Mixing Firewire 800 and 400 on an iMac?

I have 2 external FW 400 drives on my late 2011 iMac. I use an 800 to 400 adapter. I've been thinking of getting a new external drive from OWC. The have both 400 and 800. The 800 case has 2 800 connectors and one 400. Does it make sense to mix? Will they all run at the slowest in the chain?
I was thinking of connecting the 800 directly to the iMac using the built-in 800 connection. Then chaining from there using the 400 connection to the other existing 400 external drives. Will I actually get 800 speed on the first drive?
Thanks

I have a mixed group of external drives, and just bought a new OWC Mercury quad interface drive.
The user manual that came with it says:
Note: If you are using FireWire 800 and add a FireWire 400 device to the chain, all devices will be reduced to FireWire 400 performance
I tested this myself, which confirmed it. I set up the following chain,  with the first 2 drives connected by FW800, and with a FW400 drive either connected or not connected at the end:
HD  ----800-----DRIVE1------800------DRIVE2-------400-------DRIVE3
I booted from my HD and timed the copying of a large file from DRIVE1 to DRIVE2. Although the FW400 drive was at the end of the chain and was never involved in the copying, just having it attached immediately reduced the speed of the file copy from Drive1 to Drive2. The actual speed reduction in practice was about 40%, not 50%.

Similar Messages

  • Mixing firewire 800 and 400

    I have an older iMac (3.06 GHz Intel Core i3). I currently have 3 external firewire 400 drives daisy-chained to it. I use a 800 to 400 adapter on the back of the iMac to convert from 800 down for my drives. I was just looking at OWC and considering a new external. Just wondering if it would be worth my while to pay extra to get a USB3/firewire 800 enclosure instead of a 400. If I hook up the 800 directly to the iMac, then use the 800/400 adapter off the extra port on the back of the first drive to run the other 4 400 drives, will I be getting the 800 speed from the first drive, or will it be downgraded to 400 (speed of the older drives). If I was starting from scratch, it wouldn't be an issue, but since I don't want to loose the other 4TBs+ on my other drives. Hope someone knows the answer. I've heard conflicting stories on how this actually works.
    Thanks

    Just wondering if it would be worth my while to pay extra to get a USB3/firewire 800 enclosure instead of a 400.
    If you think you'll ever upgrade you Mac I'd get the FW800/USB3.0 model so it will be  usable at it's intended speed with the new Mac.
    OT

  • FireWire 800 and 400

    Can I link up two HDD's one FireWire 800 and one FireWire 400 into one FireWire port on my MBP?
    Thanks

    It is just that easy. I'm assuming you have a FW800 on your MBP? Just do a search on Amazon for Firewire 800 to 400 cables and you'll find some - very inexpensive - that will suit your needs. Oh! Here are some from monoprice - all under $9.
    Regards,
    Clinton

  • Daisy chaining firewire 800 and 400 devices

    I am considering purchasing a blue-ray DVD recorder that has two 800 ports and one 400 port. My sony video camera has a firewire 400 connection and I am wondering whether that camera cable may be used to import video using my 400 cable connected to the 400 port. One 800 port would be connected to the computer. Or should I purchase a firewire800 to 400 (4 pin) cable and use the second 800 port on the recorder, or go direct from the computer swapping the cables when importing video?

    Hi Charles
    If your using the Core Duo with 2 400 ports listed in your profile, then you might be better off just connecting the player up 400 and then using the second 400 port for the camera. If however we are talking about a newer iMac, one with a single 800 port then you will want to connect the recorder up 800 and then the camera up 400 to that.
    Also see > http://support.apple.com/kb/TA26476
    Dennis

  • FireWire 800 and 400 ports??

    What is the difference between these and can you plug any devices into either?

    FireWire 800 rocks! It has twice the throughput of FireWire 400. 100 MB/sec versus 50 MB/sec. They do have different connectors, but you can buy adapters. And like the last guy said, a FW400 device will not run at FW800 speeds. I use a FW 800 drive, and it's pretty zippy, but without a RAID config you're not likely to spit out 100 MB/sec of data!
    Hope this helps.
    PowerMac G4 FireWire 800 Dual 1.25 GHz   Mac OS X (10.4.5)   1.25 Gig RAM

  • Rear Firewire 800 and 400 Ports

    I'm having an issue getting a new Maxtor HD to be recognized by my G5. The front FW 400 port works fine, but I can't get the two rear ports to recognize the unit.
    I've tried the shutdown and power plug pull technique but that didn't work.
    Any other ideas?
    Or does this box have to go in for repairs?
    ??? Thanks

