DV953 and XP. Suddendly can't capture
 

Hello. My Panasonic PV DV953 has been in it's case for about 2 months (OH MY GOD), and I pulled it out yesterday to capture something to my computer (XP) like I have done many times before. It won't capture. In fact, the computer doesn't even recognize it. I mean, no hardware is detected. It's not my premier pro because I also tried Windows Movie Maker and Nero 6 and they all basically say "device off line". So, I am thinking it must be something wrong with my camera, the firewire port, or the cable (but I highly doubt it's the cable). Any one else have this problem or have any good ideas? Don't worry, I have the camera on VCR mode etc etc. Actually my remote control doesn't work either (but wondering if that's just the battery-will check that tonight) I have been at this problem for a while and can't seem to find what it could be. I have installed Windows SP2 quite a while ago and have captured with it too. STRANGE. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.

1st try some troubleshooting steps to find out what's not broken.

Since several programs quit recognizing it at the same time it is something common to all - an underlying Windows issue or a hardware problem.
Determine if it is software, cam hardware, or computer hardware:
Try it with a different computer, different known good firewire card + cable. Use the simplest capture software on the 2nd machine, like Windows Movie maker. It will save time to do this 1st.
If that works, try your old fw cable. Still works, check your own fw card by swapping it into the 'good' machine or by connecting another firewire device (unlikely to be bad, but easy to check).
Of course if you can borrow another camera + hook it up to your computer you'll know which is bad very easily. If you haven't already, try using the AC adapter to power the camera.
Good luck!

Did the internal battery run down? Check to see if the clock needs to be set. If so, it probably did. Leave the cam on the charger overnight and reset the clock. See if that brings everything back.

I had similar problems with my 953, without even putting it away for 2 months -- after a lot of head scratching I replaced my firewire cable and all is well now.

Or maybe the external battery ran down. After 2 months I think it may well have discharged (as well as the internal). Put the battery on a charger until it's fully charged.

Good luck.

Dennis

This problem sounds familiar to me. Several times experienced the same thing. It's most probably a Windows issue. Check if the cam appears in Windows device manager. If not (what I expect), select "show hidden devices" from the menu and delete the cam which should appear under "imaging devices" or so. Then reconnect your cam and probably reinstall some drivers if Windows doesn't find them automatically. Maybe even reboot before you reconnect the cam.