Firewire ports on Cube seem to be dead

The firewire ports on my Cube seem to be dead, in that the Cube is not able to see an external drive connected to either of the ports (and the external drive can be seen when connected to another computer). Is that sufficient evidence to conclude that my firewire ports are dead? Is there any software test I could perform? Is it possible to repair the firewire ports?
I'm afraid it's about time to retire the Cube.

I see a PDF on the top of this search page. And a little lower down is link to a video on removing the board.
http://www.google.com/search?q=replacelogic+board+mac+cube&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&clien t=firefox-a#q=replace+logic+board+g4cube&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=slH&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivfd&ei=_ UG6TPyDB8P6lwep6IDFDA&start=10&sa=N&fp=6b353df19b06cafa
Thank you, WZZZ. I'm afraid I can't find the link to the video you mentioned. Would you give me the link itself?
Thanks,
John Link

Similar Messages

My 2nd Firewire port doesn't seem to work. Is it defective?

Brand new iMac Core Duo 2Ghz. I just bought a LaCie external 250gb Porsche hard drive. At first I thought it might be defective. After many tech support emails and trial and error I've now determined that it works 100% of the time on the firewire port that is closest to the power cord (I call this firewire port #1). And it 100% of the time does NOT work on the second firewire port. LaCie suggests that this port is dead.
I don't have any other firewire devices to try on this port.
My "More info" button on my "About this Mac" menu item just says "Firewire". It doesn't distinguish between one port and the other.
Say.. this is probably stupid user error huh. As in.. everyone but me knows to use the first port first, and the second port only if you have a second device.. otherwise it plays dead. hehee..
any advice?
- Rowan

I'm getting the same thing. The drive wouldn't even mount (though mounts perfectly on my G4 powerbook). Resetting the SMC, got it to mount fine, but then when I try to open the dive to access it's contents, finder goes beachball. I've waited 15min thus far.
It has mounted once or twice in probably 30 attemtps, but only ever by itself an not in the chain of my three firewire drives. That said, my other drives seem to mount just fine (a 1250 GB Porche drive and a 120 GB no-name enclosure). the one that doesn't work is an OWC Neptune 250GB. I'm open to any suggestions....
iMac (Early 2006) Mac OS X (10.4)
iMac (Early 2006) Mac OS X (10.4)

Dead firewire port

Seems my firewire port suddenly died. I tried plugging in my iSight and it's not detected, and I tried a firewire hard drive as well, and that is not detected.
Any steps I should try on my own before contacting Apple for APP repair?

After installing firmware password protection, I found out that it disables your firewire ports.
So I disabled the password, but my firewire ports are still dead, i can use targetmode, but my mini never mounts, I tried connectiong isight and it didnt work also, I did some research on this and found the code that checks the firmware for this setting.
is located on the file IOFireWireController.cpp
it looks to me as if the security-mode is set to none, once it was set to anything else other than "NULL" value it will still disable the firewire. so i tried to set it to NULL also but no luck. My Firewire is dead, and also my other laptop that had a firware password has the same problem. I've tried:
altopt+of
setenv security-mode none.
rest-nvram
reset-all
return.
Then
reset the PMU.
but nothing.

FW800 Card causes G4 all firewire ports to go dead

I tried to install an Allegro Firewire 800 card from Sonnet into my G4 1GHz Dual Processor G4. I put the card in, connected my firewire drive and got the following outcome.
1. When I re-booted, the computer hung at the blue screen that comes right after the gray screen. It stayed there for a very long time 5+ minutes but finally got through it.
2.When I logged on I found that the firewire ports on the Sonnet card AND also the native FW 400 ports no longer worked.
3.I removed the card, rebooted, and the machine still hung at the blue screen for a long time. It finally got through it, but the FW ports were still dead.
4. I worked for almost two hours, rebooting, trying to reset the PRAM, although I just got a black screen and no "restart" as is the usual case.
5. Finally, I unpluggd the machine completely and re-booted one last time and magically, the native FW ports started to work. So now I am back where I started.
Any ideas what is going on here? Should I try to install the card again? I am thinking that it was a mistake to hook the drive up before the machine had a chance to recognize the card, so I am tempted to try again that way, but I am afraid of getting the same results. Or should I just throw the card in the trash basket, call it a $50 loss or be content with FW 400?

