Hub Firewire 800/400

I was surprised to find out that my new Imac (3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo) has only one Firewire port (FW 800). I have one Lacie external HD which has FW 800 and 400 through which I can chain other external FW 400 HD. My problem is that I can't chain my camera or a DV recorder, neither my external DVD burner. What do you think I could do : maybe buy a Firewire Hub, but does a FW 800+400 Hub exist ?
My DVD burner is FW 400 6pin/6pin
My DV recorder is FW 400 6pin/6pin
Thanks for answering

FireWire 800 hubs are currently expensive. If that FireWire 800 drive has a FireWire 400 daisy-chain port, perhaps you can get a less expensive FireWire 400 hub and connect it to that daisy-chain port. That would give the FireWire 800 device the benefit of a direct connection, and since your other FireWire devices are currently 400, you can connect them to that hub with no 9-pin to 6-pin adapter needed.
Just an idea... Here's an example of a FireWire 400 hub
[Belkin FireWire 6-Port Hub|http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-FireWire-6-Port-Hub-F5U526-APL/dp/B0006BHCEK/r ef=sr11?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1244117766&sr=8-1]
Be sure to get one that is self-powered (has its own power adapter).

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HT5299 Thunderbolt-Can you use an adaptor From a thunderbolt External drive to a firewire 800/400 Mac

Thunderbolt-Can you use an adaptor From a thunderbolt External drive to a firewire 800/400 Mac

No. The Thunderbolt to Firewire adapters only work to connect a Firewire drive to a Thunderbolt port. They do not work in reverse, to connect a Thunderbolt-only drive to a Firewire port. If the only port your drive has is a Thunderbolt port and all you have on the Mac is Firewire, you can't use that drive with that computer.
Regards.

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.

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

Mix firewire 800 & 400 hard drives

I am getting a new 21.5". I now have a 20" (firewire 400).
I have a G-RAID2 with 2 800 and one 400 firewire ports. I also have a G-Drive 400 which I use for Time Machine.
On the new iMac, I will connect the G-RAID2 with a 800 cable. But then, should I connect the G-Drive into the 400 port of the G-RAID2, or the 800 port via 6 to 9 pin adapter? Or doesn't it matter?
Thanks...
Rick

Just spent quite a while in the Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro discussion group and the video guru Tom Wolsky (I hope that's the correct last name) has pretty much instilled the fear of the Lord in me with regard to daisy-chaining a Canon HV20 camcorder wiith my external Rocstor FW800 drives.
The safest thing many people say is to connect any Firewire camcorder directly to the computer and not daisy-chain it. Even adamant about removing any other Firewire connections on the same computer using the computers' Firewire ports (Firewire cards okay on Mac Pros) as they share the same Firewire bus. Also strongly recommends turning off Time Machine as well so no interruptions to the time critical importing of video. That means on the iMac, I'll temporarily remove the Firewire hard disks and import to the internal iMac drive. I don't want to risk screwing up the video import or worse, the external hard drives...

Firewire 800 & 400 ports

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

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

SATA or firewire 800/400

what is a better external harddrive to use with final cut pro and also as a music storage and as a backup. i had read somewher the one could not do something in final cut with a firewire external hardrive but now I can't find it, so if anyone can illuminate me on this it would also be appreciated. Thank you

Wow. I just read through this entire thread, and thanks to the flame war going on I'm sorry I wasted me time.
It's clear that FW400 is great for situations where you don't need top speed, but want the least CPU overhead.
USB 2.0 is slightly faster, but the extra CPU cycles it uses cause some concern.
FW800 is faster than the previous two, and is recommended if your PC supports it. At $80 for the Expresscard/34 solution, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it... BUT, someone on these and other forums has first hand experience and reported problems. Others had no problems, and think it's great. Who to believe? That's the question...
Then there is Serial ATA & eSATA. I went into a Fry's and a salesperson there tried to tell me FW800 was faster than eSATA. I indicated that I thought eSATA was faster with it's (theoretical) 3GB transfer speeds, compared to 800MB. He told me in no undercertain terms that was incorrect, and that FW800 was the fastest option available. Needless to say, I haven't asked for help from a salesperson again anytime soon.
That said, the Firmtek solution has been reviewed online. It's performance compared to other solutions, and it was a CLEAR winner. And it's TRUE the Firmtek card does seem pricer than it should be. But then, don't Apple products require us to pay a premium over other IBM products? Wanting the latest and greatest requires paying the price. I try to balance such purchases as best I can, waiting for the most "bang for my buck". But hey, these are computers... and unlike houses and gas they do NOT tend to appreciate.
So what did I do? I decided the performance increase I should see with Half Life 2: Episode 1, and Tomb Raider: Legend were reason to get the eSATA option. Many say Firewire is not long for this world. I don't agree, as so many computers and products use and support it. But, I do know that with computers, EVERYTHING eventually goes faster. Before too long, we may see hard drives that CAN take advantage of SATA and eSATA speeds, and with my configuration I can support that when the time comes.
Here's hoping everyone here enjoys whatever solution they purchase, and my best to all involved. Boot Camp is just AMAZING, and I'm STILL thrilled with my MacBook Pro.

Can anyone recommend a reputable PCMCIA Firewire 800/400 cardbus?

I've already bought two of these blasted things. The first wasn't even compatible with Mac's, and the second one dropped the performance of all my firewire devices to 400Mb/s even though they were on separate buses.
I'd like to know what card to choose. Preferably from a reputable manufacturer with a website and driver/firmware updates and the like.
thanks.

