View Full Version : Right off the bat first post i need some help


Vince Landolina
June 19th, 2005, 09:08 PM
And thankyou.


Heres my story bought a samsung SCD23 its a refurbished unit, first problem was the battery would not take a charge contacted the seller and there sending a new one in the mean time i bought one and its charges fine, secondly i had to get the firewire card so i bought one that did not come with cable or driver got it installed fine not trouble, then realized i needed the correct cable USB came with the camcorder and no software came with the camcorder either, plus i can hardly read the manual because its been photo copied, yeah i'm just a bit miffed off.

So now the camcorder works ok accept when i try to upload, i have tried using WINDDV and it says it can't find the out pin and i've tried good old windows movie maker it crashs.

The specs for the firewire card i bought say it is a six pin but the specs for the camcorder say its a 4 pin terminal do i need to get a 4 pin firewire card?

I appreciate any help and suggestions i'm very new to this as you can see.

Also i have checked the Device manager the 1394 bus controller is there but down below that for NETWORK adapters there is a yellow explanation point over NDIS 1394 net adapter is that a problem also?

Chris Hurd
June 19th, 2005, 09:44 PM
This is why it is never a good idea to buy a refurb as a first camcorder. You'll need a 4-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable; these are sold at Radio Shack and at computer supply stores, Office Depot, places like that. While you're at it I would suggest a decent consumer DV editing program from Ulead or Pinnacle or a similar company and use that program to control the connection between your computer and the camcorder.

Vince Landolina
June 19th, 2005, 09:52 PM
Thanks Chris i have that cable now i'll get one of the programs you suggested, though i am strongly considering returning the unit.

I've bought 2 digital cameras in the past they were boths refurbs and never had any trouble with either one so thats why i went ahead and bought this camera which i know now was a mistake....

Glenn Chan
June 19th, 2005, 09:56 PM
In Canada, Radio Shack does sell the cable but it is very overpriced. As well, the cable comes with a lifetime warranty and they try to sell you an extended warranty on top of that.

One place where it's probably cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812149005
You can also try this site's sponsors... B&H for example (bhphotovideo.com) probably carries it.
As well, there's pricegrabber.com, resellerratings.com, pricewatch.com, froogle.com if you want to dig around for the lowest price.

Vince Landolina
June 19th, 2005, 10:04 PM
Thanks Glenn.

You know how when you get a new toy without realizing all the extra's you'll need to run that toy? well thats me, i bought the cable at a large camera store here and it was $29.00 i've seen the same cable on the net for half what i payed but i just wanted to get this thing going without waiting another 10 days from an order it's NXG cable so i'm assuming thats a good cable since it was darn near $30.00?

OH MY i just checked Ebay same cable is $10.95 oh and $12.99 for shipping thats where they make there money.......

Vince Landolina
June 19th, 2005, 10:09 PM
You know, now that i know what i know i think i'll return EVERYTHING and start all over LOL.........

Vince Landolina
June 19th, 2005, 10:34 PM
Is this what i need to get here, its really cheap

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=99337&item=5782406778&rd=1

Glenn Chan
June 19th, 2005, 10:52 PM
Cables:
Cables typically have huge markups on them.
As long as you avoid the low quality stuff, cable quality is pretty much the same. The more expensive stuff is usually just that- more expensive. A good example would be Monster cable... save your money and shop around for the same quality cable at a fraction the price.

2- Not sure about Windows Movie Maker (WMM) or Pinnacle Studio because I've never used it. Supposedly Pinnacle is a decent program from what other people say (as long as the version you have isn't buggy).
WMM should be decent as long as you capture DV (not windows media) and if it works (which apparently it does not).

3- From the Samsung SCD55 I own, I don't think Samsung makes very good camcorders (poor image quality, very very bad low light performance, deck control is a joke, poor audio like most camcorders, poor build quality / breaks easily [the last two may not apply to new cameras]).

Vince Landolina
June 19th, 2005, 11:04 PM
Thanks again Glenn i went ahead and got the pinnacle 9 SE will have to see if that works if not i may just take the camera somewhere to someone who already has a program set up that captures video and see if its a camera problem or not. In retrospect i would'nt have bought this camera i would have went ahead and got something better.