Hi-
Finally, I unpluggd the machine completely and re-booted one last time and magically, the native FW ports started to work.
Doing so reset the PMU, and also reset the FW bus. Good job on stumbling onto the fix.
Any ideas what is going on here?
Bad card, maybe......
Should I try to install the card again?
Scary thought, huh.......
I am thinking that it was a mistake to hook the drive up before the machine had a chance to recognize the card, so I am tempted to try again that way, but I am afraid of getting the same results.
So, this means that you installed the card, connected a FW800 device, and then started the machine?
It would definitely be best to install the card, startup, and check the System Profiler, prior to connecting devices.
You don't need to shut down to connect a FW device. Hot plugging is fine, as long as you "eject" the device before unplugging it.

Firewire ports are dead

My firewire ports seemed to have died. Not only will my Lacie Drives no longer mount, my iPod won't either. The system profiler doesn't seem them. They don't mount on the desktop. However, it seems as if power is still getting to the devices.
I've tested the devices and cables in question on my powerbook. They all seem to work.
Any ideas?

Thought you could use this info about getting FireWire to work!
First, you should always Repair Permissions in Disk Utility before and after any update; I would do that now. If you installed your update with FireWire plugged in, your Mac may not recognize it anymore.
Try resetting your FireWire ports by disconnecting all FW devices, shut down your Mac and unplug it from AC power (wall socket) for 30 minutes. plug it back in and try FW.
If that did'nt work, download the combo update from this site (yours may be corrupt), not Software Update, disconnect all firewire + USB devices except keyboard + mouse, Repair Permissions, re-install update, Repair Permissions again + try. Yours is the 10.4.3 Combo update. Others reading, download the Combo that applies to your system.
If that still did'nt get it Zap the PRAM. While restarting Mac hold down the following key combo Command-Option-P-R. Keep holding those keys down till you hear the second start-up chime, then release.
For those of you with Macs that are not PowerBooks or iBooks, a bad internal battery can cause FireWire to not be recognized, so make sure it's good!
Good Luck!
Cheers!
DALE

EMAC 1.2 mg 2 Dead firewire ports

EMAC 1.2 mg, 2 dead firewire ports neither will mount, but have power

Welcome to Apple Discussions.
You should reset the Power Management Unit (PMU) by removing the user access panel and locating the push button switch to the right of the drive connector and just below the right end of one of the two DIMM slots on your logic board. To do so…
• shut down the computer
• unplug all cables EXCEPT the power cord from your machine but not from a grounded AC source
• place it face down on a stable, level surface
• remove the user access door by removing the center screw which mounts it to the frame
• equalize your electrical potential to that of the machine by touching the exposed metal case
• once you have done so, remove the power cord from your machine
• do not move around, which would change your electrical potential
• press the PMU reset button ONCE and once only, as second and subsequent presses can crash the PMU itself, and rapidly drain your backup battery
• wait 10 seconds, replace the AC cord and power on the computer using the case mounted switch
Replace the plate, place the machine upright, and reconnect your keyboard and mouse.
Plug in a FireWire device to see if it appears in the Finder as a mountable volume and verify this by using the Disk Utility if it is a storage device.
If your issue has been resolved, it is the PMU reset which has done so. If you have not but still have power available at the FireWire interconnect socket, then your FireWire PHY controller is likely damaged, a condition which requires a logic board repair or replacement.

Firewire ports 'dead'

Heello again,
Further to my previous query, the one directly before I think.
I think my firewire ports have some kind of problem - I've tried hooking up a camera on iMovie and it can't fin it / acknowledge it is connected.
Could I have inadvertantly done something / altered a setting or something to render them inactive?
Thanks again
Dan

May just be a simple Firewire Chipset lock up. Happens sometimes. Turning the computer "off" often does not fix it because there is still power applied to the logic board and keeping the chip set powered and locked up. So we have to remove power and allow it to reset.
To check/fix, on a desktop machine, power down the machine, unplug the computer from the wall (yank the power cord completely). Also unplug everything from the computer except mouse and keyboard. We don't want any peripheral devices providing indirect power via Firewire that might keep the chip set powered and locked up. Now let the system sit unplugged for about 5 minutes to allow all internal capacitors to discharge. Then reconnect the power cord, boot up and see if you see your Firewire ports back in the profiler. If you do, plug in your Firewire device and it should work.
Patrick