This is what I would recommend:
http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10482
LaCie has phenominal products for Mac. Although LaCie is used by PC folks, LaCie tends to gear their products towards us Mac users. I know someone who uses that adapter and has had no problems.
When it comes to Drives, adapters and the like I tend to stick to LaCie. If LaCie makes it, I'll buy it!

Can you connect Firewire 400 to Firewire 800?

Have had a Powerbook Titanium G4 and just got a new MacBook Pro. The TiBook has an 800FW port, the TiBook only a 400FW port. Can I connect the two directly? Is there a 400 to 800 adapter cable? I'd like to transfer files fast between the machines.
Currently I transfer files through an external hard drive that has both 400 and 800 ports. But it sure would be easier if I could get the TiBook to run in FW target disc mode with the MacPro. Any other suggestions for linking the machines?

Hi
There's a couple of ways to do it:
One solution is to get an Expresscard (e.g. Belkin Firewire 400 which gives you an extra two ports). I bought one of these and then went and misplaced it!
Rather than buy another Expresscard, I bought a Firewire 800/400 cable (cheapo/no name, I'm afraid) from a small computer shop - it was a quarter of the price of the Belkin and works fine. I also got a small adaptor plug so I that I can connect connect my camcorder.
Of course, I found the ExpressCard a couple of days ago...
You could connect the computers by an Ethernet cable, too.
Hope that helps.
OBG

Firewire 800 problem? cant see my Panasonic camcorder on Final Cut Express

Hi
I have a new IMAC 27 in, intel dual processor (which I love) and its running the lastest version of snow leopard. I got it for video editing (dec 09) and I'm fairly new to macs and the firewire 800.
I have a panasonic 3ccd camera nNV-GS500 and after finally figuring it out I got a new cable - a brand new firewire 800/400 cable. However nothing can be seen when I start up Final Cut pro express or imovie.
I have tried turning off mac, unplugging it, then turning on camera before turning on imac.
Looking at some of the threads it seems there are some issues for seeing camcorders with firewire 800 and that a firmware? (is this a download for hardware update) is an update is due - can anyone confirm what i should do.
thanks in advance

Cathy, welcome to the Discussions group.
Here is the list of camcorders supported by iMovie and Final Cut Express. Your camera is not in the lists but may still work.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3290
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2948
When you are using the camera are you running it from its battery power or is it plugged into its own power source (same question would apply to your external drive which may have a problem if its not using its own power supply depending upon how much power it would draw from the computer and how much power it needs to be reliable). You should be running the camera from its own power supply.
When you are having a problem, isolate the sources of potential conflict. Make sure no other devices are plugged into the computer. That means you'll be transferring your video to your internal disk. You can always copy or move it later to an external disk if that's where you want to store it permanently.
Follow the instructions in your camera manual carefully and we hope that works. If it doesn't work, then be creative. If the manual says to start the camera first in PLAY mode, start it in RECORD mode but then switch to PLAY mode to jumpstart FCE or iMovie to recognize there's a camera installed. That hint was provided in another thread on this topic and worked for that person. You can vary starting the camera before FCE or iMovie and then try starting FCE or iMovie first followed by the camera. Just a few variations and hope again one works.
All variations fail, and the vendors web site indicates it should work, then maybe your Firewire port on the computer has a problem. Look in "About This Mac" to see the status of the Firewire service with different devices plugged in. It's not a common problem but can happen.

Firewire 800 to 400 Hub?

This new Mac (which I love) has Firewire 800. My hard drives and scanner has Firewire 400 connections. I bought a cable that connects the 800 port into my 400 port in the hard drive but since the Mac has only 1 800 port I am unable to connect my scanner. Are there Firewire hubs that can plug my other peripherals? There were none at the Apple store and I could not find any on-line. Please advise

You may be able to connect the scanner to the daisy-chain port on the hard drive, if it has one. Or, if the scanner has a daisy-chain port, connect it first and connect the hard drive second.
If your FireWire devices are 400, there are FireWire 400 hubs on the market. Connect the hub to the Mac using that 800 to 400 cable you already have. Connect the FireWire 400 devices to the hub. Be sure to get a hub that has its own power supply. Here's one hub
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-FireWire-6-Port-Hub-F5U526-APL/dp/B0006BHCEK/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259634281&sr=8-1

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 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

Mixing FireWire 400 with FireWire 800

How do I connect FireWire 400 Peripherals and FireWire 800 Peripherals to the single FireWire 800 port and preserve the FireWire 800 speed to the computer for the Firewire 800 Peripherals? (Obviously, the 400 speed peripherals cona only send and receive at 400 speed.)
My guess is that connecting the FireWire 800 peripherals to the computer and adding the 400 peripherals at the end of the 800 daisy chain may work. However, recalling the mixing things in other contexts (USB 1.x vs. 2.x and WiFi 802.11g vs. 802.11n) drags every device down to the slowest speed. Will that happen on a FireWire 800 and 400 daisy chain?
Anyone know of a FireWire 800 hub?

jnsail wrote:
How do I connect FireWire 400 Peripherals and FireWire 800 Peripherals to the single FireWire 800 port and preserve the FireWire 800 speed to the computer for the Firewire 800 Peripherals?
You cannot. If devices of different speeds are daisy-chained, the speed of the entire chain will drop to the speed of the slowest device, in this case FW400. A hub won't help.
The workaround is to get an ExpressCard FireWire adapter, and connect one set of devices to that, and the other set to the MBP's FW800 port.

Hub Firewire 800/400

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