well I did it, I plugged the firewire cable into my computer backwards. Now I called Canon to see why my xha1 wouldnt output to the computer and was told to send the cam in to be repaired. Anybody else do this and how was your experience.

Yup, did it to one of my cameras last month(even though i am usually careful), thankfully in warranty sent to Canon Uk ,brilliant service, returned within 7 days cleaned, new firewire board, firmware update and a leaflet explaining how to avoid the problem again, perhaps that should have been sent with the camera when purchased.
Overal fantastic service from Canon.

Yup, done that. Didn't do anything wrong, as far as I can see, but there you go. Took ages to get repaired (9 weeks), but it was a 3rd party warranty not Canon.

As protection, I bought an old HV10 from Ebay to use as my capture deck

I have to ask, how could you connect backwards? The ends of the firewire cable have different connectors, and each end is non-symmetrical (can only go in one way)?

Jeff

I have to ask, how could you connect backwards? The ends of the firewire cable have different connectors, and each end is non-symmetrical (can only go in one way)?

Jeff


my thoughts also

I guess I had a similar problem. I trusted my dealer on getting my camera fixed under warranty and ended up paying $456.00 to get the camera fixed. I still can not understand why Canon does not warn people to be careful with the firewire. I own two other cameras and have not had this problem ever. I questioned Canon about the problem and was told it was my fault. I did not see any thing in the manual about plugging in the firewired.

I have to ask as well, I have a fire wire cable and its the 4pin connector on each side, but they work either way with my A1 and G1, doesn't matter what end is where. So, how is it possible to connect backwards? Did I miss something here? Can some one explain this a little further...

Thanks all....

Ditto here my firewire cable also has the same connection on both ends.

Alan

I have to ask as well, I have a fire wire cable and its the 4pin connector on each side, but they work either way with my A1 and G1, doesn't matter what end is where. So, how is it possible to connect backwards? Did I miss something here? Can some one explain this a little further...

Thanks all....

upside down would be more correct. But still... I've read about people doing this and I just can't imagine how anyone could make that mistake... either 4 pin OR 6 pin :-\

I think the problem is that with a 6:4 firewire, if the computer is switched on, the camera switched must be switched off. If you have the computer on, and the camera on, then make the connection, there is a power surge that does damage the camera end. This doesn't happen with a 4:4 firewire. The technicalities are explained in another thread I read a while ago. Connecting backwards just means connecting in the wrong order.

Annie, I'm reasonably certain that since 4 pin FW cables don't carry power like 6 pin do, a 4 to 6 pin cable is just for connection convenience & the extra 2 pins that normally carry power are either not connected internally on the 6 pin end or simply terminated. I say this because the 4 pin configuration (plug or jack) isn't designed for power (there's nowhere for power to go).

Just searched for the thread I saw the information on - there's a lot of posts that include firewire, so it's not easy to search for it. Maybe I didn't read it properly, or maybe it wasn't this one, but I got the impression from a few posts that it wasn't a good idea to connect to the computer with the camera switched on, especially with a six-pin plug. And as it's just as easy to switch the camera on after connecting it, that's what I do.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/canon-xh-series-hdv-camcorders/91010-urgent-cable-question.html

Even though firewire devices are allegedly hot-swappable, you never should do that. Always turn the camera off. I do the same thing with hard drives, eject first, then turn off, then unplug. In my early days of firewire drives and Avid, we had a total of 3 drives killed by unplugging when turned on. There's no good reason to unplug or plug in a camera when it's turned on unless you just like living dangerously.