp2 on my machine

I have tried all the obvious things here MANY times. On a Mac, PC XP, PC Vista, SP2, SP3, etc, etc. I have many systems and many cameras - never had a problem until now. I am thinking the camera is defective UNLESS their is something new I am missing. The SP2 is a good thought but I have covered that. It's not a down convert thing either as I have tried all options (Squeeze, Clip, HDV). I have FCP, Premier Pro, and Vegas and it works with none of them. When you connect a camera, typically you will hear a "Da Dum" on a PC but I am not even getting that. I plan to call into the Sony Service Center on Monday unless someone can help me figure this one out.

Let’s try to solve your problem step by step

As English is not my mother tongue, make allowance for wrong word selection
As you have all kinds of system, we use as example the same type as mine. State of the art PC, with XP-PRO SP2 / or SP3

1. With both devices off (Camera and PC) connect them with fire wire cable
2. Set camera to on, in VCR mode
3. Start PC

You should get a message “found new device” and after some time (!!) a message is shown “device is ready to use now”
In device manager you should see near the top ="Audio-/Video/Game-Controller", there you should see something like "AV/C……Device" (don’t know the English word)
When you open this, you should see under Detail, something like "AVC \Sony&HDV-VCR&typ"

Now download from this page HDVSplitt,
Paviko's website (http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/)

HDV-Spitt works outside of all NLE-Programs and is also very good for testing the connectivity of your camcorder.

When you open HDVSplitt, you will see in the first window right at the top “Connected camcorder”, if you see in this field your camcorder, you know, PC and camcorder know each other and the problem will be with your editing software.

At least with HDVSplitt you can capture now your HDV tapes and import these files later in your editing program.

Can you report your findings till now? Is it ok so far?
We might have to try something else.

volki

try to go to control panel, system. hardware, device manager, sound video and game controllers, double click legacy video capture device, see if there are any issues, if you are up to it uninstall, reboot computer and see if windows will find driver again, do you have windows disc, have you scanned your computer for malware, I am thinking this driver is corrupted, and it may need to have windows reinstalled to get it work.

Having the same problem here... and this camera hasn't even gotten through the tape that came with it!?! Has Sony sent a bad batch of V1U cameras to retailers? I hope not. I am leaving this thread for the main forum for a post that is more specific to the problems.

Jody - FYI my iLink port is dead. Having plugged this camera in literally one time then I started having problems, I don't think it shipped with a functional port. I suggest yours may have the same problem.

FYI, capture via iLink failed for my HRV-A1U after installing software for the Philips Skype Phone. Uninstalling the software restore the capture functionality. It may be that just closing the application will do the job. I haven't tryed that yet.

Jody - FYI my iLink port is dead.
If either of you tried to hot-plug the FW cable into the cam -- that is, if either the PC or cam was powered on when you plugged in the cable -- you may have fried your port. Always make sure both cam and PC are off.

Lots of threads on this topic here and elsewhere.

Yes, Adam. I found that information... this was the first time I plugged the camera in at all, and I followed the instructions (plugged the camera in before I turned the computer on - the actual surge problem exist in the computer port). That is not what is going on here.

Also, as an aside, I think that is a BS meme on the part of Sony. I've owned a few FW devices in my life... including but not limited to XL1, XL1S, GVD-900, TRV-950, PDX-10, DSR-11, DVX-100 (A and B), DSR-500W, FX1, and now a V1U. This whole story about not "hot-plugging" FW devices was something that I never, ever heard-of or practiced until this most recent generation of camcorders. For the first 2 - 3 generations, I never heard of a burned out FW port... now it seems like half the cameras out there have one. Did they take out an isolator to save money? Are they buying cheap ports from another source now? Whatever it is, one could definitely call it a design flaw... as ever person I know that has owned a Z1U or FX1 has had to return it for service on the iLink port.

As you can see, in the past I have been a huge fan of Sony - their older gear was tough enough to hammer nails and grind gravel between video shoots (I think my GVD-900 and TRV-950 both had about 2000hrs before I ever serviced them). I am very disappointed with the quality of their newest units.

