Numpty Hardware Question #3,821,052

[MikeP]

I have bought a second-hand Sony camcorder and according to the handbook it needs to connect via a Firewire port.

My PC doesn't have one.

I utilised the WWW and found the recommended one and have purchased same.

Now, having jemmied off the side of the box of tricks that hums and has lots of wires plugged-in (then found a door in the other side), I can see where said purchased thing plugs-in.

There is however a white plastic shrouded four-pin plug on the other side.

I have similar looking sockets on the DVD, the CD and the Floppy drives.

There is a corresponding-looking plug, unused dangling in the big grey box but the cable isn't long enough to reach my new "Firewire 3 Port PCI Card" thing.

Question #3,821,052 is: Should there be something plugged-in to said white, four-pin socket?

Question #3,821,053 is: Does it sound like the unused, corresponding-looking plug should be plugged-in?

Question #3,821,054 is: If so, can I buy such a thing as a lead to connect the two?

Thanks in advance to you boffins.

 

[Clive]

I have bought a second-hand Sony camcorder and according to the handbook it needs to connect via a Firewire port.

My PC doesn't have one.

I utilised the WWW and found the recommended one and have purchased same.

Now, having jemmied off the side of the box of tricks that hums and has lots of wires plugged-in (then found a door in the other side), I can see where said purchased thing plugs-in.

There is however a white plastic shrouded four-pin plug on the other side.

I have similar looking sockets on the DVD, the CD and the Floppy drives.

There is a corresponding-looking plug, unused dangling in the big grey box but the cable isn't long enough to reach my new "Firewire 3 Port PCI Card" thing.

Question #3,821,052 is: Should there be something plugged-in to said white, four-pin socket?

Question #3,821,053 is: Does it sound like the unused, corresponding-looking plug should be plugged-in?

Question #3,821,054 is: If so, can I buy such a thing as a lead to connect the two?

Thanks in advance to you boffins.

Have you got a link to a photo of the thing?

Edit: or are you talking about the power leads?

 

[MikeP]

Have you got a link to a photo of the thing?

Edit: or are you talking about the power leads?

The ones on the web are too small to see the detail.

I'll rip the box apart and take a photo!

 

[Clive]

The ones on the web are too small to see the detail.

I'll rip the box apart and take a photo!

Is it something like this?

 

[MikeP]

First the Card in place.

Close-up of the plug socket referred to:

The spare plug that seems to match the socket:

 

[MikeP]

Yes that looks similar.

Do I need to make that connection then, before the thing works?

 

[araspitfire]

Surprised the instructions don't cover this...

But at a guess, I'd say that if you plug something into the firewire port, and it browns out... you need to connect that plug to the power supply...

Any computer shop will have Y's and extenders...

Al...

 

[Clive]

Yes that looks similar.

Do I need to make that connection then, before the thing works?

Only if the thing you are attaching draws too much power - try it and see. Otherwise you'll need an IDE power cable extender.

I've got an 8 incher you can have

 

[MikeP]

Surprised the instructions don't cover this...

Cheapo, second-hand item from Amazon, no destructions!

But at a guess, I'd say that if you plug something into the firewire port, and it browns out... you need to connect that plug to the power supply...

Any computer shop will have Y's and extenders...

Al...

Cheers Al.

 

[MikeP]

Only if the thing you are attaching draws too much power - try it and see. Otherwise you'll need an IDE power cable extender.

Tried connecting the camcorder, no sign of it anywhere.

I only bought the camcorder because I thought it would save unplugging my main one from the tank-bag each time I want to film away from the bike.

It uses Micro-DV tapes and not Mini-DV like my primary cam. Seems that the drawback with Micro-DV is that format requires Firewire connection and not USB (although the USB connection allows transfer from memory cards).

I've got an 8 incher you can have

I've got twelve inches but I don't use it as a rule. (The old ones are still the best ).

If you don't want it, can you fit it in your panniers for Sunday?

 

[Clive]

If you don't want it, can you fit it in your panniers for Sunday?

Yep, I'll try and squeeze it in.

You want something like this... http://www.microwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue/item/BELCA074

 

[Clive]

First the Card in place.

Will the power cables from the PSU not reach if you snip the cable ties?
Also it looks like you can move that card up a slot if need be.

 

[MikeP]

Done that.

Still not long enough.

I'll go to Maplins next week and find a cable.

 

[exeter_lad]

Turn On - Order that is

Seems as though you would only need the extra power for more than one device connected.

What order do you turn on? With my Camcorder connected, it has to be turned on before you turn on the computer. This is like the good old pre-USB days when the PC could only recognise peripherals if they were turned on and talking to the PC as it booted up.

Might be worth a try?

 

[MikeP]

Seems as though you would only need the extra power for more than one device connected.

What order do you turn on? With my Camcorder connected, it has to be turned on before you turn on the computer. This is like the good old pre-USB days when the PC could only recognise peripherals if they were turned on and talking to the PC as it booted up.

Might be worth a try?

Ta!

I'll give that a go (before I connect-up the cable that Clive very kindly brought along to the White Horse Hysterical tour yesterday).

 

[Loiq]

micro dv... are you sure... cos that's a defunct format cos it had stacks of problems with capturing can you take a picture of the camera and let me have a looky...

 

[MikeP]

micro dv... are you sure... cos that's a defunct format cos it had stacks of problems with capturing can you take a picture of the camera and let me have a looky...

Since buying it (second-hand) I've realised that there are some issues but as long as I can manage to copy from the tape to my PC, it should meet my needs (it's not my primary camera, I just wanted something small and light enough to use on the odd occasion that I don't want to unplug the main camcorder from the bike set-up).

I can upload from the memory card easy enough via USB but I don't rate the quality of digital recording.

Edit: Micro-DV should read Micro-MV (but I doubt that makes any difference).

 

[Loiq]

That's the one we had more hassle than you could ever imaging with it the tape format has issues with it's codec and the way it's compressed.

footage produced a long stream of still images which where no fun at all...

If you have any problems you may need to make a copy first onto a mini-dv tape which you've already used with the edit system then draw the footage in from there.

best of luck...

 

[MikeP]

Ta.

I think I'm going to try and capture some tape stuff (if I can get the firewire to work ) with the Sony Software that comes with this camera.

If I can get it to capture, I'll then be in a position to see if I can edit the results in Power Director.

I'm working on the principal that Power Director will let me mix and match before converting to MPEG2 for DVD. I hope!

 

[Loiq]

best of luck will see if I can find the file on what we did and who did the testing with our stuff.