Can I power an external ST91000640NS using FireWire 800?

Hi,
I am going to buy a new 17" MacBook Pro soon and I've been doing research on how to customize it when I get it. I want to install my own SLC SSD as the internal drive because it's cheaper and has a longer life expectancy. Because of the limited capacity of SSDs these days, I am also going to be getting an external HDD to keep all my data that would not benefit greatly from SSD speeds, as well as for backups of everything on the internal SSD.
I wanted this external HDD to meet three criteria:
1TB capacity
7200rpm speed
2.5" size, so that I can use it without needing to plug it into a power socket
There aren't many options to choose from that meet those requirements. In fact, I only found one candidate, the “Seagate Constellation.2”. It looks like a good set of specs and Seagate is a reputable hard disk maker I've read, so I'm just about ready to buy one. My only point of concern is whether it can be powered and operated solely over FireWire, or if I would have to use a power adapter.
So my question is, can the 17" MBP (Late 2011) supply enough watts/volts/amps over FireWire 800 in order to power this Seagate disk? (Sorry for rambling too much)
I have looked at the spec sheet and read up on IEEE 1394, i.e. FireWire, and I wasn't able to come up with a definitive answer, and I'm not even confident about how these electronics operate (specifically if the watt/volt/ampere requirements have to be met precisely or if they can go over or under a little, or a lot). I hope someone helps me out here.
Now here are the relevant specs, from the ST91000640NS product page:
12V start max current
0.85A
5V start max current
0.51A
Average idle power
2.95W
Average operating power
5.43W
According to Wikipedia's article on IEEE 1394, FireWire can supply a maximum of 45W and 30V.
Apple's FireWire Ports Specifications article says:
Input voltage range
8 to 33 V
Input power
0.3 W
Output voltage range
12 V to 30 V (varies by product)
Output power
minimum of 7 W per port
The disk will be put in an OWC Mercury Elite Pro Mini enclosure, by the way. (Though I don't think that matters.)

Kappy may be right — he most often is. But the Constellation is an enterprise drive designed for continuous use in servers, not for bus-powered use as an external drive. Among currently-available 1TB notebook drives, the kind that are normally used in bus-powered portable external enclosures, there are none that run at 7200 RPM, so I assume that's why you've settled on the Constellation. My concern about your plan is twofold: first, the drive is 15mm high. Will it fit in the enclosure you've selected? Ask OWC. And second, because the Constellation is normally run on AC power without any amperage ceiling that it's likely to exceed, I wonder whether during spinup or heavy usage it will occasionally draw more power than your FireWire bus can supply, causing it to be automatically powered off. I'm not conversant enough with electrical specs to be able to tell whether that's a possibility. Perhaps Kappy is.

Similar Messages

What is FireWire and what FireWire adapter do I need to use FireWire 800 for my portable external hard drive ?

Hi guys, I'm new to Mac. I have a MacBook Pro 13" (late 2011) with Lion OS and Parallels 7 (Windows 7). My understanding is that there is FireWire connection / extension built in to the MacBook Pro already. I also have a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex portable external hard drive 750GB USB2.0 and 3.0 (that can be used for PC and Mac). It states that the portable external harddrive is FireWire 800 compatible. The questions are (1) how does FireWire works ? (2) how do I use or activate FireWire 800 ? (3) is there any setup / setting changes I need to on my MacBook Pro ? (4) what FireWire adapter do I need to purchase to connect my portable external harddrive to my MacBook Pro ? Is it expensive ?
I read a few articles online but they are too technical for me. They mentioned something about FireWire adapter with 6 pins or 9 pins. Not sure what that means. I'm totally confused. So any help, advise or guidance will be much appreciated. In Layman's term would be better. Thanks.
How about Thunderbolt ? Is it compatible with the above external portable hard drive mentioned ? Do I need a Thunderbolt adapter for it ? How do I activate or use Thunderbolt ?

