Firewire card and Vista possible

[luckyshirt]

Hello, I've got a Dell 1545 now that comes with a express card slot, and I have a minidv camcorder with firewire. I visited maplan and their firewire card does not work with vista, should I be looking for another type of firewire card that works with vista, if so which ones can you recommend for me, I use ebay very much aswell.
So if it's not possible to work firewiere card with vista, should I get hold of an explorer as my operating system?
If vista is capable but with a diffrerent type of firewire card, would I stll be better off using explorer instead of vista anyway?

Apprecaite help

Many thanks

[JefUK]

There are 2 versions of the Express card you are using, a TI version and a VIA version. Both are good controllers and are both compatible with Vista without the need to install drivers. Which version do you have?

Is the card visible in Device Manager? It should show under IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controllers without any yellow exclamation mark.

[luckyshirt]

Thanks. I just got the computer and have done nothing yet. In the set up guide it says it's an ICH8M controller and supports 1.5v and 3.3v.

Out of these two below, can they both work:

ExpressCard/34 Express Card Firewire 1394 VISTA Adapter on eBay, also Firewire, PCMCIA Cards, Laptop Accessories, Computing (end time 10-Jun-09 20:15:00 BST)


USB2.0+IEEE 1394 Firewire 2 Port ExpressCard/34 Vista on eBay, also Firewire, PCMCIA Cards, Laptop Accessories, Computing (end time 30-Jun-09 22:28:00 BST)

[JefUK]

Both cards are generic but both should work, although the first only mentions 32 bit (however I can't see why it won't work with 64 bit Vista). Neither states what type of Firewire & USB controllers are used in the devices, but this should not matter. With Vista no drivers are required.

Note that when using the USB port with devices that require a high supply current an external power adapter will be required.

[luckyshirt]

Thanks Jeff,

I went with the first one, it mentioned it's dual, icorrect me if i'm wrong, this means it caters for the 4 or 6 pin you were concerned about with the type of firewire.
The 32BIT won't be a problem for me as i'll be using the basic version, that's all you need don't you.

I was unsure about the commment about using the USB port with devices that require a high supply current. Please can you let me know what I need an external power adapter for? I hear something about an external firwire harddrive, but I have an ordinary external hraddrve and it works fine, so why the firewire external harddrive, what difference does that make?

[JefUK]

The first one should do you fine. Dual Firewire, simply means that it has 2 Firewire ports - both 6 pin from looking at the picture.

If you use the USB ports for a device that uses a lot of current, such as an external USB powered hard drive or a printer, you will need a 5V power adapter. The spec does not say what current can be supplied from the PCI-Express card. You will know because the device will just not work!

I assume your external Hardrive is USB, and it would be best to continue to use that in one of the standard laptop USB ports which will supply the required power as per the standard USB spec. External hardrives are also available with Firewire interfaces, which are much faster than the USB interface drives. What I am not sure about from the spec of the device you have purchased is whether the Firewire card will supply any power via the Firewire socket at all - I suspect not. Also the Firewire spec calls for an unregulated supply of up to 30V, 12V is typical, so Firewire devices that require power (not a camcorder) will have to be powered directly from another power supply.

[luckyshirt]

Thanks for your input Jeff, Now that i've got it, I received a driver on a CD which I installed, and put the card in and it's corrupted windows and doesn't work. please can you help me figure this out.
How would I got about finding out whether the Firewire card will supply any power via the Firewire socket and what current it has?

[JefUK]

No Firewire or USB drivers are required for Vista - it is best to use the embedded Vista drivers. Just insert the Express card, boot the laptop and let Vista install all the drivers - it may take a few minutes.

Do the devices show in Device Manager? The Firewire controller should appear under "IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers". If the Firewire device is shown without an exclamation mark then it is correctly installed. If the Firewire port is correctly installed in Device Manager connect the camera, switch on the camera, switch to playback mode - the camera should be detected by Windows and the camera driver installed, again this may take a couple of minutes. The camera should appear under "Imaging Devices" in Device manager. If the camera is present in Device Manager then the Camera/Firewire interface is working.

Are there any exclamation marks against any of the entries under "Universal Serial Bus controllers" ? Do the USB ports on the Express card work?

[senu]

Aer you actually sure you dont have a dodgy cable?
I use Vista and dont have a firewire issue
Indeed I have tried Windows 7 ( running on a virtual machine) over vista and firewire works
Good luck

[luckyshirt]

fab help guys thanks. Now that i've reinstalled everything, the laptop is operating well again, so I tried the card and it was recognised and that was good, but the md101 camcorder is not getting recognised, the camcorder is new so i'm not familiar with it yet either. I'm completely lost in what I should do to get the camcoder to work, maybe it's a dodgy cable, usb works through the card though. I understand that I should switch the camcoder to playback and I shoudl the software on the computer like windows movie maker or something. Apprciate ur help

[JefUK]

1. Boot up laptop
2. Connect Firewire cable from Firewire port on laptop to DV port on camera
3. Power up camcorder (with recorded tape loaded)
4. Switch camcorder to "playback"
5. Vista should install driver and you should hear a "gong" from laptop - may take a couple of minutes
6. Go to Device Manager and check that the camera is recognised under "Imaging Devices"
7. Start up "Windows Movie Maker" and "Import - From digital video camera" - you should now be able to control your camera's tape transport and transfer the video to your hard drive.

If any of the above steps fail post back the point at which it does not work.

[luckyshirt]

Thanks guys. Please can you let me know of any other firewire cards I can buy?

Maplan seem to not have ones that work with vista??

[luckyshirt]

Actually Maplin have them in their online store now for £29.99:
2 x FireWire / 1 x USB Port Express CardBus : Express Card : Maplin

Is this suitable?

I have seen them for half that in other stores but unsure of them too?

Appreciate the input.

[JefUK]

Originally Posted by luckyshirt

Actually Maplin have them in their online store now for £29.99:
2 x FireWire / 1 x USB Port Express CardBus : Express Card : Maplin

Is this suitable?

I have seen them for half that in other stores but unsure of them too?

Appreciate the input.

Will be fine. Vista will not need any drivers to be installed.

Details of card here

[luckyshirt]

that's great.thanks for that. Are there any others cheaper I should look at?