Data xfer rate: camera to disk using Pinnacle
 

Under XP-SP2, we used Pinnacle Studio Plus 9.4 and 10.6 to transfer video from a DV camera to the pc through a Pinnacle Studio Movieboard Plus PCI card. Camera connected to pc through the 1394 plug. The transfer works fine although quite slow as is usually the case with all Pinnacle software versions.

However, if we choose a USB hard disk as destination for the transfer, we’re kicked out (or the test just hangs) because apparently the transfer data rate is insufficient. Again, everything works fine when an IDE disk is used.

Is there any way to get the software to adjust to a particular data rate so that the USB disk can be used (Western Digital 500 GB) ?

How do you know it is the data transfer rate that is causing the problem. The transfer rates are auto set to the fastest rate as set by the slowest hardware device.

I think it may be more of a USB connection issue or a software issue that may have a patch from pinnacle.

Is the USB drive self powered by an auxillary power source or is it USB powered only?
Is the USB drive a direct connection to a USB 2.0 port located on the computer or is it on a HUB connection.

When I run the Pinnacle Studio Plus transfer rate test, it tells me after a few seconds that it can't use the USB disk because the rate is too low.

The USB drive is self-powered. It is hooked up to a 6-way USB adapter which itself is connected to a USB plug on the MB. Is that what you'd call a hub?

yep that is the hub and also the reason it is too slow. Plug it into the USB port on the computer.

Thanks. I'll give it a try on thursday when I lay my hands on that pc again.

We connected the video camera to the MovieBoard PCI card through a USB plug and the target USB disk to a USB plug directly on the MB. Same thing with target USB disk. After a long wait, the Pinnacle Studio test accepted the transfer to the USB disk at a low rate. Tens of thousands of frames were dropped during the transfer on a 35-minute video and the result was disastrous.

We suspect that we have a USB 1.1 environment : we're using a P4/1.7 Ghz on a Gigabyte 8TX motherboard. It's not easy to tell whether it's 2.0 or 1.1 USB either from Everest or from the Control Panel.

The MB specs indicate: 2 integrated USB ports + 2 additional USB ports. If it doesn't specifically say 2.0, does this imply 1.1?

yes, if it doesn't specify then more than likely you are dealing with USB 1.1

Thank you for your reply