Firewire alternative for HV20
 

So for the last week I've been recording bits and pieces of stuff on my HV20 and capturing them via VEGAS through firewire. Usually when I plug in and turn on the camera the PC gives off a little 'ding ding' sound meaning a new device is attached. Today, no sound and it seems no device is being recognized. I tried turning off the PC, blowing in both the firewire ports for dust...pretty much everything except try it on another PC.

I don't have the receipt anymore...I don't think. I will have to ask my wife. Is this a firewire problem, or am I missing something else? What's a way around capturing with firewire?

There isn't really - use another PC or use another camera, that's about it.
But first, try another FW lead.

There's always the RESET button on the back behind the battery, but not sure that will help with Firewire probs.

It may be the camera, it may be not. First thing I'd check is the PC. Some times and for various reasons, PCs fail to startup firewire. It may be for software or hardware reasons and it may not be recovered by simply rebooting. So, find another PC and check your camera.

Another problem (and a common one) may be your firewire cable gone dead. As above, find another one and test.

Also, have you changed any camcorder settings recently, like say, the capture and export settings?

Haven't changed the camcorder settings at all. Everything has been the same since I bought it.

My wife's PC doesn't have firewire so I'll have to check on a friends PC. If that fails, I'll get a new wire. If that fails...well, then if someone wants a good HV20 JUST for recording, I guess I'll have that up for sale.

update:

I tried it on my friends PC. Didn't work. Changed the firewire cords. Didn't work. Made sure my PC was working with another device. It worked...

So...that means that the firewire port on the HV20 is fried...and I have no idea why. It was in heavy use over the last 2 years. This sucks...

Many, many threads on this here and elsewhere. Always have BOTH devices powered off when plugging in FW. If either was powered on you might have fried the port on the cam.

In theory, not supposed to happen. But yet it does...