Firewire?

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brsnyder · #1 Post by **brsnyder** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:13 pm

I tried to search the forum for "firewire" and kept getting debug errors, so forgive me if this info is somewhere else, and please point me to it.

Has anyone connected a digital camcorder to a T60 with Firewire? If so, how? Is there some kind of converter to use? USB? I hunted around but couldn't find anything.

Thanks -- Barbara

#2 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:37 pm

Yeah, for some reason a few certain search words on this site bring up debug errors.

IMO, your best bet is to get a Cardbus Firewire card. Try searching on www.pricegrabber.com using the words cardbus & firewire, or you could search with the words pcmcia & firewire.

IdeaDirect · #3 Post by **IdeaDirect** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 6:17 pm

Also, if you have a t60, you have an PC card slot and an Express Card slot. The Express Card slot is newer and has greater bandwidth. I haven't tested transferring DV from camcorder to laptop with both options but the Express Card may be faster.
Here is a list of Express Cards:
http://www.expresscard.org/web/site/cons_wtb.jsp

christopher_wolf · #4 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 7:09 pm

A forum member did a test of the Express Card transfer rates and found that they were significantly higher than the PCMCIA card he had; not entirely conclusive, but very good to know.

Right now, I haven't seen too many Express Cards for Firewire that don't way more than their PCMCIA brethren. So you might be better off just getting a simple PCMCIA FireWire card for your T60. Although it is nice to have the Express Card for better transfer rates.

amo · #5 Post by **amo** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 3:44 am

Hi,

I've just order a SIIG Express Card that gives 2 Firewire 800 ports. I'm leaving right now to get at a t Fedex Office, I'll report back later.

Regards,
Amaury

DenTP4rm · #6 Post by **DenTP4rm** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 9:36 am

Hey brsnyder,
I used an Adaptec DuoConnect AUA-1422 PCMCIA card on my T60p and it worked quite well in transferring video from a Sony camcorder via Firewire. The card has 3 USB 2 connectors and one Firewire connector. I'm not familiar with all the T60s but, you want to make sure you have a 7200 rpm drive for video transfer and editing. Also, if your drive is very full you would definitely want to empty some space and do a defrag. Those video files are real space hogs and need extra room (at least 20% free) for temporary files for the editing.
Good luck,
DenTP4rm

thinktank · #7 Post by **thinktank** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:50 am

I bought an Adaptec PCMCIA card and it works fine with my Canon camcorder. I found various posting across the web that people had trouble with firewire PCMCIA cards.

I decided to stick with a "name brand" and a plain old PCMCIA card with just firewire ports and not mixed firewire/usb ports.

Get one from a store where you can exchange it in case you run into problems.

brsnyder · #8 Post by **brsnyder** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 1:56 pm

So far I have tried three different cards. The first one didn't recognize that I had plugged a camera in. The second and third crashed my computer. I tried to find a specific one mentioned in another thread but it is available only on ebay or refurbished, and I don't want to buy it if I can't return it. Is it possible my Carbus slot is bad? Or do I just need to keep trying different cards until I find one that works??

Thanks -- Barbara

P.S. Am posting this query in two threads.

DenTP4rm · #9 Post by **DenTP4rm** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:04 pm

Hey Barbara,
About a month ago I posted a reply to this. I don't know if you tried the Adaptec card I mentioned. It would help if you could specify which cards you have tried and what happened. The Adaptec card worked fine for me on my T60p with a Sony camcorder.

I was using Adobe Premiere 6 to import video and I think I also tried Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0. I had no crashes or other problems. If that card, the Adaptec AUA-1422 didn't work it could be a problem with the slot. The Adaptec card I mentioned is available through PC Connection with a rebate for a good price. Check it out at:
http://www.pcconnection.com/Search?Term ... &om=search
Good luck,
Den

brsnyder · #10 Post by **brsnyder** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:17 am

Hi --

That card was essentially unavailable by the time I saw your post. I will try the one you mention in your recent message.

Thanks! -- Barbara

DenTP4rm wrote:Hey Barbara,
About a month ago I posted a reply to this. I don't know if you tried the Adaptec card I mentioned. It would help if you could specify which cards you have tried and what happened. The Adaptec card worked fine for me on my T60p with a Sony camcorder.

idebb · #11 Post by **idebb** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:28 am

The two firewire cards that have the
most reliable reputation are the ones
from LaCie and the ones from Siig

I´d try this one first as I´ve seen alot
of pros use it. It has a Texas
Instruments chip.

http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10482

It´s has two firewire400 and one
FW800 port. Not sure if the 400 ports
are 4-pin (for Camcorder) or
6-pin (powered for Harddrives).

