DV tape import trouble

I am currently archiving quite a big amount of SD DV footage in FCPX. I'm using a pretty old consumer DV camcorder as a source, connected via FireWire 400.
My workflow is to archive every whole tape to disk as quickly as possible and use the archive files as a source later on, since the camcorder will soon be retired.
Sometimes, however, archiving fails with the following behavior:
Tape is inserted
Clicking "Archive..." button in FCPX import window, entering name and clicking OK.
Camcorder neither rewinds nor starts capturing, but "archiving..." message appears with timecode counting.
I press "play" on the camcorder manually, now it really seems to be archiving something. "archiving" message with time indicator counting in the top left of the capturing window, original timecode counting in the top right.
at the end of the tape (after an hour or so), FCPX rewinds the tape
after rewind, a couple of seconds of footage are captured
A message appears along the lines everything has been captured successfully.
Shockingly, when I open the captured archive package, there is only on clip with the first few frames of the tape in it. Everything else seems to be gone!
Sometimes, not even the archive package with the name I entered exists. Sometimes, I look into the trash and there is an empty archive package with the name I entered.
According to FCPX documentation, archiving from DV tape should start at the current tape position and terminate automatically at the end of the tape. It never worked for me like this. Either FCPX rewinded the tape and captured from the start after I enterd the archive name, or the tape didn't move at all, and I had to start it manually. What can be wrong here?
Are there any settings to instruct FCPX to continue archiving on timecode breaks? It should be possible to automatically skip to the next valid timecode...
Mirko

It's an imac super model with i7, dual video card, etc. so it's not a computer limitation. The camcorder is an older version of another one I have (both Sony), and the tapes (all Hi 8) made after 2000 imported into archives-no problem (not mini-DV, regular DV Hi 8). The tapes made prior to 1999 won't import from either camcorder-I've tried. The camcorders are both connected using Firewire 800 (main imac port). The cable is fine-since I have imported the Hi 8 DV's The newer Canon using mini-DV tapes imported with no problem.
So, I know I'm using the proper protocols. I turned off all the rendering options to simplify import to the lowest common denominator. In attempting to import into imovie as well I get the same message "NO DATA FROM DEVICE". The archive mode does rewind the tape, plays the tape, and the monitor shows the images. However, nothing is being recorded. The arcives are automically dumped into the trash after import is complete. Regardless, I can't import into an "event" either-the same message appears.
Any help welcome.

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