Firewire 800 -> firewire 400?

[matte81]

I have an MacBook Pro with FW800 and I´ve just purchased a Digi 003 device. Digi 003 has FW400.

Does it work with a FW800 -> FW400 cable? Will I have to do any configurations?

Thanks!

[daeron80]

It should work fine. 800 devices are backward compatible, so plugging in a 400 device using a converter cable should cause the port to operate at 400 without having to configure any software.

[matte81]

Originally Posted by daeron80

It should work fine. 800 devices are backward compatible, so plugging in a 400 device using a converter cable should cause the port to operate at 400 without having to configure any software.

Thanks! I hope you're right. I got this answer from Avid but I dont understand everything:

The FireWire 800 port on Apple's computers is backwards compatible with FireWire 400 devices, but requires one of the following configuration options:

1) FW800 port —> FW800 Drive (912 or 924 chipset) —> Out FW400 port on Drive —> Pro Tools LE FireWire audio interface

2) FW800 port —> FW800 to FW400 converter cable —> FW400 Drive (911 chipset) —> Multiple FW400 Drives (911 chipset) as needed for maximum track count —> Pro Tools LE FireWire audio interface
When qualifying Pro Tools USB devices we connected the device to the USB port on the computer and used the above configuration guidelines for connecting drives only.


Thanks again!

[nst7]

To clarify that, there are certain hard drives that will basically act as an 800 to 400 converter, such as these from macsales.com:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other.../MEAQ7500GB16/

In this case, you use an 800 to 800 cable (this comes with the drive) to the drive's 800 port. Then you use a 400 to 400 cable from the drive's 400 port to the 003.

This hard drive with the 003 should work fine like this.

The other option, which seems to work better with an Mbox 2 pro, is a drive with 2 400 ports. In that case you use an 800 to 400 adapter cable to the 1st port of the hard drive, then go from the 2nd 400 port of the drive to the mbox 2 pro.

[matte81]

Originally Posted by nst7

To clarify that, there are certain hard drives that will basically act as an 800 to 400 converter, such as these from macsales.com:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other.../MEAQ7500GB16/

In this case, you use an 800 to 800 cable (this comes with the drive) to the drive's 800 port. Then you use a 400 to 400 cable from the drive's 400 port to the 003.

This hard drive with the 003 should work fine like this.

The other option, which seems to work better with an Mbox 2 pro, is a drive with 2 400 ports. In that case you use an 800 to 400 adapter cable to the 1st port of the hard drive, then go from the 2nd 400 port of the drive to the mbox 2 pro.

Thanks a lot! I should do just fine with just the cable then.

[nedorama]

Actually, you may not do fine with just the cable, which is why Avid and others are suggesting an external hard drive - you need a separate drive for your audio files; as a bonus, the drive can convert between FW800 and 400.

[kdubyou]

What Ned said...

I have a MacBookPro with FW800, OWC Mercury Elite Pro Classic, and an 003 rack. I hook it up:

MBP (800) to OWC drive (800), OWC drive (400) to 003 (400) and it works, so far, without incident.

Gotta have that second drive!

Good Luck.

Kevin

[Banana]

I have a MacBook Pro and an Mbox 2 Pro, and the only configuration that actually worked was to hook it up like this:

MBP --> Mbox 2 Pro --> HDD

Doing it the recommended way only brought constant Buffer issues.

[daeron80]

Yes, obviously, you need an external drive in the equation one way or another. If you google around a bit on the terms in Avid's instructions, they'll become clear. Understanding all that stuff is essential to having a good PT experience.

[matte81]

Thanks everyone!

I see... I still don't get why one has to have an extra drive. I did fine whit my Mbox 2 and my old MacBook, no problems there.

Exactly why do you need an extra drive? It seems strange when you have bought an expensive computer and an expensive audio interface... you would expect that that should be just fine...

(pardon my not always accurate english)