28 replies to this topic

[leader2]

Hi. I own a Honestech VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe video capture system. It was working fine if not with choppy video for months. Then I used Golden Videos VHS to DVD video capture software with the hardware and this improved the video quality. Today I was going to use it and then for some reason I couldn't. Golden Videos said : No video capture hardware Found. You must have a video input device to connect your vcr to your computer. If you have a USB video capture device, please check it is plugged in now and press Try again. I followed the troubleshooting steps provided. I had a capture device (The Honestech vid box which had been working fine to this point) and everything was plugged in correctly. I even changed the usb ports and this made no difference. My other usb devices are working fine. The last time I used it (2 or 3 months ago) it worked fine. I then tried it with the Honestech software. The device was detected, but when I played the video nothing showed on the screen not even the normal black square. Nothing. No audio, nor video. I checked the guide and followed the troubleshooting steps. As I said everything was connected properly and my ports are working fine. I even checked the vcr on my tv to make sure it was working normally. It was. And still I couldn't capture anything. No audio or video. Nothing. I went to the device manager and uninstalled the vid box which prompted me to restart the computer. It still didn't work and as I expected before uninstalling there were no exclamation points or anything to declare a problem. Can anyone suggest what I should do? As I said it worked up until today and I have never encountered this problem before. I have no idea what could be causing this and know it isn't the vcr or ports for sure. Thanks for any recommendations you can give

Edited by leader2, 20 November 2011 - 11:35 AM.

[Doug]

As I said it worked up until today and I have never encountered this problem before. I have no idea what could be causing this and know it isn't the vcr or ports for sure. Thanks for any recommendations you can give

You may not be at the point of being able to demonstrate that the above is true.
But for a moment, let's assume it is true.

If it is not the vcr hardware, and not the USB connection ports...
Then it is most likely - software.

If you have other media editing or playing software, you may benefit from determining whether or not that other software has set particular "default" software and/or file types to be recognized by the "other" software and not your desired Golden Videos software.

If defaults are not the culprit, and the problem is application software related, then it may be that a complete uninstall of the Golden Videos software and re-install of the Golden Videos software would fix you up.

------ Now. On to a more important question .....

What is it that has prompted you to post this "other software" and/or general hardware problem, into the What The Heck sub-Forum?

Best Regards

[leader2]

I tried to uninstall the Golden videos software and the exact same thing happened. The hardware wasn't detected and I could proceed no further. As for your question about which forum I put my thread in I'm surprised you asked. If I had really known my question was related to another forum I would have put it in there in the first place and not here. I only put it here, because I honestly didn't know where else to put it. Thanks for your suggestion, but the uninstatllion didn't work so I'm back to square one. Do you have any other recommendations? Thanks again, leader 2

[Doug]

You previously decided that VCR and Ports could not be the problem.

know it isn't the vcr or ports for sure.

I'm not so sure.
If your computer use is anything like my own or the usage of ordinary users, then USB Ports get used and disconnected multiple times with various memory devices, external hard drives, USB Receivers, Printers, and other USB connected devices.

Even if you carefully and always use the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature which should always be used before disconnecting a USB Device, the shear number of different devices can result in "driver confusion" due to the occasional poorly written software of devices. Some devices may even try to "own" a particular physical port by labeling its path for use by the particular hardware's driver.

This can be cleared up a couple of different ways.

Start here, with the Microsoft sequence of suggested repair steps.

If still no joy, consider going a little deeper to uninstall "hidden" devices.
The following description of steps was written for XP.
I think from your profile, you are running Vista.
So I spent the past 1/2 hour giving the instructions a test drive on a Vista machine here on my desk.
The steps work just fine on Vista.

Note: You may find 15 or twenty items under USB in your Device manager after "Hidden Devices" are made available.
Therefore, this procedure can become a little "tedious", but is important in clearing up any conflicts that may exist between, ports, devices and drivers.
Clear them all one-at-a-time - USB controllers, Hubs, receivers, Mass Storage Devices, Printing Support, composite devices, enhanced controllers... clear them all.