Thanks, Clinton and Alberto.
The below link is the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex portable external hard drive (product code STAA750302) that I have. It states that it features USB 2.0 or 3.0 plug–and–play connectivity and easily upgradeable to USB 3.0, FireWire 800 or eSATA. It only comes with a 18-inch USB 3.0 / 2.0 backward compatible cable.
http://www.seagate.com/au/en/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/standard/ goflex/
Based on the above, my understanding is that I need to buy a FireWire 800 adapter to connect to the portable external hard drive so that I can use FireWire 800 with my MacBook Pro. Is this correct ? Do I need to get a separate cable as well or can I just use the 18-inch USB 3.0 / 2.0 backward compatible cable that was provided in the box ? If so, what sort of FireWire 800 cable do I need to get ? 9 pin to 9 pin ? 6 pin to 9 pin ? Or 4 pin to 9 pin ?
https://www.lindy.com.au/online/arrshop.exe?anonymous=true&cat=b1

Can i connect 2 external hdd using the thunderbolt to ethernet adapter

can i connect 2 external hdd using the thunderbolt to ethernet adapter

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Recording to external hard drives - Firewire 800 problems

Ok so i did post a similar thread on this in the "mac mini" part of the website so im very sorry for double posting but I thought since this problems pertains mostly to recording and specifically recording on garageband, that I would try posting here as well. Heres my deal:
I am a musician working with garageband and I have always been recording to my internal drive until recently. I was unaware until I read some posts here from the good people like you guys, that that is not a good idea to record to your internal drive. So, I got an external firewire 800 drive (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DGZ05A) and this cable (http://www.amazon.com/2M-Firewire-800-9PIN-Cable/dp/B000XQILWK/ref=pdbxgy_e_imgb). When I received it, I first used disk utility and reformatted it for Mac OS Extended Journaled. Then I proceeded to move a couple sample libraries and my entire "Garageband" folder (with my saved songs in it) to the external. I instantly knew something was wrong. The files were taking forever to get written over. It took about 15 mins for a 5GB folder to be moved over. I was already discouraged. Anyway, I plugged in the USB cable that came with the external (the drive has hook ups for both USB 2 and firewire 400/800) and tried moving the same files and it was MUCH faster. The same 5GB file was moved over in a matter of minutes.
I then tried recording to the drive (using firewire again) and it would hardly even PLAY the song without stopping every couple seconds (too many effects error, and yes ALL the tracks were locked). Tried to record as well and i'd get even less time before garageband would stop the song with the same error. So I disconnected firewire and went USB. Thru USB the song didnt stop once, not on playback OR recording. Then I moved the songs back to my internal and played them (and recorded) with no problem either.
I ran a couple tests on the drive using AJA system test and came back with these results:
Basic test of read/write speed using firewire 800:
write - 14/mb sec
read - 21/mb sec
then, using usb 2.0
write - 18/mb sec
read - 37/mb sec
both these connections seemed to be running slower then they should ..but at least the USB connection would actually let me play a song and record to it without stopping
I manually copied over a 2.04GB file and via firewire 800 connection it took 2 mins and 20 secs. Via the USB 2 connection it was 55 seconds! ..also, while i transfered the files i noticed that the USB transfer was nice and steady with tiny increments of the file being transferred. Firewire, however, was speedy then slow, speedy then slow. Very inconsistant transfer speed throughout the process. kind of choppy
So what gives? I cant figure out if I'm doing something wrong, or if my external HD is bad? Or the cable is bad? Or maybe the firewire port on my mac mini is bad (i've never used it before for anything other than this external drive). Or i'm thinking maybe my processor isnt strong/fast enough to record to the external firewire drive? Im working with a mac mini 120GB internal HD and the 2ghz intel core 2 duo with only 2GB ram (i know thats not ideal for recording and im planning to upgrade at some point, but i have been recording to the internal just fine with the RAM i have now and never had a problem until trying to record to the firewire drive). I was going to go out today and get a new cable and see if that was the cause of it. Anyway sorry for the book-length post! But PLEASE SOMEBODY help me here! ..as i said, im not very computer literate and only just started producing music using computers so please use dummy terms lol ..thanks in advance

