Firewire capabilites questions

New to Mac.
I have 4 questions related to FireWire
1 - Can both the 400 and 800 FireWire ports be used simultaneously?
2 - Can a regular fire wire device (big plug) be used (with and adapter cable) on the 800 port?
3 - Is there a 400 hub available that will allow multiple devices to connected simultaneously?
4 - Is there a 800 hub available that will allow multiple devices to connected simultaneously?
Thanks in advance for your help

New to Mac.
I have 4 questions related to FireWire
1 - Can both the 400 and 800 FireWire ports be used
simultaneously?
Yep, they're both on different channels, so in theory you can add as many devices as you like, but some devices must be powered independently cause you can't bus power everything.
2 - Can a regular fire wire device (big plug) be used
(with and adapter cable) on the 800 port?
Yup, you can buy a FW800 to FW400 converter, though they're not cheap and might take a little searching around for one.
3 - Is there a 400 hub available that will allow
multiple devices to connected simultaneously?
Yup. There is a number of devices that can act as a FirwWire hub, some are embedded into other devices. Take the Iomega MiniMax Hard Drive for example.
4 - Is there a 800 hub available that will allow
multiple devices to connected simultaneously?
Yup.. Again, they can be embedded as part of a device, though you can buy stand alone units but the price isn't cheap.
Thanks in advance for your help
Your welcome.

Similar Messages

FireWire 800 questions

I have a few FireWire 800 questions:
Do all FireWire 800 connections use a 9-pin connector cable? Can the FireWire 800 with 9-pin connector also be used to power devices just like with a FireWire 400 port using a 6-pin connector? And lastly, what type of devices are generally used with a FireWire 800 port?

As far as I know yes.
You can get Firewire cables with changeable ends so that you can use the same cable 3 ways: 6 pin to 6 pin, 4 pin to 4 pin, and 4 pin to 6 pin. But never seen any that changes any of the above to 9 pin.
I have a Maxtor 300GB external HD that uses Firewire 800. It is just a bit faster and nowadays with the express cards even if you have the 15" MBP you still can use this option as opposed to FW400.
Hope this helps

MacBook/Firewire/ExternalDrive Question

This is my first post on the forum, and I have kind of a convoluted question.
I have a recent MacBook with Final Cut Pro. I usually save my scratch disks to my LaCie external hard drive. Since the MacBook does not have a FireWire port
, I use a USB cable to connect the drive to the MacBook.
I was under the impression that when I was capturing footage, I could connect my camera through a FireWire cable directly into my external hard drive. However, when I do this, FCP does not recognize the camera, although the camera reads that I have the FireWire plugged in.
I been able to successfully capture footage like this on other Macs without any issues, and I'm not sure what the problem is. Is it because I have the external drive connected through a USB cable, and the camera through a FireWire? If so, is there any way for me to digitize footage onto my MacBook with a FireWire cable?

Hey Roger,
Just a little etiquette for you... you just hijacked this thread. Not a super biggy, but next time it would be better to start your own.
As for your question... As stated below, it is underlined.
Requirements to install all Final Cut Studio applications
Mac computer with an Intel processor
1GB of RAM (2GB of RAM recommended when working with compressed HD and uncompressed SD sources; 4GB of RAM recommended when working with uncompressed HD sources)
ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor _(integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)_
128MB of VRAM
Display with 1280-by-800 resolution or higher
Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later
QuickTime 7.6 or later
DVD drive for installation
4GB of disk space required to install all applications (Final Cut Pro, Color, DVD Studio Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, Cinema Tools, Compressor, and Apple Qmaster)
46GB of disk space required for optional content
9GB for DVD Studio Pro content
7GB for Motion templates
22GB for audio content
8GB for LiveFonts
Message was edited by: Adam White

Firewire Connection Question (HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPP!!!)

