Convert USB 3.0 to FireWire

I use a MacBook Pro 2009 and has USB 2.0 and FireWire and no USB 3.0 interfaces. I have just pruchased new external hard-drive with usb 3.0. I want try harness some of that USB 3.0 speed on the go and not be limited by USB 2.0 alll the time.
Hence my question; Is there any way to convert USB 3.0 to FireWire?

I don't think an adapter like that exists. It would have a very limited market, since anyone concerned with speed would just go with a Firewire 800 interface. Plus, the Firewire technology is mostly in decline now. As John suggested, you'd be better off with a new drive if you really need the speed.
While Firewire is faster than USB 2.0, it's not a screaming fast difference even with a native Firewire interface. A converter would have to slow things down due to conversion. I think you'd be lucky to end up back at USB 2.0.
http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-FireWire-WDBGJA0010BBK-NESN/dp/ B00CO1HUGU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1397236327&sr=1-1&keywords=firew ire+800+external+hard+drive

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Will a USB 3.0 to FireWire adapter make my transfer rates faster?

I have a MBP 2010 15 inch that only has a measly UB 2.0 and a (less measly) FireWire port. I have an external sea gate 3tb backup plus desktop hard drive that had a USB 3.0 cable. However, as stated earlier, my MBP only has a USB 2.0 port. But it seems the FireWire port might have better transfer rates. If I used a USB 3.0 to FireWire would it have greater transfer speeds, and by how much? If there is an even better way to connect my hard drive to my aforementioned MBP, please tell me. And if anybody has a good adapter recommendation, please tell me.

There is no such thing as a USB-FireWire adapter/converter. USB and FireWire are electrically and protocol incompatible.
Seagate does make an accessory unit called the STAE 123 that works with the following drives to provide a FW800 interface:
Backup Plus Desktop Drive for Mac V1
Backup Plus Desktop Drive V1
GoFlex Desk for Mac drive with Thunderbolt
If your drive is one of those models, the STAE123 may be the answer to your needs.

If I get a FireWire 800 male to USB female, and a Firewire female to Thunderbolt cable

If I get a FireWire 800 male to USB female, and a Firewire female to Thunderbolt Male cable, would I gain any transfer speed of the thunderbolt over standard USB speed? So basically I'm talking about chaining together a few cables and am trying to gain more transfer speed. Thanks......

Apple has announced a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter, but not yet given a release date.

USB 2.0 vs FireWire 800

I just got a 500 LaCie d2 Quadra and I don't know if I should use the USB or the 800 FireWire connection for backing up with Time Machine. Suggestions?

One of the best tests to see if a backup is good, is if it is bootable. Though that's only with clones. Time Machine isn't a clone per se. But with Powerbooks if you do clone, to test its bootability you'll need Firewire. USB can't boot PowerPC Macs. Only Firewire can with Mac OS X. Intel Macs on the other hand can boot via USB and Firewire.
Message was edited by: a brody

USb 2.0 or Firewire 800 FASTER?

I have a Quad G5 with 8 gigs RAM. I want to buy an external drive (LaCie) and notice the USB 2.0 is 100 cheaper than the triple inetrface. Is USB 2.0 slower or the same as Firewire 800?
It was my understanding USB 1.0 and Firewire 400 were the same transfer rate and USB 2.0 and Firewire 800 are the same rate?
However, I see specs stating that firewire 800 is much much much faster?
Thnaks everyone.

USB 2.0 has a data transmission rate of 480Mbps, while USB 1.1 transfers data at 12Mbps; real-world transmission rates for USB 2.0 will be slower than FireWire 400. FireWire 400 and 800 have a transmission rate equal to the number in the term. Basically, FireWire 800 is much faster then USB 2.0. See this page for more information.
(11826)

External Hard Drive Options for Back Up - USB 2.0 or FireWire

Needing some advice on this one. Looking to purchase an external hard drive for back up through Time Machine - also running Win XP via Parallels. Should I go USB 2.0 or FireWire or have both options? Is there any difference in speed? I will be also using the external hard drive as needed for other manual back ups and data transfers eg movie projects. (and yes the Macbook has Firewire).
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Hey Pluke and welcome to the forum -
Firewire is faster overall for data transfers especially large or lengthy ones. With this in mind, I would use an external enclosure that has both Firewire and USB.
I'm not sure if this was part of your question or not but I would not include your virtual machine (xp) in your Time Machine backup. The reason is it will fill up your backup drive quickly because your TM backup copies hourly every file that has changes made to it. Your VM file is both large (the size of the virtual drive) and has changes even if you just have it open and not really using it. You should include your VM file in your manual backup instead.
-GDF

