Firewire 800 vs. firewire 400 protocol

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Level 1

90 points

Firewire 800 vs. firewire 400 protocol

Is there a difference? I'm trying to record to a Pioneer PRV-LX1 DVD recorder from a MacBook Pro, from a Final Cut Pro timeline. The DVD deck has the little DV connection - which is standard for camcorders and devices like that. My macbook pro has only one firewire connection, FW 800. When i open the FCP timeline, it does not recognize any DV device. I have set the AV device control prefs tab to "firewire basic" and checked the box for "autorecord, PTV = 0 secs", as the pioneer manual suggests. However, the only options i get are "none" and "digital cinema desktop preview". But here's the kicker: when i plug the recorder into my older Mac pro tower, with the same FCP version 6.0.6, which uses a FW400 (6-pin) cable, IT TALKS TO THE RECORDER PERFECTLY! so what's the difference?

MBP 2.66Ghz i7 w/8GB; G5 dual 2.0, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Jul 6, 2012 4:11 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 7, 2012 2:39 AM in response to ncaardvark

Hi,

Does your Mac Book Pro actually recognise the Player? (System profiler/ firewire.) Also, is the laptop on Lion?

DM

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Answer 2

Jul 7, 2012 7:41 AM in response to ncaardvark

People have reported problems with some firewire cables so David's on the right track. If the system profiler sees the dvd recorder, at least you know the cable's ok. If not, try another cable.

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Answer 3

ncaardvark Author

Level 1

90 points

Jul 9, 2012 11:57 AM in response to Michael Grenadier

System profiler reported something like "unable to display firewire devices". So you may be on to something. It was a brand new Rocketfish cable from Best Buy. i am not on Lion, i'm on "Snow Leopard" (isn't that an endangered species?).

when i unplug the firewire cable, the system profiler says "firewire bus: up to 800 mbps"- as normal.

BTW, FCP will not let me select "view> all frames" from the View menu, external video. I guess it has to recognize the FW cable/bus first?

i will see if i can exchange this cable for another and see what happens.

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