USB B to Firewire (400 or 800)

Hi
I have a USB external hard drive which is used as my back up drive using Time Machine.
Is it possible to get a cable to connect the hard drive to either the firewire 400 or 800 port in the back of my imac?
I am trying to free up some usb ports, and don't want to have to buy a new firewire hard drive, speed isn't the priority for me, just not sure it is possible to get a cable to do the job?
Thanks

Short and to the point thanks for that.
Looks like a usb hub or new hard drive then

Similar Messages

How to tell if Firewire 400 or 800? In any OS and this laptop: Toshiba Satellite A350D - BA3.

Hello.
I was wondering how someone can tell the difference between Firewire 400 and 800 in their computer and in this model of Toshiba laptop: Toshiba Satellite A350D - BA3?
If a person looked in device manager or something would it say? With Usb it says Enhanced when it is usb2 compared to usb1. I don't know what usb3 says, I don't have it.
With firewire there is large sizes and small. On my laptop it is a mini firewire and it looks like a 4-pin inside. On the toshiba.ca site, in the product specs, it only says firewire.
I am planning on buying a cord that has a large connection on one end and a small connection size at the other end. Eg: Some cables for firewire are a 4-4pin, 6-4pin, 6-6pin, 9-4pin,9-6pin,9-9pin. There are also firewire 400 to 800 adapters. I'd like to buy the right cord for an external enclosure I bought to connect to the small laptop firewire port. The enclosure is a Vantec NexStar 3, 3.5" enclosure, usb2, eSATA, Firewire a/b. It has two firewire b ports in back, but an included cord converts b-a (the a is still to big for the laptop firewire).
Does anyone know if any of the mini ports are as fast as the larger ports? Will a 9-pin firewire 800 cable converting to a mini connection go at the mini connections speed if it is only firewire 400, I don't think it can force full F800 speed?
Thanks.

Hello.
I was wondering how someone can tell the difference between Firewire 400 and 800 in their computer and in this model of Toshiba laptop: Toshiba Satellite A350D - BA3?
If a person looked in device manager or something would it say? With Usb it says Enhanced when it is usb2 compared to usb1. I don't know what usb3 says, I don't have it.
With firewire there is large sizes and small. On my laptop it is a mini firewire and it looks like a 4-pin inside. On the toshiba.ca site, in the product specs, it only says firewire.
I am planning on buying a cord that has a large connection on one end and a small connection size at the other end. Eg: Some cables for firewire are a 4-4pin, 6-4pin, 6-6pin, 9-4pin,9-6pin,9-9pin. There are also firewire 400 to 800 adapters. I'd like to buy the right cord for an external enclosure I bought to connect to the small laptop firewire port. The enclosure is a Vantec NexStar 3, 3.5" enclosure, usb2, eSATA, Firewire a/b. It has two firewire b ports in back, but an included cord converts b-a (the a is still to big for the laptop firewire).
Does anyone know if any of the mini ports are as fast as the larger ports? Will a 9-pin firewire 800 cable converting to a mini connection go at the mini connections speed if it is only firewire 400, I don't think it can force full F800 speed?
Thanks.

Audio interface for 24" iMac - conflict between firewire 400 and 800?

So, what I have now:
2.8ghz iMac, latest model, newest firmware, running OS 10.4.11, connected to an M-Audio Ozonic Firewire 400 interface, and I was hoping to run said interface while ALSO connecting a firewire 800 hard drive for samples, or for recording to.
Alas, as soon as I turn on the firewire 800 drive, a model sold by Other World Computing and containing an Oxford chipset, all audio stops on the Ozonic keyboard and is replaced by clicks and pops. The only way I've found to get the audio back is with a complete restart of the system, with the firewire 800 drive OFF.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the M-Audio device, it's a small keyboard and firewire audio interface in one unit. Perhaps not the highest quality, but my Powerbook G4 1.67 with firewire 800 CAN run both the Ozonic and the firewire 800 drive at the same time. With no interruption in sound playback.
I did some research and discovered that in the iMac I bought, the two firewire channels, 400 and 800, appear to be on the same PCI E bus, and perhaps will NEVER work together.
Is that right? I thought the whole point of firewire was how it's able to negotiate such communications and work seamlessly with other firewire devices. I know, I know, I'm living in dreamland, it's just sad that a much older Apple product (my PPC notebook), can do something a brand new model cannot. Sigh.
Any advice? Any chance 10.5 fixes this?
If not, should my next audio interface be USB 2.0? Any thoughts from the Audio pros out there (besides 'you bought the wrong machine) would be great.

