003 and Firewire buss.. the real deal

[soundboy35]

Thinking about getting the 003 rack as a second LE system. I want to use my FW800 drives, but I've been told that by using the FW400 port to connect the 003, all FW drives will then run at 400 speed regardless of whether they're connected as 400 or 800. Is this really true? Are the 400 and 800 ports still on the same buss?
Ideally, I'd connect the 400 port to the 003, and then the 800 port directly to my drive(s)

[flommer]

Originally Posted by soundboy35

Thinking about getting the 003 rack as a second LE system. I want to use my FW800 drives, but I've been told that by using the FW400 port to connect the 003, all FW drives will then run at 400 speed regardless of whether they're connected as 400 or 800. Is this really true? Are the 400 and 800 ports still on the same buss?
Ideally, I'd connect the 400 port to the 003, and then the 800 port directly to my drive(s)

Yes, it is true

Which computer are you talking about?

If the G5, then get a FW800 PCIe card to connect your HDss

If the MBP (and it has it) use a FW800 Express card to connect the drives..

This is the best overall solution because you are actually adding new FW busses and increasing FW bandwidth..

OWC carries both items..

[soundboy35]

It would be for the MBP, which does have the Express slot.

Came across this in a review of the Sonnet card....are they all like this?

2-Port FireWire-800 ExpressCard/34 is a wonderful solution, except for one thing that they do not mention... You can only connect self-powered drives through it. So my portable G-drives do not work through the ExpressCard, since they need power from the computer to run."

Had to throw this in as well because.....seriously!

Since the new 17" MacBook Pro only has ONE FW outlet (come on Apple, what happened here??), I had to get some extra ports...

Another reason I love my last gen MBP

[Obsidian Dragon]

Yes, Other than the Mac Pro, all other Macs now only have only one or zero FW800 port and no FW400 port. Even the ExpressCard slot is only available on the 17 MBP. Apple is turning their "Pro" calibur machines into "Consumer Electroinics" devices.

[tamasdragon]

Originally Posted by Obsidian Dragon

Yes, Other than the Mac Pro, all other Macs now only have only one or zero FW800 port and no FW400 port. Even the ExpressCard slot is only available on the 17 MBP. Apple is turning their "Pro" calibur machines into "Consumer Electroinics" devices.

Definately this is the truth. If you want something very good, pay more, if you want something serious, pay, pay pay even more, and even than, they won't give you everything.

[soundboy35]

"Consumer Electroinics" devices
True, and even consumers need FW yes?, but what about the issue of these cards not being able to use self powered drives?
I do run in to situations where someone gives me a buss powered FW 800 drive, and it sure would be nice to run it at 800 speed.

[Obsidian Dragon]

Originally Posted by soundboy35

"Consumer Electroinics" devices
True, and even consumers need FW yes?, but what about the issue of these cards not being able to use self powered drives?
I do run in to situations where someone gives me a buss powered FW 800 drive, and it sure would be nice to run it at 800 speed.

In that case run the FW800 drives off the built-in firewire port on the MBP and run your Digi003R off the ExpressCard firewire port using a FW800 to FW400 adapter cable.

[soundboy35]

Doh! Why didn't I think of that? Thanks!!

[Eric Seaberg]

Originally Posted by Obsidian Dragon

In that case run the FW800 drives off the built-in firewire port on the MBP and run your Digi003R off the ExpressCard firewire port using a FW800 to FW400 adapter cable.

Or you get two ExpressCards (my solution), one FW800 and one FW400 so I'm covered all the time.

[colinmansfield]

Originally Posted by soundboy35

Thinking about getting the 003 rack as a second LE system. I want to use my FW800 drives, but I've been told that by using the FW400 port to connect the 003, all FW drives will then run at 400 speed regardless of whether they're connected as 400 or 800. Is this really true? Are the 400 and 800 ports still on the same buss?
Ideally, I'd connect the 400 port to the 003, and then the 800 port directly to my drive(s)

According to this Tech Note from Metric Halo, the order of things in the FW chain determines the speed of the chain.

http://www.mhsecure.com/technotes/Te...10/TN_0010.php

In essence, if you have all your FW 800 devices at the beginning of the chain, followed by the FW 400 devices, the 400s will run at 400 speed without slowing down the 800s.