panasonic camcorder via firewire problem

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Level 1

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panasonic camcorder via firewire problem

i have a panasonic NV-GS15 camcorder. it works with OS9.2 but i bought a new imac G5 this weekend and it won't work with OSX. panasonic doesn't answer my emails and it's website only supplies windows updates -remember this if you're thinking of buying a panasonic camcorder to work with your new G5 mac. Apple says this is a panasonic problem - thanks guys.... you can brag about doing development work on IEEE 1394 Firewire with them,but you obviously don't share all the results. has anyone else had this problem????HELP!!!

G5 mac, Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Nov 23, 2005 12:37 PM

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Answer 1

Kjolner

Level 2

354 points

Nov 23, 2005 1:23 PM in response to tom sheridan

Helloi There!
Get rid of all trash you dont need remove other usbs and gadgets and everything you wont need for the moment. then open garageband make some music ( its somehow conected to the other synapses?) Also redo permissons, it worked for me! no trouble sinse start with somthing simple to test the water ..
Go with tiger! Ivar...

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Answer 2

tom sheridan Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 23, 2005 2:18 PM in response to Kjolner

thanks Ivar, but that was one of the first 'cures' i tried as it worked for me on a previous G5 mac. doesn'tseem to work on new macs. thanks anyway. tom

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Answer 3

Nov 23, 2005 2:46 PM in response to tom sheridan

Tom,

You didn't give ANY info about the procedure you are going thru. I haven't seen one Firewire camcorder that hasn't worked. Try to help us out by giving us some add'l info. I have a similar Panasonic model and it works perfectly. Before panicking, what steps are you going thru? One other person here had a similar problem, but I found out she didn't flip her camcorder into the VCR or playback mode. Another person was mistakenly trying to use USB. Not that you are, but again, it would help to know what steps you are doing. My suggestion: Plug in your camcorder via Firewire, but leave the power off. Launch iMovie then power-up the camcorder, making sure it's in playback mode (NOT computer mode or record mode). What happens? Your camcorder should be no different than plugging in an external Firewire hard drive.

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Answer 4

tom sheridan Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 23, 2005 3:13 PM in response to Daniel Filice

Hi Daniel, thanks for your time and your right i'm not giving enough detail. quite simply, i've tried everything, but, say i plug in the camcorder via a brand new firewire cable - and it can only fit into a firewire socket of which i've tried both - then launch iMovie (version 5.0.2). i then power up the camcorder in playback mode and switch to the camera icon on imovie i then get the blue screen with 'camera not attached' which is evidently not so. sorry if i sound unthankful but i think apple were helpful to a point and suddenly handed the complete problem over to panasonic who won't even mail me!!! be warned!!! their website is completely dedicated to pc. the only thing i can come up with at the moment is that the new series of G5's launched in Oct 05(and this one was shipped to me last friday)have some sort of incompatability that neither Mac or panasonic are admitting to. tho' i really hope i'm wrong. but thanks for the input. tom

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Answer 5

Nov 23, 2005 9:14 PM in response to tom sheridan

Tom,

This just doesn't sound right. My friend has a new G5 and my Panasonic works with iM5 just fine on his computer. I'm sure you've got the correct Firewire cable, but just to make sure, yours should have the small square 4-pin on one side and the largerer 6pin on the other. Just to be safe, make sure you have the cable plugged into Firewire ports and jiggle the connections while the blue screen is showing. Make sure the camera is playing when you do this so if you do get connection, you will see something. Did your camera come with software? It shouldn't matter, but just checking. Sometimes software helps the camera identify. Next, with the camera turned on and Firewire cable plugged in, try restarting your computer. Sometimes the computer needs to reset how it sees the ports. Don't be too mad at Panasonic for not having any info on their site for Macs. That's the way it is with most webistes. If you wander over to the camcorder discussion board on CNET.com, it's filled with people who use PCs and who can't download footage into their computers for editing. Its kind of funny. It's also not the way with Macs. I guess there could simply be an imcompatiblity issue with your camera. I've heard that some Samsung and Canon cameras have issues. I just don't know any obvious things that I can point you to. Try doing a search on this iMovie message board for someting like "Firewire not working" or "Camera not recognized" and see what you come up with.

Oh, one other thing. Isn't the NV-GS15 a PAL camera? I can't tell from your profile if you are in the U.S. or in a country that uses PAL. If you are in the U.S., that may explain your problem. You can play a PAL DVD on a Mac in the U.S. but most are configured for NTSC. If you are in a PAL country, is your Mac PAL?
Dan

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Answer 6

Nov 24, 2005 8:38 AM in response to Daniel Filice

Daniel,
PAL vs NTSC isn't the issue here. iMovie, iDVD and DVD Player handles both standards fine (but not in the same project).

Tom,
Do the Firewire port(s) work at all on the Mac? (Does other FW devices work when connected?)

A "trick" is having the camera connected and playing a tape first and THEN start iMovie.

iMovie: Cannot See or Control Camera
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=43000

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Answer 7

catspaw

Level 5

4,344 points

Nov 24, 2005 3:15 PM in response to tom sheridan

Hi Tom - have you looked at this discussion - worth reading if you haven't:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?forumID=858&threadID=231694

Here's another:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=961348&ft=y&#961348

There have been other discussions on this subject too. You are not the only person who has had this problem, with a variety of cameras, and usually a solution is eventually found.

Almost certainly your new computer is NOT the problem, and I can almost guarantee that there will be owners of your camera who have no connection difficulties at all.

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Answer 8

tom sheridan Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 29, 2005 1:15 PM in response to tom sheridan

okay, long list...thanks Catspaw, the links/discussions were interesting and anlightening but the problem still persists.
it's a conundrum.... people have new G5 imacs and the same model panasonic and they work , but sadly, mine still doesn't....
Lenart, i'm with you. icould get NTSC/PAL to work together too on my old mac, good point too on checking the firewire sockets. they both work tho as a pair of ipods using firewire work. As for the 'trick' i know where you're coming from but i've tried every little idiosyncrasy to get round this prob continually blaming myselffor every little thing such as date and timeline on the camcorder but yet still no success. i still continually get 'no camera attached'
Daniel, thanks but yes it is a 6 to 4 pin firewire and i hate to admit it but i have beenreduced to 'joggling' the connection but if i don't need to do it for an ipod i don't want to attempt it anmore otherwise. As for the software that came with it , it was only p.c., panasonic say they 'don't write for mac's'. shame, a driver or two might have helped the recognition problem.
so.... i still have the problem.panasonic take about a week to answer an email and then they talk down to you as if you're not doing things right... thanks guys... and as for apple they just said not their problem and referred me to this discussion.
from what i've heard and from what i've read, there clearly s a problem in this vicinity and apple are doing a fat nothing about.... there's even a fix with garageland which has been around for at least a year or more!!! anyway.... A BIG THANKS TO YOU ALL!!!! the problems not solved but you guys are more technically skilled, au fait and have far more imagination then the troubleshooters and salesmen of aple and panasonic..... i'll keep trawling until the answer crops up.... probably will have to open appleworks and draw a bear scratching it's elbow then quit..... actually... there's something i haven't tried yet......

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