FireWire 400 slowdown

I was testing some notebook drives on the FW400 port of the MacBook pro. Average write speed = 32MB/s
Then I tested all those same drives (in FW400/USB2 enclosures) on the USB 2.0 port. Average write speed = 20MB/s.
I went back to test the drives again on the FW400 port. Now the average write speed is down to 20MB/s -- almost as if they now think they are USB drives.
I've reset PRAM. I can't reset ports with Open Firmware because that doesn't apply to Intel Macs. Is there some command in Terminal that resets the ports? Any other ideas?
Multiple Macs Mac OS X (10.4.5)

I may not have powered them down since the USB 2.0 requires an A/C adapter.
But I turned the MacBook Pro off for 24 hours and ditto for the drives. This morning, same thing. Slow writes.
But you've given me an idea. I'm going to connect the A/C adapter, run on the USB 2.0 port, power down, then try the FW400 port.

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How will an external Hard drive designed for the macbook Pro work with my White Macbook? My white macbook has a Firewire 400 and the G-Tech HD has a 800 to 400 compatible cable for the firewire.

I am asking this because I want the G-Tech Hard drive says that it is designed for the macbook pro. Yet, I want to back up faster with by using my firewire 400 which is not an option on the one designed for the white macbook that does not have a firewire (only a USB port.) The G-Tech Hard drive comes with the 800 to 400 compatible cable and has 5400 RPM with 750 GB. Also, I've heard that laptops with low battery (mine all the time) won't have the power for a bus powered Hard drive (as in no ac plug in adaptor.) Can I just plug in my laptop? Any one know the answers from experience with this hard drive?

As far as I know, if a harddrive works with a Macpro, it should work with the Macbook: if your Macbook is low on power, plug in the AC adapter
If your Macbook has a firewire port, then it should be fine. BUt i would do somemore research first.

I have an iPod G2 with a firewire 400 lead. how can I attach it to my new 13 inch Mac book Pro, is there a 400 to 800 firewire converter. USB lead wont work with the Macbook Pro. iPod used as an external drive to archive memory cards on the go.

My G2 iPod that I use as an external drive to archive memory cards on the go cannot link with my new 13" Macbook Pro cause it uses a firewire 400 lead. It will not work with a USB lead. Is there a firewire 800 ipod lead or converter available? Can any one shed some light on this please?

As far as I know, if a harddrive works with a Macpro, it should work with the Macbook: if your Macbook is low on power, plug in the AC adapter
If your Macbook has a firewire port, then it should be fine. BUt i would do somemore research first.

How to connect an external harddrive with firewire 800 to a macbook with firewire 400?

Hello,
I just got the external harddrive "Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex USB 3.0 1TB" with a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Upgrade Kabel FireWire 800. I have neither a USB 3.0, nor a Firewire 800 on my white macbook (2008). I already know, that it's possible to use USB 3.0 with an USB 2.0 port, but I would like to use it with the firewire to spare the USB port for other devices. My question: Is there an adapter or cable to use the Seagate Firewire 800 with my Firewire 400 port? I don't know, where and what to look for.
I'm glad for any advice.

There are many adaptors, try here

I am using IMovie 11 with a new iMac. Unable to import video from a Panasonic PV-GS400 mini-DV camcorder using a Firewire IEEE 1394 400 cable connected to a Firewire 400 to 800 adapter which is then connected to a Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adapter.

How can I get iMovie to recognize my Panasonic PV-GS400 as a device so I can import video to my iMac? I have a FireWire IEEE 1394 400 cable connected to the camcorder. Since my new iMac has only Thunderbolt ports, I purchased a Firewire 400 to 800 adapter to connect to the cable. I also purchased a FireWire 800 to Thunderbolt adapter to connect to the computer. My camcarder is still not recognized.

I would suggest that you try a 9 pin to 4 pin Firewire Cable along with the Firewire to Thunderbolt adapter.
Those Firewire 400 to 800 adapters do not seem to work well with iMovie.
The 9 pin to 4 pin cables are available at reasonable prices here, for example.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10301&cs_id=1030104 &p_id=3541&seq=1&format=2

I currently have a MAC Mini, which has 1 Firewire 800 port. I have a 1TB external hard disk that runs at Firewire 400. Can I insert another external hard drive that runs at Firewire 800?