Firewire ports seem shot

I connect my iSight & LaCie External Harddrive to my 2 Firewire Ports and I noticed the computer wasn't recognizing these hardware devices, so upon shutdown, unplugging the computer & ultimate restart.....i found that the computer would then recognize these devices....but 5mins later they would vanish. I called Apple Care & we did a hard reset (I think that's the term) or basically started it up holding down 4 keyboard keys ......that fixed the problem, yet again for only 5mins. The AppleCare guy told me that I had to take the computer apart and hit some reset buttons, I really really don't want to take my computer apart.....can anyone else think of a solution. Or are my Firewire ports shot?

Hey Chris,
This article about troubleshooting" may help you out. Most likely the tech had gotten down to resetting the SMU. Here's an article on resetting the SMU for the RevB and RevC iMacG5s. If the technician talked about taking off the back, you my have a RevA iMac, and you will indeed have to take the back off to access the SMU reset switch. This article has a description of how to reset the SMU for RevA iMacs. I was having this problem with a bad device resetting my Firewire bus. I put the device an another mac and yes indeed, it was not just the iMac. I got a new device and the problem went away. So maybe it's your LaCie drive that's causing the problem? If you have access to another mac you might try it (don't tell your friend what you're doing though...) heh heh.
Let us know how you're progressing, or if this is helpful.

Pismo Firewire Ports Dead

My firewire ports are no longer working. They do not show up in the About This Mac. Any suggestions where to begin troubleshooting?
ELM

ELM,
You might try these resets in the order presented; disconnect all peripherals first.
- Reset the PRAM...allow three startup chimes before releasing keys, then test:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
- Reset the Open Firmware, then test:
Boot into Open Firmware by holding down the 'Command-Option-O-F' keys from a cold start while the chime is being played. You will see a command-line screen...enter these commands:
1. At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-nvram
2. Press Return.
3. At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-all
4. Press Return.
Example:
0 > reset-nvram
Press Return
0 > reset-all
Press Return
The reset-all command should cause the computer to restart. If this occurs, you have successfully reset the Open Firmware settings.
- If still no success, run the Hardware Test CD (after the resets) that came bundled with new Pismos if you have it.
- If you boot into 9.x, do the ports appear and can you mount the drive? If 9.x is not on the HD, boot to your 9.x CD, then see if the drive will mount.
- Can you test your FireWire device on another Mac to verify its integrity?
If all fails, you can buy an inexpensive FireWire CardBus PC card for the PCMCIA card slot. However, if your FireWire device(s) does not have its own power supply, it will not work via the FW PC card. Built-in FireWire ports supply bus power for devices like a FireWire 2.5" HD, but FW PC cards do not supply bus power. You can, however, buy a FW PC card that also has a separate power supply so that bus-powered devices will work.

Why would the Firewire Port and/or External DVD-RW suddenly not work?

