firewire drawing power

mattjohndrowmattjohndrow
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
on my friend's laptop, whenever he has a FW device like an iPod, or if he has a cd in the drive, it uses his battery power like nobodys business, so, i'm wondering ig in desktops, if you have a FW device or a cd in there, even if you are not accessing it, does it use alot of CPU or power?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Every time you have a CD in your drive, it's spinning. Although, if it isn't being accessed, the power consumption will be low. As for the FW devices, yes, FW does draw power and is capable of drawing quite a bit of it. Remember, when an iPod is connected to a computer, it charges, this is a direct drain on the battery if the PB isn't plugged in. My advice, avoid plugging in the iPod when he is just on battery power, and don't use CDs if you don't have to.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    piwozniakpiwozniak Posts: 815member
    Hey,



    i think if your portable is running on batteries then iPod won't be charging when connected. (at least in 10.2) Your laptop has to be connected to power in order for iPod to start charging.



    Again, maybe it's changed in Panther.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    mattjohndrowmattjohndrow Posts: 1,618member
    my question is, does it take any CPU power indesktops
  • Reply 4 of 7
    mcqmcq Posts: 1,543member
    If it's a firewire device charging from the computer it's connected to, then yes, it will obviously use some power regardless of what it's connected to, desktop or laptop.



    As for CPU usage, I would think it's extremely minimal, if any.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Power systems in today's computers are really quite intricate and sophisticated. By now Apple's probably figured out how to get the iPod to charge on a desktop without having much impact on the computer's processing.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    mattjohndrowmattjohndrow Posts: 1,618member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MCQ

    If it's a firewire device charging from the computer it's connected to, then yes, it will obviously use some power regardless of what it's connected to, desktop or laptop.



    As for CPU usage, I would think it's extremely minimal, if any.



    that's what i wanted to know
  • Reply 7 of 7
    michael wilkiemichael wilkie Posts: 223member
    Firewire is CPU independent. USB and USB2, however, can use a substantial amount of CPU, depending on the type of device. In fact, even a daisy chain of up to 61 Firewire devices will not affect CPU performance. This is one of the major benefits of Firewire.



    Firewire devices can use a significant amount of power, though typically this is only true of bus-powered devices, like the iPod.
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