OT- Canopus ADVC100 troubleshooting

TeeJay wrote on 8/14/2007, 6:58 AM
Sorry this is so off topic but i've scoured the net looking for answers and have had no luck.
I know some of you have a Canopus ADVC100 (in fact i was inspired to buy mine a few years back when attending one of Spot's VASST tours and saw him using one).
Anyway, mine has just stopped responding. It powers up and both the Digital and Analog status lights remain lit rather than resolving to one or the other. It is no longer "seen" when plugged in to the IEEE1394 port of my PC. I have had it for at least 2 or 3 years and have never had a problem before.... Any ideas about what could be wrong?

Cheers,

TeeJay

Comments

farss wrote on 8/14/2007, 7:11 AM
First and cheapest possibility is the firewire port on you PC has had the fritz. However I've read some reports of the 100s dying due to overheating / power supply issues. I don't have the 100, I went for the 300 which has been rock solid for years, I even rent it out to all and sundry so it must be pretty reliable.

Have you tried the Canopus fora for help, last time I checked it was still online despite the Grass Valley buyout.

OK, it's been moved to here:

http://ediusforum.grassvalley.com/forum/

Look under ADVC Products.

Hope this helps and good luck, I hate it when things like these have problems.

Bob.
Laurence wrote on 8/14/2007, 8:03 AM
The Canopus ADVC100 is liable to blow when you hotplug it with a 6 pin to 6 pin Firewire cable. This is because sometimes when you are hotplugging with one of these cables, one of the power connections touches one of the data lines and just like that, your ADVC100 is blown.

Exactly that happened to me several years ago. Anyway, Canopus fixed it for free even though it was out of warrantee. You might try contacting their tech support to see what they can do.

I have been really careful about hotplugging ever since, and have never had any problems with this device other than that.
DavidMcKnight wrote on 8/14/2007, 9:44 AM
To sort of combine these responses, try connecting it to another computer to determine if the unit is bad or if the firewire port on your pc is bad. If it is the ADVC unit I wouldn't hesitate to try to get it repaired, even if it cost a little. I bought mine used off of ebay and it's one of those "set it and forget it" type items. It just works.
TeeJay wrote on 8/14/2007, 3:44 PM
Thanks for all the responses. I have been to the Canopus forum and scoured it but haven't signed up to ask any questions......

It's not the PC, tried various different situations. The ADVC just seems to be idle after power up. ie, both lights stay on when it should just settle on 1...

I'm in Oz so i'm not sure whether Canopus have an office here, i'll check it out.

T
rmack350 wrote on 8/14/2007, 3:49 PM
Unplug it from your PC IMMEDIATELY!

Does it smell like smoke?

It's probably dead, and there's a chance that other 1394 devices were damaged as well. At least that's how two of mine went.

Of course it could be nothing...

Rob Mack
rmack350 wrote on 8/14/2007, 3:53 PM
Don't plug it into another PC. Seriously. When mine went they took other devices down with them.

If both lights stay on then it's toast.

The ADVC110 addressed this, I think, but the fist thing is to never go 6-pin to 6-pin with anything on this unit. always use 6 to 4 cables because these always drop the buss power from the signal.

Rob Mack
TeeJay wrote on 8/14/2007, 3:56 PM
Yep, all disconnected! I have just contacted the Aussie Tech support for Canopus products so hopefully find outg where to go from here in regards to repair.......

Thanks everyone,

T
Laurence wrote on 8/14/2007, 9:12 PM
4 to 6 pin Firewire cables will avoid this problem. So will just never hotplugging it when you are using a 6 pin cable. They fixed mine for free even though it was out of warrantee. Hopefully they will do that for you as well.