I purchased a Canon HV20 HDV camcorder a short time ago, and in all areas it performs great, except for one VERY frustrating part; I cannot seem to connect to my PC/video editing software using the Firewire connection.

When I connect the camera to my PC and turn it on, I get the familiar Window XP "bong" connection alert, and also the disconnection alert when I turn off the camcorder, so I am assume there is *some* kind of connection/recognition there. However all the software I have tried so far isn't interested in talking to the camera.

Software I've tried:

Windows Movie make (when trying to capture I get the message "A video capture device was not detected")
Adobe Premier Elements 3 (error, "Can't activate recorder, try resetting camera)
Adobe Premier CS3 (error, "Can't activate recorder, try resetting camera)

The camcorder LCD display is showing the DV connection as active the moment I switch on the connection.

I've sent a message to Canon tech support, but I won't hold my breath waiting for the reply!

'AV/C Tape Device' appears in "Sound, Video & Game Controllers" in device manager.

The first time I plugged in the camera, the Windows "new device" balloon appeared, and displayed the following:

FOUND NEW HARDWARE
CANON HV20

AV/C TAPE DEVICE

After a few seconds:

YOUR NEW HARDWARE IS INSTALLED AND READY TO USE.


I would really appreciate some pointers as to what to do to try to diagnose the problem.

Cheers,

Mike.


Computer specs:

Intel Quad core 2.66Ghz
2 Gig RAM
Soundblaster X-Fi soundcard
Intel D975XBX2 motherboard
Nvidia GeForce 8600GTS video card
Windowx XP Pro (SP2)

Are you absolutely sure you have connected using firewire connections on both ends of the line.

Maybe it was so long ago that I just can't remember it happening but all that 'your device is installed' stuff implies drivers are being installed and this needn't happen for a firewire connection as far as I know.

Also.... and hopefully this is pointing out the obvious but... your camera is in VCR mode (or playback) mode when connected isn't it?

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I'm not young enough to know everything!

Does your camcorder have both DV in and DV out, if it has both, check through the menu settings and make sure it is set to DV out.

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Better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick any day...