xh-a1 wrongly listed as a wrong device under xp-pro
 

I recently got a damaged firewireport which has been replaced by Canon, the camera is now being recognized by win xp pro sp3(32bit) and I can find it back under device manager, only premiere or hdvsplit refuse to recognized the camera. Duh...

This must be case nr 10000 for canon regarding firewire and connection problems for their xh-a1's.

What's the case now, the camera is listed in "device manager" under "imaging devices", this means that i was able with windows moviemaker on my pc to capture but only in dv mode (dv-avi or wmv)
In order for the camera to be recognized properly and to be able to capture HDV it should be listed under "sound, video and games" as a "av/c tape device"

When I connect my camera to the pc and turn it to "tv" or "av mode" premiere and hdvsplit immediately see the camera, then the camera is registered as a "av/c tape device" but as soon as switch over to "vcr mode" the camera re-registers as an image device and dissapeares from the premiere capture window.

I have read posts about this being a OS problem (using xp pro sp3 now) but has anyone any idea how I force the camera to register as a "av/c tape device"?

I don't have this cam but I have had similar issues with my Sony HD1000U before. What worked for me, might work for you. In my case the tape had moved past the last recording just far enough to be on a portion of blank tape which meant my cam thought it was in DV mode and was sending a DV signal. To fix this, I disconnected the FW then rewind the tape long enough to see playback in the LCD and the mode indicator reads 1080i. Reconnect to computer (per owner manual instructions) and try again and it now reads as av/c tape device. Don't know if this will help in your case but you might give it a try. Good luck!

Hi.....
 

Dumb question, but I'll ask anyway.

You do have [Playback STD] set to [HDV] & [HD Down - Conv] set to [off] on the camera & you have HDV data on the tape?


CS

PS: The reason I ask is that I cannot see what has changed on your PC in the interim, and Canon do tend to fiddle with settings when they do a repair.

Chris, there's never such a thing as a dumb question and I'm glad you asked it because the settings you described were changed in the menu. Changing them solved my problem.
Thanks a lot!Also thanks bryan for sharing your thoughts.

Ah...........
 

Thought so.

I did some playing with mine before posting and could only replicate your observations by changing those setings.

Good to get a "hole in one" occasionally.


CS

PS: When I got my camera back from Canon after a firmware upgrade, they had changed so many settings it was like a totally different camera.

Took ages to track 'em all down.

I had a feeling it was a setting but had no idea were to start, the settings you mentioned were never changed by me and since it worked before Canon must have changed this.

I send a mail to them and I'm curious how they will reply, I also got my camera back from them with handling damage on the side, some of the white print on the side (the text "position preset") had rubbing marks and the print was partially not readable.
When I contacted them they said they couldn't have done this and since I made no photo's and had it signed by my dealer before sending it to canon it's their word against mine.

I also had spots in my image, looked like dust on the lens but there was nothing to see on the lens itself; I even included a dvd which had footage showing the problem. On the repair sheet there was only a mention of the replaced printed circuit board but nothing about the spots, in a mail they said that they looked but didn't see a problem.

But when I look now the spots mysteriously disappeared.

About the firewire problem and the camera not being recognized by the pc, this is the first camera ever which gave me connection problems and a damaged firewire port, Canon included a sheet telling me it was my mistake and next time they will charge for it, even under warranty. They also said how I should connect the camera. The "tutorial" shows exactly the same way I have been connecting my camera from the beginning.

I'm sure Canon knows that there are problems with their xh-a1 firewire connections, just google for it and it's clear. Maybe it's one of the reason they included a 6pins port on their a1s. It's only frustrating knowing I could get charged doing what they tell me to do and knowing it's probably a weakness of the camera.