Strictly my opinion, and more than happy to be educated with facts and convinced otherwise... but, there are no dangers.
Bottom line is this... does your specific computer setup encounter ANY problems during recording or editing with your chosen software and current workflow? If not, then there is nothing wrong. Simple as that. Further, if you are having problems, then its more than likely dealt with by upgrading RAM amount and internal HDD speed and size. If you have a slightly older machine that is pre FW800, you will find by bench marking your HDD's that an upgraded internal system HDD will significantly outperform any external HDD read/write spec's. Even with FW800, comparing apples with apples, your system HDD will more than likely have better spec's. Please however, do not take my word for this, but try it out for yourself. Make sure you have facts about your own system rather than believing my claims or anyone else's claims. I used Intech's Quickbench http://www.speedtools.com/QuickBench.html to get some facts about my machine.
There will be an argument made that you will be putting strain on your hard drive by recording to the system drive because it not only has to deal with this function but also with other functions related to your audio programs and OS. Apparently you may be working it on the 'hard' side and shorten its life span. Probably technically correct but practically speaking you will more than likely never even notice any such strain. If you are worried about a system HDD crash or death because you are working it too hard then the answer to this is a well planned back up regime. You should have one anyway, regardless of setup.

Can I Boot my PB from a Firewire 800 External HD?

I'm a going to buy a portable external HD for my mirror (clone) back-up drive.
I can buy either a Firewire 400 ("Combo case") or 800 ("Triple case") HD. My inclination is to buy the Firewire 800 ("Triple case") drive as it will be more useful in the future.
Will I be able to Boot my Firewire 400 PB from the Firewire 800 External HD as long as I have the right adapter cable? Or do I have to get a Firewire 400 instead?
The drives I have in mind come from OWC and have a port for an external power supply if it's needed.*
* http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go, to see where I'm going with this.

Moot Question.... No further need to answer!!!

Time Machine fails to backup HD and stalls computer when backing up to external HD (Western Digital WD5000MT) when using Firewire 800 but works fine using USB

I have a mid 2012 MBP (MacbookPro9,1) running Mountain Lion 10.8.2. When I start a Time Machine backup to an external Western Digital HD (WD5000MT) connected using a Firewire 800 cable, my open programs stop responding and in general my computer freezes up not allowing me to open activity monitor or the console utility. I can't even shut down or restart my computer and must hard boot to reset. Though removing the firewire cable that goes to the external HD can sometimes get my system working again. However, the WD external HD also has a usb port and when I connect it to my computer via a USB cable, Time Machine seems to backup my system fine without stalling my computer. This same external HD worked fine with Firewire 800 using my old late 2007 MBP running snow leopard. I should note that my brother has the exact same model WD external HD and he also had issues with the firewire port on his MBP running mountain lion. I have run the disk utility checking for disk/file permission errors and the drive itself seems fine. I initially formatted that drive as ExFAT but while troubleshooting reformatted to HFS+ and still had the same issue. I tested using a different firewire 800 cable but still had the same issue. Can't think of anything else to do. I don't have another firewire-compatible device to test if it is the HD vs the firewire port. I would prefer to use the firewire port for quicker transfer speeds but I'm stuck with USB for now. Any suggestions?

Maybe these will help:
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11194
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275 (note - older article)
Have you tried looking at the Western Digital web site to see if you can find anything?
http://support.wdc.com

Booting external drives using firewire.

Ok in the process cloning my computer to an external drive.
The Shell -
Macally G-S350SUAB USB2.0/Firewire 400/800/eSATA Case, for 3.5inch SATA HDD.
The Drive -
Western Digital 2TB SATA 6Gbps Power Saving Internal Hard Drive OEM - Caviar Green.
This drive partitioned and format via Firewire 800.
The Process of cloning was all correct.
The backup boots via USB2.0 - all ok.
My difficultly lies trying to get it to boot from Firewire 400, or 800.
All partition are visible when using internal drive. And bootable volumes are all available to select when using firewire via Disc Start in System Prefs.
Anyone got any ideas please?

