If you experience Firewire problems, please follow these steps:
GNU/Linux recent kernels may be compiled with an old or a new firewire stack. To understand which firewire stack is installed, query the list of loaded modules
lsmod | egrep 'firewire|1394'
This is the old firewire stack:
ohci1394 37040 0
ieee1394 306104 2 sbp2,ohci1394
This is the new firewire stack:
firewire_sbp2 15152 0
scsi_mod 163832 5 firewire_sbp2,sg,sr_mod,sd_mod,libata
firewire_ohci 23140 0
firewire_core 39492 2 firewire_sbp2,firewire_ohci
crc_itu_t 2288 1 firewire_core
Make sure to load modules at boot time:
sudo gedit /etc/modules
raw1394
video1394
dv1394
Fix udev permissions
# ieee1394 devices
KERNEL=="dv1394*", NAME="dv1394/%n"
KERNEL=="video1394*", NAME="video1394/%n"
If you still cannot capture from firewire, there may be a bug in udev permission.
Locate the udev configuration file responsible of firewire access.
KERNEL=="dv1394*", MODE=”0666″, NAME="dv1394/%n"
KERNEL=="video1394*", MODE=”0666″, NAME="video1394/%n"
Write a custom udev script and store it in /etc/udev/rules.d/z95_firewire.rules:
# /etc/udev/rules.d/z95_firewire.rules
# Set GROUP="video" for some IEEE 1394 device types, driven by the new firewire stack.
# We cannot use the GROUP directive because the significant device type attributes
# live in child devices. So change the group after the fact with chgrp.
# IIDC devices: industrial cameras and some webcams
KERNEL=="dv1394*|video1394*|raw1394*|fw[0-9]*", GROUP="video"
# libraw1394 older than v2.0.1 and some special-purpose applications also need
# access to the local node(s). Alas there is no simple way to tell local nodes apart
# from remote ones; here is a simple hack.
SUBSYSTEM=="firewire", ATTR{vendor_name}=="Linux Firewire", GROUP="video"
# Or if your application needs access to all nodes, simply use:
SUBSYSTEM=="firewire", GROUP="video"
Your username should be part of the video group:
sudo adduser username-foo video
Reboot your system for rules to apply. After reboot, run dvgrab in interactive mode:
dvgrab -i
Type h for help.
You should be able to rewind and play your camcorder.
If this is the case, enter "q" for quit dvgrab. Kdenlive should now be able to acquire video.