OK. So I am relatively new to the mac world. I have a question regarding firewire connection. So I had an imac prior to my new macbook. I wanted to transfer my stuff over through firewire but there's a problem. The screen on my Imac stopped working. It still powers up and everything, but no screen. Could someone tell me is there a way to get the hard drive of my Imac up on my macbook screen WITHOUT using the Imac screen? If no, what could/should I do? HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPP!!!
Thanks guys!
James, extreme newbie.

@discounteggroll...
I have found this to be the solution to connecting macs via firewire... but I have yet to see my imac show up as a hard drive on the macbook pro I am trying to send large video files to.
I have plugged, unplugged and restarted everything several times. Unplugged all other devices outside of my keyboard. Even tried making the macbook pro the 'hard drive' but nothing is working. I am using a 400 to 800 firewire cable. On the macbook I have snow leopard, and the iMac has Tiger. I don't know if the OS has to be the same or not.
I am super frustrated because I don't have the $$ to run out and get another hard drive and it seems like your solution should just work.
Any ideas on how to fix??
Thanks in advance!!
-jp

Latency Question and USB vs. Firewire AI question

I've got a dual quad core mac pro I'm using Logic 8 with. I've got a set of speakers attached to the Line Out and Novation USB keyboard attached to one of the USB ports.
I borrowed a friend's M-Audio Firewire 410 AI, but the drivers are terrible so I'm faced with either getting a new audio interface or just using the onboard line out. The question though is if I would experience latency by choosing not to use an external AI.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but If I understand latency correctly, it's a product of bottlenecked D-A/A-D conversion, so the more powerful the machine, the more the machine can handle before it starts to choke. Factors for this could also include multiple tracks and/or multiple plugins. If that assumption is true, how far could I realistically get before I needed an external AI? Or should I just bite the bullet? I'm thinking I should just bite the bullet, but I'd like to understand how the whole latency thing works, namely if my understanding about it is correct. If I had USB speakers instead of speakers with a minijack, would that affect latency? Would the speaker set take care of the DA with zero latency or am I off my rocker?
On the topic of AIs, is there really a difference today between a Firewire AI and a USB AI for the specific purpose of single channel in/out DA conversion? Well, maybe we'll say 4 channel in/1 out. I'll set the system sounds on one channel, Logic output on another channel and maybe a monitor on a third channel and have the fourth channel used for something else. Right now, my speakers use a minijack, so I don't need 1/4" or XLR in/outs. I have my Novation, so I don't need an AI with a human interface - I just need ports. Is USB sufficient? If so, can someone recommend something small, reliable and fairly priced?

USB is fine for small devices like mice, cameras and so on, but is not well suited for continuous, real-time transfers such as audio. You will get a few channels through USB, but I would really recommend avoiding USB audio devices completely, and going for Firewire.
Latency is not caused by "bottlenecks", it's caused by the need to buffer data coming into and out of the computer - sending everything out on a per-sample basis just imposes a huge load on the processor. Using buffers significantly reduces CPU requirements.
If you have fast processors, you can get away with lower buffer sizes and therefore less latency. Higher sample rates also reduce latency as well (but again impose a significant processor load.)
The inbuilt audio system in Macs has a pretty good latency response, but is not that great in quality (the system audio on my recent MBP is appalling - far far worse than a cheap iPod Shuffle).

TM Capabilities question

Hey campers
I am trying to plan out a backup/storage solution for my MacBook Pro... I am going to get an ExpressCard eSATA card and an OWC Elite Dual Drive External Enclosure (the one with eSATA, FireWire 400/800 and USB). I currently have 1x 1TB Drive that is my storage drive. I also upgraded my laptops internal drive to 500GB.
My question then is this... If I buy a 1.5TB drive and use it in the dual drive enclosure along with the 1TB drive, can I partition the 1.5TB drive with 500GB to backup the internal and the remaining 1TB for the storage drive?
I am sure someone is asking "why Time Machine for a storage drive?", reason is, I am a photographer and am storing my pictures on it. A mirroring array is a possibility, but a mirror array doesn't save me if pictures are accidentally deleted (as happened to me a month ago). Time Machine will save me from that miss step. Of course CarbonCopyCloner is an option, but Time Machine is automatic and so stinkin sexy.
Thanks for the input!