There are reports of problems booting with WD drives and some enclosures, espeically the power saving ones.
I had one once, and I've learned to turn it on then power on the computer else the drive goes to sleep.
Read my backup, bootable clones, troubleshooting, performance, wifi security and restore info/advice here
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

Upgrading my intel iMac to internal SSD and running 1TB external drive from firewire 800 for mass storage while still using a second external drive for backups...my goal-speed with a SSD, to still have 1TB of room for everything i have now..possible?

I seem to kill HD's every two years...the last two i've installed were WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200rpm 3.5" drives. The speed gains over stock drives have been remarkable. I don't blame the drives for the failures, my machines are up and running 16 hours a day, every day, year round. They die from 'mileage' so to speak...i assume...there's no viral acvtivity or questionable downloads to gunk things up...just lots of work.
I have my third new drive ready to install in my intel based iMac...but i've had a thought...I want to install a SSD in my iMac for the speed gain (and recent price drops)...for standard storage i want to use this new WD Caviar Black 1TB in an external drive bay and connect via firewire 800 for storing everything except the OS and my most commonly used software...am i crazy? will the firewire 800 external drive negate the speed gained with an internal SSD??
I have four iMacs in my office, and one at home. I buy second hand and install new drives and boost memory. I'm going to do this on my 'home' machine...if it works out well i want to upgrade the other three this way...but first i need to know if i'm just dreaming, or will it really make a difference? or even possible??
Thanks!
2.66 intell core2duo
2009 iMac
8gig ram
1 gig hd
OSX ver. 10.8

The SSD gives great bootup and Application launch speed. I think it also speeds up the video rendering a bit, I do all that on the SSD and then move the finished project to the external drives. As far as the speed for the external drives they are quick enough for viewing video and the file transfer rate is good. I had initially put the SSD into an external cradle (FW800) and the system was faster than on the internal drive. I only got a 1.5GBs SATA drive, perhaps yours could benefit from the 3GBs. I know the 6GBs would be too fast and costs a lot more, even the MacPros need special hookups to make use of the 6GBs.

Can TC power an external HDD?

I'm buying a new external hard drive, and would like to buy one that's powered via the USB connection, not one with its own AC power adapter.
a) Is the Time Capsule able to power an external HDD through the USB port?
b) If yes, are there any limitations to how big a size or how fast (rpm) the disc can be before it's too much for the TC to handle?
Thanks.

erlendlh wrote:
I'm buying a new external hard drive, and would like to buy one that's powered via the USB connection, not one with its own AC power adapter.
a) Is the Time Capsule able to power an external HDD through the USB port?
Yes. Apple's technical specs for the Time Capsule don't mention current capacity of the USB port, but I have an external drive connected to my Time Capsule. On a PowerBook G4 that same drive required a "Y" USB cable to provide the drive enough power.
b) If yes, are there any limitations to how big a size or how fast (rpm) the disc can be before it's too much for the TC to handle?
I wouldn't expect size or speed to be a problem.

Cant see external devices using firewire in Final Cut HD

After installing iLife anad iWork I stopped being able to import from an external device over firewire using Final Cut Express 2. I upgraded my OS to X 10.4.7 and that didn't help. I upgraded to Final Cut HD 3.5 and that didn't help either. I am able to capture in iMovie just fine. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi(Bonjour)!
Did you update quicktime over a previous version?
There are some issues with some computer configuration, firewire, iMovie, FCE and QT 7.
See:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301852
Good luck!
Michel Boissonneault

Can you restore an external drive using Time Machine

I have my media libraries (iphoto, imovie, itunes) on a separate external drive connected to my mac. They are being backed up to another HD through my time machine backups. However, should my media external drive fail, is it even possible to restore the files to a replacement external HD using time machine? Would it be better to partition my time machine external drive and use half for time machine and the other half to manually copy/backup my external medial HD?

