Why can't you connect a Firewire 400 device to an 800 port? it's only a speed difference, and there has to be arbitrary clocks that could be doubled, allowing communictation, right? I don't know too much about Firewire.
In practice, pretty much all FireWire 800 ports are backwards compatible, but it is not required. FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 use different signalling protocols (1394a and 1394b respectively), and there is a standard connector defined for 1394b-only ("beta only"), which has wider notches.
If you want to read up a bit on FireWire, the 1394 Trade Association has a tutorial [pdf] which is fairly light-weight and provides some useful insight.
Or an HDV/miniDV video camera. A lot of people (myself included) have moved on to tapeless recording, but I still have an archive of tapes that I will want to access in the future.
Update: After seeing the adapter, it has a female FW800 port (I was thinking this was an adapter cable), so you can simply plug a 9-pin FW800 to 4 or 6 pin FW 400 cable into it and you're off to the races!
Can I daisy chain my FireWire drives like before? Is there a limit to how many units I can link?
Yes, you'll be able to daisy chain FireWire drives from the Thunderbolt->FireWire adapter but for Macs with one Thunderbolt port you'll be using the only port.
IIRC, the max limit for daisy chaining FireWire is 63, and that should be the case with this adapter.
Yes, you'll be able to daisy chain FireWire drives from the Thunderbolt->FireWire adapter but for Macs with one Thunderbolt port you'll be using the only port.
IIRC, the max limit for daisy chaining FireWire is 63, and that should be the case with this adapter.
That's great to hear.
Thankfully I have 2 Thunderbolt ports.
Ultimately, the other will be for my new tb drives in the near future.
Thanks for the 800 to 400 conversion info! Like snortin Cuervo or a beagle hanging ten, "Whoa Dude, I didn't even know you could DO that!"
I have adaptors from FW400-800 with every drive I have bought for FW 800. I guess you can use the Thunderbolt to FW800 adaptor, then plug the FW800-400 adaptor for your FW400 drives.
Comments
In practice, pretty much all FireWire 800 ports are backwards compatible, but it is not required. FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 use different signalling protocols (1394a and 1394b respectively), and there is a standard connector defined for 1394b-only ("beta only"), which has wider notches.
If you want to read up a bit on FireWire, the 1394 Trade Association has a tutorial [pdf] which is fairly light-weight and provides some useful insight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Conrail
Or an HDV/miniDV video camera. A lot of people (myself included) have moved on to tapeless recording, but I still have an archive of tapes that I will want to access in the future.
Update: After seeing the adapter, it has a female FW800 port (I was thinking this was an adapter cable), so you can simply plug a 9-pin FW800 to 4 or 6 pin FW 400 cable into it and you're off to the races!
Quote:
Originally Posted by moustache
Can I daisy chain my FireWire drives like before? Is there a limit to how many units I can link?
Yes, you'll be able to daisy chain FireWire drives from the Thunderbolt->FireWire adapter but for Macs with one Thunderbolt port you'll be using the only port.
IIRC, the max limit for daisy chaining FireWire is 63, and that should be the case with this adapter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John.B
Yes, you'll be able to daisy chain FireWire drives from the Thunderbolt->FireWire adapter but for Macs with one Thunderbolt port you'll be using the only port.
IIRC, the max limit for daisy chaining FireWire is 63, and that should be the case with this adapter.
That's great to hear.
Thankfully I have 2 Thunderbolt ports.
Ultimately, the other will be for my new tb drives in the near future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DogCowabunga
Thanks for the 800 to 400 conversion info! Like snortin Cuervo or a beagle hanging ten, "Whoa Dude, I didn't even know you could DO that!"
I have adaptors from FW400-800 with every drive I have bought for FW 800. I guess you can use the Thunderbolt to FW800 adaptor, then plug the FW800-400 adaptor for your FW400 drives.