ADVC 300 to PC Connection Dropout

[voxdei]

I am having trouble capturing VHS video through my new ADVC 300 unit into a PC running Windows XP. My capture software is Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5. I can start the capture process successfully, but after a period which varies randomly the ADVC 300 breaks the connection to the PC for a brief period and then re-connects and continues converting, but the capture process is terminated and I have to re-start it. This process is then repeated with a random length interval before the next dropout. My longest period of successful capture, after several days of trying, has been 17 minutes, but a typical period between dropouts is about 3 minutes. I have used 3 different Firewire cables for the capture without any improvement and I have used the PC Firewire port for an external hard drive and a Dazzle Hollywood-DV bridge without any problems whatsoever. I have tried disabling the screensaver, the WiFi connection, the 1394 Net Adapter, and the Windows firewall, all to no effect. Does anyone have any idea of what my problem is? Thanks for any help.

[kbosward]

It is quite common for the ADVC300 to drop the connection if there is a break in the source such as a scene change. You may find that the ADVC300 actually switches briefly from input mode to output mode (you will see the status lights changing). This is not the ADVC300's fault, it is actually the capture program sending a device control signal to the ADVC300 when it detects a break in the DV stream.

There are two ways around this. Some people pass the analog signal from the VHS player through another VHS player setup in passthrough mode, so that there is never a break in the analog signal.

My preferred method (I don't have a second VHS player lying around) is to use a capture program which allows you to disable device control. I'm not sure if you can turn off device control in PP 1.5. However there is a free DV capture application called WinDV which I and many people use. Untick the little box between the "Config..." and "Capture" buttons and you will then find that you can capture all day! Just be aware that while WinDV can show captured video in the preview window, it does not preview the audio. But the audio will be there in the captured file when you play it.

Ken.

[voxdei]

Ken, Thanks for your explanation and suggestion. I have obtained WinDV and tried it and it has improved things but not eliminated the disconnects entirely. The disconnects are less frequent when capturing with WinDv but they still occur at various intervals. I have achieved one continuous capture interval of 36 minutes and several of about 25 minutes but I have never been able to finish the capture of a complete VHS tape of an hour or more without disconnects. As an experiment, I tried capturing the output of a DVD player but still experienced the (apparently) random disconnects.

ACJ

[antonsvideo]

to capture from VHS, one should use a Time Base Corrector, then the signal never breaks

all my VHS decks come with built in TBC and you can but standalone ones cheap now

I have no idea why Canopus did not incorporate TBC's in their boxes

note: the more money you spend on a TBC, the more you can get out of inferior formats such as VHS (Y and C noise reduction is a welcome bonus)

[kbosward]

I've never had any problems capturing a 3 hour VHS tape (PAL) in one go, and my VCR does not have a TBC. Once I turn off device control in the capture app, it just keeps capturing until I tell it to stop.

Just to make sure ACJ, do you have Win XP SP2 installed? And what sort of Firewire card do you have -- is it 400 Mbps or 800 Mpbs (some people have had problems with 800 Mbps)?

Lastly, do you see any errors in the System or Application event log at the time of a disconnect?

Ken.

[antonsvideo]

keep in mind that there is no such thing as a 3 hour wav file, so you need to stop and restart capture at around 2 hours and 50 min which is the max allowed 2GB for wav

[voxdei]

I do have Windows XP with SP2 installed. My Firewire input is integrated into the ASUS P5AD2-E Premium motherboard and the manual describes it as meeting the 1394b standard (800 mb/s) with backward compatibility with the 1394a standard (400 mb/s). Perhaps that is the problem. I must admit that I have not looked at the system or application logs yet. I am about to try the TBC approach (when I have acquired one).

ACJ

[kbosward]

See the thread Firewire bus reset which was fixed by purchasing a cheap 400 Mbps firewire card.

Ken.

[voxdei]

The low-cost ($9.95, but I could have got one for $5.95) 1394a PCI card has solved my problem! I have been able to capture a 1-1/2 hour VHS tape from my ADVC 300 without interruption and no dropped frames. Many thanks, Ken and Anton, for your suggestions. I shall be eternally grateful.
ACJ