Cumby
Would it be better to partition my time machine external drive and use half for time machine and the other half to manually copy/backup my external medial HD?
Bad idea, thats putting everything in once place. Worst premise for data protection
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection
Everything is about 1. redundancy, 2. redundancy and 3. multiple storage platforms (DVD, multiple HD, online server archives ala a personal website etc.)
The first realization is that your data on your computer is highly vulnerable
The second realization is that you need a HD backup of your OS and data
The third realization is that you need at the very least a secondary HD backup
The fourth and final realization is understanding the fragility of any and all HD & ferromagnetic storage, and that vital data needs to be “frozen” on unassailable redundancies across multiple storage platforms including multiple HD, online backup, archival DVD burns comprising at the very minimum triple platform redundancy of data you have been working on for years or decades that cannot be replaced.
The B.A.R. “rule” (backup-archive-redundancy)
Backup: Active data emergency restore. Backups are moved from backups to archives; or from backups to the computer for restore or data retrieval.
Archive: Active and static data protection with the highest level of redundancy. Archives are only moved from itself to itself (archived copies). Generally a “long-term retention” nexus.
Redundancy: A fail-safe off-site or protected and “frozen” copy of your vital data and foolproof protection against magnetic degradation and HD mechanical failure. A likewise failsafe from theft, house fire, etc.
Redundancy has two points of premise:
A: redundancy (copies) of data archives.
B: redundancy of data on different platforms (optical, online, magneto-optical, HD).
Send your backups to your archives (as often as possible), and your archives to self-same redundancies.
*When referring to backups and archives here, this is in reference to your data saved/ created/ working on,... not your OS, your applications, and your system information / settings,...which is the idealized premise for use of Time Machine as a system-backup after internal data corruption or HD-failure.
Here we are referring to data backups and archives, not system-backups for restoring your OS-system.
If your data on your hard drive is the cash in your wallet, a backup is your bank account/debit card, and an archive is a locked safety deposit box.
Its easy to get your wallet emptied (corrupted) or stolen, your backup checking account is somewhat easy to get corrupted/drained or damaged, but your bunker security is in the lockbox inside the vault, where your vital data and archives reside. In the premise of preventing data loss, you want as often and as much as possible one-way transfers from your “wallet” to your safety deposit box archives; and further still a minimum of two copies of those archives.
Highest priority (archives) requires highest redundancy. In the premise of often copying data from backups to archives, backup redundancy plays a minor role.
Long-term active file backups (a book, a major time-involved video creation etc.) requires double-active redundancies, preferably a minimum of Time Machine and an autonomous external formatted HD, so there are at least three copies of this data: internal drive, Time Machine, and secondary non-TM HD backup.

How many external drives per Firewire 800 bus?

I am the proud owner of a new Mac Pro, which comes with only one FW 800 bus. I have 4 1T G-Tech FW drives (2 for video media) that I've daisy-chained, and I know their performance is suffering because of it. I'd like to remedy that.
Question 1: Is it optimal to have only one of these drives running on each bus? Can I get away with two per bus without serious loss of efficiency? Can I assume that 2 per will run better than 4 per?
Question 2: For the price that OWC is selling the Sonnet Tango 800 PCI-E card (about $110), is there another card I should be considering, or is the Tango 800 considered good?
Thanks.
Giraut

