FireWire Port Connections

[jcorbin]

Quick question from a newbie regarding FireWire ports. I have an Intel mobo with a single FireWire port (by default). According to my hardware vendor, a bracket adapter will allow me to expand this to two FireWire ports.

With this in mind, should I:

Connect my Digi 002 Rack to my external FireWire drive, and then connect the drive to the single FireWire port on the computer?

OR

Use the bracket adapter to enable the second FireWire port on the computer, then connect the 002 Rack to one computer port and the FireWire drive to the second computer port?

Most importantly, is there any performance improvement to be had with either connection arrangement (daisy chain or direct connect)? I want to ensure I am properly connecting my equipment.

BTW, I am assuming my mobo (Intel D865PERL) has a single FireWire bus. (If you own this board and this assumption is incorrect, please let me know.)

Many thanks in advance...

JC

[Rail Jon Rogut]

The manual states place your 002 last in the chain if you only have a single FireWire port. The main question is if the on-board FireWire port will work well with the 002 at all.. in Device Manager.. what does the IEEE 1394 Bus Host controller list as the controller? Usually Texas Instruments or VIA...

Rail

[jcorbin]

Rail,

It says "OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller". The driver version is "5.1.2535.0".

But what if I enable the second FireWire port on the computer? Is this better than daisy-chaining per the manual's instructions?

JC

[Rail Jon Rogut]

It doesn't say anything before the OHCI? Right click on it and choose Properties and look for the Manufacturer

It would be better to run the 002 on a separate FireWire buss, yes.

Rail

[jcorbin]

Rail,

Manufacturer says "IEEE 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller Ve". I'm guessing an OEM device.

So it sounds like I should enable the second port on the computer? The only problem is that I believe both ports feed into the same FireWire bus which, as I understand it, mean they both have to share the same "pipeline".

JC

[tele_player]

Installing the adapter for the second Firewire port doesn't necessarily add a second Firewire bus, it could be just another port on the same Firewire bus - like the second port on the 002 or a drive. I suspect that's the case here.

[Rail Jon Rogut]

Installing the adapter for the second Firewire port doesn't necessarily add a second Firewire bus, it could be just another port on the same Firewire bus - like the second port on the 002 or a drive. I suspect that's the case here.

I do too.. that's why I wrote "It would be better to run the 002 on a separate FireWire buss, yes.".

I think he's probably better off just buying an Adaptec 4300 which is known to work.

Rail

[musicsage]

Which is the best external firewire drive (250GB +) for PTLE?

[Esteban WB]

So what your saying is that if a notebook has a firewire port, and then a cardbuss is added with another couple of firewire ports, and the 002r is plugged into the hardwired port and the external HD is plugged into the cardbuss port; the external HD and 002r may still be running on the same firewire bus---which essentially means they are sort of daisy chained within the computer? Which means no performance gain is likely?

[tele_player]

No, adding a cardbus Firewire adapter to a laptop with a builtin Firewire port would add another Firewire bus.

But a 'bracket adapter' as mentioned at the top of this thread is probably just a second port on the onboard Firewire bus.

So what your saying is that if a notebook has a firewire port, and then a cardbuss is added with another couple of firewire ports, and the 002r is plugged into the hardwired port and the external HD is plugged into the cardbuss port; the external HD and 002r may still be running on the same firewire bus---which essentially means they are sort of daisy chained within the computer? Which means no performance gain is likely?