Sorry I can't help with your specific query as I have never used that Audio hardware.
I am a video man myself and went for the 24" 2.8Ghz iMac as i believe the Firewire 400 and 800 Buses are seperate. I know on older iMacs and even the MacPro the FW800 and 400 buses were on the same bus and when connecting a firewire video camera to the FW400 bus, the 800 would lower it's speed to 400 to accomodate or in some cases would lose the connection all together.
I currently have a FW800 Hard drive connected to the FW800 port and a video deck in the FW400 port and they both run at full speed 800/400 respectively.
This leads me to believe Apple have fixed the Firewire sharing problem.
I know it's no help but just though I would share my experience with the Firewire on the new iMac.

IPod Connector To Firewire 400 or 800 Cable?

Does such a thing exist? An iPod Dock Connector cable to either Firewire 400 or 800? I've run out of spare USB 2.0 ports on the back of my iMac, but both of my Firewire ports are still available. It would be great if I could connect my iPod Touch to one of these. Is it possible, or do iPods only work with USB 2.0 connections?

I quite agree. Three USB2.0 is extremely paltry, as many as eight would be still be sensible IMHO. I wonder if there are any iMac users without USB hubs.
I'm currently looking at one of these:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ministack/
It adds a USB2.0 hub, Firewire Hub and as much external storage as you need (Time Machine etc). Many of these will sit nicely on the iMac's plinth beneath the screen.
mrtotes

LaCie External Harddrive suddenly won't mount via Firewire 400 or 800

My LaCie External d2 Quadra suddenly won't mount via Firewire 400 or 800, but will mount via USB 2.0.
I have:
Tested the harddrive on another computer and it works fine via firewire.
Shut down and re-boot. It had no effect.
Updated all software.
Note: My MBP will not boot if the Firewire 800 cable is connected.

I've had a whole heap of strife with my two macally enclosures over FW. I've only got them working twice together, regardless of jumper settings on the harddrives. I can plug either in fine, but if I use both together, my mac shuts down and refuses to boot. One drive is bus powered, the other is powered via the mains
I wish you luck

I am using IMovie 11 with a new iMac. Unable to import video from a Panasonic PV-GS400 mini-DV camcorder using a Firewire IEEE 1394 400 cable connected to a Firewire 400 to 800 adapter which is then connected to a Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adapter.

How can I get iMovie to recognize my Panasonic PV-GS400 as a device so I can import video to my iMac? I have a FireWire IEEE 1394 400 cable connected to the camcorder. Since my new iMac has only Thunderbolt ports, I purchased a Firewire 400 to 800 adapter to connect to the cable. I also purchased a FireWire 800 to Thunderbolt adapter to connect to the computer. My camcarder is still not recognized.

I would suggest that you try a 9 pin to 4 pin Firewire Cable along with the Firewire to Thunderbolt adapter.
Those Firewire 400 to 800 adapters do not seem to work well with iMovie.
The 9 pin to 4 pin cables are available at reasonable prices here, for example.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10301&cs_id=1030104 &p_id=3541&seq=1&format=2

Firewire 400 to 800 cable not working

Hi
I have just bought a third party Firewire 400 to 800 cable to connect from my Lacie drive's 800 port to the 400 port on my iBook. When I do this, the drive does not mount at all.
Does anyone know why?
best
Aldo

iBook forum this is not. Mac Pros are towers like G5 only Intel.
I would avoid LaCie, but that is me. Also, is the drive bus powered? not good. Have a good power supply?
What did you do last?
Have you run Disk Warrior?
Take the cable back and pick up new FireWire 400 case.
http://www.macsales.com/firewire/
they have cables also.

