FireWire PCI cards for the G5???

craig12cocraig12co
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I searched the forums and didn't find this brought up, so if this has been addressed before, I apologize.



I am wondering, what FireWire PCI cards actually work in the G5. I just need a cheap FW400/1394A card to use both my iSight and iPod without using the front port.



Which cards work best? Any deep sleep problems?



Which cards are the best deals, or which vendors?



Thanks!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    theres an article about that in one of the MacAddict magazines... i'll look it up and get back to you later--i just wanted to let you know someone was gonan find an answer for you. i do recall that they were fairly cheap.



    ok: page 26 of the feb 2004 issue of macaddict.



    combo pci-card: made by Iogear: 3 USB 2.0 ports, 2 FW400 ports: 60 bucks.



    same thing: made by Orange Micro: 80 bucks (i dunno why its more expensive)



    well there ya go--good luck!
  • Reply 2 of 11
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    Firewire cards are pretty much all the same. Buy the cheapest one and return it if it doesn't work.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    craig12cocraig12co Posts: 106member
    The Keyspan ones I have looked at are not compatible with the G5. I'd prefer to avoid the trial and error method of compatibility...



    EDIT: I also just got word back the the IOGear ones are all 5 volt, and the G5 needs 3.3 volt ones...
  • Reply 4 of 11
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    You could also buy a firewire 800 to 400 adapter for about $10. That way you could use both firewire ports on the back of your computer. Firewire hubs are around $25 if you find them on sale and you don't use 100% of the bandwidth.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    I bought a Belkin PCI card for $US45 that's working fine.*



    What's really crazy is that all I was looking for at first was a FW 800-to-400 adapter. I wanted to have both my iSight and my iPod plugged into the back of my G5, rather than have to have a cable from one or the other hanging out of the front FW port all of the time.



    But the adapter... nothing more than a FW cable with two different plug styles... cost $40, only $5 less than a PCI card that added three new FW ports... and the card came with it's own FW cable!



    *After first buying a $40 FW card and finding out that it wouldn't fit into my G5 -- the card wasn't notched in the right place to allow it to slide in. No wording on the packaging of either card made this distinction clear. Both cards were described using exactly the same language and specifications, and only by looking through the clear plastic of the packaging could I tell the difference.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ebby

    You could also buy a firewire 800 to 400 adapter for about $10.



    Now that's a more reasonable price. When I went looking for an adapter, the cheapest (and only) 800/400 adapter I found was a Belkin model for $US40 -- a completely ridiculous price. I checked at CompUSA, the Apple Store, and another local Apple reseller, finding no better price than $40.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    craig12cocraig12co Posts: 106member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by shetline

    I bought a Belkin PCI card for $US45 that's working fine.*



    What's really crazy is that all I was looking for at first was a FW 800-to-400 adapter. I wanted to have both my iSight and my iPod plugged into the back of my G5, rather than have to have a cable from one or the other hanging out of the front FW port all of the time.



    But the adapter... nothing more than a FW cable with two different plug styles... cost $40, only $5 less than a PCI card that added three new FW ports... and the card came with it's own FW cable!



    *After first buying a $40 FW card and finding out that it wouldn't fit into my G5 -- the card wasn't notched in the right place to allow it to slide in. No wording on the packaging of either card made this distinction clear. Both cards were described using exactly the same language and specifications, and only by looking through the clear plastic of the packaging could I tell the difference.



    So the Belkin works? Great! I am also told by Macally that all of their cards are G5 compatible.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    N/M
  • Reply 9 of 11
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by shetline

    Now that's a more reasonable price. When I went looking for an adapter, the cheapest (and only) 800/400 adapter I found was a Belkin model for $US40 -- a completely ridiculous price. I checked at CompUSA, the Apple Store, and another local Apple reseller, finding no better price than $40.



    $10 from MacMall.com

    (hope this link works)
  • Reply 10 of 11
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by craig12co

    The Keyspan ones I have looked at are not compatible with the G5. I'd prefer to avoid the trial and error method of compatibility...



    EDIT: I also just got word back the the IOGear ones are all 5 volt, and the G5 needs 3.3 volt ones...



    weird--the article i took that from was all about g5's... i guess macaddict sucks.





    edit: here's another adapter:

    $5 adapter
  • Reply 11 of 11
    craig12cocraig12co Posts: 106member
    Thanks for the assistance.



    The IOGear one looked nice, I was let down when they said it wasn't compatible. I think part of the problem is that the 1.6 G5 uses standard PCI still (I think?) but the others are PCI-X. Might explain the confusion?
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