TM is useful for the times you lose a file while working on it. But for long-term archive/storage it is not good because it is designed to delete backups when space gets scarce.
Proper backup requires sticking to rigorous routines, including rotating backup targets for offsite storage.
This is not to say that you cannot use TM for the eventualities when a file is deleted. You can and if it's been more than an hour since the file was created, there will be a backup of it. But any file created between TM's hourly backups will (of course) not be backed up.
Your backup solution ties in with your photographic workflow and there are many different ways of incorporating backups into that. It depends on how you work, what tasks you carry out, and where you are when doing them (in relation to your backups that is).
Remember also that Aperture, if you use that, includes the Vault feature, which allows you to backup images.
Remember always to backup your master files before working on them. Don't rely on TM cathing them (or on image editor applications' "non-destructive" editing).
One can have one area which is used for "active" files, ie files you're working on and processing. That area - such as a folder (like Desktop) - can then be backed up by TM. This will recover any accidental deletions, subject to TM's one-hour rule.
Set up a routine to backup - either manual backups or scheduled backups. For the latter, have a look at for instance the paid-for version of SuperDuper. This also includes the SmartUpdate function, which only backs up what's changed since the last time. This makes backups significantly faster.
Then add to this rotating backup targets for extra security.
Simplicity is also part of any backup routine (which explains why TM is so tantalising). So one idea is to designate your desktop as the "active area" and have TM backup your bootdrive (incl the desktop) to the 500 GB partition, then manually clone your 1TB storage to the 1TB volume on the 1.5TB drive.
Just some thoughts. There are many different ways and the best is to try out.
/p

Firewire 800 Question

I'm just upgrading to a Mac that only has FW800, but one of my peripherals (Apogee Duet Soundcard) only has FW400. Now I've purchased the the requisite 800 t0 400 adapter, but my question is this:
Will my soundcard (or any other peripheral) be communicating with my Mac with FW800 bandwidth or 400?
Cheers,
simon

A FireWire 400 device can only operate at FW400 speed (even if plugged into a FW800 port). Further, if you connect a device that has a pass-through and you daisy-chain devices, no device in the chain can operate faster than the one that precedes it in the chain. For example, if you attach a FW400 hard disk to the computer, and then attach a FW800 disk to the FW400 disk, both disks will run at the FW400 speed. If you attach a FW800 hard disk to the computer and then plug a FW400 disk into the FW800 drive, then the FW800 drive operates at FW800 speed, and the FW400 disk at the FW400 speed.

Spinning Ball- Firewire Drive question?

Question about my external drive before I go and purchase a new one...
I have one hard drive that gives me the spinning ball quite regularly now. I have booted up Disc Utility and repaired the disc. I have also used Disk Warrior (a great 3rd party app) to scan the disk, repair it's data structure and even rebuild it. I have also scanned the hard drive with ClamX AV to try and rule out some sort of virus. Why is this drive locking up my computer, freezing applications, preventing reboots, etc.? It only happens to this one external drive, so my thoughts are it's either a data structure issue, or its hardware. Am I right in that line of thinking?
Is there a core system process that handles the mounting and dismounting of external drives that could be corrupt? Can I monitor and log what is causing my drive to hang? I'm not that familiar with terminal so I have been watching 'Activity Monitor' to see what processes are in use when I

Okay, I did everything you suggested, and I believe that as soon as I had Zapped the PRAM things with the drive became remarkably better...I could eject the drive successfully, and then remount it. Thank you!
But after two days of tests I have still had some irregular issues: it has frozen iTunes once or twice, locking up multiple programs and preventing a restart until the drive is turned off.
I'll definitely try Zapping it again and see what happens, but does this ring as the beginnings of a failing drive? Should I still look to replace it? It does not have the S.M.A.R.T. function...

