What can FireWire do?

danosaurdanosaur
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I'm curious about firewire, specifically, what it can or can not do.



My friend has recently bought a Powerbook like mine (12"). Can I plug a fire wire cable from my computer to his and transfer files?



I have a dazzle bridge. Can I plug firewire into my computer to the bridge, then export it as video?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    gene cleangene clean Posts: 3,481member
    1. Not as far as I know. For that you need an Ethernet Crossover cable



    2. Not sure about that.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    mandricardmandricard Posts: 486member
    is your friend's machine also a mac? if so, you can use target-disk mode, I think...



    Also, I think OS X obviated the need for a crossover cable (I think you can use just a standard ethernet cable), but I could be wrong.



    Mandricard

    AppleOutsider
  • Reply 3 of 9
    phantomacphantomac Posts: 7member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Danosaur

    My friend has recently bought a Powerbook like mine (12"). Can I plug a fire wire cable from my computer to his and transfer files?



    Yes, that's easily done. Shut one machine down. Connect them using an ordinary FireWire cable. Turn on the machine you shut down and hold down the "T" key on the keyboard. That way the machine starts in "target mode" and will appear as a hard drive on the other machine.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    danosaurdanosaur Posts: 258member
    Very cool thank you.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    tomahawktomahawk Posts: 178member
    As far as I now OS X didn't remove the need for a cross-over cable, modern Apple hardware did. I can't remember how far back it goes but most modern Macs have built in Auto-Sensing ethernet ports.



    Also, no need for firewire disk mode if you just want to share a few files. You should also be able to turn firewire networking on and share them that way. (Firewire networking is under Networking in the System Preferences, then turn on file sharing under the Sharing one).
  • Reply 6 of 9
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Danosaur

    I have a dazzle bridge. Can I plug firewire into my computer to the bridge, then export it as video?



    My best answer for that is "maybe." Without any more specifics, I'd say that it should work with OS X, but may need some extra drivers. The best thing to do is to just try it out.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    1) Yes. Through target disk mode or IP over Firewire.



    2) It won't export your screen for a second monitor, but you can capture, edit, and export video to and from a camera without DV ports. If it does have DV ports, you can connect it directly to your computer.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    danosaurdanosaur Posts: 258member
    Could I export video to a VCR, for example?



    Basically I don't want to spend the extra $20 for a mini-DVI to Video adaptor if I can use my firewire.
  • Reply 9 of 9
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    yes. Just hook up the VCR input to the RCA ports.
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