I also had connection problems with my V1U when I first connected, was getting very frustrated with getting my mac pro and final cut 6.04 to see the camera. Then I changed my easy setup (found from an article on the Ken Stone website) in final cut, and now it works like a charm.

The easy setups are available here: http://edu.moviola.com/hdv_prores#new_easysetups

Even if your product is truly defective, these setups may be helpful once you get a new system, I find them extremely helpful in a number of workflows.

Regards,
Jeff Allen

I am having the exact same issue. Ive tried connecting my V1 to 5 different machines (3 pcs and 2 macs). The camera recognizes the computer (the ilink indicator shows when connected) but the computers does not recognize the V1. Ive tried switching to DV and the issue remains. Lately Ive been shooting in DV and using and using my consumer cam to capture. But of course, the whole reason for buying the V1 was to shoot HDV! This is really a frustrating issue, so I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and send it to Sony for repair. Have any of you who are experiencing the same issue sent ur V1 to back to Sony for repair? If so is this issue covered under the extended warranty? If not how much did they charge to fix it? Thanks in advance.

Dennis,

Have you tried "my" solution?

With this, we (European Avid-Liquid-User group for D / A / CH) solved quite a few problems of this kind.

What I forgot to mention, before you do it, clean the registry of all relevant "Sony"-points

Once or twice we had to set the camera (FX-7 / V1E) first in standard DV-modus, not Auto (!!) and start from there. Once the camera was recognised, it was easy, in a second step, to have it recognised as HDV.

volki

Sometimes a PC will automagically choose the wrong driver for a camera. Here is the procedure to manually choose drivers for DV. (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/927020-post6.html)

Here is the procedure for manually setting for HDV. (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/342698-post5.html)

There was an issue that some people experienced with XP SP2, addressed here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ca0f2007-18b5-4112-8bd6-8bf4bd3130b9&DisplayLang=en). You may need this microsoft patch for any 1394 camera connection.

Note that you set the V1 for DV output for the first procedure, and to HDV for the second - these are two different devices, as windows sees them. Also, you only need to do this once.

Later Windows XP service packs (SP2, SP3) seem to clear up some of these issues, but not always. Sorry I don't know anything about manual driver selection on a Mac.

Note to future readers - the specific drivers referenced above are most applicable to Sony prosumer camcorders. HDV for your camera - check to see if there is a reference to the manufacturer in the driver selection dialog.

***edit***
Seem to be forum problems with urls. You're gonna' have to copy and paste these into your browser until this gets fixed, not just click on them.
Here is the DV settings url: www.dvinfo.net/conf/927020-post6.html
Here is the HDV settings url: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/342698-post5.html
Microsoft url is OK?

Jeff - thanks for the response... when my camera gets back from Sony (provided I cannot return it) I will give this a try.

Thanks Max and Seth,
Ive tried both of your suggestions and I'm still having the same issue. (ilink recognized on camera, not on pc or mac). I guessing its software issue within the camera itself. Speaking of which, does anyone know if there are any firmware updates for the v1 that might fix the issue? I went to sonys website and I see firmware updates for many of their cameras. https://servicesplus.us.sony.biz/sony-software.aspx However there is not a firmware update "specifically" for the v1.

Thanks.
-dw

Dennis

If it is that bad, I would call your next Sony-Repair-Centre and ask them, if and how you can test the ILink-out of your camera. If it is "broken", you will have to send the camera in anyway

volki

Dennis, I had posted earlier in this thread on some easy setup's that helped to solve my connectivity problem, which must have jinxed me, because I had problems connecting/recognizing over the weekend again myself.

One thing I did notice is that while having problems recognizing the camera on my Mac Pro, when I checked the firewire connections ('menu' - 'about this mac'- 'more info' - 'firewire', or just go straight into the System Profiler then 'firewire') the V1U was not showing on the firewire bus, but the camera showed iLink as active, and HDVin was also displayed on the camera LCD. I tried a number of things to get it recognized again, rebooting & clearing PRAM, etc. Finally I shut down, removed power from the computer, waited a few minutes, reconnected power, started up again, and connected the camera, and checked system profiler, and the camera was now showing as connected on the firewire bus.

