I just purchased the D-Link USB2.0/Firewire Hub (DFB-H7) to link with my camcorder.  However, I discovered that the indicator lights next to firewire ports on the hub is not lid (meaning there is no link between TR1A’s firewire port and the hub.  I went onto D-Link’s support page but couldn’t find anything except for incompatibility between its hub and Mac G5 due to voltage rating.  I don’t think my hub is defective (USB devices are functioning properly).  Perhaps someone can answer this?

Have you tested the USB port on the hub with another USB device?

[quote author=“Chen_Kenichi”]I just purchased the D-Link USB2.0/Firewire Hub (DFB-H7) to link with my camcorder.  However, I discovered that the indicator lights next to firewire ports on the hub is not lid (meaning there is no link between TR1A’s firewire port and the hub.  I went onto D-Link’s support page but couldn’t find anything except for incompatibility between its hub and Mac G5 due to voltage rating.  I don’t think my hub is defective (USB devices are functioning properly).  Perhaps someone can answer this?

Well, the lights will not be lit up because the Sony i.Link (Firewire) port is unpowered. Firewire 400 (also known as 1394a) comes in two flavors. 6-pin and 4-pin. The 6-pin cable is capable of transferring power and data while the 4-pin is data only. So, since the Sony TR’s port is 4-pin, it will not provide power to the hub. The hub will need it’s own power supply.

Did the hub come with an AC adapter? If so, you will need to plug it in. If it doesn’t have one then you won’t be able to use the firewire portion with your TR. The reason why USB works is that the standard USB plug is a powered bus. You should be able to plug your camcorder (assuming it’s DV) directly into your TR’s firewire port (assuming you have the correct cable 4-pin to 4-pin). The reason why that works is that the DV camera has power and only needs to transfer the data signals.

You found one? Where?

[quote author=“Anonymous”]This is very strange because I do have the AC power plugged in for the USB/Firewire hub.  I understand the part about powered vs. un-powered connection but since the hub is powered, it shouldn’t matter if the 4-pin connection on my TR1 is powered or not.
Perhaps I should try to purchase the ilink cable that utilizes that tiny power port next to the 4-pin ilink connector on TR1.  But again that shouldn’t matter since the hub is powered.
Again I really don’t think my hub is defective because all other USB devices are working…

If you found a cable that has the proprietary Sony power connector, please share the place. As for your problem, are you using a FireWire cable to connect the hub to the computer, or just the USB cable? The hub has one USB and one FW uplink port, but you need to use both a USB cable and a FW cable for both types of ports to work.

Well, it’s entirely possible that the hub could be defective regardless of if the USB part is working or not. Most likely, the device has two different chipsets power each type of connection so it’s possible one could be working while the other isn’t.

Do you have any other Firewire devices/systems that you can test?

I do have both USB<->TR1 and Firewire<->TR1 cables connected.  The AC power is also conntected on the hub.  Connection-wise there is no issue (for those who believe I didn’t plug certain connecter ).
I really think that the Firewire ports on this hub are “pass-through”, meaning the two firewire ports are independent to other USB ports (in their ability to draw from hub’s AC power).
As for the Sony propritory 4-pin Firewire+DC cable, I’ve only seen DIY guide and have seen some people talking about contracting a cable factory to custom-make them in Taiwan.  However the custom-make arrangement neven materialize (there were arguments about out-put voltage from the DC port on various Vaio models - they can go between 16V to 19V).
I am going to get a PCMIA Firewire card and test out my theory (that firewire ports are “pass-through”).  I’ll let you guys know by next week!
Thanks a lot!