Any Limitations Using a 6-Pin to 4-Pin FireWire?

[KMAN385]

Hey everyone! I've been using Protools LE Via an Mbox2 for about 10 months now and I absolutley love it.

This weekend I made the Upgrade to the Digi 002 Rack. My Comp. HAs a 4 Pin Fire Wire Port. The Digi is 6 Pin.

My question is, are there any limitations with using a 4 pin to 6 pin cable?

The Manual says that it can be done, and most cables advertize that the exchange rate is the same. 400mbs.

Also, Are there any cables that are specifically designed for recording or will any high quality cable work?

Thanks In advance!
KYLE

[Obsidian Dragon]

For the 002/002R, the 4 pin to 6 pin firewire cables will work fine. I use them when using my notebook computer. On my desktop, I use the 6 pin to 6 pin cables. Any quality cable will be fine.

The only time 4 pin to 6 pin cables become an issue is if the device is buss powered (The 002/002R are not firewire buss powered). Devices like the MOTU Traveller interface can be buss powered.

[KMAN385]

Thanks For all Your Help!

[Herkimer]

I too was interested in using a 6-to-4 pin firewire. I read somewhere (Wikipedia I think) that you want to avoid daisy chaining peripherals on a 6-to-4 pin firewire. One would assume that means not to daisy chain your hard drive and Digi on the same 6-to-4 cable. I have not verified this myself though.

[Obsidian Dragon]

Not true. I have used a 6 pin to 4 pin firewire cable from my laptop to an external firewire hard drive and then a 6 pin to 6 pin firewire cable from the external hard drive to my Digi002 with no problems.

[spkguitar]

Ditto. I do it every day with my laptop and the 002r, and the M-Audio Ozonic and MPowered.

Latop -> 4 pin -> 6 pin -> hard drive -> 002r

No problems.

[KMAN385]

I know I'm a couple weeks late, working alot lately! Thanks For all your Replies! I am still experiencing problems so I want to go latop-4pin-drive-6pin-002r. I have been looking at the "LaCie d2 Extreme Triple Interface 250GB Hard Drive". Its in a good price range and is a Brand that Digi Tech Support recomended to me. Any Suggestions? What Drives are you guys using with the same setup? THanks Guys!
Kyle

[Shan]

Ditto. I do it every day with my laptop and the 002r, and the M-Audio Ozonic and MPowered.

Latop -> 4 pin -> 6 pin -> hard drive -> 002r

No problems.

Interesting you bring this up. After running a few tests on the Quad to help some guys out, this documented firewire flow is an absolute must! Some of the errors I see posted on the forum are caused by not doing this correctly.

The 002 must be at the end of the chain.

Shane

[KMAN385]

This is the setup I'm trying to Achieve and I found a good hard drive, the only problem is that it only has one 6 pin firewire port yet two 9 pin firewire 800 ports!

[bb_aus]

I too was interested in using a 6-to-4 pin firewire. I read somewhere (Wikipedia I think) that you want to avoid daisy chaining peripherals on a 6-to-4 pin firewire. One would assume that means not to daisy chain your hard drive and Digi on the same 6-to-4 cable. I have not verified this myself though.

Dont believe everything you read on wikipedia, anyone can add whatever they want so it is not a reliable reference.

the two extra pins carry power that is the only difference, when chaining devices the only things you need to worry about is maxium cable length and a devices that dont directly connect the ports (like a 002) dont loose power.