Bob, thanks for the input. To answer your questions:
Why do you think you fried it? After plugging the firewire cable into the XL1 and turning on the XL1 the computer made the normal noise indicating new hardware was found. I opened Adobe Premiere Pro (CS5) to begin capturing video and no device was recognized. I turned the camcorder on and off to try to get it to register. Eventually, I turned it off and unplugged the firewire cable. From then on, the camcorder displayed the "no mini-DV loaded or mini-DV locked" icon. I should say that all other functions work (lens zoom, opening/closing the mini-DV tape). However, I can't get any of the VCR controls to work (since the unit doesn't think there's a casset) and I can't record (same reason). So, the only thing new I did was to connect the camcorder to the computer for the first time. There was definitely no smoke. Bottom line, "fried" may not be the right word.
Boya84, thanks for your input as well.
Although it's not mentioned in the XL1 instruction manual, I did try to be careful not to plug the firewire cable into the camcorder while it was turned on. It is possible the firewire cable is bad and I can replace it (with the Canon firewire cable, which the instructions say to use). I had just installed the firewire port on my computer and a note following the installation said everything was working properly, so I think the port itself is good. My real focus is the problem with the camcorder indicating it doesn't sense a casset and so not being able to record or use the camcorder vcr controls. Also, I haven't found any camera resets (a great tip, wish it had one).
Again thanks. Still looking for a solution. I plan to send it in for repair tomorrow, though I hate the thought of what that will cost.
--Dave