Then when I started FCP, everything worked like normal again. Very strange and flaky behavior, that was frustrating, but I was able to get the camera recognized again, and working with FCP and capturing perfectly once again.

Not sure if any of the above helps, but there does appear to be some strange behavior with the firewire/iLink connectivity. I didn't change anything on my computer when the camera stopped connecting, and I made no changes when it started working again. Including making no changes to other devices on the Firewire bus.

had this problem with FCP 5, but not FCP 6.

i used the same workaround you did. frustrating to say the least. fortunately, this problem has not plagued me since the upgrade...

Justin, I am on Final Cut Pro 6.04. I have been on final cut 6 since before I got the V1U camera, so there must be something else at play here either in the camera, or related to system setup is my assumption (or maybe some interaction between the two that makes the connection marginal?). I don't believe based on my experience this is a FCP 5 versus FCP 6 issue, although FCP 5 may make it worse, no way for me to test that.

So far this has only happened to me twice, so hoping it does not become more frequent.

In the end, I love the quality of the camera, and will put up with this annoyance. I also have not reached the conclusion that I can completely blame the camera (yet).

yeah, i figured. just hoping it was an issue that might be solved by an upgrade. have you tried uninstalling and then reinstalling FCP? i find the VU1 camera simply finicky...though i have yet to have issues with the newest version of FCP...as of yet!

Justin, Given that my system was not recognizing the V1U on the firewire bus prior to launching FCP, and then after trouble shooting, it was recognizing it on the bus, prior to launching FCP, I don't think uninstalling and reinstalling FCP will solve the problem. Plus, that would end up taking much more time doing the uninstall/reinstall than what I have spent trouble shooting. At this point, with my particular issue I am going to see if it becomes more prevalent, and then may take more drastic measures if it does. I will keep my fingers crossed that the issue doesn't crop up very often.

If it does come up again, I may try a much more systematic approach to trouble shooting, and will post my findings here.

interestingly, though, i was seeing the iLINK light and the camera responding to the firewire out normally when i was using the previous version of FCP - but i could not get FCP to recognize the camera as a deck. i'd have to boot everything up then hot swap the camera when log and capture was up to get the footage in in native HDV.

with the new FCP and the new Pro Res CODEC, all is fine. that's why i'm wondering if it's a FCP issue, and the program is not creating the proper interface for the computer to recognize the camera on the bus. most likely not, as you've suggested. but it might be something to try if things get desperate.

good luck!

Finally I shut down, removed power from the computer, waited a few minutes, reconnected power, started up again, and connected the camera, and checked system profiler, and the camera was now showing as connected on the firewire bus.

This is risky, connecting PW devices while powered up. Some have been lucky for months, and then one day they have fried jacks.

I've had my eye on this camera for many months but not sure if... perhaps I should steer clear after reading these reports. Major bummer!

I've had my eye on this camera for many months but not sure if... perhaps I should steer clear after reading these reports. Major bummer!I wouldn't want to diminish the problems the original poster and a couple others are having, but they are in a small minority of users. I wouldn't base a camera-buying decision on this. If you search this forum, you'll see that many, many users are connecting up without issue to FCP, Premiere, Vegas, Edius, you name it.

Again, those problems are real, but affecting very few. Most forum threads are created to help solve problems, issues like this tend to get magnified.

i agree.

zero problems for me since i upgraded to FCP 6.0.4.

answered in earlier post

I have had no problems connecting my V1 to either of my computors via firewire. Both have CS3. And a colleague who has a lap top and a desktop has had zero problems connecting through his firewire either. I have never worried about turning anything off before connecting or disconnecting, either.

To avoid the risk of Firewire port damage, it is essential to connect the Firewire lead to the computer first. It does not matter whether the computer is powered on or not, the important thing is that the computer grounds the metal outer sleeve of the port. This eliminates any static electric charge - it is this that does the damage.

Now connect the Firewire lead to the camera, with the camera powered off. Finally switch on the camera.

This method is stressed in all the Sony manuals.

This is risky, connecting PW devices while powered up. Some have been lucky for months, and then one day they have fried jacks.

