connecting Canon XL1s to the Powerbook g4 12" question

ok i've got a powerbook g4 12"
the new one

and i've got a canon XL1s
and iMovie and Final Cut Express

and when i plug the camera into the computer the computer doesn't 'read' the camera!

imovie help said to re-set the clock on the camera- did that
imovie help said to re-cycle the power in the camera...etc- did that

still no game?!

i've got some video on the camera i wanna upload- but i'm clearly not having the luck i need to get this done-
any clues?
what am i missing?
what am i doing wrong?

HELP HELP HELP!

YIKES- and they all jump on me

ok- NOT my camera
i don't have another camera
not my project- i'm just doing this for a friend of mine-

YES - i have both iMovie and Final Cut Express
i was going to use FCE - however it didn't work- so i tried iMovie
(yes- i agree that it was overkill)

everything was plugged in correctly
the camera had wall power
the firewire cord went from the PB into the mini-jack on the camera

the error that followed w/ imovie was just a blank blue screen which said "no camera input" or something like this- then had a button that sent me to iMovie help- they suggested i cycle the power (as you have suggested) and also that i re-set the clock on the camera- which i did

FCE- said (while using the simple setup window) that no firewire input was located

MEANWHILE_ in the camera view-finder- once i plugged in the Firewire cable- it said something about the presence of a DV-link

Further- the camera WAS in VCR mode- (which is the only viewing of video mode that i know of)

so no- i'm not totally retarded and no i haven't spent any $ on this project

(well- i own FCE- but it was $99 w/ the purchase of my sister's new laptop and mom/dad were willing 2 buy it for me- and as the poor grad student that i am w/ virtually no video interest currently but some in the past - i couldn't resist accepting the gift)

ALSO ran repair permissions - per suggestion- still nada-
FCE says: unable to locate external devices (which i have selected as an apple firewire NTSC device)

firewire port works
i use an iSight and an iPod as well as a separate external firewire drive in it regularly

however- i'll try that exact order you prescribed later this evening -
any other ideas?

(when i call apple support what do i ask for?- i've never called them before...etc)

thanks for the help!
& jemeinc - thanks for retorting that mean comment that was tossed my way! - i agree there seems to be an attitude of posts lately -- i've noticed some posts lately that say "don't call me stupid, but here's my prbm..."
we shouldn't have to preface our questions with a disclaimer like that
we all know- since we are using mac's we're not stupid
or...mostly not stupid.

HA firewire port DOES NOT work
it feeds power to the divices (named above) but doesn't load /mount them...so it looks like it works- but does not

(figured this out today)

after a quick stop @ the genius desk and a good long chat w/ the applecare folks we've decided the logic board is trashed

so- apple will send me a box tomorrow(ish) to have that fixed
they recommend i backup my harddrive
(will be tough w/o a firewire port...)
but i'll get on that tonite-

thanks for the thoughts from everyone though!