Dr-hd100 & JVC GY-HD200...Please Help Me!
 

Hey Guys,

I have a major problem with my camera not being able to detect my hard drive. I have a jvc-gy hd200 and a dr-hd100. Until now, everything was working fine. Today I was unable to have my camera work with the hard drive through the firewire port. Here is what I have done to troubleshoot the matter

1. Within the camera, went to "menu"->"others" and made sure that the 1394 settings are on "on" and set to "syncro"

2. Reset the settings on my camera and loaded all the settings stored from a flash card drive (had these settings stored when the device was working normally)...NO LUCK

3. Reset everything within the hard drive....NO LUCK =(

I tried connecting the dr-hd100 to a computer and it works....which eliminates the fact that there is a problem with the hard drive firewire port...

Any help would be much appreciated!...thanks.....Also does anyone know what is the warranty on these gy-hd200 cameras....I registered the camera on September 28th, 2007

Hi Akbar,

The DR-HD100 has two Firewire ports, [Computer I/O] and [DV I/O] so you need to check them both.
When you connect it to your computer and you see a harddrive then the [Computer I/O] port works (DR-HD100 in DD mode).
To test the other port put your DR-HD100 in DV recording mode not HDV, as this will simplify the test. When you connect the other firewire port [DV I/O] on the computer you should see a 'camera' device on the computer, then the the [DV I/O] works too.
If both ports work, then you need to check the Firewire cable you use between the DR-HD100 and the camera. And also the Firewire function of the camera to the computer.
As always, please connect these devices when powered-down.

A periodic problem we also have over here. The cause is sometimes that the firewire port on the camera has an outer shield made of something which looks like it was cut and formed out of a strip of powdered milk can and is about as strong.

The shield is what keeps the plug mechanically in contact with the internal conductors.

When it gets spread out wider than it should be, some of the conductors do not make contact or it is intermittant. This is not good for your firewire circuit.

Jim Frater, DP in W.A., first introduced me to the Leatherman tool and the cure. He gently used the ratnose pliers to squeeze the shield back to its proper shape which stops the plug from wobbling about sideways. How many times you can do this is anyone's guess. We've done it three times now and the shield is starting to look a bit abused.

The short firewire cord for the DR-100 is thick and tends to strain the shield on the camera.

Looks like it is my firewire circuit board decided to blow out....taking a few of my brain cells in the process.....very disappointed with this and I have not even been abusing the camera!.....the one time I do something wrong and this happens....I had the hard drive and the camera running and in that process I decided to change the system from SD to HDV 24p......I think in the process of rebooting the camera, it blew the firewire circuit board....thats the last thing I did on that camera and that could have been a factor

second time in 1 year I had a problem with this camera...first was back when I purchased the camera....camera works great....of course then 15 days into it, the camera decides that it doesn't want to power on...that to on the day of my first assignment.....luckily I made sure that I had my JVC 5100 as backup..

any safety measures I need to take once the thing has been repaired!!....I do make sure that prior to attaching the hard drive, the camera has been powered down.......wish JVC did better QA on these cameras.......


Definitely moving away from JVCs once the price of those Solid State Drives goes down....Got a chance to play with the new Sonys EX3.....to call the picture quality "Wow" would be an understatement.

Akbar,

You may be interested in my recent experience with a blown firewire circuit:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/jvc-pro-h...tml#post925220

Hopefully, your problem is as easy as mine appears to be to repair. I wonder if the "beefier" 6-pin port my tech says he'll install might resist the wear and tear of using a Firestore better than the original factory-installed port. As for preventing firewire blowout in the future, here's what I intend to do:

1. Make sure everything is turned off before I attach or remove a firewire cable.

2. ALWAYS use a 6-pin to 4-pin adaptor that fits in the firewire port of the HD100 and only use a 4-pin cable to connect, to make sure no power is transmitted. This will work with my laptop and workstation, but not sure if this is feasible with a Firestore, since I don't have one. If not, I might suggest a 6-pin port isolator instead.

3. Power the computer up first and wait until I'm logged in and ready to go before powering up the camera.

4. Keep my fingers crossed.

Hehe Brian, its funny you make a comment on my post because I was reading your post the night before and got the idea of purchasing a firewire port isolator...Sorry to hear your firewire port blew out man....I read that it costs an arm and a leg to fix the darn thing....around $2000....thats around half the price of a new JVC110 or JVC200 right now......Luckily my 200 has a warranty on 2 year labor/1 year parts or something like that...

Funny thing is that when I went to the service center, the lady behind the computer said that she has seen a lot of 100s and 110s come in but rarely a 200/250. I am assuming this firewire thing is a common problem or something....Shame on such poor quality from JVC regarding these cameras......My 5100 has been running strong for 4 years now!