Hi, it's me again. I swear, I must be destined to just use Windows machines...
Anyways, I have a used/refurbished iBook G3 500MHz 320MB RAM Dual USB (1 Firewire)laptop running OS 10.2.8 that I bought a few months ago. I went and purchased an external Firewire/USB 2.0 DVD-RW drive as I only had a CD-ROM drive on my machine and I wanted the option to burn CD's or watch/read data from DVD's (I know that with my slow processor writing DVD's -other than data- would be a stretch and have other machines to do that with anyways so it wasn't a concern really). I received it and installed it, also installed the free version of Toast that came with it, and the drive worked fine. I have not needed to use the drive since then and have not used the laptop much at all since then really, but I do need to say that I did end up adding a new user account, though I can't remember if I changed the original Admin account and then still have the one I created myself when I first started the laptop after I bought it (had a fresh install of Jaguar on it, but I have no disk to re-install with if needed) or if I created a separate (new) account and ended up deleting the Original Admin accout (I know in Windows, you cannot delete the original Admin account but I do not know if that is the same for OSX or not). I did this as I wanted a master Admin account that I just wouldn't really use and then wanted the other as my main account (and use it to connect to my home windows network) and for some reason it would not let me put a check in the box to allow that account to do so (from either Apple or my user accounts) and so I know that my main user account now is set up to allow it (was it the old Apple user account or a new one, I can't remember- sorry).
Ok, so that is the back story to my problem, which happens to be this:
I just bought a new chip of RAM (512MB to make it a machine with 576MB RAM total) and as I had been looking at getting OSX Tiger (but didn't want to do it without the extra ram and had been considering Panther instead as well), I thought it was necessary if I wanted to not bog down my machine. I bought the Install Disks on DVD for Panther, as well as an upgrade disk (DVD again) for Tiger, therefore letting me use the External Firewire DVD-RW to install Panther, and if I liked I could go ahead and upgrade to Tiger (and if I didn't like it too much, or it slowed things down too much etc, then I could always go back to panther and have both available for future options). The extra RAM coming in handy here definitely.
So I was going to install the RAM today, and decided to go ahead and test out the External DVD to make sure it could boot from it (before making any changes to my system) and then go and install the RAM, and after that, install Panther to start... But I plugged all the cords and cables in, used my laptop with AC power even, and I could not get the External to show up at all... (kinda like the very current post right below mine but for the G4- it worked before, but now the firewire External just does not show up).
I only have USB 1.1 on this laptop obviously, and I don't even know if you could do a boot from an external with USB 2.0 if my laptop had it (the DVD player does). I was recommended to boot with an external firewire DVD or firewire to another machine with DVD capabilities to do the install. So my problem right now is getting slightly bigger, as of course, I can't seem to momentarily find the stuff that came with the External (spare USB cable to check and see if the laptop will recognize it at least with that and to show it is the firewire that is not working properly, or the disk that I used to install it -might have been only used to install Toast free version if it didn't need any drivers, but I don't know where that or the instructions for installation sheet currently is -- I am looking for it, but I have switched bedrooms just last week and I also seem to be missing a few other Windows laptop disks as well so there is a good chance that they are all together, I just need to figure out where, heh.)
I am waiting currently before installing the memory, though if I don't get the External working tonight, I may go ahead and do it first as at least I will have more memory on my laptop then, until I can get other stuff functioning and be able to do the Panther install.
But my main question is, is there something that would cause an installed external to suddenly not show up in OSX? Since I hadn't used it since that one day, and it was unplugged from the laptop itself, would that end up doing it, or more likely, the changing of the user accounts (though I have been trying to test it with different types of media and through both of my user account (which are both "admin" ones), though I do still have one of those being an account that was on there when the External DVD was first installed, so it really shouldn't have done this at all (one would think). So how big of a chance is it that the firewire has somehow gone dead and this is the main culprit to my wasting the past 4 hours on this???
I am currently scavenging around for an extra USB cable to try and test the External that way and will post the results when I can... I love the look and idea of macs, now I have a mac and want to upgrade it even, but why is it that whenever I attempt to use it after having not used it for a bit (and try to make the iBook feel better by using it more as I am sure it feels sad and alone sitting on the shelf while my Windows Laptop gets more attention), or try to fix it when it can be made better (and therefore used more often), the mac (all macs really), just seem to get all pissy and cause problems and make me spend hours upon hours trying to get things to work again??? You have to admit it, I am "mac cursed"... sigh I can program in 4 or 5 computer languages and am very advanced at many tech things (the ones I am not as good at I am still usually Average or Medium skilled) so it makes me wonder why I have so many tech problems with Macs when they are supposed to be the "easy" OS to use...