HT4889 Trying to migrate from Mac-mini Tiger to Mac-mini Lion and Migration Assistant cannot find my Firewire, 400 to 800, "T" disk although it show up in the new Mac's computer folder. Help

Trying to migrate from Mac-mini Tiger to Mac-mini Lion and Migration Assistant cannot find my Firewire, 400 to 800, "T" disk although it shows up in the new Mac's computer folder. It seems that Mac-mini Tiger is as it should be and the firewire cable is OK. Something about the Migration Assistant is being missed, but I have no idea what it is.
Help

Addendum: I read on a post here (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=420169) about removing some kext files in order to trick OSX into thinking that there were no FireWire ports.
I followed the instructions and removed from /System/Library/Extensions/ the following files:
IOFireWireSerialBusProtocolTransport.kext
IOFireWireAVC.kext
IOFireWireFamily.kext
IOFireWireIP.kext
IOFireWireSBP2.kext
I restarted and BAM...Snow Leopard booted crazy fast and the mouse and keyboard worked instantly.
The System Profiler says "No FireWire ports were found."
So this tells me that the FW port is probably the culprit and is messing up the installation.
So how do I hack the Mountain Lion installer and tell it to ignore the FW port, which is obviously quite dead? Or is there something I can do to the Base system that is similar?

General Capture error,capturing straight to MacBook via Firewire 400 to 800

Hi guys,
I'm on a shoot now and whilst I'm capturing straight from my Z7 into the Macbook (going from Firewire 400 to 800), occasionally after the capture I get a 'General capture error' and I lose the footage! Obviously it's backed up on tape so it's okay but this is kinda frustrating, do you think it's an issue with the fact that I'm going from 400 to 800?
I've tried altering the Easy Setup a few times, still having the error.
Thanks,
Alex

In the System Settings/Scratch Disk tab, try activating the "Limit Capture Now To" function. Type in whatever is the longest session you expect to record.
If you don't activate this feature, FCP has no idea how much material to expect and assumes you will need to fill up your harddrive.
Let us know if that helps.
K
BTW...why don't you tell us exactly what format the Z7 is recording and what your capture settings are. Might also include exact versions of OS/FCP/QT.
You may just be choking the macbook, by attempting to capture directly to your internal hd.
Message was edited by: Kevan D. Holdsworth

Firewire 400 or 800 for External HD

Hello. I presently have an eMac and will be upgrading to an iMac early in 2008. I am looking at purchasing a Lacie Porsche Ext. Hd 500 GB which has FW400 on it. This will suit my eMac as it has a 400 port on it and I can use it now. My question is, will the FW400 be sufficient for the iMac or would I be better advised to try and get an External Drive with both 400 AND 800? Thanks for any comments or guidance.

No one knows at this point what ports the iMac will have in early 2008. Today, just the 24" iMac has a Firewire 800 port. The time you want Firewire 800 is when you need extra speed in data transfer between hard drive and computer. This is usually when you are doing video capture or something else where live access to extra space is essential. For backing up, you just save some time. But actual video playback will improve if playing off a Firewire 800 drive. You can always change the hard drive case on other external hard drives, but LaCie's are awfully difficult to take apart. To offer maximum flexibility find a drive that offers both Firewire 400 and 800, and you should be fine.