Migrating Powerbook to Mac Book Pro - Firewire & Leopard questions

1) I have a clone (CCClone) of the PB hard disk. Can I connect this to the MBP instead of the PB started in target mode for migrating my data, preferences etc? (The PB is reluctant to restart, so I avoid it as much as possible).
2) The PB is still on Tiger (10.4.9). Will there be an issue copying across preferences, mail, address book etc data? Should I first upgrade the PB to Leopard? If so, can I use the Leopard installation DVD that will come with the new machine?
Thanks.
AK
Message was edited by: Austin Kinsella1

That's OK. I hope you get it sorted. I mounted my Firewire backup disk on the new MBP, let it run the migration assistant, and it stalled - complaining that it could not copy some file. I created my userid myself and dragged over, folder by folder, the contents of my old account. I was selective in, for example, preferences and application support stuff, 'cos there were a lot of relics of applications that had been tried and discarded.
The only thing I had no success with - I probably missed a file somewhere - was my network locations. Mail worked a charm - on all six mail accounts. I haven't got PGP mail going yet, but I think the new version isn't ready. Safari still provides my name and password on login pages. No Address Book issues at all. iCal didn't pick up the calendars I had brought over, so I dropped them on it one at a time and that is now OK.
After 3 days I think I have it pretty well under control, with only half-a-dozen things left on the migration todo list.
AK

FMS2 noob with capabilities question

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
I am just learning the basics of FMS2 and have some simple
questions(I hope).
I currently have a php/mysql application that creates mixes
of mp3s.The songs are played using progressive downloads and this
is causing some concerns among the license holders.I understand
that by using FMS2 I can stream the mp3s instead.
My question is about keeping current functionality after
migrating to FMS2.
My mp3 player uses xml playlists.Its is already coded to hook
into flashcom streams if needed. To create a playlist, a user
searches the DB and adds songs to his account. I then use php to
write the added song data to an xml playlist. The playlist is
stored in the users folder, with a copy of the mp3 player. The mp3s
are all pulled from a specific location on the server.
From what I have learned about FMS2 so far(which is very
little), I am not sure if streams can be dynamically created in the
same fashion. I have seen plenty of info about FMS2 streaming mp3s
from a specific playlist with the mp3 all coming from the
application folder, but not any info about what I am trying to
attempt.
I would not be doing the coding myself, I can handle
php/mysql but I know very little about action script and have
little time to learn. But I want to know if I am barking up the
wrong tree. Are dynamic streams possible? I dont want to look like
an idiot when I try to hire someone to code an impossible solution.
Im not looking for a how to, just want to know if the capability
exists in FMS2
Thanks,
Matt

Yes... everything you're asking about can be done with FMS,
and fairly easily at that.

OS 10.4.9 - RAID - External Firewire Striping questions

Hello,
I have an Apple XServe running 10.4.9 Server, serving a handful of Apple 10.4 clients. We were looking to add inexpensive storage to this server, so we purchased three Lacie External BigDisk Extreme Firewire drives, daisy chained them together via Firewire connections, and set them up as a striped RAID set using Disk Utility. This setup has worked very well for us for the last six months.
Yesterday, one of the three external drives began acting up. Upon further investigation, the drive was making a "clicking" noise, and was sporadically coming on and offline. As soon as this happened, the raid slice got marked offline, and subsequently the entire RAID volume was marked offline.
After rebooting the server several times and power cycling the externals, I am unable to get the RAID volume to come back online. If I view the RAID volume properties in Disk Utility, the RAID set is marked offline. The bad drive is marked as "Failed," and the slices on the two remaining good drives report "Offline". There was a brief period of about five minutes where the misbehaving external drive started acting right, and I was able to mount the RAID volume and verify the data was intact. Shortly thereafter, the drive acted up again, the RAID went offline again, and this is where I am now.
Side note: We have a fourth, identical external drive sitting to the side, unused.
Is there a way for me to add this spare drive to the server, add it to the RAID set, and initiate a rebuild? It seems the "Auto-rebuild" option was not checked during the initial creation of the volume, and I did not change it, pending further review.
Any insight or suggestions on this matter are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
JT

