Feasability of repairing dead 1394 connector on Sony Dig8 camcorder?

In article . com,
wrote:

BTW, we also lost the Firewire connection on the motherboard of our
main video editing computer. As far as I am concerned, Firewire does
not seem to be very robust as far as hardware is concerned :-(

It doesn't seem that way, does it? It's reasonably common to have a
component destroyed by a bad cable or bridge board.

One big issue is loose specs and less than stellar design of the
connector itself. It's surprisingly easy to insert a 6-pin connector
backwards, and this will almost always blow something, as the power
lines get connected to signal. A bad cable can do the same thing;
4-to-4 pin connections are safe, but 4-to-6 and 6-to-6 cables pose a
similar risk.

Since the number of devices actually powered from the FireWire
connector is quite small, I've taken to using specialty cables which
MAY have 6 pin physical connectors at one or both ends, but never have
more than 4 pins or lines actually present. I also (though the
interface is rated plug-and-play) no longer connect or disconnect when
anything is powered up.

I've had the experience of a bad FireWire-to-ATA bridge board (in an
Imation tape drive) taking out three motherboard FireWire circuits
before I caught on.

On the plus side, once you get it connected, it works MUCH better than
any flavor of USB.

On 12/01/2006, J. Clarke posted this:
On Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:36:28 +0000, Doc wrote:

"Gene E. Bloch" wrote in message
...

FWIW, the RS-232 spec explicitly states that the interface electronics
will be immune to any short-circuit or misconnection of the pins. I
have no idea if USB and FireWire have such a provision, but it *would*
be nice.

Can you advise what RS-232 is? What relation does this have to Firewire?

The standard serial interface, used for modems, printers, mice, and all
sorts of other things before USB came along. Has some advantages over
USB, like it works fine from one end of a building to the other and you
can easily make your own cables, but isn't designed to support hubs with
multiple attachments and is relatively slow, especially compared to USB2
Hi-speed.

Not to mention that it was often a challenge to get RS-232 to work.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Gino)
letters617blochg3251
(replace the numbers by "at" and "dotcom")

On 12/01/2006, Doc posted this:
"Gene E. Bloch" wrote in message
...

FWIW, the RS-232 spec explicitly states that the interface electronics
will be immune to any short-circuit or misconnection of the pins. I
have no idea if USB and FireWire have such a provision, but it *would*
be nice.

Can you advise what RS-232 is? What relation does this have to Firewire?

Others answered the first question. That you had to ask made them feel
old, and to tell the truth, it also makes me feel old :-)

I thought the second was obvious...

OK - I gave an example of a useful property of an older spec and
suggested - or at least hoped - that the newer one might, by analogy
and good engineering, have the same property.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Gino)
letters617blochg3251
(replace the numbers by "at" and "dotcom")

On 12/01/2006, Doc posted this:
Feasibility even....

:-)

--
Gene E. Bloch (Gino)
letters617blochg3251
(replace the numbers by "at" and "dotcom")

"Frank" wrote in message
...

Can you advise what RS-232 is? What relation does this have
to Firewire?

Now I'm feeling old...

Baudot TTY anyone?

On Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:12:21 GMT, "Homer J Simpson"
wrote:

"Frank" wrote in message
.. .

Can you advise what RS-232 is? What relation does this have
to Firewire?

Now I'm feeling old...

Baudot TTY anyone?

No need to feel old. All this is still being used by radio-amateurs around
the globe, and also commercial-stations like weather-forecast for marine.

73 de PH5TAE :-) -martin-
--

Scott Schuckert wrote:
In article . com,
wrote:

BTW, we also lost the Firewire connection on the motherboard of our
main video editing computer. As far as I am concerned, Firewire does
not seem to be very robust as far as hardware is concerned :-(

It doesn't seem that way, does it? It's reasonably common to have a
component destroyed by a bad cable or bridge board.

One big issue is loose specs and less than stellar design of the
connector itself. It's surprisingly easy to insert a 6-pin connector
backwards, and this will almost always blow something, as the power
lines get connected to signal. A bad cable can do the same thing;
4-to-4 pin connections are safe, but 4-to-6 and 6-to-6 cables pose a
similar risk.

Since the number of devices actually powered from the FireWire
connector is quite small, I've taken to using specialty cables which
MAY have 6 pin physical connectors at one or both ends, but never have
more than 4 pins or lines actually present. I also (though the
interface is rated plug-and-play) no longer connect or disconnect when
anything is powered up.

I've had the experience of a bad FireWire-to-ATA bridge board (in an
Imation tape drive) taking out three motherboard FireWire circuits
before I caught on.

On the plus side, once you get it connected, it works MUCH better than
any flavor of USB.


apple's firewire is a horror! my maxtor drive with firewire port doesn't
recognized at time and I have to turn the drive off - disconnect the
cab;e - turn the drive on - reconnect the cable. also, my canon
camocorder's firewire port was fired. it was my fault but WHO designed a
port that is so fragile?

As a follow-up, I got a close-up look with a magnifier and saw a bent
contact inside the port. I ground down the ends of a pair of pointy
tweezers so they'd fit in the channel of the contact and a straight pin
which I bent the end of to allow me to push down on the contact and
managed to manipulate it enough to get it back in line with the other
contacts and am now back in business. I also fiddled with the contacts
on the cable end to make sure they're as even as I can make them on an
eyeball basis, which is to say, straighter than they were out of the
box.

As others have mentioned, after having gotten this close look at how
it's configured, I'm really surprised how flimsy a design it is. The
cable end seems to have way too much ability to wiggle around and
inadequate strain relief given how little margin there seems to be for
the contacts range of motion. I'm surprised I haven't had problems
before this. From now on I'll tape the cable to the body of cam
instead of just letting it hang.

Doc wrote:
As others have mentioned, after having gotten this close look at how
it's configured, I'm really surprised how flimsy a design it is.

Sony's goal is not to get you to keep the same piece of equipment forever.

On 12/03/2006, Doc posted this:
As a follow-up, I got a close-up look with a magnifier and saw a bent
contact inside the port. I ground down the ends of a pair of pointy
tweezers so they'd fit in the channel of the contact and a straight pin
which I bent the end of to allow me to push down on the contact and
managed to manipulate it enough to get it back in line with the other
contacts and am now back in business. I also fiddled with the contacts
on the cable end to make sure they're as even as I can make them on an
eyeball basis, which is to say, straighter than they were out of the
box.

As others have mentioned, after having gotten this close look at how
it's configured, I'm really surprised how flimsy a design it is. The
cable end seems to have way too much ability to wiggle around and
inadequate strain relief given how little margin there seems to be for
the contacts range of motion. I'm surprised I haven't had problems
before this. From now on I'll tape the cable to the body of cam
instead of just letting it hang.

I assume you meant the camera port.

Congratulations on the heroic and successful improvising. It's cool
that you were a successful toolmaker!

Too bad it was needed - I'd say it's not just surprising, but
irresponsible, that it's so flimsy.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Gino)
letters617blochg3251
(replace the numbers by "at" and "dotcom")