Belkin PCI-Express firewire card

It's ironic that you mention the Belkin Firewire card because an Apple support person recently recommended one for my Mac Pro!

I phoned Apple to ask which Firewire-400 cards are compatible with the Mac Pro and do not interfere with sleep mode. The support representative put me on hold for several minutes to check with his colleagues. He came back to say it should not matter which PCI Express card I use -- "there are no known issues" -- but added that Belkin would be a "reliable choice."

I'm quite interested to hear whether any Mac Pro owners have found a Firewire-400 card that works well.

I don't have a Belkin FW400 card but I have a Belkin FW800 and USB combo card in my Mac Pro: http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=249063

It's really expensive and doesn't support deep sleep (it sleeps but fans keep running) in the Mac Pro (most cards have this problems) and performance with FW800 drives is terrible compared to the onboard FW800 ports (some cards also have this problem, which is specific to a certain Texas Instruments chip)

Oh my god.

My PowerMac G5 doesn't have any PCI cards because the one purpose I actually needed one for - which as to add extra USB ports - there were no cards available that worked 100% correctly and reliably (I tried about 4, and spend hours reading forums looking for any that did work correctly.

I'm soon going to buy a Mac Pro and assumed that with PCI Express being a whole new system that the 'problems of old' would no longer apply.

I am SHOCKED to hear that these issues STILL exist.

i wonder if the PCIe bus on the mac pros even works. my motu 424e card does not work either. the computer sees the card, but not the connected device. the audiowire port on the card uses the same cable as firewire.

When I was trying to find a solution, the more I looked into it the more annoyed I became. The only answer was to buy a USB hub. When you spend money on the top of the range Mac because it has expansion slots, you don't expect to leave them empty because the solutions you want don't work.

Presumably the number of people complaining doesn't register on Apple's radars. It's the sort of problem where Apple's tech support tell you they aren't aware of any issues... (and certainly this was the case for the so called 'Geniuses').

FWIW, Other World Computing recently added a Firewire-400 card to their product catalog that they tout as "for Mac Pro systems." Perhaps I'll give it a try. The price is reasonable.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Syba/SDPEXNEC4F/

I was also told to use the *Belkin Firewire 3-port PCI Express Card* (F5U504ea) by one of Apple's strategic partners whom manufactures a well-respected audio interface for Apple. The company's reputation for integrity is good so imagine my surprise when I checked out the spex for the card on the Belkin website and learned that's its supported for *+Windows systems ONLY+* -- confirmed in a phone call with Belkin Tech Support.

So I took a look at the *Syba SDPEXNEC4F* card mentioned by James above and it seems like a good card at a reasonable price. Has anyone tried it? Does it run well? Any problems?

FYI -- The Syba Firewire card at the link provided above:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Syba/SDPEXNEC4F/

is indeed the card we're discussing but it's mislabeled on the OWC website. Don't be confused. Right product... wrong label. They've labeled it +Syba SD-PEX-VT4E4I+ which is actually their combo USB/Firewire 800 card.

the specs also include Macs now...

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=125578

actually, sorry i looked at the wrong card.

Message was edited by: reimer

I just put the PCI-Express 1394a card I ordered from OWC (OWC# SYBSDPEXNEC4F; MFG# SD-PEX-NEC4F) in my 2.66 Mac Pro.

Doesn't look very compatible to me: 35minutes for 1.65GB of file copying between drives. Not good.

Calling OWC in the morning about returning it.

TonyC,

Here's another link on the problematic Syba...

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5508751&#5508751

From the Card Vendor themselves...

Dear Tony,
Thanks for your inquiry.
This model SD-PEX-NEC4F is not fully compatible with Mac. We did not have a driver for Mac to run on the full speed. It is designed only for PC and compatible with Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/2003 Server/XP 64-bit / Vista.
Here is the specification from our web site, and we did not list it as Mac compatible.

Best Regards,

Michael,
Michael@us.syba.com
Syba Support Team

I guess my next question would be, +"Why are Apple , *Apple strategic partners* (hardware), and *Apple Vendors* like OWC/MacSales recommending and selling these unfriendly beasts for our machines?"+ How can Apple and their strategic hardware partners, specifically, the manufacturers of devices utilizing firewire connectivity, not ensure the availability in the marketplace, of reliable multi-port firewire devices for Mac/Intel PCI-express slots.

Given the single Firewire 400 port on the back of this Mac Pro tower we've paid thousands for and, the variety and number of firewire devices required daily for myriad tasks and applications, how can the manufacturers be so short-sighted and why isn't anyone building a three-port (minimum) firewire 400 (1394a) PCIe card for the Mac Pro?

Many of us have installed these towers into dust-free, climate-controlled enclosures, some of which eliminate access to the other 1394a port on the front of the tower. Plugging and unplugging firewire connections is a time-consuming, unnecessary distraction from efficient workflow. External hubs appear to introduce increased latency which is unnacceptable for many applications.

Surely there is a PCIe-card manufacturer who sees the opportunity in this win-win situation. Produce a reliable multi-port firecard 400 card and reap the profits from scores of Mac users who will surely buy your product. We don't need combo cards with 1394b or USB ports... just a reliable firewire card with three or more external ports. Thank you for your time and attention.

Some owners of Mac Pros have had terrible FireWire performance out of front or back or both. I have not. And I've used Aaxon for over a year, supported, has a slight issue with deep sleep sometimes (not always, system does go into deep sleep). Fine performance (well, FireWire under even Vista is iffy).

Blame it on Apple-proprietary format? okay for video? but if you want storage, better off with any of the number of eSATA controllers that support disk drives and SATA performance.

{quote:title=KiteSurfer wrote:}How can Apple and their strategic hardware partners, specifically, the manufacturers of devices utilizing firewire connectivity, not ensure the availability in the marketplace, of reliable multi-port firewire devices for Mac/Intel PCI-express slots. {quote}

This sentence should read: +"....of reliable multi-port firewire cards for the Mac/Intel PCI-express slots."+