Ok. I just bought a brand new pc computer. It's a Dell Dimension XPS4. 3.6Ghtz, Gig of ram, 256MB x16 Radeon X800 XT.

Now, I plug my firewire cable into my canon mini dv camera, and then into the firewire jack in the front of my computer (I also have the same type of jack on the back I think on my video or sound card port.. and the wire fits?)

but anyways I tried both jacks, and both when I plug it in the jack I get my camcorder blinking DV IN in the bottom right corner.. so it looks like the CAM is reading it?

then I open adobe premiere pro, goto capture, and I get this at the top:

"Capture Device Offline"

I followed all the steps in the adobe help to begin capture and I get the same outcome. And I've even tried other software and same type off thing, "Nothing connected."

So I need some capture drivers installed or anything? Do I need to reinstall drivers? How? What should I do!

If I goto add/remove hardware I see

Texas INstruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller

So those are the two IEEE devices I see, 2? I don't know why but they are there.

Does anybody have any input or idea as to what might be wrong?

[vonhosen]

Are you turning the camcorder into VCR/playback mode before you try to capture ?

The PC's operating system should have the drivers you need for firewire (you shouldn't need others).

[Brooktop]

Did you sort this? I seem to have the same problem with my Canon MV800. The card seems ok in device manager, but when I connect the camcorder via firewire, any editing/capture software says that the device is not connected properly or I don't have the video capture drivers (but I'm on XP!)

I have the exact same problem with my new Dell Dimension 5000.
When I connect my camera to the computer I have at work it works fine so there´s nothing wrong with the camera. I have search for an answer for this in 2 days now, no luck yet.
There seems to be many people that have this problem.

In Premiere go into capture settings, select the most basic device controller (DV PAL as opposed to DV PAL v2.0). Also, check that your project is actually DV PAL not DV NTSC

If still no dice then click 'start'>'control panel'>'system'>'hardware'>'device manager' there will now be a list of all active ports & devices with an appropriate driver.

If the camera is still offline then look for a yellow question mark, click on this option and it should rcognise the device name (will be something along the lines of the camcorder make & model), if you double click on the same line then you should get the option to search or update for an appriate driver.

Choose the 'select driver from list', browse C drive, there should now be a list of windows drivers. Within Xp there is a 'ieee1394 AV/C device', select this and the camera should mount no problem.

All the things in the device manager is working ok.No yellow marks.

[Brooktop]

Me too! The card seems to be installed ok and listed as OHCI compliant. It's just not recognising the camera/connection at all. No balloon when switched on, no extra drive in 'My Computer', no item listed in Device Manager other than the card, nada, squat, zilcho. I don't know if it is indeed menat to do any of the above, but there's no sign of a connection.

2UP - did you solve your problem. I've read other pc forums and this topic does come up regularly, but as one poster pointed out - people must sort out their problem and not report back to share their good fortune with others.

[Brooktop]

Well lo and behold...must have been a dodgy card...the replacement worked first time. Moral of the story? Don't always believe Device Manager. Cheers guys - hope you get yours sorted!

[AndyFov]

I've had this problem too... Probably too late to help here, but for the benefit of anyone who finds themselves here via Google...

Go to Control Panel, uninstall your ieee1394 card, scan for new hardware to reinstall it. Hey presto it's working again.

[senu]

Thanks..that is a 3 year old thread just brought back to life!
It is something that comes up here from time to time though and I don't remember ever seeing this specific solution offered

Originally Posted by AndyFov

Go to Control Panel, uninstall your ieee1394 card, scan for new hardware to reinstall it. Hey presto it's working again.

Thank you so much for this post, AndyFov. I found an entry for my IEEE card in the Device Manager and uninstalled it. When I re-booted, there was no offer to scan for new hardware, so I just went back to the Device Manager and found my IEEE card reinstalled, ready to use and fully functional.

Thanks!