Firewire & multiple device connection

[j.bisset]

Can anyone tell me whether it is possible to connected multiple
Firewire devices to a PC running Win XP either via daisy chaining or
via a multi port Firewire card?

I have a Panasonic DV cam and LaCie external drive (both Firewire). I
can connected both to the PC happily via Firewire until I try to
connect both of them. They are both seen in MyComputer (I get the XP
ping) but when I try to capture in any package (I've tried both
MovieMaker2 and Premier Elements 1) the package hangs after a period of
time. In each case I've had to hard reset the PC.

I've applied 2 hotfixes from the MS KB (885222 and 885464) to try and
resolve the problem but without success. Before I applied the hotfixes
I got a blue screen referring to 1394BUS.SYS driver; since then I don't
get that but have to hard reset. It also seems to screw up my wireless
LAN/internet connection.

I've read lots about Firewire problems in XP and various fixes, but
none that seem to apply directly to this problem. What I haven't seen
is anyone who can actually do this successfully in XP.

Here's the specifics;
Hardware: Dell Dimension 5100, Windows XP Pro SP2, Panasonic NV-GS150
DV cam, LaCie d2 Triple Extreme 500GB disk. DV cam and hard disk
connected to PC via built-in Firewire card.

Device Manager says everything working OK. However, event logs show up
Disk error 51 (An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk1\D
during a paging operation) which was supposed to be fixed by the hotfix
886454.

Any help or advice gratefully received.

James.

 

[Graham Hughes]

James,
You should be able to use up to 64 devices, if my memory is right.
Can you use both of them independantly with out trouble.
I constantly use an external firewire hdd, networked to my office pc and
video editing pc, and either daisy chain or connect seperately my canon
mv10 or XM2 and have no trouble whatsoever.
I also have a laptop, which I use the same ext drive and camcorders daisy
chained for editing whilst out on the road.

--
Graham Hughes
MVP Digital Media
www.myvideoproblems.co.uk
www.dvds2treasure.com
www.simplydv.com

 

[j.bisset]

Graham

Thanks. You're right - in theory you can daisy chain up to 63 FW
devices. However, there seems to be a lot of evidence (on newsgroups)
that using multiple FW devices causes problems under XP SP2.

I've tried this with 3 different FW cards (Dell, NEC and Belkin) on 2
PCs, all with the same problem, which suggests that either I've been
unlucky with three bad cards or the problem lies elsewhere.

Did I need to apply the patches to XP? Some people suggest rolling
back to use SP1 FW drivers. Is the problem likely to be with the disk?
Or the cables? I'm using cables as supplied with the disk and cam and
have swapped the 6pin-to-6pin FW connector for the disk too.

James.

 

[j.bisset]

Graham

Can you describe your configuration? Are you peer networking with FW
or ethernet? Is the disk connected to a PC and shared out from there?

I've got PCs with dual FW400 ports (NEC), I want to network them via a
Belking 6 port FW hub. All the devices work OK on their own, it's only
when the second device or networked PC comes on that it gives up.

James.

 

[Graham Hughes]

I have my office pc, an old Athlon 750 connected to my external hdd via
firewire.
I have my editing pc, much newer connected to the same ext hdd also via
firewire.
I have had my camcorders connected to the editing pc and captured to both
the ext and internal hdds.
I have then been able to access the files on both the office and editing
pcs, with cam still connected to video editing pc.
I have captured to a laptop with same ext hdd daisychained to the cam.
I have the laptop wirelessly connected to the network and can access the
files on the ext hdd from there.

The hub may be a problem, I don't like them.

--
Graham Hughes
MVP Digital Media
www.myvideoproblems.co.uk
www.dvds2treasure.com
www.simplydv.com