Firewire 400 and 800 problem ? Need confirmation

OK, I have been running 2 external Lacie HD's over a USB hub into my MacBook Pro. A couple of weeks ago I decided that I needed more storage so purchased 2 Western Digital MyBook Pro's at 500GB.
I got these two specifically because I knew they supported Firewire 800 and wanted to take advantage of the high speed connection.
All is going well until yesterday.... Let me explain my set up. Firstly I am a DJ and use a Firewire Audiophile soundcard from M-Audio, this connects to the 400 port on my MacBook Pro, and the HD's connect to the 800... When I play music I get audio drop outs... I have looked through the forums and I am under the impression that both the 400 and 800 ports on my MacBook Pro run on the same connect, so is this the cause of the audio drop outs ?
I connect the 2 HD's via USB and have no problems, am I right in thinking that I have wasted good money on getting 2 HD's that I'm not going to be able to use the 800 port with ? When I run the audio through the internal soundcard I get no drop outs !
Also.... Just to annoy me even more I have a 20" cinema display so if I have use USB I decided to connect the two HD's to this and then to the MacBook Pro, now the problem here is when my MacBook Pro goes to sleep one of the HD's wakes up the MacBook Pro as it has been removed incorrectly ??? Do I now have a problem with one of my USB ports on the cinema screen also ????? I have put my iPod in the port and no problems ?
Does anyone know how I can solve these problems without having to spend even more money ?
And can someone confirm if the 400 and 800 ports are on the same connection, if so, whats the point ???
Thanks
- Neil

neil,
I wouldn't do that right away.. USB audio interfaces are usually at the more consumer end of the market, I don't think it's the best way to go just to solve your problem.
did you read the part in my post about PCexpress cards that give you a totally new and independent FW800 bus? seriously, I think this is your best bet. these cards first came out when the original series of MBP didn't have FW800 on them (only 400) much to the consternation of video pros.. so 3rd party vendors made a card solution. as I said, they aren't expensive, I would have thought around or under $100 US. connect one of those to your MBP's express slot and your problem is solved. you'll have a powerful, dedicated FW channel just for those FW800 drives you bought. then, your m-audio interface will be fine. and even if you still want to get rid of it and get a better interface, you won't be forced to go to USB which generally means opting for a lower end of the market interface.
also one other thing.. I don't know what your actual audio i/o needs are. but if you only ever work with stereo out and stereo in, ie, you never need more than 2 physical outputs and 2 physical inputs, then you have other options. the MBP (and in fact all macs) have optical digital audio built in. you can buy a 2in 2out digital to analog/analog to digital converter and connect it to the opticals. then, you'll never need to worry about FW or USB bandwidth ever again, nor will you ever need to think about drivers or compatibility or updates either.
on my MBP I use logic pro. and on this system, I only ever need a stereo out to hear what I'm working on with good quality.. and when I record actual audio tracks, it's only ever one source at a time, like a mic input or an instrument. so I do not need an interface at all, I use the opticals and I love it. I bought a mindprint trio, not the USB one, but the one that uses optical i/o. it just connects to the same connectors on the MBP that you would connect headphones or a mic, but obviously uses the digital optical signal not analog audio. it sounds really very good. the trio itself is a very handy little box that conveniently lets you do a lot of things to work comfortable when recording. and I just use built-in sound, no drivers needed ever, which is very much a rare relief in the audio world, believe me.
anyway, hope this helps. and seriously check out a card for FW800, in my opinion it's the best solution to your problem no matter which way you go.

Firewire 400 or 800?

So, I just purchased a Samsung camcorder, but only came with USB cable. From what I read from this forum is that you need to have the firewire cable to import video from camcorder to Mac.
What exactly is the difference between Firewire 400 and Firewire 800? Is it only differed by the transfer rates? or perhaps usage?
So, what kind of firewire cable do I exactly need to connect my camcorder? It seems like there are various connector types and just don't know which one to get...
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?cid=103&cp_id=10301&cs_id=1030104&pid=328&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?cid=103&cp_id=10301&cs_id=1030105&pid=3543&seq=1&format=2
Or just simply get the one on the apple site which costs $29?
Thanks.

