so, after years of using my V1 with Final Cut Pro, the camera is not being recognized by my system.

absolutely EVERY setting has been checked and double-checked.

the only weird thing i see is that when i plug my Firewire cord into my system, the LCD screen on my cam says HDV IN. when i hit play manually, the LCD screen says HDV OUT. however, log and capture NEVER works, no matter how many times i confirm the VCR camera settings are on HDV and my easy set-ups are used.

this started after a friend used a 4 pin to 9 pin (800) Firewire cord instead of my normal 4 pin to 6 pin (400) Firewire cord to connect the camera to the system. could this have messed everything up internally? any thoughts or suggestions? i switched cords back immediately, but no go!

thanks,

Justin

It's possible he blew your port, especially if he hot-plugged the cam to the Mac while either was powered on.

Justin, when you look in system profiler with your V1U attached, do you see it listed on the FW bus?

System Profiler says:

Warning: Unable to list FireWire devices.

I have two 400 Firewire ports on my tower and I've plugged into both. I'd be inclined to go with the camera 4 pin Firewire port blowout EXCEPT when I plug in the Firewire cord to the V1, the HDV IN / iLINK type pops up. And when I hit PLAY, the HDV IN turns to HDV OUT.

I'll bring back a SONY HDV cam from school tonight and run a test with that. Perhaps if it's an internal communication issue, having a working device "trick" the system into accepting the signal might work. if not, it's pretty obvious it's a complete V1 issue.

So, if I decide to send it in, how much does it cost and where does it go and for how long?

However, it might be time to pick up a used DR60 and forget about this tape stuff.

Sigh.

The DR60 won't help you if your cam has a dead port, because that's how the DR communicates with the cam. If the port is okay, you'll probably want the MRC1k rather than the DR60.

To check out the cam you'll need to send to Sony or an authorized service center. Sony usually charges in the neighborhood of $500 or so just to look at it. Time could be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. You can locate authorized service centers on their website.

But sounds like it could be a Mac issue if it can't list FW devices. Probably unrelated, but many have reported FW issues between Macs and Sony HDV cams, especially if using a 4 to 9 pin cable or if you recently updated your Mac OS. Best is to use a 6 to 9 pin adapter at the Mac and then a conventional 4 to 6 pin cable.

Have you tried a hard reset of the cam? Instructions should be in the manual (p. 134). What about a different cable?

Justin, if you have any other firewire 400 devices (HDD?), I would connect them and see if they show up on the bus in system profiler. If those also have a problem, then you know you have a problem at the Mac that you will probably need to solve, regardless of any problems that may exist with the camera. That could give you a quick way to narrow down which direction to focus as well.

if the port is blown, then it shouldn't matter what you plug in, it will have problems being recognized. If a FW HDD is recognized, but the camera you bring home is not, then that may point in a different direction. Yet different again if a FW HDD is recognized, other camera is, but V1U is the only thing not recognized.

Sorry if the above is obvious, but figure I would state it anyway. Too many years of trouble shooting using "Known Good" parts, and process of elimination. Hopefully you are able to narrow it down and get it resolved quickly.

so i get the HDV IN and HDV OUT message on my V1...but something is completely wrong with the port...

plug it into a Firewire drive here and nothing happens. plug it into a Firewire drive at school after a Z5U links up perfectly with FCP and...the Firewire intermediary actually shuts down and gives the WARNING eject your Firewire drive before you unplug it message. unplug the V1 and the Firewire drive reappears on the desktop.

so, something has gone wrong with the Firewire port, it seems.

arghhh.

i use this camera a couple times a year for pro bono doc shoots but if i can't get the footage off the machine, it's useless. i guess it's JUNK it, have Sony REPAIR it or buy an HDV deck. boo.

thanks for all the help, guys. we tried!

Another alternative is to buy a cheap little used HDV cam like the HC3 for a couple of hundred bucks or less, and just use that to capture. No need for an expensive HDV deck.

good call. thanks for the model info too!