Actually, I think I have it all working now. After going back to the Plextor Website, I found out that the switch between the USB and 1394 ports only gets activated (switched over to the other) with you turn the device off first, move the switch and then turn it back on. I was sure that I had done this with the ibook, but maybe not as when I went back and did it with first the USB and then the Firewire cables, it did work. I definitely knew that I had not done this with the Windows laptop, the reason it would not have the USB work for me on it.
but back to the iBook, I was confused as it was only showing up as a DVD-ROM (which I guess is what they do until you actually open up the burning software to then be able to burn to it), and it also had the wrong Model #, which after more research, showed that it was the Internal DVD drive model version (PX-708A) compared to the actual model version (PX-708UF) which is the USB/Firewire (External) model. The firmware was really out of date as well (from June 2004 I think, v1.06) and they had v1.12 from Spet/Oct 2006 available so I went to get that (which was a hassle). They had nice easy Windows self extractor/installer packs, and then the BIN files for use for all systems (Sun OS/ Mac OSX/ Mac OS/ Linux etc as well as usable for Windows), and those needed a special Firmware Updater Application which was OS specific. Only I had the hardest time trying to get the OSX one as it would send me to a FTP site and not give me any clues as to which file(s) I needed to get and the Mac OS version was just for older 9.2 or below versions and didn't want to install under the OS Classic mode.
I ended up using my windows computer which made it easier to view with the FTP stuff as I have FireFTP in Firefox, and downloaded the files I thought I needed (to test out), and then realized my silliness, and just downloaded (as well) the Windows Auto Extractor/Installer as the Firmware is the same for all OS's, just the way to install/update it was different... So I hooked the DVD drive to my PC and updated the firmware, checked it out on here before moving it back to the ibook, where I checked that it still worked and had the new update version showing, which it did, and now I have my fully working and newly updated drive ready for the OSX installations... I had attempted to update my Jaguar system as well while online, but it had no new updates available (I guess those were all mostly Tiger updates that were just recently released).
I am now off to install my additional RAM, and after checking that it all shows up correctly, I will go ahead and do the Panther Install (and test it out and see if I like it or not).
For anyone that currently uses Panther on any mac, are there still any major problems I should know about before hand, or know about things that they have mostly fixed (like the issues with Firewire ports and External Drives that they had around the time Panther was first released for example)???
Thanks to all that helped... I now know to attempt an "eject" of any external HD (which I do have one that I will setup to use after I get Panther on the ibook) or CD/DVD drive instead of just unplugging the USB/Firewire cable.

Recent Leopard Update Messes up Cinema Display Firewire Ports

Okay, this is really odd. I have a Lacie Porsche DVD-RWDL Firewire drive hooked up to my Mac Pro via my 23" Cinema display. The cinema display firewire cable was connected directly to the back of the mac pro. Lastly my iSight was connected to the open firewire port on the Lacie. This worked just fine for the longest time under both Tiger and up until very recently in leopard.
Now tho the DVD Drive is not recognized by any programs (Toast, etc) or by System Profiler (Unknown Device) when it is connected to the cinema display. Oddly enough it is detected when connected directly to the mac pro (or for troubleshooting sake I tried my G4 cube w/ Tiger... it also detected it). On top of that the iSight will work when plugged into either the Lacie or the Cinema Display... so its not like the cinema display's pots are dead (the USB works fine).
This is pretty obscure I know... but has anyone ran into something similar? I figure its either some very, very weird hardware problem or or one of the many recent updates to leopard has things acting goofy.
Thanks

I have a similar problem with my 20" cinema display. Try unplugging and replugging the device. That's been working for me, although it is an annoyance.

FireWire ports burned out -- what to do?

The FireWire ports on my 4 year-old iMac seem to have burned out. (Reboots with Mac phone support didn't help). So the problem now is that I can't download footage from my Sony handycam, which used to function beautifully with the FireWire. Mac customer service tells me that since the Firewire ports are connected to the logic board, I'd need a new logic board which would run about $800, and it seems crazy to put that much money into a nearly 5-year old computer. Grateful if anyone could suggest a workaround. (for example, would a firewire/USB hub work, or wouldn't that convert the Firewire signal?). My iMac is otherwise functioning fine and I can't buy a new computer just now, but I do need my videos...Thanks for your suggestions!

I think the only longterm solution that makes good sense is the replace the iMac with a new(er) Mac, at least after making sure the FW port is dead. Since you are in NY, you should be able to get to an Apple Store it some point. I suggest making a Genius Bar appointment & taking both the iMac & your camcorder with you. The genius should be able to verify that the port (& not the camcorder) is the problem & you should be able to test the camcorder with a Mac in the store. (Note that you will need a FW 400 to 800 cable for this. It may be worth discussing this in advance with the store personnel, especially if you have to travel any distance to the store.)
Even if you cannot afford a new Mac now, you will have verified the source of the problem & get a good idea of what 4+ years of hardware improvements would get you. This should help you decide what to spend money on now for workarounds vs. what to save your money for.

