Here is my problem. I use to have an HV30 where I did all my capturing, so I no longer needed this cam and sold if off. Now, I am trying to use the xha1s to capture and have nopthing but problems. All i get is a flashing HDV/DV IN signal when I turn it all on. Searching around says this problem was a known issue with the original xha1. I have been trying though with a cheap no namer 6 pin firewire off of ebay. Im thinking this is the problem since I have tried this on both of my xha1s, 2 total. I tried them both on a custom built rig and a brand new alienware system.

Is there a firewire brand that you guys normally use that are reliable and of high quality?

Could also be incorrect/corrupt driver on both machines. The brand of the cable doesn't really matter. If it is the problem, then it could be a bad one in the batch.... Hard to tell, but I'd just go to a electronics store and buy another one...