Fire Wire 800/400 Ports

Could someone kindly advise if On a Mac G5 ... if a FW400 perhiperal could also be used the FW800 port ?
Thanks

Many thanks for your reply - I appreciate your help & mac expertise.
You mentioned that the F800 and Fw400 ports are both on the same bus - will that restrict the current Fw port usage to one port at a time ? ... Without a 2nd bus added via a pci card (Kindly excuse my lack of technical terminology & knowledge)
I need to run a film scanner fw 400 and an ext HD F800/fw400 from a G5 tower at the same time - do i need to install a 2nd bus (via a pci card)?
Many thanks once again

Similar Messages

Fire Wire 800 connections

Am thinking about getting an external hard drive that uses Fire Wire 800 connection. Than realized there is only 1 800 port on this G5. So if I wanted to use another 800 port, it doesn't exist. Not to worry say some, 800 devices can be chained. Not to worry say others, there are 800 hubs just like USB has hubs.
Are any of these truth? What are the facts?

I understand what you are saying. On the main-line computers you hook many devices to a selector channel BUT only one device at a time can perform I/O; on a multi-plexor channel all devices can function at a higher speed than on a selector BUT still not up to their maximum. I would be reluctant to chain a device that would be operating at the same time as another device in the chain.
If chaining is possible, you would need in AND out ports, shades of the SCSI, wouldn't you. I've seen several small (160-250GB) but only one showed me a picture and it appeared to have 1 each USB, 400, and 800 therefore, no way to chain. The others gave me no reason to think they had "out" ports.

HT5299 I have a Gdrive mini and 2 LaCie hard drives that connect fine using USB. Thunderbolt to fire wire 800 adaptor will not connect to either my MAC air or LaCie drives. Help

I have a G drive mini and 2 LaCie hard drives that connect fine using USB. Thunderbolt to fire wire 800 adaptor will not connect to either my iMAC or Mac air or LaCie drives. Help

Have you tried any of these soundcards designed for 2.0?
The 3.0 port is categorically designed to be comoatible with all 2.0 devices. The port itself will adapt to the usage parameters of the device.
But if you really want to downgrade, then simply plug any 2.0 hub into a MBA 3.0 port. The ports on the hub will be 2.0.

Tengo problema con mi tascam 1082 tengo una mac bookpro i7 y no logro tener un conectividad correta la conexcion de mi puerto fire wire 800 pero la de la consola usa una coneccion fire wire 600 como saber si la macboook pro i7 que tengo pueda funciona no

tengo problema con mi tascam 1082 tengo una mac bookpro i7 y no logro tener un conectividad correta la conexcion de mi puerto fire wire 800 pero la de la consola usa una coneccion fire wire 600 como saber si la macboook pro i7 que tengo pueda funciona no hay manera de introducirle SD-EXPC34-2F 2 x Port 1394A Firewire ExpressCard porque ya mac no hace ese puerto y quisiera que ustedes me puedan dar una solucion para no seguir gastar dinero asi por asi
I have problem with my mac I have a tascam 1082 bookpro i7 and I can not have a liaison connectivity the correct one of my fire wire port 800 but the console using a fire wire connection 600 as pro macboook know if I have to work i7 that no way to introduce SD-EXPC34-2F 2 x 1394A Firewire ExpressCard port mac because you do not want that port and you can give me a solution for not going to spend money like this for so

I'm using iTunes 10.6.1 on an iMac 2,66 Ghz intel core Duo with8GB DDR3 and Lion 10.7.3 I hav 260000 mp3 stored on A My Book 3 TB external Fire wire 800 Drive - when I play songs I get short interuptions every 20 to 30 seconds. Can't iTunes handle that?

I'm using iTunes 10.6.1 on an iMac 2,66 Ghz intel core Duo with8GB DDR3 and Lion 10.7.3 I have 260000 mp3 stored on a My Book 3 TB external fire wire 800 Drive - when I play songs I get short interruptions every 20 to 30 seconds. Can't iTunes handle that number of songs?

I'm using iTunes 10.6.1 on an iMac 2,66 Ghz intel core Duo with8GB DDR3 and Lion 10.7.3 I have 260000 mp3 stored on a My Book 3 TB external fire wire 800 Drive - when I play songs I get short interruptions every 20 to 30 seconds. Can't iTunes handle that number of songs?

Fire Wire 800 VS eSATA interfaces

Hello,
I am looking for a phat hard drive to use with my system.
The things that I am pondering; Fire Wire transfer speed as compared to eSATA transfer speed. Is it advisable to step up to a drive that has the eSATA option, or is Fire Wire 800 sufficient? Perhaps a raid array is the way to go?
If eSATA is the stuff, can anybody steer me in the direction of a vendor for an Express Card.
Thanks.