In the meantime i will be checking out the whole site here absorbing all i can.

Have a good evening .

Vini

Vince Landolina
June 20th, 2005, 03:22 PM
Really ticked at refurb depot.

I'm returning everything, in the software that had the drivers I found out the Ulead uploading program was on that disk well the disk has catastrophic failure .

I Called them and told them i'd return the unit and they have the nerve to charge ME a 15% restock fee, think i'll get ahold of Better business and let them know about this whole affair and this company, even though they claim that everything they have comes directly from Samsung just the way it is, photo copied manual and burned CD and all i am calling them to verify that today.

Vince Landolina
June 23rd, 2005, 01:01 AM
Well i got another capturing program Pinnacle and its unable to capture movies, i'm not sure where to go from here could this be a problem? I've downloaded the driver available but theres still the yellow explanation point there.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v23/lardbucket/Image1.jpg

George Ellis
June 23rd, 2005, 03:58 AM
Your Firewire card/port is not recognized. Above Network Adapters, you should have a section called "IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controller". Is this port on the motherboard (with all of the connectors) or on a PCI card (in the adapter slots)?

Glenn Chan
June 23rd, 2005, 06:24 AM
If it's a PCI card, try moving it to the next PCI slot. The main thing it does is re-seat the card in case the connection is bad. When you re-install it, make sure the card isn't warping/bent and that it's in the PCI slot.

2- If that doesn't work, try downloading the driver for it from the manufacturer's website. On winXP you shouldn't have to do this, on versions of windows before XP you may have to.

3- If that still doesn't work, I'd probably just get a firewire card with a Texas Instruments chipset.

Vince Landolina
June 23rd, 2005, 08:52 AM
Thanks Glen,


(in the adapter slots)? YES

New screen shot the explanation point is not there anymore but it's still not taking capture matter of fact it crashed pinnacle

http://img11.echo.cx/my.php?image=image11ts.jpg

I went to the manufactures site and their are a few application downloads not sure which i need as far as driver goes i'd just be guessing

http://mytechgear.com/Support/GBR-100/support_download.asp

Steve House
June 23rd, 2005, 10:18 AM
Really ticked at refurb depot.

I'm returning everything, in the software that had the drivers I found out the Ulead uploading program was on that disk well the disk has catastrophic failure .

I Called them and told them i'd return the unit and they have the nerve to charge ME a 15% restock fee, think i'll get ahold of Better business and let them know about this whole affair and this company, even though they claim that everything they have comes directly from Samsung just the way it is, photo copied manual and burned CD and all i am calling them to verify that today.

IMHO, If you're going to try refurbished stock, at least deal only with the manufacturer's store when possible. Many offer "B stock" online, especially if you're looking for pro level gear not normally found in the mass-market distribution channels. I've not bought any myself as yet but what I've seen as I've browsed around comes with proper warranties, manuals, etc. Just a thought ...

Glenn Chan
June 23rd, 2005, 10:22 AM
Vince, a general strategy for finding drivers:

A- Use Windows update. windowsupdate.com I believe

B- If that doesn't work, go the manufacturer's website. If you have the model # you should be able to find the right download.

In your case, it should be "Texas Instruments Camcorder Driver 3.3".

C- If that doesn't work, you can try driverguide.com
user/pwd: "driver" works I believe.

Vince Landolina
June 23rd, 2005, 10:32 AM
WHOA i am really running late for work LOL.......

I tried DLing the driver from Samsung and am unable to do so, its winzipped file and the wizard i have is saying it cannot find the setup exe yet I have it unzipped so i don't know what in the worlds going on.


Glen i'll try finding another driver at those mentioned sites, and thanks for the help guys we'll get this thing tackled one way or another.

I love that pinnacle program unbelievable what it can do i can't wait to get this thing up and running looks like alot of fun if i get the chance.

Gotta run i'll be back later and give you an update really reaaly appreciate all you're help folks.