Here's the deal. Currently running SL 10.6.8 on a MAC Mini. Planning for eventual upgrade to ML. Have a 1TB external hard drive partitioned into two volumes, one volume for Time Machine and one volume for SL which I periodically update using Superduper. Thus I always have a point-in-time bootable backup on the external hard drive.
The MAC Mini supports Firewire 800. However, booting from my current external hard disk is pretty slow, since it only supports Firewire 400. I am considering buying an Iomega MiniMax which supports Firewire 800. Then, I would use the MiniMax as my bootable backup volume, and relegate the older hard drive to Time Machine.
So, question #1 is, can I daisychain the new MiniMax between the MAC Mini and my existing external hard drive? My expectation is that the new Mini Max would run using Firewire 800 and that the existing hard drive would run at Firewire 400 speed as it does today. If it doesn't (e.g., daisychaining in the Firewire 400 external disk with the MiniMax Firewire 800 external disk ends up running the whole leg at 400), my resolution will be to run the existing hard disk off an available USB port and have just the MiniMax running at Firewire 800.
Why am I going to all this trouble? That's question #2. I don't trust upgrades; they always break something. When I upgraded from 10.5.x to 10.6.x, the web directories got renamed, and all of my web apps 403'd until I figured out what happened. Plus, I have accounts for other family members, and in order to ensure their ability to use the computer during my upgrade process, I need to have the ability to fall-back quickly to a known-stable version of OSX. So what I'm trying to do is insulate myself from problems by partitioning the MiniMax into two volumes, taking a Superduper image of my current installation on the Mac Mini to MiniMax external drive volume 1, then upgrading to ML on the MAC Mini, and take a SuperDuper image of that to MiniMax external drive volume 2. Then, if the upgrade results in problems I can't resolve immediately, I can simply reimage the MAC Mini from MiniMax volume 1. BUT ...
... I've read that the ML installation creates a "service and support" partition that is different than the startup disk. I'm concerned that I won't be able to reimage the hard disk in the MAC Mini once I upgrade it to ML because of the partitioning changes it introduces on the startup disk. Theoretically, I +should+ be able to use the disk utility on my SL system to repartition the disk in the MAC Mini prior to reimaging it from my backup, but I'm considering the possibility that the new partition may be of a type that the SL disk utility cannot identify, and might therefore be unable to delete or even detect. So I'm hoping someone else has been down this road and can advise me. Even at Firewire 800 speeds, booting from an external disk is still going to be slow, so I want to be able to restore my SL image to the MAC Mini hard disk.
A little background on me. I work for a major disaster recovery provider. I used to have a Mac PRO G5, which I got used, and the first thing I did with it was install a second hard disk, SuperDupe an image from the first disk to the second, and made sure I could boot from the second. THEN I started using and customizing the MAC. I really feel vulnerable with the MAC Mini, since it only has the single internal hard drive - sort of like going out in public dressed only in a long T-shirt. So my whole thing is, I ABSOLUTELY MUST BE ABLE TO PUT THINGS BACK THE WAY THEY WERE before I do the migration to ML.
Obsessive-cumpulsive? Yep. Anal? You got it. That's why I'm in the DR business.

You may have overloaded the port, following the instructions below it should reset:
+1. Shut down the computer.+
+2. Disconnect all devices and all other cables, except the keyboard and mouse cable(s).+
+3. Disconnect the computer from the power outlet and wait for 3 to 5 minutes.+
+4. Plug the computer back in and turn it on.+
+5. Reconnect the device(s) (one at a time if there is more than one) and test. Test with each port if you have more than one.+
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1317?viewlocale=en_US

How to tell if Firewire 400 or 800? In any OS and this laptop: Toshiba Satellite A350D - BA3.