giraut wrote:
videocrafter,
not to presume on your time more than i already have -- what a helpful reply you gave. thanks! -- but i just want to make absolutely sure of one thing:
i buy the esata pci-e card you mention from OWC and install it myself (probably pretty easy) and then just plug my G-Tech drives into it, and I'm good to go? No separate esata controller card? I just realized that only two of my four G-Tech drives have the esata connection, so I could plug those two in, leave the other two with my FW 800 connection and save up for a couple more G-Tech drives with the esata connection. And this will make my life better.
Correct?
many, many thanks.
giraut
Hi giraut, your welcome
That is correct, you will not need any additional controller card. You will have to install the driver for the Tempo E4P (make sure you follow the installation instructions) and you'll want to make sure you download the latest driver from Sonnet's website:
http://www.sonnettech.com/support/kb/kb.php?cat=338#position_content
and unless you have some application monitoring for new upgrades, I would check at least once a month if not more often for any new future drivers. They are suppose to be coming out with one here soon to support 64 Bit. Even though FCP does not yet support 64 bit if you choose to run other applications in 64 bit you don't want your eSATA controller to cause any problems.
You'll also need One external shielded eSATA data cables with "I-Shape" connectors for each device you connect to the card. So in your case, you'll need 2 right away. Here is the type of cable you need, it just happens to be made by Sonnet, but you can find cheaper ones (just remember, you get what you pay for).
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/TCBSATA11/
There is one bit of insight I would like to give you when swapping any of your internal drives around once you have this card installed. It probably tells you in the owners manual, and I just stopped reading once I got it up and running. However I found out the hard way. The first time that I swapped out one of the "Internal" drives (I swapped out the drive in bay 3 I think it was, makes no difference which bay I'm sure) but I simply shut down my system, unplugged the computer and swapped out the drive. When I started back up, I things didn't' seem right, it wasn't seeing my external drives properly and I got a panic attack (both the computer and me!). Of course my first thought was "YOU'VE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!" So after I took a deep breath, before turning the computer back on, I disconnected my external enclosure, then restarted and everything was find. I then completely shut down, turned on my enclosure and restarted. All was good. I tested my theory again and swapped out another internal drive and all went like clockwork. Here are the exact steps I took. They worked for me, and maybe they will work for someone else, so I'll list them here:
Swapping Internal Drive
1. Eject each external drive from the enclosure and power down the enclosure.
2. Eject and power down the FireWire drive.
3. Power down the computer and swap out drives.
4. With the external enclosures powered off, power up the computer as normal.
5. Accomplish another shut-down.
6. Make sure all of the drives are installed into the enclosure, turn on the power.
7. Power up the computer and keep your fingers crossed.
Personally I've never daisy-chained Firewire drives (although I find it fascinating that Patrick had 19 of them daisy-chained) if I did I would probably only use them for archiving since I capture and edit everything in ProRes 422, but that's another thread. I currently only have one device that I use via firewire 800 which is my external Blu-ray burner. An interesting note here. I initially had my Blu-ray burner connected to my former piece of junk eSata controller card (with the Silicon Image SiI3124 chip and drivers that haven't been updated since before Leopard came out) but for whatever reason, the Tempo E4P wasn't seeing it (Now I'm not sure why, and frankly I didn't take the time to troubleshoot it, so it may be nothing) I just went ahead and connected the burner up as Firewire 800, and connected my 3rd external eSata device (a OWC Mercury Elite Pro USB/Firewire/eSata drive) to port 2 of my Tempo E4P, with my 5 drive bay FirmTek/5PM eSata enclosure connected to port 1 of the E4P (leaving 2 open ports on the E4P).
So, If I were you, for now I would go ahead and daisy-chain those other 2 Firewire drives, unless I needed to use them to capture and edit in anything other than DV, or for archiving only. Otherwise, I would get another 5 bay enclosure and take those 2 SATA drives out of those 2 existing firewire enclosures (Im assuming they are SATA drives inside their enclosure, I would surely think so) and put them in the external eSata enclosure.
One last ti-bit of information that may or may not be useful. When you get an external 5 bay enclosure with the port Multiplier, pay a little extra for a brand that you can trust. Personally, since I already have one, I would stick with the SeriTek SATA5PM (their built like a tank!), or go with a Sonnet, OWC has a new price on their Fusion D500P that's pretty appealing. I would definitely be cautious if wanting to purchase anything for a specific company with the word "Cool" in their name, the only thing that is cool, and it's only cool for them is they get your money and you get .... well you know!
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Firmtek/SATA5PM/
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/FUSD5P00TBR/
Just in case anyone is wondering, I get no compensation in any fashion for any of the items that I have specifically linked to in this post. These items are simply ones that I have carefully done my homework on, and if it can save someone else a little time by helping them with their homework, then that makes me feel good. I'm all for helping others save time, it's the most precious resource we have.
Message was edited by: videocrafter

Daisy chain from Thunderbolt external drive to Firewire 800 external drive?