Can all macbooks boot from usb(stick,hdd) and firewire(hdd) an os: linux, win, mac os x, opensolaris, etc

Subject: BOOT FROM EXTERNAL STORAGE DEVICE - After this setup properly
Can all macbooks boot from usb(stick,hdd) and firewire(hdd) an os: linux, win, mac os x, opensolaris, etc?
what about:
Apple MacBook Pro MB133LL/A 15.4-inch Laptop(OLD VERSION) (4GB RAM 120G HD 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 15.4" Matte Screen, 4GB memory, 120 GB 7200 rpm hard drive) White

Yes,
Disconnect everything hooked up to the PC except the keyboard, mouse and monitor.
Then use this method to flash the BIOS. It is the safest way to go.
USB Device BIOS Flashing in DOS
DOS Flash (DOSFlash.exe, FlshUefi.cpu) is the DOS-compatible System BIOS flash utility that can be used from a DOS bootable storage device (where "DOS" refers to any of a number of compatible operating systems such as FreeDOS, MS-DOS or DR-DOS). FlshUefi.cpu is the required driver for DOSFlash.exe. To flash the System BIOS from a bootable USB storage device, you will need to copy the contents of the DOS Flash folder to the USB device, boot the PC from the USB device, and execute the DOSFlash application. To see a more complete description of the DOS flash utilities, view DOSFlash.txt located in the DOS Flash folder. This folder also contains the required binary image of the BIOS. The binary image file is named xxx_MMmm.bin where "xxx" is the BIOS family, "MM" is the major version number, and "mm" is the minor version number. This file can be copied to the root directory of any USB removable medium for use with the F10 setup "Flash System ROM" option
View Contents of DOS Flash Folder
The links on this post don't work. I copied the section from the BIOS flashing instructions for the specific section you need.
Paul

Can we import to imovie with usb connection rather than firewire??

Dear Friends,
I am considering purchasing a new movie camera JVC EVERIO GZ-MG50E - PAL system.
Unfortunately it has only a usb connection and not a firewire one.
I have been importing until now into imovie with firewire.
Will I be able to import to imovie with usb?
Will this require special software?
Hope you can help.
Thank you.

Hi Robert:
Consider not purchasing that camera for imovie use. You will need to convert the MPEG files to DV which imovie uses...kind of a pain actually.
http://www.danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/tips_tricks/6018.shtml
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Convert USB drive to USB 2.0

Hi, I'm interested in purchasing an a new iPod but the new generation (I don't know which generation they changed it) doesn't use firewire to transfer - only USB 2.0 - so I'm lead to believe.Now as we know the iBook G3 600 MHz 12" (duel USB) doesn't have USB2 and although I could use USB this would be very slow and frustrating. Does anyone/has anyone converted the USB on the iBook G3 to USB2.0 - and how expensive? Sorry if this seems a dumb question but my computer knowledge only extends so far!
Cheers
iChaplain (Australia)

Hi, and welcome to Apple Discussions.
Yes, USB is slower, but it's doable, and not as slow as you would think. I've not used an iPod, but I have used a USB card reader with my iBook G3 800 MHz to transfer photos from my digital camera, and the speed is perfectly acceptable.
Upgrading the USB ports is not possible, since they are part of the logic board. The only way to upgrade to USB 2.0 is to sell your iBook and replace it with an iBook G4 (or MacBook).

Adapter for usb 2.0 to Firewire or thunderbolt

I have an iMac with USB 2.0 Firewire 800 and Thunderbolt.
I bought a Seagate External Drive with USB 3.0. On the BOX of the Hard Drive it says can upgrade speed transfer by connecting an adapter for firewire or thunderbolt (not included).
I was told there was an adapter that I can purchase to insert on to the end of the USB 2.0 cable of the hard drive so that I can plug it into my firewire slot or thunderbolt slot. I hope this makes sense as my google search comes up saying it's impossible to do. Why offer this on the box if there is no such adapter?
It's currently plugged into my USB 2.0 slot but would like faster transfer speed as I access this drive continuosly.