This is why you shouldn't use striped volumes for server storage. I don't even like using firewire drives for that.
A RAID 0 doesn't have redundancy so a rebuild isn't possible.
Maybe if you could copy the content of the failed drive to a new drive with block copy using dd or something (a drive in a stripe-set doesn't have regular partition, files or filesystem) you might be able to save the RAID. But if the drive "clicks" that is probably very hard. It could be the powersupply acting up in the failed drive enclosure. Maybe try moving it to another one.
If you need a big volume a concatenated disk set is a better choice and a hardware RAID controller (RAID 5 or better) is even better.
Some larger firewire drives are really a hardware striped volume from two or more drives in the enclosure - same thing, if one physical drive acts up the whole volume crash.

Seagate firewire drive question

I have installed Leopard on my G4 and G5 tower with no problems.
The problem starts when I plug in a Seagate remote firewire drive. the drive is formatted as Apple Partition Map, but I am not using it as a boot disk. I have also tried formatting it as MBR.
In both cases if I have the drive plugged in when I boot to Leopard after about 3 minutes my cooling fans go to full speed and nothing else happens. If I then boot back to my Tiger it starts up fine. If I unplug this drive I can boot to Leopard with no problems.
Anyone have any idea why this is happening?
thanks

bump...

Firewire drive question

I'm not sure whom to ask, so I though you all would have some reasonable input.
I currently have 8 firewire drives, each in an external case. What I would ideally like to see is some kind of case, that I can toss a number of the drives into, and plug into my FW800 or FW400 port and would let me turn each drive on or off so I'm not causing brownouts in my neighborhood.
Cost is bit of an issue, but my media drive collection is getting out of hand. Turning on three drives so I can get at the fourth is getting old, real quick.
Any suggestions?

What you're looking for is commonly called a RAID. There really isn't a practical reason to combine several Firewire drives into one case just to share power supplies and whatnot. Firewire drives are designed for portability and flexibility. If what you're looking for is something to combine several drives, there are some reliability and configuration issues to consider.
But bottom line, it gets a little more complicated as you add more drives.
Here's one page that shows you some options:
http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/hotswapsatakits.php

"mid 2010" mac mini firewire port question

Hi all:
I have a mac mini "mid 2010" version with internal optical drive and small firewire port in between the hdmi and ethernet port...
I want to connect a firewire device via this port, but my device & existing cable are of the older style size. I see different "pin numbers" being thrown around now in terms of port size & cable types etc. so that it looks like the 'old style' port on my device is a "6 pin."
What is it that I have on my mini? I would need a ?__ pin to 6 pin cable....
tm

I've used this firewire adapter with my mini.

Firewire Bus Question

I have a late 2007 MBP 2.6 GHz which has both Firewire 800 and Firewire 400 ports. To the best of my knowledge this machine has only 1 Firewire bus and I'm assuming that the Firewire bus will run at the speed of the slowest device connected to it. If Any Firewire 400 devices are connected the whole bus is running at 400, correct?
I have adapter cables that are FW400 on one end and FW800 on the other. Both my computer and my only FW800 device have both kinds of ports on them. Does it matter which ports on the device and computer are used to connect this external drive? In other words is the FW400 port somehow constrained to 400 speeds?

Kappy wrote:
If you chain a FW400 device to a FW800 device connected to the FW800 port, then the port runs at the speed of the slower device. If you connect a FW400 device to the FW400 port and a FW800 device to the FW800 port then both devices run at their respective full speeds. Obviously if you connect a FW800 device to the FW400 port it will run at FW400 speed.
While that might be the way it seems to work, it's not what's specified in the 1394 standard, which defines the behavior of such 'bilingual setups'. This is an area where Firewire differs from USB. The designers of Firewire intended for devices in mixed setups to each operate at their highest speeds.

Firewire capabilites questions

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for