If they are 6-pin ports just get a 4pin to 6pin adapter. Look here:

http://www.granitedigital.com/catalog/p ... apters.htm

By the way...if you have XP sp2 then you should check if you have the firewire hotfix installed. Here´s the link

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885222

kind regards

brsnyder · #12 Post by **brsnyder** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:59 am

I've tried cards from Startech.com, SIIG, and Best Connectivity. Basically any ones I could find that had 4-pin connectors. (Trying to avoid extra expense of 4-pin to 5-pin cable.)

I just installed the hotfix and tried the Best Connectivity one again (since I haven't gotten an RMA yet) and it still crashed to blue screen.

I just ordered the Adaptec 1422 from PCConnection. If that doesn't work, I'll try the Lacie next.

Why couldn't they just have put a Firewire port in in the first place?!?! Sheesh...

Thanks -- Barbara

brsnyder · #13 Post by **brsnyder** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:26 pm

brsnyder wrote:I've tried cards from Startech.com, SIIG, and Best Connectivity. Basically any ones I could find that had 4-pin connectors. (Trying to avoid extra expense of 4-pin to 5-pin cable.)

duh - of course I meant 6-pin, not 5-pin

I confidently opted to pay extra for overnight shipping on the Adaptec because my deadline is seriously close. I hope it works!!!

-- Barbara

idebb · #14 Post by **idebb** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:30 pm

I seriously doubt you´ll have any luck
with any cardbuscard...

Maybe you should get an expresscard
instead...have you tried any?

And then when your project is finished
you should try to reinstall windows to
see if it´s a driver conflict problem. If
your problem persists you should
send the notebook in for repair as
your cardbus seems to be bad.

You can also try this:

http://www.siig.com/faq.asp?faqid=10050934

1394 2-Port Cardbus and 1394 Dual-Port CardBus Problem with Windows XP
Steps:

1) Some systems running Windows XP have a problem with the 1394 2-Port Cardbus (part number NN-PC2012) or 1394 Dual-Port CardBus (part number NN-PCM222).

2) In Device Manager, the VIA 1394 Controller has a yellow exclamation mark and an error code of 10.

3) Turn on the notebook.

4) Press F1 at the IBM logo screen to enter the BIOS Setup. (These instructions are for the 1394 CardBus adapters working in IBM T-Series laptops. They should work for the Compaq Evo and other laptops. The procedures for these other laptops might be slightly different.)

5) Select Config > Power > PCI Bus Power Management (scroll to the bottom of the page).

6) Change from Automatic to Disable.

kind regards

#15 Post by **RonS** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:42 pm

I use a LaCie FW800 card in my T60p and it works flawlessly. I get sustained 64 MB/sec transfer rates to my FW hard drive.

brsnyder · #16 Post by **brsnyder** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 6:04 pm

Haven't tried any Expresscards yet. Transfer speed is irrelevant since my video recorder only sends stuff in real-time, which I find totally dopey.

I have never had anything looking NG in Device Manager, have applied all the updates as far as I know, etc. I'm wondering if upgrading to the newest BIOS will make any difference.

I guess I am a walking example of insanity - doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result!

-- Barbara

brsnyder · #17 Post by **brsnyder** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:50 pm

I'm thrilled to report that the Adaptec card worked flawlessly. I put it in and 30 seconds later was transferring my video. Yay!

Thanks, everyone! -- Barbara

DenTP4rm · #18 Post by **DenTP4rm** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:37 pm

brsnyder wrote:I'm thrilled to report that the Adaptec card worked flawlessly. I put it in and 30 seconds later was transferring my video. Yay!

Thanks, everyone! -- Barbara

Barbara,
Glad to hear the Adaptec card worked and that PC Connection got it to you on time. I don't recall having to install any drivers from the CD with mine, did you need to with yours? Best of luck on your editing.
Dennis

brsnyder · #19 Post by **brsnyder** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:16 pm

Nope, didn't have to install any drivers. Easy-peasy.

-- Barbara

Scratch · #20 Post by **Scratch** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:22 pm

I've had good luck with the ExpressCard adapter as well, but I never really had an issue with the $20 CardBus adapter that I was using either. The EC54 is a better solution for connecting HDD's etc. the camera's transfer rate that I was working with made the switch moot. I Only picked it up because I leave a CardBus SCSI in the machine for other reasons.

stephenaron · #21 Post by **stephenaron** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 11:20 am

I too bought 2 firewire PC cards, one being an Adaptec card. For the longest time my machine would crash (2007-84U T60p) when transfering video from Sony miniDV camera. Eventually i updated the videocard drivers for the ATI 5200 and my machine stopped crashing. Make sure you are running the latest drivers.

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