Hello.
I was wondering how someone can tell the difference between Firewire 400 and 800 in their computer and in this model of Toshiba laptop: Toshiba Satellite A350D - BA3?
If a person looked in device manager or something would it say? With Usb it says Enhanced when it is usb2 compared to usb1. I don't know what usb3 says, I don't have it.
With firewire there is large sizes and small. On my laptop it is a mini firewire and it looks like a 4-pin inside. On the toshiba.ca site, in the product specs, it only says firewire.
I am planning on buying a cord that has a large connection on one end and a small connection size at the other end. Eg: Some cables for firewire are a 4-4pin, 6-4pin, 6-6pin, 9-4pin,9-6pin,9-9pin. There are also firewire 400 to 800 adapters. I'd like to buy the right cord for an external enclosure I bought to connect to the small laptop firewire port. The enclosure is a Vantec NexStar 3, 3.5" enclosure, usb2, eSATA, Firewire a/b. It has two firewire b ports in back, but an included cord converts b-a (the a is still to big for the laptop firewire).
Does anyone know if any of the mini ports are as fast as the larger ports? Will a 9-pin firewire 800 cable converting to a mini connection go at the mini connections speed if it is only firewire 400, I don't think it can force full F800 speed?
Thanks.

Hello.
I was wondering how someone can tell the difference between Firewire 400 and 800 in their computer and in this model of Toshiba laptop: Toshiba Satellite A350D - BA3?
If a person looked in device manager or something would it say? With Usb it says Enhanced when it is usb2 compared to usb1. I don't know what usb3 says, I don't have it.
With firewire there is large sizes and small. On my laptop it is a mini firewire and it looks like a 4-pin inside. On the toshiba.ca site, in the product specs, it only says firewire.
I am planning on buying a cord that has a large connection on one end and a small connection size at the other end. Eg: Some cables for firewire are a 4-4pin, 6-4pin, 6-6pin, 9-4pin,9-6pin,9-9pin. There are also firewire 400 to 800 adapters. I'd like to buy the right cord for an external enclosure I bought to connect to the small laptop firewire port. The enclosure is a Vantec NexStar 3, 3.5" enclosure, usb2, eSATA, Firewire a/b. It has two firewire b ports in back, but an included cord converts b-a (the a is still to big for the laptop firewire).
Does anyone know if any of the mini ports are as fast as the larger ports? Will a 9-pin firewire 800 cable converting to a mini connection go at the mini connections speed if it is only firewire 400, I don't think it can force full F800 speed?
Thanks.

Firewire 400 External Drive Not Recognized in Yosemite

I have a Fantom external hard drive that is plugged into my Mac mini. The external hard drive uses the old firewire 400 standard. The mac mini only has a firewire 800 standard port. I have an adaptor to bridge the two, and this worked fine until I updated to Yosemite. Now the drive isn't recognized. Can anyone offer suggestions on what to do to get this drive to work on this computer?? None of the other macs in my house even have a firewire 800 port anymore.

Disk Utility – Force Mount Disk
See the mount section.
Disk Unmount Using Terminal

External Hard Drive is not being recognized by Firewire 400

Hi everyone,
I update my Mac OS X (Leopard) last night, so this morning when I was going to connect my External Hard Drive (EDD) to my MacBook; the Firewire, which I normally used through Firewire 400, did not recognized my EDD. However, I tried by connecting using the USB option and it recognized the EDD working perfect. Thus, I would like to know how do I turn the Firewire 400 on/available, since it seems not being working properly.
Thanks a lot,
M
Macbook (Intel) early 2007.

if you have the power supply that comes with the external, use that if you haven't use it instead of rely on bus powered port.
connect your external, click blue apple on top left corner > about this mac > click more and on system profiler click firewire, and see if your external detected there.
You can try to reset PRAM to refresh your hardware behavior too:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
Good Luck.

Is there any kind of adapter/converter that converts an older Firewire 400 to Thunderbolt?

Is there any kind of adapter/converter that converts an older Firewire 400 to Thunderbolt?

Is this to plug in an older FW 400 device into a Thunderbolt port on a Mac?
Or to plug in a Thunderbolt device into a FW 400 port on a Mac?
The first can be done but not the second.

