I get this blinking red light in my viewfinder, in the shape of a thin rectangle slanted on the sides an a \ going across it with a + on top of the rectangle.

I know it's saying that there is no... something. i just don't know what. I use a firewire to connect it to my mac, and a month ago i had the xl1 on a tripod connected to the firewire, but it tiped over and bent the connector piece on the cable inside the xl1 port. I turned on the camera right afterwards and nothing was blinking. Now i have a new cable and i connected it today, turned on the camera and get this blinking signal ever since. I doesn't go away. however, it does export and import just fine. So the port can't be broken. The icon just looks a little like a firewire port. IS THAT WHAT IT IS?

I appreciate the help.

Peace.

Welcome Albert,

Your camera's back-up battery (the watch battery) is dead or missing.

Thanks ken.

Replace it with a Panasonic CR2025 battery; these are inexpensive and easy to find at most discount stores.