Can't see FireWire 800 port

[iTundra]

Trying to capture some video from an older DV cam. Using a 4pin > 9pin (800) cable. iMovie only shows the isight camera, nothing for DV. Boot to Win7 and Sony Vegas capture also shows only the isight camera, no DV. Video is playing correctly on camera LCD and camera is set to DV Out (and has always worked in the past on other computers). Nobody locally stocks a 4pin>6pin thus my using the 4pin>9pin.

Am I correct that any firewire device should work on the 800 port (fully backwards compatible)?

Any thoughts on what to do?

Thanks,

[simsaladimbamba]

There is some evidence (LethalWolfe does know it better), that FW800 and modern Mac OS X versions do not play well with DV camcorder/players connected via a 4-pin to 9-pin cable.

I got it to work via daisy chaining my MBP via FW 800 to a FW 800 HDD and connecting the DV camera via FW to the HDD, but even that did not work every time.

You could get a 4-pin to 6-pin cable via MonoPrice for not much money.

[iTundra]

Thanks. We need this captured by late tomorrow morning which is why I had to go with the only cable I could find locally at the end of the day (at one time I had a few of these but they seemed to have slithered off). I did order a 4>6 cable this afternoon just in case but it won't be here till Fri.

[wonderspark]

I have a 4-pin to 9-pin (FW400->FW800) cable that I use to capture video on my Mac Pro, so I know it works on OSX 10.6.8. It worked flawlessly, every time.

I use Adobe Premiere to capture, though. I can't tell you anything about iMovie or Vegas.

Perhaps you can ensure/check that the capture program is set properly.

[GermanyChris]

I've yet to make a professional Sony DV Cam play well with any Mac..My personal cam is fine though

[iTundra]

Originally Posted by wonderspark

Perhaps you can ensure/check that the capture program is set properly.

Thanks. I've checked everything that I can think of and nothing shows up in either iMovie or Vegas (under Win7) except the iSight camera.

Doubly frustrating: I borrowed a 4pin > 6pin from a friend early this morning based on posts here and his experience having problems with Apple's 800, only to find out that my mac pro has ZERO 400 ports, only 9pin 800 ports. Umph.

[MacTech68]

Originally Posted by iTundra

Thanks. I've checked everything that I can think of and nothing shows up in either iMovie or Vegas (under Win7) except the iSight camera.

Doubly frustrating: I borrowed a 4pin > 6pin from a friend early this morning based on posts here and his experience having problems with Apple's 800, only to find out that my mac pro has ZERO 400 ports, only 9pin 800 ports. Umph.

What model is the Sony camera, and what MacOS & iMovie version are you using?

Also, what do you see (if anything) in the "Firewire" section of "System Profiler" ?

Do you have any other Firewire devices attached?

Try using a different port - MacPros should have Firewire ports both front and rear.

Some Sony tech docs say to shut down the Mac, THEN connect the camera, power on the camera and then power on the Mac. Odd, yes, considering Firewire is supposed to be hot-pluggable.

EDIT: Some of the tips here may also help - especially the settings on the camera (toggling them to force a change), the Nikon Transfer app, and Adobe bridge issues.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0

[wonderspark]

Originally Posted by iTundra

Thanks. I've checked everything that I can think of and nothing shows up in either iMovie or Vegas (under Win7) except the iSight camera.

Doubly frustrating: I borrowed a 4pin > 6pin from a friend early this morning based on posts here and his experience having problems with Apple's 800, only to find out that my mac pro has ZERO 400 ports, only 9pin 800 ports. Umph.

Yes, that's the reason I bought that 4-9 pin cable in the first place.

Honestly, it should just work in any FW800 port. I've only used mine in the front ports, and no rebooting or anything. I hope you get it sorted out. That would drive me insane.

[iTundra]

Thanks all.

I tried a number of things and nothing worked. This is apparently a known problem (800 port incompatible with some older firewire devices) in Apple that is rumored to be fixed in more recent shipments. Genius bar folks so far not very helpful.