Mac not recogizing HVX...

M

Mavro

New member
Hello all-

Could you please help me with this?

I have FCP 5.1.4, QT 7.2 Powerbook G4, OSX 10.4.10

Firmware updated for 16g cards as well.

When I plug in my camera via firewire, my Powerbook fails to recognize it.

Nor will any Mac for that matter.

Final Cut will not import the P2 files, either.

1394 Device IS activated.

This just happened as of 5 days ago, seemingly out of the blue.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-Dave
 
Actually, Panasonic just emailed me recommending I re-install my driver, so I'll give it a shot.



Thanks!

-Dave
 
So....

Re-installed my drivers... And nothing has changed.

Argh.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

I need sleep.


Thanks again.

-Dave :Drogar-KnockedOut(D
 
First thing to do is verify whether your firewire port even works. Put the camera in camera mode/DV mode and try FCP's log & capture and see if it shows up. If it does, we'll move on to phase 2, but if it doesn't you may have a case of a blown-up firewire port.
 
Barry_Green said:
First thing to do is verify whether your firewire port even works. Put the camera in camera mode/DV mode and try FCP's log & capture and see if it shows up. If it does, we'll move on to phase 2, but if it doesn't you may have a case of a blown-up firewire port.
Click to expand...

Or attach any other firewire device, like an external hard drive, and see if it comes up.

Barry's alluding to the dreaded firewire port-frying problem that can occur when certain devices are hot-plugged. The Canopus ADVC-100 firewire-to-NTSC video adapter was (is?) notorious for this. Apparently the HVX has been known to cause it too.

The solution is to always make sure both the computer and the FW device are powered down when plugging in. Most things are fine to hot-plug (any hard drive, for example), but the ones that aren't will make you real sorry you did.

I certainly hope it's not the case for you!
 
Oh my.

Well my DVX works in the same port, as well as my other drives.

I easily could have not been powered down at some point while transferring.

Also, there is a very faint, yet high pitched sound while the camera is plugged in to
the computer.

Panasonic called me back this morning... They seem to think thats the problem(blown firewire port) as well.

Sad.

Thanks for your help, guys. Lesson learned.

-Dave
 
marketmd said:
I thought all those PC vs. Mac commercials assured us that Macs never need drivers!
Click to expand...

I don't remember this in any commercials. I need drivers for printers, scanners, and to mount p2 cards on all my Macs.

Also for the duel adapter EC/34 device.
 
Ted Spencer said:
Apparently the HVX has been known to cause it too.
Click to expand...
Whoa, backwards -- it's the Mac that causes it. The HVX is the victim. Mac firewire ports are powered, the HVX isn't, plugging in an HVX (or any DV camera) into a Mac while the Mac is powered up can lead to the Mac shorting out the camera's firewire port. It's been reported to happen to FX1s, Z1s, DVXs, HVXs, all sorts of cameras.
 
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David S. said:
I don't remember this in any commercials. I need drivers for printers, scanners, and to mount p2 cards on all my Macs.
Click to expand...
THESE commercials..."PC" complains about drivers. "Mac" says he just plugs in and "everything just works".

mac_vs_pc.jpg
 
Barry-

So let me get this straight...

Should the computer be OFF when I plug in the firewire,

Then turned on, or do I need to have the computer on in the first place...?

And at what point should the camera be powered on?

Thanks for your guidance!

-Dave
 
marketmd said:
THESE commercials..."PC" complains about drivers. "Mac" says he just plugs in and "everything just works".
Click to expand...

Well this isn't one of the "everythings" referenced in the ad. I believe the point is that you do need a driver to mount the HVX200.

Always have.

This is also true of the duel adapter Expresscard/34 device.

Some more esoteric devices need these drivers. But we're trying to solve the OP's issue, not debate the ads.
 
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Mavro said:
Barry-

So let me get this straight...

Should the computer be OFF when I plug in the firewire,

Then turned on, or do I need to have the computer on in the first place...?

And at what point should the camera be powered on?

Thanks for your guidance!

-Dave
Click to expand...

I connect the HVX200 with the computer on and the HVX200 off.

Then I turn on the HVX200, and go to the MCR mode and then hold down the button for about 4 seconds until I get the Firewire Connect flag.

It then mounts within the next few seconds.

When done, I drag the icon to the trash. Turn off the HVX200 and when fully powered off, disconnect the HVX200
 
I'd follow David's recommendations, as he's a Mac user and I'm not. But if you want absolute safety I'd make sure that at least one, if not both of the devices are powered off before connecting. I think that's Panasonic's official recommendation too.

