Firewire 800 intentionally limited to 400

With nothing but a FW800 drive plugged into any fw port, the drive is listed as capable of 800 speed, but communicating at 400. The system profiler shows a "phantom" unknown/unknown device, with a top speed of 400.
I dug out the IORegistryTools from the developers kit, and found the "unknown device" to be an IORegistryEntry, in the IOFirewireLocalNote with a listed max speed of "Ox2" (400) instead of "0x3" (800).
In short, the OS is intentionally limiting the max fw speed to 400, instead of its rated 800.
Why? How do I change that registry entry?
PPC G5 Quad running 10.5.1.

Tracy, et al.,
While disconcerting, it does seem that this may be a "non-issue"...
I ran 3 benchmarking applications (AJA's Kona Test, Blackmagic's Disk Test, and the QuickBench from Intech's Speedtools) on two different FW800 enclosures. All three apps gave nearly identical results...
Single drive inside of a WiebeTech ToughTech: Average 50.3 MB/s read and 48.0 MB/s write.
(500 GB drive formatted with HFS+ Journaled)
Dual drives in a OWC Mercury Elite Pro-AL 800: Average 77 MB/s read and 54 MB/s write.
(2-400 GB drives formatted with HFS+ Journaled, in a RAID-0 Striped configuration)
The tests were done using 100+ MB test file sizes where available.
So, it seems that the speeds on my multiple-drive enclosure are reflective of those faster than FW400...
Well, at least maybe you can get Apple to consider changing the description of the "repeater device"...
Message was edited by: davemcc

Similar Messages

PowerBoook G4 as Target to MacPro (firewire 800 bearly faster than 400)

I have a MacPro Dual Xeon w/ Firewire 800 and a Powerbook 17" G4 also w/ Firewire 800. I set the G4 as a target and transfer a 4.07gb file. Took 7.42 minute via firewire 400 and 7.10mins via Firewire 800. Should I not expect a much better result?
Anyone, thanks.
John

He could have a bad 800 cable, or it is not configured to run at 800, but any time you have a scenario like hard drive - HDD controller - Bridge (I/O) - 800 controller - 800 cable - 800 controller - Bridge (I/O) - HDD controller - hard drive...... anything in the chain can be a bottleneck if not set correctly and/or is limited by its maximum I/O. If I were him, I'd run QuickBench on each hard drive to see what max it has, then check the train above for proper operation. You may be right that it should be faster, but only measuring each part will tell you if all is kosher.
Michael

Current FireWire 800 drivers limitation - confirmation needed

I just got a Seagate GoFlex Desk of 3TB USB3.0 ; I connected the device using an USB2.0 (happy the standard is still backward compatible) to see if the device is functioning.
Try it on the FireWire 800 adapter and I unhappily had to contact the Seagate support. They respond as follow :
I understand that you're having an issue getting the 3 TB Go Flex Desk to mount.
The reason for the Mac OS not recognizing the drive is because the Mac OS currently does not have the firewire 800 drivers that support drives that are over the 2 TB limit. This is unfortunately one of the limitations of the Mac operating system. At this time, Mac is currently working to develop firewire 800 drivers that support the larger hard drive size, but no information has been released by Apple, that we know of, as to when a driver update would become available.
Could I get confirmation as I couldn't find any knowledge base on that issue? I may have not used the proper keyword...
Thank you very much.