The two ends of a 6-pin-to-4-pin FireWire cable look like this:
The big end (6-pin) goes into your Mac, and the small end (4-pin) generally goes into most amateur camcorders which have a FireWire connection. (Many PCs have a small, 4-pin socket instead of the larger 6-pin socket which you find on Macs.)
You don't say which Samsung camcorder you have. Generally, only camcorders which use DV tape have a FireWire connector. Camcorders which have a hard disc inside, or record onto chips, or onto something other than tape, generally have, instead, a USB connection, which is generally smaller and flatter than a FireWire socket, and often looks like this:
That will NOT carry video directly between a camcorder and iMovie, and is generally used for either (a) importing still pictures into a Mac, or (b) copying a video file from a camcorder onto a Mac, and then the video can afterwards - possibly after conversion into a different kind of format - be imported from the Mac's own hard disc into iMovie.
Note that I've never found it possible to import from a camcorder using a 9-pin-to-4-pin FireWire 800 cable ..which looks like this;
There's no advantage using FW 800 ..on a Mac which has a FireWire 800 connection.. because FireWire from a camcorder generally runs at only a quarter the possible full speed of FireWire 400 anyway, and it'll run no faster using FW800.

Upgrading from Firewire 400 to 800 on Original Macbook Pro

Is it possible to upgrade my original Macbook Pro Firewire 400 port to an 800 port? And will it perform at 800 on the original Macbook Pro?
This is my situation:
I will be recording on a Canon HD VIXIA HF S10 Dual Flash Memory Camcorder. You can record to an internal memory of 32GB or a 32GB removable SDHC card. The camcorder does not provide a Firewire port, only USB 2.0. I figure if I use the card to record on, I can then use a Firewire 800 card reader to transfer the large HD video file to the laptop, believing this would be considerably faster than the direct USB 2.0 from the camera (I could be wrong). I will edit the film and then save it to an external portable 800 Firewire hard drive for storage. I will be backpacking which means the weight, size, durability and speed all matter for this process. I am just trying to decide which setup is best for my camcorder, computer and external hard drives. Thanks.

FireWire 800 can potentially be much faster than USB 2.0. It is that way with hard disks for sure.
You cannot upgrade the port inside your machine. What you can do is get a FireWire 800 card like this one and stick it into your ExpressCard slot.

If I move from Firewire 400 to 800 will download speed of video increase?

Hi,
I have just upgraded from a MacMini (which had firewire 400) to a new iMac which only has firewire 800. I have a 3 year old JVC digital camcorder (GR-D340EK) with ilink out and previously used a Belkin cable to connect to my Macmini. My question is if I now purchase an ilink to FW800 cable for the iMac will the video download at twice the rate or am I just as well to purchase a cheaper FW 400 to 800 adapter, which I understand would only give me FW400 speeds (and could be used for other devices too)?
Any advice guys?
Regards
Shakey

Either way, the speed of the connection will be the same. The device itself is FireWire 400, so it will not go any faster.
You can often find the cable for about the same price as the adapter. What you need, if the camera has the smaller FireWire connector, is a 9-pin to 4-pin cable, like this one
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/1394B94036/

Firewire 400 and 800

I use my powerbook for digital video editting. I connected to dv camera to the firewire 400 port and connect an external hard drive to the firewire 800 port. Recently when doing this the device that is connected last does not show as being connected. If I connect the the hard drive first them imovie does not show a camera connected and likewise if I connect the camera first then the hard drive does not mount on the desktop. If anyone has any ideas on what I can do to get my firewire ports to work simultaneously please let me know.

I have the same issue and I thought the ADS unit or the Hard Drive was bad. If I disconnect the FW800 cable from the external HD, then repower the drive, it will boot and I can plug the FW800 back in and it will mount on the desktop.
FOUND A FIX!!!!
I found this in the knowledgebase:
Short Version to reset NVRAM and it fixed my boot issues with external FW800 HD.
Boot Mac while holding down the Apple-Option-O-F keys
at the prompt type:
RESET-NVRAM (press enter)
RESET-ALL (Press enter)
Then your mac will reboot.
After I did this, my drive mounts normally!
If you want the whole thread, search for "reset NVRAM".
Matt Caswell
Mesa, AZ

USB B to Firewire (400 or 800)

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