Cari,
Thank you for the response. Unfortunately camcorders bear the brunt of the
blame becasuse camcorders are most often the device used with a FireWire
card. In pursuing this issue in response to a MS support communication, I
also attempted using multiple drives with no camera involved. I continued to
experience conflicts and disconnects. The reason I posted in a video forum
is because FireWire is most useful (IMHO) in a video capture/editing
environment, and there are likely to be more FireWire users in a video forum
than elsewhere (hopefully my logic works...).

I used to have problems with a PCMCIA FireWare 3-port card on XP SP2. I
thought the dropouts, etc., were a hardware problem, so I developed a
workflow of using just one device on the bus at a time. That workflow has
become untenable, and now I think the problem is not so much a hardware
problem as a Windows XP problem...ohfor $5000 to get a good G5 with FCP 5!

Anyhow, I'm going to go trade my Gigabyte motherboard for a different brand,
and see if that makes any kind of difference.

I did read that page a day or two ago, BTW, and there is some good advice
there just in general which I was not aware of, but it did not resolve my
problems.

Thanks,
Matt

"Cari (MS-MVP)" wrote:

> I believe it's an issue with specific camcorders, not one with IEEE1394
> itself. I have a Panasonic PV-DV800 and it works just fine. So do other
> firewire devices.
>
> Have you read through Graham Hughes' research on the problem?
>
> http://www.myvideoproblems.co.uk/Pro...ngUnderSP2.htm
> --
> Cari (MS-MVP)
> Printing & Imaging
> http://www.coribright.com/windows
>
>
>
> "mvanec" <mvanec@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:063D8A6C-B0E8-4AE4-B650-9AE53D57476D@microsoft.com...
> > Ok, I've reformatted and reinstalled. Windows XP SP2,
> > video/printer/network
> > drivers. I thought maybe Nero was a problem, or perhaps one of the
> > hotfixes
> > or updates. But nope, it's just Windows XP SP2 that's screwed up.
> >
> > I think I can run my camcorder by itself. It'll suck having to share all
> > my
> > external drives on a USB hub, because of the performance and speed hits.
> > Also, I'm pretty much screwed when it comes to my Firestore FS-4, which
> > only
> > has a FireWire interface. It might work with just one device at a time on
> > the bus (although I'm *supposed* to be able to get 62 or 63 on the bus
> > simultaneously). Also, Windows refuses to acknowledge that I've turned
> > off
> > the camera until I actually unplug it. On my wife's laptop, all I have to
> > do
> > is turn the camera off. Of course, that machine is a Dell, and Dell is
> > probably better at making things work than Microsoft.
> >
> > Has anyone actually gotten this stuff to work on a custom computer with an
> > XP SP2 upgrade disc? If so, could you tell me how you did it?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > "mvanec" wrote:
> >
> >> This is going in Video because that's the likeliest forum to get a
> >> response
> >> on FireWire issues, but this is affecting more than my camcorder.
> >>
> >> As I look at My Computer, my camcorder is under "Scanners and Cameras",
> >> and
> >> my external drive is nowhere to be seen. My camcorder is turned OFF, and
> >> my
> >> external drive is ON. Shouldn't I be seeing my drive, and NOT seeing my
> >> camcorder?
> >>
> >> <cut a bunch of stuff out--please refer to the original>
> >> Please help,
> >> Matt
>
>
>