Have you seen this problem where you connect a HDV camera to the computer and it just won't recognize the damn thing?

I mean, yes it does, but it's named AV/C Subunit and Windows cannot install the device. It fails.



I don't know how Vista handles this. But who needs Vista, right? Anyway, the problem is that some computer sellers or people like you and me tweak their XP installation CD before installing. We all like to filter out a little stuff we don't need. Such as 14k4 modem support, ancient video drivers, tape streamers and such. nLite is a great tool for cleaning the installation CD.

But the mistake you, me, and the computer sellsman make is that removing Tape Devices to get rid of ancient Tape Streamer drivers is that it also removes the ability to play HDV over FireWire! So we'd like it back, except it's ripped out of XP so nicely that it won't even know it exists. Hence, installation of some unit fails.

The Solution

You'll have to manually specify the location from where to install this AV/C Subunit, and put a bunch of files on there from the original uncrippled XP installation. These files are:

avcstrm.sys
mstape.inf
mstape.sys

Your current installation obviously does not have these files, but if your other computer was installed using an original CD, you can find the files in here:

XP:
C:\WINDOWS\Driver Cache\i386\driver.cab
C:\WINDOWS\Driver Cache\i386\sp2.cab
C:\WINDOWS\Inf

XP x64:
C:\WINDOWS\Driver Cache\amd64\driver.cab
C:\WINDOWS\Driver Cache\amd64\sp2.cab
C:\WINDOWS\Inf

I found part of this on the HV20 forum. Don't know who initially came up with it since the original page is gone. Here's a neat little trick though to make sure you get the right files.

Getting the right files

In my first attempt I downloaded and borrowed some files. Fail. It's annoying to get it working like this, so you'd best just use your own original XP installation CD. This way, you don't need to worry about Service Packs or 32 bit versus x64.

To get to the files, download the free open source virtualization software VirtualBox. It's cool for trying apps without trashing your original OS anyway. Use your original untainted XP CD to install Windows, and there you have your own version of Windows with the files that were originally supposed to be in your crippled installation!

Browse to the aforementioned files and copy them over. Extract the proper files from the .cab's. Put them together in a folder and attach your HDV camera. This time when the Hardware Found Wizard pops up, you specify this folder you just created. It will install like a charm, although the wizard will ask you where the files you just pointed it to are at. Stupid, but just enter the exact path every time.



It will work. You will be pleased with your HDV capturing abilities in Premiere, Avid Xpress, and other tools.