• Shutdown and unplug all USB devices.
  Boot to BIOS Setup and load defaults (F5 or F9 usually).
  Boot XP and create a new Environment variable called devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices and set it's value to 1 as follows:
  
• Right click on My Computer and select Properties
• Click on the Advanced tab
• Click on the Environmental Variables button
• Click the New button under the User variables for xxxxx" area.
• Set the Variable name as: devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices
• Set the Variable value to: 1
• Click OK as needed to close all the windows you opened.

Open Device Manager (Control Panel, System, Hardware tab, Device Manager)
Click on View then Show hidden devices.
Scroll down to USB and click on the plus to expand it.
Uninstall them one at a time. DO NOT uninstall your mouse if you are using a USB mouse.
Shutdown and reboot, let XP rediscover everything and load necessary drivers. This can take a few minutes, be patient.

Now try the USB device (your Vid Box), see what happens.

[Doug]

From honestech Website
http://www.honestech...d-50-deluxe.asp

"What do the error messages "No capture device detected" or "unable to initialize capture device" mean?

This is an indication that your VIDBOX drivers are missing or corrupted. We recommend that you remove and reinstall the
VIDBOX device drivers using the steps below:


1.Unplug the VIDBOX from your PC.
2.Go to add/remove programs (start->control panel->add/remove programs), select the VIDBOX (if present), and choose to remove it.
3.Download the latest driver from our drivers update webpage via the link below, making sure to select the appropriate driver for your model/version of the VIDBOX capture device. http://www.honestech...port_driver.asp
4.Install/Run the driver. When complete the installer should prompt you to restart your computer, indicating the driver has been installed completely.
5.Upon restart, plug the VIDBOX into a different USB port.

Due to the increasing driver installations for Microsoft Windows products and software, it is possible that a driver conflict may exist between the capture box and other devices that may be installed on your computer. In the event that the above steps do not resolve your issue, please contact our support staff.

[leader2]

Thanks for your reply Doug. I appreciate all the hard work you put into your posts. I checked the link you provided in your 2nd post. The USB ports are working fine. So no problem there. Also in your third thread I uninstalled the drivers I had originally with the vid box and installed the driver from the website. I wasn't getting the error message you mentioned and the capture device still didn't capture anything despite being detected by the software. As for going to device mgr that was a real doozy. You said to uninstall every USB item, but do you also mean my USB keyboard and mouse? Won't I need the keyboard to go to the bios? And the keyboard and mouse aren't labeled as USB devices so can you tell me an easy way to tell which they are if I must uninstall them so that I can uninstall them last? Also I tried to uninstall the USB root hubs, but for some reason they kept reinstalling themselves right after I uninstalled them! So I couldn't even complete the process. How can I completely uninstall each item so that it doesn't reinstall until after I have logged back into my computer? Thanks.

Edited by leader2, 24 November 2011 - 04:47 AM.

[Doug]

Hi Leader2,

Device drives for USB and wireless Mouse and Keyboard are typically listed in Device manager under their own named heading.

For instance, on my test-be XP SP3 machine...

Keyboard
HID Keyboard Device <-- that's my Logitech wireless keyboard
Standard 101/102 key or Microsoft natural PS/2 keyboard <-- that's my PS/2 wired keyboard

Mouse
HID-compliant mouse <-- that's my Logitech wireless laser mouse
PS/2 compliant mouse <-- that's my PS/2 wired (roller-ball style) standard mouse

You are correct to "not" uninstall your Keyboard and Mouse device drivers
_________________

Anything under the main heading Universal Serial Device Controllers can and should (for this problem-solving) be uninstalled.
Yes, when you next reboot Windows, Microsoft will repopulate the Universal Serial Controllers topic with various controllers
Standard Universal PCI to USB Host controller
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host controller
USB Composite Device
USB Root Hub

That is by design and intentional for Windows to refresh those device drivers directly from XP cache resources when you reboot.

