Panasonic HDC-SD1PP high def video camera will not work on Vista -

I've been troubleshooting this for 8 hours now, and this post is the short
version.

This camera is apparently so new, it is not even listed on Panasonic's
support website. The install CD is for XP/2000 but they have a vista upgrade
which I downloaded and installed per their directions. It doesn't work
because vista does not have the drivers (although it recognizes something is
there). Uninstalling the software for the videocamera caused my CD/DVD drive
to disappear, causing me to do my first ever system restore. Another try with
installing the software, another system restore.

Vista seems to know there is something usb-related attached, but it can't
make up its mind whether it's a Generic Mass Storage Device, Hard Drive,
Generic Volume, or MATSHITA HDC - everytime I plug in the camera, something
new comes up and it can never find the drivers. When I tell it where to look
(C:\windows) it finds the drivers...then hiccupped and says "Windows
encountered a problem installing the software for your device. The driver
installation file for this device is missing a necesary entry. This may be
because the INF was written for Windows 95 or later. Contact the vendor for
assistance." Shouldn't everything be written for W95 or later?

So I decided to try uninstalling the usb root devices, per HP's
instructions...and that made me lose my keyboard and mouse, which I
anticipated, so I plugged in two parallel devices--AND NEITHER OF THOSE
WORKED! I eventually did a system restore to try and get it back, but it
didn't work so now the hub that was working no longer works (as well as the 6
things plugged into it).

I am ready to take a hammer to vista. This is ridiculous. I have an $800
video camera I cannot use.

Oh, I also deleted the INFCACHE1 file as was suggested elsewhere, and that
didn't do anythign either.

Any ideas?

hudson2001,

Clearly, this seems to be a compatibility issue, from what you indicated in
your comments. The messages you're getting from Vista shows that the problem
stems from incompatible drivers. To clarify what that inf message means, to
install hardware, Windows needs to know how to install and to configure the
hardware. That information (inf stands for information) comes from the .inf
file.

Windows is telling you that it can't determine how to install the camera
because there is something wrong with the inf file. It is the responsibility
of the manufacturer to make its products compatible. You should contact the
manufacturer to determine what they have to get you up and running. Their
Vista fix isn't working for you. Post back on results.
--
freddy


"hudson2001" wrote:

> I've been troubleshooting this for 8 hours now, and this post is the short
> version.
>
> This camera is apparently so new, it is not even listed on Panasonic's
> support website. The install CD is for XP/2000 but they have a vista upgrade
> which I downloaded and installed per their directions. It doesn't work
> because vista does not have the drivers (although it recognizes something is
> there). Uninstalling the software for the videocamera caused my CD/DVD drive
> to disappear, causing me to do my first ever system restore. Another try with
> installing the software, another system restore.
>
> Vista seems to know there is something usb-related attached, but it can't
> make up its mind whether it's a Generic Mass Storage Device, Hard Drive,
> Generic Volume, or MATSHITA HDC - everytime I plug in the camera, something
> new comes up and it can never find the drivers. When I tell it where to look
> (C:\windows) it finds the drivers...then hiccupped and says "Windows
> encountered a problem installing the software for your device. The driver
> installation file for this device is missing a necesary entry. This may be
> because the INF was written for Windows 95 or later. Contact the vendor for
> assistance." Shouldn't everything be written for W95 or later?
>
> So I decided to try uninstalling the usb root devices, per HP's
> instructions...and that made me lose my keyboard and mouse, which I
> anticipated, so I plugged in two parallel devices--AND NEITHER OF THOSE
> WORKED! I eventually did a system restore to try and get it back, but it
> didn't work so now the hub that was working no longer works (as well as the 6
> things plugged into it).
>
> I am ready to take a hammer to vista. This is ridiculous. I have an $800
> video camera I cannot use.
>
> Oh, I also deleted the INFCACHE1 file as was suggested elsewhere, and that
> didn't do anythign either.
>
> Any ideas?
>