    You could try the Official firewire reset
    Mike Mihalik, LaCie
    "Seems like the FireWire issue needs to be revisited quite often. Here is my often repeated suggestion which appears to clear up many FireWire issues: reset the FireWire ports. Panther has a Finder Preference to show mounted volumes on the Desktop. You must set this for mounted drives to be visible. Please follow these instructions to reset your FireWire port.
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88338
    Here is a summary:
    * shut down and disconnect all external drives and peripherals ; make sure nothing is connected to the FireWire ports
    * use Apple Disk Utility to repair permissions on your internal boot drive
    * shut down and disconnect the AC power from the computer as well as the drives; if laptop, also remove battery
    * let sit unpowered and unconnected for 15 minutes
    * reconnect AC power to only the computer (battery too if laptop)
    * restart computer
    * verify that FireWire ports are visible within Apple System Profiler
    * reconnect FireWire drive (only one); refresh window within Apple System Profiler to rescan the FireWire bus; confirm that drive is visible
    * confirm drive is OK by using Apple Disk Utility and apply First Aid
    * repeat for other drives, one at a time "
    Post again if it doesn't help.

  • Can i use Firewire 800 and 400 at the same time?

    I have a HD connected to my 800 port works fine and a GL-2 camera on the 400 and final cut pro won't see the camera. Can I have 2 devices hooked up at the same time?

    Yes. But you did not say whether the camera works alone or not at all. In the latter case it could be the camera isn't compatible.
    Why reward points?(Quoted from Discussions Terms of Use.)
    The reward system helps to increase community participation. When a community member gives you (or another member) a reward for providing helpful advice or a solution to their question, your accumulated points will increase your status level within the community.
    Members may reward you with 5 points if they deem that your reply is helpful and 10 points if you post a solution to their issue. Likewise, when you mark a reply as Helpful or Solved in your own created topic, you will be awarding the respondent with the same point values.

  • Is there a difference between firewire 800 and firewire 400 besides the connectors

    is there a difference between firewire 800 and firewire 400 cables besides the connectors?

    Speed.   800 is up to twice the speed, and sometimes faster.    You can connect the two connectors with a cable that fits both ends, but you will be left with the slowest speed.

  • WD MyBook Firewire 800 and M-Audio FireWire 1814 conflict

    I have a big problem with an external HD Western Digital MyBook firewire 800 and a M-Audio firewire 1814.
    When I turn on the external HD (connected via firewire 800) the sound card stops to play.
    If I don't use the drive everything works, but if I use the external HD the sound stops again.
    If I connect the external HD via firewire 400 or usb2 the soundcard works perfectly ...
    I think there is a conflict in some driver but I do not have any soundcard (firewire) or any other external drive (Firewire800) to check WHERE is the problem.
    I have the same problem in both my Macs (iMac 24 Aluminium and MacBook Pro 17")
    Does anybody can help me? Am I the only one with this problem?
    Do I have to complain with Western Digital, M-Audio or Apple Inc.?
    Thank you for your help!
    Carlo

    Thank you Chris, I just wonder why Bee Jay can use the HD FW800 with the M-Audio Firewire interface without problems.
    I use the ext HD for backup too, but sometimes I need to find something in my backups and I have to turn off the audio interface and copy the files on my internal HD ... then turn off the drive again and turn on the M-Audio ... it's very annoying.
    In some forum I read that the problem can be the firewire chipset, but my iMac has the Lucent and the MacBook Pro has the TI (reccomended by M-Audio) ... same problem on both machines.
    I did some test:
    1) If I use the FW800 external HD and the FW400 with iMovie and my Video Camcorder I have no problem at all. I tried to use the HD at maximum (during a time machine backup I was copying other files and saving the HDV files in the same external HD) and everything works perfectly without loosing a single frame.
    2) If I connect the HDV camcorder to the M-Audio interface I cannot even start the capture ... I have to turn off the external FW800 HD.
    It looks that the problem is definitely in the M-Audio Firewire driver but unfortunatley the M-Audio e-mail support is only for US customers ... and I'm Italian.
    Is there any US customer that has this problem and can insist with the M-Audio support?
    Maybe they can solve it in the next release ...
    Thank you in advance.

  • 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.

  • My firewire 800 and USB ports on not functioning!

    My firewire 800 and USB ports on not functioning, I believe it is an issue the next driver loaders anyone, know how I can reset these?

    You don't "reset" a driver (kext).  And I don't believe it s a driver problem.  However you might try doing a smc and pram reset to see if that "shakes the ports loose".  Might work.  Couldn't hurt to try.

  • 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 specs, and 400 to 800 connection

    I need to connect an Epson Perfection 4870 scanner to either of my 2009 Macbook Pros.
    The scanner has a conventional 400 firewire socket - how many pins?
    The Macbook Pros each have an 800 firewire socket - how many pins?
    Should I be looking for an adapter or a cable with 400/800 plugs?
    Any help with locating the right cable/adapter would be much appreciated.