BSODs lock ups and flakey firewire port - help ??

Okay I'm really getting fustrated over this laptop it's nearly 2 weeks old
and I've already had 2 BSODs the odd crash where the mouse moves but nothing
else around it works so a forced reboot was needed.
Today I had a BSOD all i did was run some untility from the taskbar called
network doctor or something.
error message:
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (no address information supplied)
STOP: 0x00000000050
someone suggested that I may have a memory problem or my page file is corrupt.
anyway here's a run down on what i've installed so far with my laptop.
- Installed all XP security updates and patches
- Installed Firefox 1.0.1 (don't trust IE6.0 yet)
- Installed iriver download manager (my mp3 player)
- Installed winamp 2.0 and Creative Notebook Cam.
I've ran a forced boot chkdsk and no problems found.
Another thing I found interesting was nearly everytime my laptop bsods I usually
find a a yellow marker over my 1394 net adapter (firewire port) in device mananger
("cannot start device") don't know if that's related or not. A reboot seems to
clear this yellow marker but I am rather unhappy BSODs are no laughing matter.
My laptop model is the Equium A60-181 (Intel P4 HT 3.2Ghz 512Mb RAM)
Anyone else had similar problems or recommendations?
cheers,
Richard S.

Hi Richard
I understand you that you are unhappy with this all problems but there can be a lot of reasons for that. In my opinion this can happened because of some unnecessary update or some drivers installed by third-party software that you installed on your notebook.
Please reinstall OS using Recovery CD. After firs boot check in device manager if there is some hardware problem. If not you than try to start Config free (Connectivity doctor) and some other Toshiba tools to check if everything is ok.
If everything is ok try to install SP2 if you dont have it on your machine (just SP2 and not separately updates and patches). I am not sure but some of A60 are delivered with SP2.
Install all your programs slowly and follow carefully what happened after every step that you done.

Full Firewire Port Failure (three different machines : iMac Intel, iMac G5, Black Macbook)

