JVC GRD290EK problems

I recently bought the above mini-dv camcorder. I am having real problems transferring video from the above camcorder to my XP prof PC. I have tried both USB 2.0 and Firewire connections but without any joy.

Can you guide in anyway?

If there is a manufacturing fault, would I get my money back?

Please advise.

[klr10]

Hi Roger and welcome to the forum, please can you be a little more specific as to your problems? We will be happy to help but a little more info would be good!

Hi KLR10

Thank you.

I cannot transfer my movies from the camcorder to my PC which has Windows XP Pro with MS Moviemaker and all the other software that comes with the camcorder.

I have even tried to connect the camcorder to someone else's PC which has the firewire and USB 2.0 ports.

I would like to tranfer my movies to my PC so that I can then burn them to a DVD.

I am sure other people will have come across this problem on the JVC GRD290EK model!

Can you help please?

[runboy]

I installed a Belkin firewire PCI card in my PC running Windows XP. I had to restart twice to get the PC to recognise the new PCI card, but after that it was link up the firewire cable, load Ulead Video Studio V5 which came free with the firewire card and I was downloading with no problems.

I have a JVC GRDF470, but I'm sure the firewire/DV connection and talking to the PC must be the same.

Did your PC come with a firewire card already installed? Have you tested to ensure the firewire card/connection in your PC is correctly installed? Have you tried any other firewire equipment (e.g. Ipod) with your firewire port to ensure it is working?

You tried connecting your camcorder to a friends PC (and I presumed it did not work on your firends PC)-maybe the firewire cable is at fault? Can you borrow one from a friend?

It maybe a process of elimination, and ultimately it could be the camcorder which is at fault, but when you try and return it you will be asked lots of questions about what checks you have done on your PC and cable, so make sure all those options have failed then you can go back to the shop where you bought the camcorder knowing you have done everything you can to prove it is the camcorder that is faulty.

Runboy

Thank you.

Yes, I have tried the process of elimating my PC, by using someone else's PC, firewire card and cable. By the way, on my PC, the IEEE 1394 host controller has been detected since I installed it.

[klr10]

Hi Roger,

The other thing to try is the sequence with which you are attempting to get the PC and Camcorder talking.

When the PC is up and running, if you plug in the camcorder via firewire, then switch it on in VCR mode, is there no reaction from the PC?

I wouldn't have USB and Firewire connected at the same time!

Any luck?

[MarkE19]

I seem to have answered a few post from people with problems getting video off their JVC cams recently. In at least a few of the post I have found that the firewire port they were useing was on their soundcard and when they installed a dedicated firewire PCI card (for under £20) they were able to capture video with no further problems.
Another common problem has been a dud firewire cable, even when it was brand new. Try another cable to see if that solves it.
As stated everything must be done in the correct order. Connect cam via firewire. Put cam into VCR/replay mode. Start the capture software.

Forget USB, you will never get full quality video off the cam with this connection.

Mark.

The JVC GR-D290EK manual states:
Connect the firewire cable to the PC first and then connect the other end to the camcorder.

Never connect the USB and firewire cable at the same time.

Don't plug/unplug firewire cable with camcorder on --if you do the camcorder may fail to operate and you have to restart the camcorder (power it off and on).

Just tested transferring video from my JVC GR-D290EK camcorder and it works fine. Very easy to use. I didn't even bother installing any software to capture the video.
Just used Windows Movie Maker which is part of Windows XP.

My PC has a standard IEEE1394 firewire port on the motherboard. Here's basic system specs:
Motherboard: Abit AN7
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2400+
Memory: 1 Gb RAM
Graphics: GeForce4 Ti 4200
Operating System: MS Windows XP Service Pack 2
Hard Disk: 40Gb
Used a cheap firewire cable that I bought from ebay.


Here's the procedure I took to capture video:
0. Power the camcorder using the AC adapter and not the battery pack.
1. Connected firewire cable to PC and with the camcorder switched OFF, connected other end of firewire cable to camcorder.
2. Switched Camcorder on to PLAY mode, Windows XP detects new hardware device connected and after a few messages says hardware is ready to use.
3. Run Windows Movie Maker and select "Capture from video device"
4. I can control the camcorder just fine from Windows Movie Maker, ie. Rewind, Play, Stop to get to the part of video I want to capture or I can capture the whole minidv tape. Captured a movie to an avi file.

Hi there,

I also have a JVC GRD290EK. It's now 15 months old, but over the past year I have successfully transferred approx 10 Mini DV tapes to my PC using Firewire with no problems at all. I have then managed to successfuly burn these video clips to DVD.

However, now I am getting problems. When I connect my camcorder to my pc, Windows XP recognises it and asks me if I want to capture video ? I select yes (have tried using two capture programs, Cyberlink Power Director and WIN DVD Creator).

Both of these programs allow me to control the camcorder from the PC. They also allow me to import the video. But what happens is that at some point during the import (could be after 10 mins, could be 50 mins), the video screen on the capture program freezes and no more data is imported, even though the camcorder tape is still playing.

I'll be gutted if there is some underlying fault with this camera and I have to get a new one because I can't import !!!! My son is 1 year old next week and his "first" real xmas is just around the corner !!!! I want to video it !!!

Any ideas or help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Gav.

Can anyone help with my problem ? See my previous post.

Thanks.

[MarkE19]

gavman99

sorry for the delay in the reply, but I've just got home from 2 weeks in the Caribbean sun

How much free space do you have on your HDD? Capture will obviously stop once the HDD become full and a 1 hour miniDV tape will eat up around 13Gb of space when captured.
What else is running on the PC? You should stop all background programs (do a search on here for 'EndItAll2' ) such as antivirus and disconnect from the internet. Also disable any power save modes & screensavers as these can cause problems.
When did you last defragment the HDD. Defragment the HDD before you start should also help as it will make life easier for the PC to find the space it needs.

The good news is that IMO there is unlikely to be a fault with the camcorder that causes the capture to freeze.

Mark.

[ledonster]

I am having problems with my GRD290EK. It keeps giving me an error 03, asking me to remove the tape and going into safe mode. After much head scratching, I have worked out that if I use a brand new tape for the first time, the error will disappear and it will record ok. As soon as I try and continue recording, I get the error and am back to square 1. I am using sony premium mini dv tapes. Any help would be appreciated.