Can I go from a Thunderbolt external drive, using its second thunderbolt port via the Apple Thunderbolt/Firewire adapter to a Firewire external drive?

Sharon,
did you do anything else besides copying your library to a fire wire drive after your last post Aperture not responding ?
Since that library probalbly already needed fixing, I'd recommend to force quit Aperture and use the "First Aid" to repair your Library.
Aperture 3: Troubleshooting Basics: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3805
Regards
Léonie

External drive- is firewire 800 drive compatible w/ PBook g4 firewire port

I need to buy an external hard drive. Will this model connect to my PowerBook G4 which is about 3 years old without any additional upgrading of the firewire ports? (G-Tech G-DRIVE mini 120GB FW800 Portable Hard Drive)
Would this drive be more beneficial than the firewire 400 drive for transfering movies from my HD camcorder to disk?
powerbook g4 Mac OS X (10.0.x)

Hi, freestoner, and welcome to Apple Discussions. Your FireWire ports can't be upgraded, so check with the manufacturer of the drive as to its compatibility with FireWire 400 ports, or else buy a FireWire 800 CardBus adapter.
If you need to buy a CardBus adapter for the drive, make sure that either the drive or the adapter card has its own power supply. The CardBus slot won't supply enough power to run a hard drive that depends on bus power.

M-Audio not connectin when using firewire 800 drive

Computers that have both a FireWire 400 and a FireWire 800 port may be sharing the same FireWire bus internally. When using both, the 400 and the 800 port at the same time, you may experience problems like audio drop outs or loss of connection to the M-Audio FireWire interface. There's a variety of possible reason for this including but not limited to bandwidth limitations, clocking issues (400/800) and bus master problems with the devices connected to both ports. M-Audio recommends using the M-Audio FireWire audio interface on the computers original FireWire port while adding a separate FireWire interface card to the system (PCI or PCMCIA). Connect any third party FireWire 800 devices to the added FireWire interface card.
But will this really fix the problem?
M-audio says yes & apple says maybe.
Sound like a serious flaw with apples firewire bus.

Damian,
Following are my experiences. My setup is listed down below.
-Yes, that will fix the problem. The bottom line is, M-audio FW box doesn´t like to share disk drives on the G5 firewire bus (both 400 aand 800). So yes, 400 and 800 FW ports are somehow connected internally, sharing the same resources.
-I had a spare FW 400 PCI card lying around, and I attached my disk drives to that. Didn´t start to look around for a FW 800 card though.
-And although it seems like a fault on Apple´s side too, I can´t speak very highly on the FW410 box either. Every time I do an update on my system, the 410 install gets messed up (won´t show devices in AudioMidiSetup, the only cure is to uninstall and re-install).
And the other interesting thing is that every time my Mac boots up, the 410 control panel mixer page is all messed up with funny pan positions and fader values. A reset does the job, but this has to be done every time I boot up. Maybe this is working in Tiger.
I tried solving this with the M-Audio support, and after describing my problem, they just said I should call their tech support. Being on the other side of the world, I shurely don´t wanna max out my phone bill.
Haven´t upgraded to Tiger yet, don´t want to keep upgrading all the time. In general the system is working nicely.
B.R.
J. Lampela
www.neomusic.fi
My setup
G5 1.8 DP 2,5 Gb RAM
Panther 10.3.9
1 external S-ATA (LaCie)
2 external FW
M-Audio FW410 (1.5. driver)
Logic Pro 7.1

Can I power an external ST91000640NS using FireWire 800?

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