Help - connection problems

[crojack]

I have a dvx100 and an older intel iMac. I have the correct firewire cable also. I haven't plugged the camera into the computer in quite awhile, and I tried last night and final cut express doesn't recognize the camera. I went to the System Settings and click on FireWire and it says that it is unable to list devices.
So, I started searching and found some old threads about mac updates causing problems with the firewire ports.
I have reset pram/nvram, turned off and unplugged the computer for 20 min, restarted under Recovery HD and repaired HD. I don't know what else to do. As all of these posts I found are a few years old, I was hoping somebody here might have had the problem and found a fix?

I have the OSX 10.8.3.

Thanks!!!!!

 

[kplo]

crojack,
I recall threads on problems with poweredfirewire ports and the DVX, as in, the DVX port on the camera can be fried. The hookup needs to be in a certain order. IIRC, plug the cable into the computer and camera with the computer and camera off. Turn on the computer. When everything boots up, then power on the camera and switch into VCR mode.
I'm on a PC, so can't help with Mac software/update issues.
Also, firewire cables do go bad, seemingly on their own. Try another cable.
Hope this helps.
Ken

 

[crojack]

Thanks! I'll give it a try. I just got a new cable, a regular firewire, not the specific apple one. Still not working. I also have a pc I'm going to try it on. Let you know what happens.

 

[crojack]

Looks to be working on my pc, so I'll roll with that. Still weird that the FW ports on my mac aren't working.

 

[kplo]

Good news is: you didn't blow the firewire port on the camera.
Ken

 

[HorseFilms]

Good news is: you didn't blow the firewire port on the camera.
Ken

Indeed. I feared the worst when I read his initial post.

 

[Roberto Suarez]

Maybe cleaning the mac port? Mine gets really dusty

 

[HorseFilms]

It couldn't hurt.

 

[David W. Richardson]

FWIW, as long as you connect the firewire cable to the COMPUTER first, then it doesn't matter if the computer is on or off. It's only when you connect the firewire to the CAMERA first that a powered-on computer can fry the camera's firewire port.

So always connect the cable to the computer first. I leave my firewire cable connected to the computer, and can connect and disconnect the camera at will, even with the computer powered up.