FA GoFlex Desk :
Capacité : 3 To (3 000 592 977 920 octets)
Support amovible : Oui
Disque amovible : Oui
Nom BSD : disk1
Identifiant du produit : 0x50a1
Identifiant du fournisseur : 0x0bc2
Version : 1.00
Vitesse : Jusqu’à 480 Mb/s
Fabricant : Seagate
Identifiant de l’emplacement : 0xfd100000
Courant disponible (mA) : 500
Courant requis (mA) : 0
Type de carte de partition : APM (Carte de partition Apple)
État S.M.A.R.T. : Non géré
Volumes :
Capacité : 262 Ko (262 144 octets)
Inscriptible : Non
Nom BSD : disk1s1
Aperture :
Capacité : 3 To (3 000 458 477 568 octets)
Disponible : 2,67 To (2 673 969 479 680 octets)
Inscriptible : Oui
Système de fichiers : HFS+ journalisé
Nom BSD : disk1s3
Point de montage : /Volumes/GoFlex
And to confirm, the USB does work without trouble.
Message was edited by: LMA1980

Firewire 800 - 400 , Target

Hi everyone,
simple question ( I hope ). I have an old Macbook ( Black ) & now getting a New Macbook Pro 13in, as you can now buy a cable with Firewire 800 at one end & 400 at the other is it possible to Target my Black Macbook with my New Macbook ? Does anyone know this answer ?
Many thanks
Steve

I have a Black Macbook at present, I am getting ( what is now called ) a Macbook Pro' 13in model, not the New White one. I just used the word Macbook, did not mean to confuse you, sorry about that.
Steve

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

Print to Video does not work with Firewire 800 to 400 cable

I need to print video from a Mac Pro with only Firewire 800 port to a Sony DSR 50 with only Firewire 400 port. I'm using a Firewire 800 to 400 cable and I also tried a 400 cable with a 400 to 800 adapter attached. I'm able to control the Sony deck but I cannot get any audio/video to it.
Anyone else have this problem?

When you've got the deck connected and in fcp you go to view: videoplayback, do you see the appropriate apple firewire option available and chosen? And if you hit command-F12 (show all frames) do you see anything? If it doesn't work, try restarting the computer with the deck remaining on.

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

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

Firewire 800 to Firewire 400

Please forgive the simplistic question, but there is some conflicting information around.
I have a Macbook with a firewire 400 port. I want to replace an external hard drive and I see that some have firewire 800 ports. I know I can buy an adapter that goes from FW800 to FW400 (a different number of pins) but can I go ahead and use the drive with the firewire 800 port on my Macbook with such an adapter?
I guess I'm asking can FW800 ported equipment work with FW400 Macbook?
Thanks again for the group's help.

Yes you can.
Personally I would get a FW400-to-FW800 cable of appropriate length since such simple adapters can add touble.
Stefan

FireWire 400 to FireWire 800

I have just purchased an iMac which has only one FireWire 800 outlet. I have three external HDs which are compatible w FireWire 400 outlets only. Is there a way for me to be able to use these HDs with this new machine? Is there a wire that would allow me to use HDs w FireWire 400 outlets on this iMac?
Any thoughts on this would be most appreciated.

Yes this is very common and there is a simple solution, you just need a Firewire 800 to 400 converter such as this:
http://www.amazon.com/Sonnet-FireWire-400-Adapter-FAD-824/dp/B0000CDJPQ/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253141288&sr=8-1
or
http://www.amazon.com/FireWire-6-pin-Cable-9pin-6pin/dp/B0027DPM1U/ref=sr14?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253141418&sr=8-4
From there you can daisy chain your Firewire devices together. Your external HD's will need 2 FW plugs on each drive (one in and one out) if they don't have this then you will need to purchase a Firewire Hub such as:
http://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-GUH420-Port-USB-Fire/dp/B0007RB28U/ref=sr16?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253141533&sr=1-6
Regards,
Roger

Using the firewire 800 port for my firewire 400 devices

I will be purchasing, at long last, a new mac mini to replace my faithful and well behaved G4 mac mini. I have a 20" cinema display and an external firewire 400 backup drive with the same form factor that sits below the mini. I would like to continue to use these peripherals as well as my video camera DV out. Ideally, it would be cool to have a FW800 hub that had both 800 and 400 places to plug my peripherals, but I don't see that available. Should I get a hub and adaptors for the fw400 components I want to add, or use the hard drive with an adaptor to the mini, then use the FWports on the drive for the monitor, and whatever else I want, thereby using the drive as a hub...
Any advice to this ignorant question would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul

