Canon Vixia HF R400 - USB Mass Storage?

[Len]

I recently purchased a Canon Vixia HF R400 and was wondering if there is a way to make the camera appear as a USB mass storage device (like an external hard drive or flash drive).

When I plugged in the camera using the provided USB cable to a Debian (Squeeze) system, Shotwell Photo Manager appears as an option but it never successfully gets any data.

I've looked through the manual but found no reference to USB mass storage.  Am I limited to Windows/Mac for accessing the files via USB?  That would sad, as I have neither available to me at home.

Thanks in advance!

[fyigmo63]

Which operating system do you have on your computer?  A generic Windows solution would be to utilize Device Manager to get your system to recognize the camcorder as a mass storage device.  I'm not familiar with your specific camcorder, but it will likely depend on which mode you have the camcorder in which will affect how the camcorder is recognized as a device.  If you have a setting like "memory" or something similar use that.  Play around with it and see if you can get it to recognize your camcorder as a mass storage device that way.  Also, always make sure that you have the latest driver update for your Canon camcorder from Canon's support site.

[Len]

FYIGMO63:  I'm using Linux -- Debian (Squeeze). I don't own a Windows nor a Mac system.

I've seen mention of other models of camcorders where the user is apparently asked to select their USB mode, but my camcorder doesn't seem to prompt for that.  I poked around the settings menus as well and didn't find any where to specify USB connection mode.

Just so that I'm looking in the right place, could you give me an example for how you would do that on your camcorder (and what model you have)?

It would REALLY be nice if a CANON representative could look at this thread and tell me what I might be doing wrong to mount the camcorder as a USB Mass Storage device ... or if it's even possible under Linux.

I have 6 days left to return it at BestBuy, which I'd like to do if I can confirm that this is not possible for me, as I mentioned above, I have no Windows nor Mac computers here so I would need a generic USB Mass Storage solution that works in Linux.

Thanks!

[Jason]

Hi Len!

Welcome to The Canon Forums, and thank you for your inquiry! We appreciate your participation, however we need to let you know that the Canon Forum is hosted and moderated within the United States by Canon USA. We are only able to provide support for Canon products manufactured for and used within the US market. If you live outside the United States, please click here and select your country or region for your support needs. Feel free to discuss Canon products sold and used outside of the United States, but please be aware that you will not receive support directly from Canon USA.

Thanks and have a great day!

[Jason]

Hi Len!

Welcome to The Canon Forums, and thank you for your inquiry! We appreciate your participation, however we need to let you know that the Canon Forum is hosted and moderated within the United States by Canon USA. We are only able to provide support for Canon products manufactured for and used within the US market. If you live outside the United States, please click here and select your country or region for your support needs. Feel free to discuss Canon products sold and used outside of the United States, but please be aware that you will not receive support directly from Canon USA.

Thanks and have a great day!

[Jason]

Welcome to The Canon Forums, and thank you for your inquiry! We appreciate your participation, however we need to let you know that the Canon Forum is hosted and moderated within the United States by Canon USA. We are only able to provide support for Canon products manufactured for and used within the US market. If you live outside the United States, please click here and select your country or region for your support needs. Feel free to discuss Canon products sold and used outside of the United States, but please be aware that you will not receive support directly from Canon USA.

Thanks and have a great day!

[Len]

Jason,

thanks for the reply -- I live in the US and I purchased my camcorder in the US... is this model not made for the US? I bought it at a BestBuy in my neighborhood,  How do I check that?

Len

[fyigmo63]

Sorry, Len, I don't have the depth of experience with Linux to lend a better hand.  Your best bet might be to visit the debian.org support site and try to troubleshoot the issue from there.  However, given your time constraint with Best Buy and all, that may not be a suitable option for you.  Best of luck to you, though.

[Len]

thanks, fyigmo63.

I really don't think this is a Linux specific issue, though.  If the camera supports USB Mass Storage mode, it should work regardless of Windows vs Linux.

I will poke around the net some more and see what I find -- If I make no progress, I will just have to return this before the return period expires.

Len

[Jason]

Hi Len,

Thanks for the updated information.  We apologize for any confusion!

You are more than welcome to reach out to our technical support team through the following "Contact Us" link - Contact Us.

However, our products are not supported on Linux operating systems.  The camera is supported with certain versions of Windows or Mac OSX.  We do apologize if this causes any inconvenience.

[Len]

Thanks Jason, I will try calling the phone support number on Monday!  As I mentioned to fyigmo63, above, I don't think this is a Linux specific problem...

[VanillaMozilla]

I don't know the answer, since I don't have one in my hand. However, as a suggestion, you might find it more expedient just to take the card out and read it with a USB card reader. I've found with other cameras that sometimes even with Linux special software tries to kick in and find the images automatically. It can be a real pain in the neck if it doesn't work perfectly, especially if there are a lot of files on the card. It may not turn out to be a pain, but... My suggestion is keep the camera. Of all the pain-in-the-neck features on cameras, this would not be the one on which I would base the choice of camera. You WILL be able to read the card. It seems to me that reading the card is a lot less hassle than finding the right camera and having to live with it.