My iMac won't recognize my external hard drive connected by FireWire 400

I have an external hard drive connected to my Intel-based iMac through a FireWire 400 cable. The drive doesn't come up on the desktop after turning on the hard drive power.
If I connect through the USB cable, it appears quickly on the desktop. Why isn't this working through FireWire? I had some trouble with this in Tiger as well, but was somehow able to get it to work.

The drive does not appear in Disk Utility.
And I don't think I'll be installing DiskWarrior until Leopards countless bugs are fixed, especially after reading THIS:
Alsoft: There are some DiskWarrior "compatibility issues" with Leopard
After previously stating "you can run the (current version of DiskWarrior under Leopard) knowing no harm will come to the hard drive or to your data," Alsoft has now posted a message to its Web site stating "there are some compatibility issues when running an installed copy of DiskWarrior 4.0 while started up from Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Alsoft currently recommends that you do not run DiskWarrior 4.0 while the computer is started from Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard."
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20071026153956503

External Hard Drive Doesn't Mount on Desktop through FireWire 400

I have an external hard drive that mounts on the desktop when connecting to my iMac via USB, but it fails to appear on the desktop when connecting via FireWire 400. It was glitchy in Tiger as well, and had problems since installing Leopard. I was able to get it to work once, after using Leopard Cache Cleaner (a 3rd party program), disconnecting the hard drive, and unplugging the iMac. I moved my computer this week, and had to unplug it and when I powered it back up, the hard drive doesn't appear on the desktop again through FireWire 400 (still works fine with USB). It also doesn't appear in Disk Utility through FireWire.
What good are FireWire if they fail to recognize a hard drive so often?!

upgrade to latest system, that computer will accept, then try again

Will a Firewire 800 hard drive work on my MacBook with Firewire 400?

Hi, I have a MacBook I bought in 2008. The FireWire specs say " Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec"
I am considering a new external hard drive (the Iomega MiniMax) and want to use Firewire for this one. The specs for the hard drive say: "The MiniMax includes 2 fast FireWire 800 interfaces, a USB 2.0 hub, plus a FireWire 400 to 800 cable."
Will this FireWire 400 to 800 cable allow me to plug my FireWire 400 laptop port to this FireWire 800 harddrive port? It sounds like it will but I wanted a sanity check before I order it.
Thanks.

Yes, that should work just fine.
Matt

Need connector from firewire 400 to USB 2 port

got a new i-book and want to use my old ext hardrive firewire 400 for backup.
Is there a cable that connects the new i-book USB port to the firewire 400 ext hard drive so I can use the old external hard drive as backup?
Or am I screwed?

Doesn't the FireWire port on the iBook work?
Or are you mistaken about what you have? Is it a MacBook you have instead of an iBook?
If it is a 2010 Mac, it would be a MacBook, and, yes, it would not have a FireWire port.
External USB drives are fairly inexpensive. That would be the route I'd take.
The MacBook Bluetooth, USB, FireWire, RAM (MacBook) forum can be found here:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1170

FireWire 400&800 (IMAC Core2) NOT WORKING after Upgrading to SNOW LEOPARD!

My FireWire 400&800 (iMAC Core2) are *NOT WORKING* after Upgrading to SNOW LEOPARD!
Any Solutions?
Thanks!
--Frank Strallents
www.SHOCKPROOFX.com

I'll try your suggestions....Thanks!
Recently, I try to Re-install Snow Leopard, unfortunately, still unsuccessful.
The Mybook Icon only appears if it is connected via USB.
After using Firewire and getting used to the speed...USB 2.0 is like a Corvette racing a Veyron...lol
I am not upset on these issues, it is normal for new OS to have these problems...unfortunately, even OSX is not invincible.
I'm sure Apple/Steve is on every Programers A*s for a solution.
I still think APPLE'S OSX will still be the future of Operating system!
For now, still waiting for the patch and hopefully soon.
Suggestions are still Welcome for a Solutions:-)
Frank
SHOCKPROOFX.COM

FireWire 400 slowdown

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