Jeff, in principle, I agree with you. However, in my experience, most of the "fried jacks" that I have seen (I work for a major computer company, and used to work for a major computer company named after a fruit...) were caused by one of the following: incorrectly inserting the firewire cable to the computer, inserting a damaged cable, inserting the cable with a device connected at the other end (especially if it is a bus powered device), and a few other reasons.

If you have a known good cable, that is already connected to the computer at the time of booting the system, and then you connect a device that is not bus powered to the opposite end of the cable after booting, I believe that the risk basically zero in "frying the port". Or, no greater than any other random event that could cause a problem with a port. I believe that early on in the the "firewire life", there were also some "questionable" ports that caused the bus to fry due to the power supplied over the cable, but I believe from what I saw when I used to work on problems related to this that the situation is much more robust these days, providing you are using a connector either built in to a reputable name system or good name card.

I will see if I can confirm this from an Electrical Engineering perspective from one of my old contacts at my old computer company, since I have seen this referenced a few times across this and other forums.

Jody i hope i have not missed this answer as i have only skipped through but have you connected your v1 to a dvd recorder that has a firewire to see if it will play through it.

To avoid the risk of Firewire port damage, it is essential to connect the Firewire lead to the computer first. It does not matter whether the computer is powered on or not, the important thing is that the computer grounds the metal outer sleeve of the port.

If you have a known good cable, that is already connected to the computer at the time of booting the system, and then you connect a device that is not bus powered to the opposite end of the cable after booting, I believe that the risk basically zero in "frying the port".

Jeff Please do check and report back. As I need to know the exact facts on this matter so I do not wreck the port on a $5,000 camera.

You'll notice the slight variations between Alan and your own statments on this issue. I'd like to know for certain too.

I ruined a 1394 card (on PC), and the FW jack on a Sony DSR 25 deck by having them both powered up when connecting.

i would have thought that connecting anything firewire 'live' was running a pretty obvious risk given the reports across all the news groups.

i know a number of people with v1's, all of whom have no problem connecting to pc's. i know this isn't mac's, but to blame poor implementation on the camera is a bit far fetched - otherwise the boards would be screaming....

if you treasure your firewire port, be sensible (you don't look one way when crossing a main road), and as suggested, try your camera on other equipment - if it works then the problem lies with your mac....

leslie

Update to my previous post and questions related to methods used when connecting your camera to a firewire connector.

I have inquired to my former computer mfg employer to one of the firewire engineers there. Here below is some of the key bits of information in his response to me.

First of all, his recommendation was to Never connect a 6 pin connector to any port when powered up while connected to any other device, as this can cause a "Late-VG" (Voltage Ground) issue. "When inserting any 6-pin cable to the Firewire port, if the power pin in the 6-pin connector (cable side) makes the connection to the power pin in the 6-pin connector (MLB side) before the ground pins, power will try flow through the connector to the cable (or vice versa, if the cable is connected to a powered device, which is not recommended).

If the data pin happens to be connected and the ground pin is not connected, the power could potentially be tempted to flow through the data pins.

If that happens, the data pins, which happen to go to the Firewire physical layer chip (i.e. a number of receiver circuitry), will get a voltage level far beyond the typical 1.5V that they use for transferring data. If this happens, the port no longer works."

However, if a cable is already connected to the computer on the 6 pin connector side (fully seated), and you then connect a 4 pin connector to a device such as a camera, his feedback was "Yes, this should be safe. The 6-pin cable is already connected, and the 4-pin does not have power."

He stated that due to the design of the firewire 400 connector, this Late-VG event can happen (I have even seen where a firewire 6 pin connector was inserted in the wrong direction!) but that the FW800 design eliminates this, so there are no issues in inserting FW800 devices while powered.

Therefore, chances of causing damage by powering off the computer to connect the camera, versus have a known good cable with the 6 pin connector already properly seated, and then connecting the camera to the 4 pin connector is probably about equivalent.

The danger arises if you connect the camera first, and then connect the 6 pin connector to a powered on device.

Of course, I am not a an EE (although I do have a science degree), and I am sure that there are other failure modes that can arise, so I apologize in advance if the above appears incomplete or if others take exception to it. However, hopefully it dispels some misconceptions and provides people some information to help make decisions about their workflows related to this aspect of the process.

Also apologize for such a long post!