I'm experiencing a failure of all FireWire ports on all of my three machines. I believe this problem began with a faulty external, FireWire powered hard drive from G-Tech. Here are all my specs, followed by a rundown of the order of events that has lead to this situation, followed by the various troubleshooting I have done.
Equipment :
iMac Aluminum Intel - 24" Mid 2007 - running OsX 10.5.8 - currently 1 FW400 and 1 FW800 ports disabled
iMac G5 - 20" - running OsX 10.5.8 - currently 2 FW400 ports disabled
MacBook - 13" black Early 2008 - running OsX 10.5.8 - currently 1 FW400 port disabled
2 500GB G-Drives (by G-Tech) - AC powered
1 5TB G-RAID Drive (by G-Tech) - AC powered
1 250GB G-Drive Mini (by G-Tech) - FW powered
Initial Setup :
1 500GB G-Drive connected directly to iMac Intel via FW800
1 500GB G-Drive connected to first 500GB G-Drive via FW800 (daisy chained)
1 250GB G-Drive connected to second 500GB G-Drive via FW400 (daisy chained)
1 5TB G-RAID connected directly to iMac Intel via FW800>400 adapter
Sequence of Events :
I had transferred some files to my G-Drive Mini in order to move them to my MacBook from my iMac Intel. I copied the files to the G-Drive Mini and ejected it normally and plugged it into my MacBook via FW400. The drive would not mount, and the power indication light would not go on. After experimenting with various connections and cables I was able to get the drive to power with FW400 and USB connected at the same time, but the drive would still not mount.
I then plugged the G-Drive Mini back into the 2nd 500GB G-Drive as it was previously connected via FW400. This action caused the G-Drive to immediately reboot and eject itself from my iMac Intel.
I then attempted to plug the G-Drive Mini into my older iMac G5 via FW400. Immediately upon plugging in, the computer shut down, and would not restart.
At this point I kind of started to freak out. I was unaware of the extent of the damage, but was upset that the FW powered G-Drive Mini had shutdown my iMac G5. I contacted G-Tech Support and they offered to replace the drive and instructed me how to manually reset the computer's SMC by opening up the iMac and finding the Cuda switch. This worked and the computer was able to start and function again, but the FW400 port seemed to be disabled.
I then tried to swap out configurations and drives on my iMac Intel to see if there was any cable problems, but doing so, slowly rendered all my FireWire ports useless. It's almost as if the act of plugging in the FW-powered G-Drive Mini started a kind of shortout chain reaction. I soon learned that none of my hard drives would connect to any of my three machines, with any kind of cable combination via FW400 or 800.
I am currently able to connect my 5TB G-RAID drive to any machine via USB, as well as my G-Drive Mini. I am unable to access the other two external hard drives, as one has only FW400 and 800 ports and the other's USB connection is not functional as well on any machine.
Troubleshooting Steps Taken :
I have on all machines, reset the SMC in the following methods. iMac G5 - manually, by opening the case and pressing Cuda switch. iMac Intel - unplug, hold power button, restart method. MacBook - unplug, hold power button, restart method.
I have also on all machines, reset the PRAM by the Cmnd + Opt + P + R method at startup.
I have also unplugged all cables / removed battery, from all machines and left alone for a period of at least 12 hours, then re-plugged in each device one at a time.
I have also restored my hibernate mode (through Terminal) on my iMac Intel to mode 3 and also turned on Virtual Memory in system preferences and set hibernatemode to mode 7, the restarted and attempted to plug in devices. The reason I even began to deal with the hibernate mode was because I had around the same time my ports began malfunctioning, installed the DeepSleep widget, which allows you to control your computer's hibernate mode. I thought that tweaking with this setting may have made my computer incapable of recognizing devices that were plugged in. I have since uninstalled the widget and experimented with different hibernatemodes to no avail.
I also have Repaired Disk Permissions and Repaired Disk on all my machines, from within my Admin User as well as from the OsX Install Disk.
Sometimes in my System Profiler (like right now for example on my iMac Intel) my computer is "Unable to list FireWire devices," but sometimes, no warning message comes up and it simply displays the appropriate Bus speed.
I also conducted a system restore using a backup from my 5TB G-Raid Drive via USB, to a date before these problems started, but my ports are still not working.
Summary :
I am looking at a situation where all my FW ports on all my computers appear to be disabled, and possibly also on my four external hard drives, with one possible USB port malfunction on one external drive. The only root of this seems to be a malfunctioning FW-powered external hard drive.
Is this possible? Has this happened to anyone else before? G-Tech assures me that it is impossible for my 250GB G-Drive Mini to draw enough power from a computer to permanently disable any ports, but I have tried all of the FW port problem troubleshooting steps and am at a loss.
I do not have AppleCare and would like to avoid bringing two iMacs, a MacBook and four hard drives to the Apple store and take my chances with the geniuses.
I would appreciate any help or advice you all have. Thanks for reading and for your support!

