Capturing to external hard drive at DVinfo.net

Reed Poole · April 6th, 2003, 02:19 PM

I having problems with my usb 2 pcmcia card and I was wondering if anyone has successfully captured video using this firewire setup.

I know the firewire port on my computer works so I was going to buy a firewire hub and connect both the camcorder and the external drive (or I guess the camcorder and hard drive could be daisy chained together). Will I be able to capture directly to the external drive using this setup?

The only reason I think this will not work is because data will have to flow in both directions simulaneously through the firewire cable.

Thanks,
Reed

Jeff Donald · April 6th, 2003, 02:50 PM

I can't speak specifically to your PC, but Daisy Chaining FireWire devices poses no problem on Macs. In fact I do it on a Powerbook with a 4200rpm drive without problems. The PCMCIA connection might actually be a bottleneck for the data and part of the problem. USB 2 should have no problem either.

Michael Wisniewski · April 6th, 2003, 04:45 PM

I've been doing that successfully on an ancient laptop and an external firewire hard drive. Works great hasn't dropped a frame yet.

But I do notice that when I use the USB port that I can lose the firewire connection - I have to restart the drive if I hot plug my digital camera.

Specs:
Maxtor 1394 PCMCIA card
ADS Pyro case
7200 rpm Western Digital Drive
Dell Laptop - Pentium II Celeron (ouch)
Win 2K

Michael Wisniewski · April 6th, 2003, 04:48 PM

Oh, and I daisy chain the video cameras through the back of the firewire drive, no problems capturing hours of video.

Reed Poole · April 7th, 2003, 03:15 PM

Thanks for your help.

One more question. Is 5400 RPM enough for capturing dv video or should I go for an external drive with 7200 RPM?

Reed

Keith Loh · April 7th, 2003, 05:08 PM

7200 RPM drives are CHEAP. No brainer.

April 6th, 2003, 02:19 PM	#1
Reed Poole New Boot Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 7	Capturing to external hard drive I having problems with my usb 2 pcmcia card and I was wondering if anyone has successfully captured video using this firewire setup. I know the firewire port on my computer works so I was going to buy a firewire hub and connect both the camcorder and the external drive (or I guess the camcorder and hard drive could be daisy chained together). Will I be able to capture directly to the external drive using this setup? The only reason I think this will not work is because data will have to flow in both directions simulaneously through the firewire cable. Thanks, Reed

April 6th, 2003, 02:50 PM	#2
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	I can't speak specifically to your PC, but Daisy Chaining FireWire devices poses no problem on Macs. In fact I do it on a Powerbook with a 4200rpm drive without problems. The PCMCIA connection might actually be a bottleneck for the data and part of the problem. USB 2 should have no problem either. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

April 7th, 2003, 05:08 PM	#6
Keith Loh Air China Pilot Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Posts: 2,389	7200 RPM drives are CHEAP. No brainer. __________________ -- Visit http://www.KeithLoh.com \| stuff about living in Vancouver \| My Flickr photo gallery

April 6th, 2003, 04:45 PM	#3
Michael Wisniewski Wrangler Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Makati, Metro Manila Posts: 2,706 Images: 32	I've been doing that successfully on an ancient laptop and an external firewire hard drive. Works great hasn't dropped a frame yet. But I do notice that when I use the USB port that I can lose the firewire connection - I have to restart the drive if I hot plug my digital camera. Specs: Maxtor 1394 PCMCIA card ADS Pyro case 7200 rpm Western Digital Drive Dell Laptop - Pentium II Celeron (ouch) Win 2K

April 6th, 2003, 04:48 PM	#4
Michael Wisniewski Wrangler Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Makati, Metro Manila Posts: 2,706 Images: 32	Oh, and I daisy chain the video cameras through the back of the firewire drive, no problems capturing hours of video.

April 7th, 2003, 03:15 PM	#5
Reed Poole New Boot Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 7	Thanks for your help. One more question. Is 5400 RPM enough for capturing dv video or should I go for an external drive with 7200 RPM? Reed