[CentOS] FireWire in CentOS 5.3

I am being given a digital camcorder.

It uses Mini DV tapes and either connects via typical RCA cables (IE to 
a tv) or via FireWire. I don't have the brand on hand, but I was told it 
can be ripped to DV like any standard FireWire camcorder (I believe 
dvgrab will be sufficient).

I just installed an older FireWire card I have that I used at one point 
in Fedora for my iPod. It was a PITA back then because sometimes an 
update to Fedora would break the kernel module, so I ended up just using 
USB. That was some time ago.

I scrapped that computer but kept the cards, and have now installed the 
card in my current computer in hopes that I will be able to go from the 
camera to HD in preparation for editing / transcoding (to theora) for 
the web.

lspci reports the following info:

01:08.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB12LV26 IEEE-1394 
Controller (Link)

What is the current state of FireWire in CentOS ?

Will there be a need to build a custom kernel I boot into when I want to 
attach the camera and rip digital video from it?

If it matters, I'm 64-bit.

I assume I can always plug the camera into my DVD recorder attached to 
my TV and slip then rip the content from the DVD-R in CentOS but I 
suspect I'll get better quality going straight from camera to hard disk 
as I believe the above method is digital to analog to digital, and I 
believe using dvgrab also results in higher resolution to start with.

On the subject of hard disk, I'm probably going to buy another disk for 
ripping the content. I can go SATA II internal but I'm a little worried 
about heat since my home is not air conditioned, would an external 
FireWire drive be a good option or am I better really better off going 
internal SATA II?

The card (and camera) are original FireWire 400, not the faster FireWire 
800 that's been out for awhile now.

Thanks for any suggestions.