Need some desperate help

[D***@adobeforums.com]

Lately, I have been having capture problems with Adobe Premiere Pro.
I would check that everything is correct, and press record or tape, and it will not work.

Instead of capturing, it either drops frames to the point where it has to stop, or it gives me this dialogue box: "Connection Lost to Device", followed by "Driver Error" and finally "Device offline".

I have no idea what is wrong and I desperately need to get the program to work because my project is due very soon.

Thanks,
I hope to get an answer ASAP.

Danny

[P***@adobeforums.com]

If capture has worked for you previously, something system-related has changed that is causing this problem. Try to identify any hardware or software changes you have made and reverse them. If you cannot remember, consider rolling your system back (Windows System Restore) to a point in time when you were certain PPro captured OK.

Some other possible culprits based on your error experiences:

Corrput Windows capture drivers (run the Windows Troubleshooter).
Corrupt Windows IEEE1394 drivers (ditto).
Bad FireWire cable (try another one).
Corrupt PPro installation (reinstall).

A utility receiving nearly universal praise as a MUCH better capture tool than the cranky module in PPro is SCLive. Download the demo <http://www.scenalyzer.com/> to see whether you're able to caputure with your current set-up. If so, spend the $40 to unlock the utility. You'll never regret it.

[D***@adobeforums.com]

It would seem that I would need to reinstall Windows every few months because of this recurring problem.

The system is pretty well off - it is a Sony 3.2 Ghz, equipped with a 250 GB hard drive and a gig of ram. Premiere Standard came with the system, but I upgraded to Pro shortly after.

It always seem to work fine again after reinstallation, but I would have to do it every few months because capture would come to a halt for no apparent reason after the initial few months.

Any ideas of why this is happening?

[P***@adobeforums.com]

Can't say why PPro degrades on your box the way it does. If no other programs degrade in a similar way, you have to figure that PPro is getting cumulatively hammered by BIOS calls. Could be that the special version of PPro (v 7) that Sony bundles is the only version that will work properly. Just a WAG.

But I do know this - I inherited a VAIO once upon a time. Got rid of it fast because of the peculiar proprietary flourishes that Sony incorporates - from piracy checking via BIOS code to special connectors for attaching industry standard peripherals. Wasn't really a PC as far as I was concerned - more like a MAC-PC hybrid running Windows, sort of. Don't know whether they still make 'em like that these days but after the big root kit fiasco over at the record company, I wouldn't be surprised.

[J***@adobeforums.com]

Does the Sony DVMotion capture software work? I pretty much always used that with my VAIO.

Not that I think it'll help at all, but you could upgrade/install the latest Sony codec pack.

Jon

[J***@adobeforums.com]

Danny, Have you checked the DMA setting of your hard drives. I have experienced problems capturing because my capture hard drive was downgraded automatically by Windows from Ultra DMA (UDMA) to PIO. When this happens, the hard drive slows to the point that capture is too slow. This has happened to me twice in 3 years on two different PCs.

I believe that I was informed in 2002 by Microsoft that Windows (OS) would need to be reinstalled to set the hard drive to UDMA again. This would confirm your need to reinstall Windows. If Windows tries to write to the hard drive and experiences more than 6 time outs, the OS steps Ultra DMA down until it locks the drive at PIO rate.

Basically, the PC writing rate to the hard drive is too slow to be able to capture at the rate Windows has set to be safe for data integrity (for no errors). I am concerned that Windows gives no warning and does not allow me to determine if I am happy with a few missed frames. It doesn't even allow me to set the hard drive back to UDMA rate again in Device Manager. Of course, the problem could be that the hardware became faulty (slower). My present experience does not show this.

I am now in the process of trouble shooting this again with Microsoft. Troubleshooting history so far:
1. After two analog CATV capture sessions, the new 200GB SATA drive on SATA_RAID 1 (call it R1) connection of the motherboard remained set at Ultra DMA Mode 6 (call it UDMA 6) - MasterDeviceTimingMode (MDTM) set to 20010 in registry.
2. The third 3 hour CATV capture locked the SATA drive to PIO on R1 but when moved to SATA_RAID 2 (R2) it was set to UDMA 6.
3. A second SATA drive when attached to R2 unlocked R1 and set both drives to UDMA 5 (MDTM set to 10010).
4. Different combinations of attaching two SATA drives to R1 and R2 set both to UDMA 5.
5. Different combinations of attaching either of the two drives separately, set R1 or R2 to UDMA 5 using a new SATA cable.

John
John