Ok. So if that was too confusing, I've re-labeled this post with letters for my hard drives and some mapping of the connectivity configurations I have attempted.
Equipment :
iMac Aluminum Intel - 24" Mid 2007 - running OsX 10.5.8 - currently 1 FW400 and 1 FW800 ports disabled
iMac G5 - 20" - running OsX 10.5.8 - currently 2 FW400 ports disabled
MacBook - 13" black Early 2008 - running OsX 10.5.8 - currently 1 FW400 port disabled
1 500GB G-Drive (by G-Tech) w/ no USB port - AC powered : A
1 500GB G-Drive (by G-Tech) w/ USB port - AC powered : B
1 5TB G-RAID Drive (by G-Tech) - AC powered : C
1 250GB G-Drive Mini (by G-Tech) - FW powered : D
Initial Setup :
C > FW400-800 adapter > iMac Intel
D > FW400 > A > FW800 > B > FW800 > iMac Intel
Sequence of Events :
D > FW400 > MacBook
I had transferred some files to my G-Drive Mini D in order to move them to my MacBook from my iMac Intel. I copied the files to the G-Drive Mini D and ejected it normally and plugged it into my MacBook via FW400. The drive would not mount, and the power indication light would not go on. After experimenting with various connections and cables I was able to get the drive to power with FW400 and USB connected at the same time, but the drive would still not mount.
D > FW400 > A > FW800 > B > FW800 > iMac Intel
I then plugged the G-Drive Mini D back into the 2nd 500GB G-Drive A as it was previously connected via FW400. This action caused the G-Drive to immediately reboot and eject itself from my iMac Intel.
D > FW400 > iMac G5
I then attempted to plug the G-Drive Mini into my older iMac G5 via FW400. Immediately upon plugging in, the computer shut down, and would not restart.
At this point I kind of started to freak out. I was unaware of the extent of the damage, but was upset that the FW powered G-Drive Mini D had shutdown my iMac G5. I contacted G-Tech Support and they offered to replace the drive and instructed me how to manually reset the computer's SMC by opening up the iMac and finding the Cuda switch. This worked and the computer was able to start and function again, but the FW400 port seemed to be disabled.
I then tried to swap out configurations and drives on my iMac Intel to see if there was any cable problems, but doing so, slowly rendered all my FireWire ports useless. It's almost as if the act of plugging in the FW-powered G-Drive Mini D started a kind of shortout chain reaction. I soon learned that none of my hard drives would connect to any of my three machines, with any kind of cable combination via FW400 or 800.
D > USB > AnyMachine
C > USB > AnyMachine
I am currently able to connect my 5TB G-RAID C drive to any machine via USB, as well as my G-Drive Mini D. I am unable to access the other two external hard drives, as one has only FW400 and 800 ports (A) and the other's USB connection is not functional as well on any machine (B).
Troubleshooting Steps Taken :
I have on all machines, reset the SMC in the following methods. iMac G5 - manually, by opening the case and pressing Cuda switch. iMac Intel - unplug, hold power button, restart method. MacBook - unplug, hold power button, restart method.
I have also on all machines, reset the PRAM by the Cmnd + Opt + P + R method at startup.
I have also unplugged all cables / removed battery, from all machines and left alone for a period of at least 12 hours, then re-plugged in each device one at a time.
I have also restored my hibernate mode (through Terminal) on my iMac Intel to mode 3 and also turned on Virtual Memory in system preferences and set hibernatemode to mode 7, the restarted and attempted to plug in devices. The reason I even began to deal with the hibernate mode was because I had around the same time my ports began malfunctioning, installed the DeepSleep widget, which allows you to control your computer's hibernate mode. I thought that tweaking with this setting may have made my computer incapable of recognizing devices that were plugged in. I have since uninstalled the widget and experimented with different hibernatemodes to no avail.
I also have Repaired Disk Permissions and Repaired Disk on all my machines, from within my Admin User as well as from the OsX Install Disk.
Sometimes in my System Profiler (like right now for example on my iMac Intel) my computer is "Unable to list FireWire devices," but sometimes, no warning message comes up and it simply displays the appropriate Bus speed.
I also conducted a system restore using a backup from my 5TB G-Raid Drive C via USB, to a date before these problems started, but my ports are still not working.
Summary :
I am looking at a situation where all my FW ports on all my computers appear to be disabled, and possibly also on my four external hard drives (A, B, C, D), with one possible USB port malfunction on one external drive (B). The only root of this seems to be a malfunctioning FW-powered external hard drive.
Is this possible? Has this happened to anyone else before? G-Tech assures me that it is impossible for my 250GB G-Drive Mini D to draw enough power from a computer to permanently disable any ports, but I have tried all of the FW port problem troubleshooting steps and am at a loss.
I do not have AppleCare and would like to avoid bringing two iMacs, a MacBook and four hard drives to the Apple store and take my chances with the geniuses.
I would appreciate any help or advice you all have. Thanks for reading and for your support!

My MacBook Pro can't find the FireWire port

My MacBook Pro (OSX 10.6.8) can not find the FireWire port. Until now there hasn't been any problems using the FireWire, but now it just deny any knowledge of it, so to speak.
The audio device lights up when I connect it to the MBP (yes, I did connect it when in off-mode), so it seems to work in a way.
Does anyone recognize this problem and knows how to solve it?
/JohanLaMar

Have you tried following through the trouble shooting tips in this knowledge base article on Firewire?

Firewire ports on Cube seem to be dead

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