Completing the above exercise "should" clear any special USB device drivers that may be causing conflicts.
After you complete the exercise of clearing all USB devices above and then when you freshly plug in your Honestech device, Windows "should" detect "new Hardware" and install device driver for new USB hardware either from cached resources or may require the CD media to obtain the driver from Honestech.

Did that clear up any of the problem.

If it had been a corrupted USB device or corrupted hidden USB device, you will have cleared and replaced them by completing the above.

But if no improvement, then the problem is not solely with the USB connection device drivers and we need to keep looking.

Best Regards

[leader2]

Thanks for your reply again Doug. What I meant is not that the usb devices install at the reboot, I understand that they are supposed to do that. However I was uninstalling them and they reinstalled themselves seconds later BEFORE I rebooted the computer. I have uninstalled devices before and seen them reinstall at the reboot process, but never seconds later before I even rebooted my computer. This happened repeatedly and I couldn't complete the process because everything was reinstalling itself right away before the reboot. So Doug what do you recommend I do or what do you think could be causing this? I am not sure what to do and would like to try what you told me, but couldn't because of this problem. Thanks, leader2

[Doug]

Hi Leader2,

Are there any yellow or red warnings or black exclamation point symbols next to items any in your Device Manager List?
If yes... which ones?

[leader2]

Hi Doug,


There are no yellow or red warnings or black exclamation point symbols next to any items in the device manager list?

Also I see the listings for the mouse and keyboard, but when I started uninstalling the usb devices previously my mouse stopped working completely, so am I correct to assume that one of the unnamed usb devices is connected to the mouse (and not just via the HID-compliant mouse listing)? I would think it has to be since the mouse stopped working immediately after I uninstalled one of the USB devices. I think this also happened with the keyboard as well so they must be connected to the usb devices somehow. How will I know exactly which one is connected to the mouse and keyboard before I uninstall? None of the USB devices have names that identify with either the mouse or keyboard (ie USB root hub) so I'm not sure of which one will disconnect the keyboard and mouse.

Sorry for all of the questions Doug. I just explain everything and want to make sure I understand your instructions properly so that I know how to proceed.

[terry1966]

can i ask what model number it is? sorry if you've already said but couldn't see it anywhere.

there seems to be be 2 vidbox drivers listed and was wondering if maybe your using the wrong one..

http://www.honestech...p#VIDBOXdrivers

for Model Number : HT VIDBOX NW03 use (direct download link):- http://www.honestech...win7_090316.zip

for Model Number : HT VIDBOX NW02 use (direct download link):- http://www.honestech...32_20070705.zip

if your sure your using the correct driver and it's still not working i think i'd get in touch with honestech's support staff because it may be a hardware failure in the box itself and nothing to do with the pc or it's usb ports.

Edited by terry1966, 03 December 2011 - 11:45 PM.

[leader2]

Hi guys. I called Honestech and their rep said that it a failure either of the usb cable or the vid box itself, so you were right terry. I purchased a mini usb cable from ebay and it should be here on the 8th or 9th. I hope it's just the cable and not the box, because that will be more expensive to replace. I will definitely update you with my progress once I get the cable. Thanks for your help guys and especially you Doug.

[leader2]

I got the cable on 12-10-11 and tested it. It didn't work so the problem is definitely the vid box. I will have to purchase another video capture device which I will do in January most likely. I am so disappointed in Honestech for this and will be trying another much cheaper device since this happened. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks again for your help.

[Doug]

That's tough news, Leader2. Sorry to hear it. Yes, please do keep us updated as others will likely benefit from your efforts. Best Regards

[leader2]

Thanks Doug. I was so disappointed by this as I only got about 8 or so months out of the vid box. First my DVD recorder conks after about 6.5 months (Thankfully I had it under warranty) and now this. I know it could just be be a rarity, but I am really leery of HOnestech since I bought it brand new and paid $40 for it. ($30 and $10 shipping) I am going to try an easy cap this time. That should be about $15. The reviews aren't as good, but at least I won't be paying $40 and others have had some ok experiences. I only bought from Honestech based on the reviews it got and I got stuck with a lemon. So I'll try somebody else and see if I can't do better. I will definitely keep you posted.