For the formats you work in using FCE FW800 is sufficient.

Fire wire 800 not working on IMAC

My Fire wire port on my IMAC 24 inch is not working now. I have tried switching cables, etc. This started when I had to have the hard drive replaced. The drives do work if connected by USB or FW 400.
John

Have you reset your SMC and PRAM? If that doesn't get your FW800 port going, run the Apple Hardware Test to see if it spots any hardware problem.

Fire wire 800 and the 24" imac

I'm strongly considering purchasing a 24" iMac. I see that a lot of people are having problems using their 800 port with external hard drives. I was wondering if anyone out there has had any success using it? The main reason that i'm buying the 24" instead of a smaller one is the 800 port. What do you guys thing...hold off until they fix it?
Message was edited by: Big CB

Tom,
Have you verified that using both the FW 400 and 800 ports at the same time really gives you full speed on both ports on your imac? (Check the FW speed in "About this Mac" with both connected). The reason I ask is that when I have a FW800(only) drive plugged into my Powerbook G4,, I get FW 800 speed. However, when I plug in a FW device of any kind to the FW 400 port, both ports drop to FW 400 speed. I have a FW 400 cardbus adapter also, and even if I plug all FW 400 devices into the cardbus adapter, I still only get FW 400 speed out of the FW 800 port.
So I am curious if the ports on the new imac are actually independent (like they are on a Mac Pro), or if they continue to share one FW chip. I wish to have a Firewire audio interface connected to the FW 400 port and a fast hard drive connected to the FW 800 port and still get maximum performance out of each. Any further info 2ould be appreciated.
Bob

External Drives Won't Mount with SIIG Fire WIre 800 PCI Card

I can't get any drive to mount using this card. It's the SIIG FW 800 3 port PCI card. I've also got the SIIG FW 400 and I think a Belkin 5 port usb PCI card. I've removed the other cards leaving just the 800. I've moved them all around into different slots. Nothing Changed. I've reset the PRAM and the NVRAM. I've Unplugged system and let it sit for a while. I've had only one drive connected to the 800 card and no other 400, 800 or usb peripherals connected. That didn't help either. Again, this is the second card, so I have to assume that the odds of getting to bad cards in a row is a long shot... right? I have to assume that it's the G5 but the other cards work when put into any of the PCI slots. I know all the drives work. I'm just kind of baffled here. Oh, and in the system profiler the drive shows up as "Unknown Device" but it never mounts on the desktop. Also drives connected to the 800 PCI card don't show up in programs like Diskwarrior or Drive Genius. Starting the drive while Disk Utility is open also does nothing. So, I'm at a loss. I spoke with SIIG tech support and they said they had no idea but they could test the card if I send it to the. That would at least confirm or deny if the card is faulty. I think the card is ok and the mac is just messing with it somehow? Any Ideas? Could resetting the PMU help? I've also cleared my cache and defragged and rebuilt the data directory and all the usual utility stuff. So the system is peppier but still no drives mounting on the 800 pci card? Please shout out if you have an idea... Thanks..

I eventually gave up. I will probably get another card at some point but it probably won't be a SIIG card. Even though they are recommended by digidesign I just doesn't seem to want to work with my G5. Maybe it's some kind of weird software conflict blocking the functionality of the card? Don't know. Two cards in a row were non functional. Something is gummin up the works and the PCI slots work with the other cards I have. The only thing I did not try is plugging in the optional power connection to the FW800 card, which is supposed to be optional. I called SIIG and they had no idea what the problem was and they also said that the power plug would not make a difference for the problem I was having. Anyway, I'm gonna keep monitoring posts to this cause I'd love to hear the answer.. but I'm throwing in the towel. Good luck to the rest of you still trying to solve the riddle.

Firewire 800 & 400 ports

HI,
I have an iMac 24" which has two Firewire ports in the rear (and 800 & a 400).
I have an external LaCie 250gb drive connected to the 400 port. I also have a Panasonic miniDV camera which successfully connects via this port, however at the expense of unplugging the LaCie.
I wish to use both at the smae time via FCE.
Wikipedia seems to suggest that the 800 format is backwards compatible with 400.
So my question is, will my LaCie drive & Panasonic camcorder operate through the 800 port using the correct cable (assuming these come with the 4 pin end for the camcorder).
Thanks
Eric
macbook Mac OS X (10.4.8) white & shiny & brandnew