Awesome, ok now we're getting somewhere.... the link you provided shows what I actually have right now. As far as the connection of the USB 3.0. I think what I need is the a base for a Firewire cable or Thunderbolt and NOT for a USB 3.0. I wonder if they have those types of bases to swap out on the external drive?
I'll have a look at my Hard Drive and check it out. Perhaps I read the box wrong too because it shows pictures of cables... not bases for the EHD
Also not sure if they will ship this to an Australian address as I live in Australia.

Convert USB 3.0 to USB 2.0? Why?

Sounds useless, since most USB 3.0 devices are backward compatible. But apparently there's enough slop in the spec so that at least my 3.0 HD won't work with my Netgear WNDR4000 N700 router's USB 2.0 port, and I can't mount it as a network drive on my Macbook Pro Retina. You'd expect that the compatibility is achieved by some part of the doohickies ignoring the 3.0 connections and shuffling control signals to their 2.0 counterparts. In any case, the Netgear's not smart enough to do that or something.
Ideally, what I'd like is to have my USB 3.0 HDD plugged into the router so I could do wireless Time Machine backups like a Timecapsule, but take that portable 3.0 HDD along with me and do wired backups and restorals with the speedy 3.0 interface on the road or when I had to do a full restoral. I've tried to fake out the thing by putting a powered USB hub in line, but there's apparently something the Netgear is looking for that the 3.0 HDD doesn't send to allow me to mount that drive wirelessly through the Netgear.
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How can I get a drive to be a 2.0 to use it wirelessly via the Netgear, yet 3.0 when I wanted to use it wired directly to my Macbook?
Any ideas?
TIA!
Mark

USB3 is totally independent of USB2. The USB3 host sockets provide both USB3 pins and USB2 pins. USB2 also provides compatibility with USB1. When USB2 and USB3 connections are mated only the USB2 pins connect. When you use a USB3 extension or hub, the USB2 and USB3 signals are routed/buffered/split independently.
A USB2 device can thus be plugged into either a USB2 or USB3 host socket with no problem.
A USB2 compatible USB3 device ditto, but if only USB3 is implement the USB2 can't host.
However, I believe USB3 devices are meant to provide that USB2 backward compatibility.
There is a market/standards hole at the moment for actual conversion between USB2 and USB3, either way.
I haven't been able to find any device that does this - the so called converters just route USB2 signals as needed.
I would like a USB3 to USB2 hub or extension that IGNORED the USB2 host interface and uprated USB2 devices to USB3 signalling - this is dead easy and allows (say) 8 USB cameras or memory sticks to get full high speed USB2 bandwidth from one USB3 controller. But for your inverse problem, there would need to be some more complexity, negotiating the lower bandwidth available and/or buffering and/or handshaking for flow control.
Note USB3 is full duplex, so you have the bandwidth in both directions (so the 8 USB2 cameras could store data back on USB3 disks), whereas USB2 is half duplex (one way).

New Extreme: Using USB/FW hub w/FireWire hard drive

I have two laCie external hard drives, one a USB/FireWire and one FireWire only. There are hubs available that have both USB and FireWire ports. If I connect both the USB and the FireWire drives to such a hub, and then connect the hub to the USB port on the new Airport Extreme base station, will my computer be able to read the FireWire drive as well as the USB drive? That is, can I use the hub to link both the USB hard drive and the FireWire hard drive using the USB port on the Extreme? Thanks very much for any thoughts.
PB 15" 1.0 Ghz 1.25G RAM Mac OS X (10.4.5)

I have two laCie external hard drives, one a
USB/FireWire and one FireWire only. There are hubs
available that have both USB and FireWire ports. ...
I am planning to attach the same two hard drives (Firewire only and USB/Firewire) to an Airport Extreme BS. Lacie was advertising the connectablility of several HDs with Firewire to build a cluster when I bought the "Firewire only" drive 2004. So my suggestion:
1. connect the HDs via Firewire
2. connect the USB/Firewire HD to the Airport Extreme
Unfortunately I cannot test this setup because I will only buy the USB/Firewire HD and the Airport if someone tells me it will work.
Would step 2 cause the same problems as using dscott1000s hub, or do these USB/Firewire drives have a USB-Firewire-bridge?
Thanks for any comments or "test reports"!
Power Books G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)
Power Books G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Need converter - analog to digital via firewire

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My Analog to DV passthrough settings memo:
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Convert USB 3.0 to FireWire

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