I should back up a bit -- it's not solely a Mac issue, the same thing can happen if you have a PC desktop with a six-pin firewire port that supplies power. In practice it's almost always a Mac issue because Macs always always use powered six-pin ports or powered FW800 ports (I don't know that I've ever seen a 4-pin port on any Mac; have they ever done that?) PC laptops basically never have 6-pin ports, so it's never an issue with them. PC desktops can have them, and the same precautions would apply.
 
I think the both of us are having the exact same problem. I've described this in detail here - http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=111846

Could you please try the following?

1. Check the HVX's Firewire connection to the Mac either by going into System Profiler -> Hardware -> Firewire or trying to capture a MiniDV tape through FCP

2. Check out the Host Mode in the camera and transfer clips to a Firewire Hard disk.

3. Connect the camera to the Mac using USB 2 and check if the P2 card mounts on the desktop. A lot of people on this website seem to say that this wouldn't work at all on a Mac but strangely, it does for me. I can transfer clips using FCP and drag and drop.

The only thing the both of us have in common when it comes to hardware and software is the OS version and the camera itself. Although it's probably a long shot, I wonder if it's a bug with the OS update itself. However, you say that this started happening only a few days back, out of the blue. Did you by any chance, update your OS only around that time?

Also, when I connect the camera to the Mac using Firewire, I get 1394 disconnect on the camera LCD. When i connect using USB, i get USB disconnect for a second which turns to USB connect and the card is mounted on the desktop. What happens in your case?
 
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Originally Posted by me:

Apparently the HVX has been known to cause it too.

Barry_Green said:
Whoa, backwards -- it's the Mac that causes it. The HVX is the victim. Mac firewire ports are powered, the HVX isn't, plugging in an HVX (or any DV camera) into a Mac while the Mac is powered up can lead to the Mac shorting out the camera's firewire port. It's been reported to happen to FX1s, Z1s, DVXs, HVXs, all sorts of cameras.
Click to expand...

Well, it's "frontwards" in the non-HVX related cases I've seen, all of which had to do with the Canopus ADVC-100 firewire-to-NTSC converter. One of my clients as well as a major NYC recording studio I frequent had their G4's firewire ports blown out by hot-plugging the Canopus (which was itself unharmed in both cases). In each of the G4s only the specific FW port in question was fried. Other ports, either 400 or 800, remained intact. Canopus later put big yellow warning stickers on the ADVC concerning the issue.

It's surprising to me that the reverse is what happens in the case of the HVX.

I was told elsewhere, correctly or otherwise, that the front FW port on a G5 was safe in such cases. I believe the assertion was that the front port doesn't carry power. I can't verify either of these claims, but suffice it to say that ADVC-100 (and HVX) owners should be *very* disciplined with their FW hookup practices.
 
Ted Spencer said:
Originally Posted by me:

Apparently the HVX has been known to cause it too.
Click to expand...
Can't be though. The HVX is the victim, not the cause. The powered firewire port is the cause -- whether it's from a mac (which all use powered firewire ports), or the ADVC-100 (which uses a powered firewire port) or a Windows desktop (which sometimes use powered firewire ports).

In all cases the camera is the victim, not the cause. The powered firewire port is the cause. I fervently believe that a 4-pin unpowered camera port cannot cause a computer port to blow up; it is the other way around.

but suffice it to say that ADVC-100 (and HVX) owners should be *very* disciplined with their FW hookup practices.
Click to expand...
And every other camera too. It's absolutely got nothing to do with the HVX, any camera with a 4-pin connector is susceptible to it happening. You should always make sure at least one device is powered off before connecting a firewire cable, and Panasonic's recommendation is that both devices (computer and camera) be turned off before connecting.

Yes, I know there will be those howling that "firewire is designed to be hot-swappable" but -- the evidence is the opposite. Hot-swap firewire and sooner or later you're going to lose a port.

The only hot-swapping that works and will always work is 4-pin to 4-pin. You can hot-swap between two 4-pin cameras all day long, or between a Windows laptop (with 4-pin connector) to a 4-pin camera, no problem. But when you put a six-pin powered port in the mix, you're asking for trouble if you hot-swap.
 
Even with 4-pin to 4-pin you still have to worry about static electricity, especially in dry climates, and that may well be responsible for damaged components.
 
Barry_Green said:
Can't be though. The HVX is the victim, not the cause. The powered firewire port is the cause -- whether it's from a mac (which all use powered firewire ports), or the ADVC-100 (which uses a powered firewire port) or a Windows desktop (which sometimes use powered firewire ports).
Click to expand...

I'm afraid my attempt at thread clarity by repasting my earlier comment:

"Apparently the HVX has been known to cause it too."

...made it look like I was restating it. I wasn't. I'm sure you're right about the HVX *not* being the cause. Case closed.

I was just pointing out that it's not *always* the Mac that fries the device, but sometimes vice-versa, as with the ADVC-100. It's a nasty piece of business either way...
 
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