capture problem

[Lukah Sighs]

hi, i've got a very strange problem when i want to capture my rushes: i connect my canon DV with a firewire to my pc, but it fails to connect. the computer does not recognize the camera.

i tried other camera's, computers and firewires and after a couple of times...the camera's stopped capturing...scary... the only explanation which seems reasonable is the internetconnection. could it be possible that someone is able to block my camera?

thanx,
philip

[Rob Lohman]

What do you mean with "recognize"?

- what operating system?

- which camera?

- what do you use to capture with?

If it all worked previously and doesn't work anymore there is a
good chance something is broken. Most often tihs is the firewire
cable, otherwise it could be a blown firewire port on the camera
and/or computer.

Also see the following thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=38720

[Lukah Sighs]

we have 5 camera's (canon dv) and tried it on several computers, with different firewirecables, using adobe premiere pro. after a couple of weeks, only 2 camera's are still working (which means able to capture).

when i want to capture my rushes into premiere, it shows camera 'offline'. it's not possible to push play or rewind in premiere pro. there is no problem with the computer or the cable, it must be the camera, but they used to work properly. it seems that someone can block it the moment i connect my camera to a computer with a internet connection...

thanks for your help. anyone else got this problem?
lukah

[Rob Lohman]

No, that is not possible (for someone to block it). But it would be
best to keep your edit computer disconnected from the internet
anyway, you really don't want to get virusses, malware or spyware
on there for all sorts of reasons.

It definitely sounds like the camera's firewire ports are busted.
Probably time to send them in for a repair. I don't know how you
connect the camera's, but it is wise to connect/disconnect them
with the power (to the cam) OFF. If you want to be truly safe
connect/disconnect everything while the computer is off as well.

If some camera's work on a specific computer but others not then
that points to a problem with the camera's. If all the camera's do
not work on a specific computer then the computer is the suspect.

If it happens randomly your cables would be the main suspect.

[David Kennett]

Lukah,

I had early Canon ZR. It started putting random color blocks into captures. Control was fine. Checked cables - different computer. the camera's firewire just quit working properly - record and play is fine. It CAN happen!

Just use another camera for capture - or buy a cheap camcorder just for capturing.

[Lukah Sighs]

thanks for your help, guys. it's strange that in a very short time 4 camera's stopped working. the 'block via internet' explanation seems reasonable, because when someone steals your camera you can block it by giving the serial code to the police. the moment the thief connects your camera to a computer with internet, the camera will block.

i will send them back for repair, but i'm affraid it will happen again. the truth is out there...

lukah

[Rob Lohman]

You are kidding in regards to the police/serial/block right?

There IS NO WAY for someone to block your camera. And I'm
very thankful for that as well. The day someone can control
through the internet what I can and cannot do is the day I
disconnect from the net!

What you say is impossible. I do Windows programming for
a living, I know how Windows and the computer works low-
level and I don't even know how to disable a system to
recognize a firewire camera (it possible to wreck the system
so it doesn't work, but then no camera will work).

So in theory a hacker could disable your complete detection
of camera's (if he where to gain full access to your system),
but there will be 1000 other more interesting things to do.

And even then there are firewalls, routers and whatnot to
prevent access to your system.

The "block" explenation is not reasonable at all, it is complete
fiction and not possible.

My explanations are far more "reasonable"!

p.s. the reason for giving the police (or the insurance) the
serial if your camera gets stolen is that they can check if
they find camera's if it is yours. The insurance company can
also check if someone tries to get an insurance with them
with a same serial etc.

[Mark Whitlock]

Hi Lukah

Welcome to the "blown firewire port club" This appears to be exactly what happened to us a year ago or so. Our cameras (6 of them) captured briefly then appeared to be not recognised by the PC. After much investigation on these forums I managed to come across a thread whereby someone mentioned that incorrect polarity/earthing on the PC's power cable lead to their firewire port being blown and they suggested we check our power cabling polarity and earthing.

To our horror it was discovered that on one of our 3 PC's, the extension power cable used was incorrectly wired (live and neutral wires reversed) causing the earth potential on the firewire to be at 230v (South African AC voltage) ..... this is supposed to 0 volts. After correcting this the problem was immediately resolved and we haven't had a days trouble since.

It must be noted that the PC functioned normally with the power reversed and was not diagnosed immediately. Hope this helps.

Regards

Mark

[Lukah Sighs]

thank you very much, mark. i think you gave the correct answer. at least, it seems logic.

lukah