Blown Firewire :(

Randy Johnson · February 20th, 2008, 11:02 AM

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

Brian Luce · February 20th, 2008, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Johnson

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?

Randy Johnson · February 20th, 2008, 12:34 PM

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.

Alex Dunn · February 20th, 2008, 01:16 PM

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!

Randy Johnson · February 20th, 2008, 07:52 PM

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.

James Thirston · February 21st, 2008, 02:09 AM

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...=&SUBCATID=435

JT

Brian Luce · February 21st, 2008, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Thirston

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...=&SUBCATID=435

JT

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

Randy Johnson · February 22nd, 2008, 10:18 PM

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.

Brian Standing · August 18th, 2008, 12:21 PM

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!

Brian Standing · August 19th, 2008, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Johnson

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

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?

Phil Balsdon · August 19th, 2008, 04:46 PM

USBFirewire will ship this port isolator to Australia (or anywhere else I presume).
FireWire Port Isolator - 6pin - 6 inch

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.

Brian Standing · August 26th, 2008, 01:53 PM

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.

Rhea Gavry · May 4th, 2009, 05:30 PM

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.

Randy Johnson · May 4th, 2009, 09:03 PM

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.

Robert Rogoz · May 4th, 2009, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhea Gavry

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...rding-tape.htm
Also make sure your DR100 module is also set properly: split or synchro slave or external.

February 21st, 2008, 02:09 AM	#21
James Thirston Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: NSW, Australia Posts: 64	Still a chance for Port Isolators for people in Australia & NZ 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...=&SUBCATID=435 JT Attached Images

August 18th, 2008, 12:21 PM	#24
Brian Standing Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Madison, Wisconsin Posts: 621	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! __________________ http://www.prolefeedstudios.com/blog/ Documentary for the masses!

August 19th, 2008, 04:46 PM	#26
Phil Balsdon Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 91	Firewire Port Isolator USBFirewire will ship this port isolator to Australia (or anywhere else I presume). FireWire Port Isolator - 6pin - 6 inch 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.

August 26th, 2008, 01:53 PM	#27
Brian Standing Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Madison, Wisconsin Posts: 621	Some good news! 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. __________________ http://www.prolefeedstudios.com/blog/ Documentary for the masses! Last edited by Brian Standing; August 26th, 2008 at 02:30 PM.

May 4th, 2009, 05:30 PM	#28
Rhea Gavry Tourist Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Pleasant View UT Posts: 4	How do you know if your fire wire port is blown? 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.

February 20th, 2008, 11:02 AM	#16
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	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

February 20th, 2008, 12:34 PM	#18
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	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.

February 20th, 2008, 01:16 PM	#19
Alex Dunn Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 202	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!

February 20th, 2008, 07:52 PM	#20
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	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.

February 22nd, 2008, 10:18 PM	#23
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	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.

May 4th, 2009, 09:03 PM	#29
Randy Johnson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Newark, Delaware Posts: 1,067	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.