Since Firewire 400 devices still operate at Firewire 400 speeds regardless of whether or not they are connected by adapter to Firewire 800 ports, the best thing to do is just get a Firewire 800 to 400 adapter, and attach it to a Firewire 400 hub known to be able to do all the functions you desire.
Note, migrating to Intel Macs from PowerPC Macs is not as easy as the Migration Assistant, as this user tip explains:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=435350&tstart=0

HT201338 Can I connect a firewire 400 to firewire 800 adapter and then a firewire 800 to Thunderbolt adapter(standard Thunderbolt to firewire adapter) together to digitize video from a miniDV video camcorder?

I have a 10 year Canon MiniDV camcorder that I used to connect via firewire to digitize the data. Now my IMac only has a Thunderbolt connector and my camcorder uses the older firewire 400 standard. I would like to digitize the video into my IMac. How can I do this?

I did a little looking around and found a Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adapter, and then a Firewire 400 to 800 adapter, but no Thunderbolt to Firewire 400. Amazon and Apple stores had the Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 cable and Amazon had the Firewire 400 to 800 adapater.
Wherever you get the cables, ask them if it will work OK with what you want to try and do - if they don't know make sure you can return if there is a problem. I think it will because the Thunderbolt side is so much faster than what the camera can pump out to it. If it were the other way (Thunderbolt device to a Firewire computer I would expect that to fail since the Firewire could never keep up with the data rate of the incoming Thunderbolt device).
Maybe if you have a local Mac user group or a friend with an older mac with a firewire 400 port you could do it this way too?
Good luck

Thunderbolt and FireWire 800 / 400

Hey gang!
I have a 2011 MacMini and a theoretical question. I have a FW800 external drive connected to it for my TimeMachine backup. I also have a FW400 audio capture box I use from time to time.
I used to chain the drive and audio device, but that slows the FW chain to 400 speeds instead of 800. If I connect the FW800 drive directly to the Mac mini, and the FW400 audio capture box to the Mac min via the Thunderbolt-to-FW800 adaptor(via a small 800-to-400 converter plug), will that slow the whole bus down to 400, or will they work at independent speeds?
I assume the Thunderbolt and FW chips are indepent and that the would NOT slow down speeds, but I would like to hear a more technical answer to my question.
Thank you in advance.

Apple sells a Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 cable here. Connect directly to your external drive with this cable, and the FW400 audio capture box (with adapter) to the Mini's FW800 port.

Daisy-chaining firewire 400 and firewire 800?

I would like to daisy-chain two Western Digital MyBook Pros to a Macbook:
- FW 400 from Macbook to first drive
- FW 800 between the drives
Would this work or not? I have one of those, they have 2 x FW 800, 1 x FW 400, 1 x USB at back.
(If not, I'll buy a 'Premium' which has 2 x FW 400, and 1 x USB..)

JoeyR wrote:
I'm not sure if the hardware in the first drive, that's connected by firewire 400 is "smart" enough to jump the data over to the FW800 connectors for daisy chaining.
Just pulled this from the WD site. I would say this indicates it would work. You won't get more speed but they should work daisy chained. This indicates the drive is smart enough to do this.
+Question: Will Western Digital FireWire 400 (1394a) external hard drives work connected to a FireWire 800 (1394b) port?+
+Answer: The FireWire 800 Specification (1394b) states that FireWire 400 devices will work while connected to a FireWire 800 (1394b) port. The FireWire 400 cable (4-6 pin or 6-6 pin) will not connect to a FireWire 800 port (9 pin) therefore you will need to connect the hard drive using a FireWire 400 to FireWire 800 cable (1394a to 1394b cable). These cables are available at most computer stores.+

Firewire 800 intentionally limited to 400

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