Hi Eric,
Ian is correct.
I have a MBP w/1 FW 400 port and 1 FW 800 port, and I use a 400->800 converter.
I think the converter was my first purchase after I got the MBP. I couldn't find info at the time if there was any advantage to use the camera or HD with either port, so I figured a converter would give me max flexibility to check it out for myself.
My experience now is that it doesn't make any difference. That matches what I've read that if two or more FW devices plugged into the Mac, the data flows at the speed of the slowest device; it doesn't make any difference which port it's connected to.
To do it again, I would just buy a cable with the 800 plug on one end, and a 400 plug (either 4-pin or 6-pin) on the other end. Reason is the converter is just one more thing to keep track of, and, because it's about 1.5 inches long, I think it puts a bit more strain on the Mac's 800 port.
MBP 17" w/max memory; and a G4 that's considering retirement Mac OS X (10.4.8) FCS, CS2 pkg

Fire Wire 800 for Hard Drive - not work

I have a FW hub for FW 400.
Recently added new Formac Hard drive. When connected with FW 400 via the hub into the back of my G5 - works ok.
When I plug the FW 800 cable (that it came with) direct out of the other port on Hard Drive to the 800 port on the back of my mac - nothing.
What am I doing wrong?

Go direct to the FW800 port on your G5.
Also, you can't get FW800 performance if there is anything "upstream" in the chain that is FW400.
Only connect one cable to the FW800 port on the case.
The hub is going to keep everything connected to it as 400Mbps.
Keep it simple. I think you could be ocnfusing your system (and could damage the drive's directory) with it being connected to the 800-port AND a cable from the hub. Just use the native 800-port on G5.

Fire Wire 800?

I have an external firewire drive plugged into the standard fw400 port on my Mac. If I get the right cable, can I plug the same drive in the 800 port and get faster transfers? Or do I need a different drive altogether.
Thanks
Noah

Thanks for for the tip. I'm not sure what type of fw connectors it has, but I'll look. I guess if it's not fw 800, I'll have to buy one.\
Thanks

Fire Wire 400 vs 800 vs USB speed

A Fire Wire 800 port has a faster rate of transfer than both the Fire Wire 400 and a USB 2.0. Is a Fire Wire 400 port faster than a USB port and if so is it considerably faster than the USB.

Hi mick1964;
USB 2.0 is the slowest. I know it has a quoted rate that is greater then FW400 but that it burst rate which it is not capable of sustaining.
Generally FW400 is about 40% quicker then USB 2.0 for sustain data transfers.
FW800 is faster then FW400.
Allan

Satellite P100: USB/Fire-Wire ports not charging external device

When I plug my ipod into either my 4 pin fire-wire port or a USB port on my laptop (satellite P100) it fails to charge, even when plugged in to the mains/ A/C power. I think I have found where I need to go in 'control panel' but need help on how to allow my fire-wire and USB ports to give out power and charge my ipod when its connected.
Any help on this matter will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

Hi
The USB ports provide automatically the power. Usually every USB port provides about 500mA.
But please note; the notebook must run and the external USB device (iPod) must be recognized by Windows OS!
I dont know if the iPod was recognized by WinOS but I have read the many users have problems with the iPod installation on Windows OS. As far as I know the iTunes must be installed if you want to use the iPod.
Greetings

Fire wire ports - uses of & dangers advice

Hi
i recently daisy chained two lacie external hhds and noticed that the second was playing up -
I checked various threads here & the general feeling was dont daisy chain
the external hds just plug them straight in to the mac.
This proved right because the brand new lacie just died three months after i bought it & i trace the erratic behaviours back to when i daisy chained.
So i'm reduced to swapping fire wire cables into ports, depending on which external drive i want to power up - this is because i only have a limited amount of ports and people generally felt i should do it this way and not use a fire wire hub.....
So im now concerned about if this constant plugging in & out of firewire cables is a potential danger to my mac...........
Can anyone shed any opinion or warning that may be of use to my situation ?
improvements, dangers etc......
thanks
d

1. my issue with firewire hubs is that i want to
transfer data between external hds - i was advised
not to use a firewire hub to do this.
The hub shouldn't cause a problem.
The general
advice is that the safest connections are direct into
the computor.
A properly designed device should have no problems with a properly designed hub, but not everything is properly designed. Manufactures like to blame hubs when their products don't work.
However you've got me thinking....I've got three
firewire ports,
Are you sure? eMacs have two FireWire, and three USB ports.
so maybe if i use two for two
external hd's and the third with a firewire hub for
my printer & scanner
You have a FireWire printer and scanner? FireWire scanners are rare, and I haven't seen FireWire printers. USB is more common for printers and scanners.
2. when you say go in backwards, you mean upside down.
A FireWire plug is rectangular, with a pointed end, so it will only fit one way. If the socket is worn, it can be forced in the other way, and cause daage.

Fire Wire 800/400 Ports

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for