    Yesterday I bought a 6 ft. Belkin FireWire 800/400 9-pin to 6-pin cable from my local Apple Store for just such purposes. (The Apple part number is TP320LL/A)

  • What do I need to support my FireWire 800 gear on a new iMac

    I need to replace my antique mac pro 1.1
    I am now retired and my needs tend more towards games than av creation so the new Mac Pro is not only overkill but the dual video I here is not optimized for games in any case.
    The problem is all of my existing FireWire 800 gear and no FireWire ports on the new iMac designs
    I guess I need to buy an external thunderbolt case for the 4 2 terabyte drives in the old pro do any of the external T-bolt cases offer good FireWire 800 support (full speed support) for all of my old gear?
    Are there other ways to support these devices than an external t-bolt case for sata drives?
    And for a game playing iMac is a fusion drive or a large solid state drive best choice bearing in mind I will have about 10 terabytes of FireWire and t-bolt external storage ( I was thinking of making the drives in the required t-bolt external case a raid array for best performance)
    So what external t-bolt drive case should I buy and if it does not support a set of FireWire 800 ports what external t-bolt gadget for that support should I buy?
    Thanks

    Windshadow99 wrote:
    I looked at those but would it not be far better to have a gadget that plugged into a t-bolt port and then had a bunch of FireWire 800 ports on it? There must be lots of folks that like me invested in FW800 gear with their older computers and need something like this.
    Perhaps, though as with anything it depends on your needs. I don't know of any such device, though. All the Thunderbolt docks I've seen that have Firewire at all have only a single port. You could use a TBolt to FW adapter with Thunderbolt ports in a dock, though. A Firewire hub isn't a lot of good other than providing multiple connectors since all devices are on the same FW bus and hence not really much different from daisy-chaining. There's certainly no performance improvement and probably not much in the way of stability improvement either.
    I was told a long time ago back in the mac 2fx sccsi days that daisy chaining things should be avoided and  giving things their own pro was better does this advice sill hold good?
    SCSI was very different (and usually wasn't a problem as long as it was terminated correctly). Daisy-chaining FW is different, though it very much depends on the devices and the sort of throughput you need. Daisy-chaining Thunderbolt should be no problem at all as long as the devices support it.
    Regards.

  • Firewire 800 and Iomega 2Tb External Drive

    I started using an Iomega 2Tb as Time Machine just over one year ago.
    Initially it connected to my iMac 27" and worked perfectly with a Firewire 800 cable.
    After a couple of months it suddenly stopped working and was not recognised in Finder or Disc Utility.  I contacted Iomega and they suggested I try a new cable.  I did and it did not make any difference.  I have no other Firewire devices to test if the problem is with the Iomega or my iMac.
    I switched to USB and that worked perfectly for a while.  I have subsequently had problems with the Iomega "unmounting" itself, with a Journal Error comment when I run Verify in Disc Utility.
    I have reformatted and remounted the Iomega twice but it has unmounted itself again.
    I rotate three external drives as Time Machine back ups.  The other drives are USB Freecom and Seagate 1Tb drives.  They continue to work perfectly. 
    Because the Iomega has also given problems when connected by USB, I suspect it is the cause of the problem.
    I would hope that we have reached the stage in home computing when we can buy a device, plug it in and it works, without having to waste time problem solving.
    Can any one suggest anything else I can check?

    Thanks Nick.  The Iomega is the only external drive with which I have experienced any problems so I guess I wasted my money and will need to try another brand.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Delete folder from application server

    Hy folks i'm been reading many topics about creating and deleting a folder ( entire folder) from application file. i successufuly create a file by using command and  SM69   cmd /c   mkdir, and that's ok, what i'm unable to do is to delete a directory

  • Use of Cell Variant for a normal table

    Hi Experts, I have a requirement in a normal table where a row is first in read-only mode, then on click of edit button (given on that row), the row should become editable and also edit button should become invisible and two more buttons update/cance

  • Colour is not right in illustrator cmyk pantone cyan and aqua

    I am trying to work with colours in illustrator.  I have set my colour mode to CMYK.  I am trying to create a light aqua colour and just keep getting "out of gamut" errors.  I tried using the colour book for Pantone and even entering the number of a

  • I have a new iMac and I was able to transfer all files but not my VMware virtual machine.  How do I do this?

    I was able to migrate all my stuff from the old iMac to the new iMac but can't access my VMware virtual machine.  How do I transfer it from the old to the new.

  • Infopackage through ABAP

    I am triggering an infopackage thru ABAP program using the function module BAPI_IPAK_START. It generates a request number. How will I find out the status of the infopackage?  Which table it gets stored?  I need use the table in the code so that i can