[bob_a_builder]

Got mine going now, turned out to be the firewire cable, although the one I was using at home was brand new and came with the PC firewire card.

I got hold of the cable I'd first used at work , plug it in - bing bong up it comes in Imaging devices !!

Go back to old cable - nothing

The cable which works is a much more serious looking affair, much thicker and lots of screening, on closer examination its a Belkin cable, no part number visible, and difficult to know if its a 4 or 6 wire - both cables appear to have six connectors in the big connector

Works OK on both laptops now

Don;t know if other cable is just duff - broken wire or just plain not suitable * its too small to buzz out with a meter