PCI-Express Firewire Card Needed.

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Level 1

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PCI-Express Firewire Card Needed.

I am in need of a PCI-Express Firewire card to replace the non-functioning FW ports on a Power Mac G5. The PCI-e slots in the G5 are full-length but the cards that I am finding have two short edge connectors. Will these work in full-length slots?

Kent

Power Mac G5, PowerMac11,2, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Aug 15, 2008 9:47 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 15, 2008 10:01 AM in response to cticompserv

OWC has a couple PCIe FireWire cards.

The cards that you're finding are likely 1X or 4X cards which have many fewer contacts than say the 16X graphics card. The 1X cards will fit in any of the slots, although you won't get any extra speed by installing it in a faster slot.

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Answer 2

cticompserv Author

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Aug 15, 2008 10:09 AM in response to Steve Boultbee

I wonder if OWC knows that. So far they haven't been able to give me a definitive answer.

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Answer 3

Aug 15, 2008 10:16 AM in response to cticompserv

Well, I've got two 1X cards (Blackmagic Intensity Pro and FirmTek SeriTek 2SE2-E) installed in the 4X slots in my Quad and they fit properly and operate flawlessly. I'm surprised that OWC can't give you a definitive answer. They're usually better than that.

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Answer 4

cticompserv Author

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Aug 15, 2008 10:21 AM in response to Steve Boultbee

Great! Thank you for your help.

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Answer 5

The hatter

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Aug 15, 2008 10:25 AM in response to cticompserv

Sonnet cards that say G5 PCIe are usually a safe bet, check
http://www.sonnettech.com

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Answer 6

cticompserv Author

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Aug 18, 2008 12:40 PM in response to cticompserv

This is getting frustrating. I just put in a PCI-E card and I'm having the same problem when connecting Firewire devices. The devices get power but they don't mount.

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Answer 7

cticompserv Author

Level 1

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Aug 19, 2008 2:41 PM in response to cticompserv

It appears to be a possible hardware conflict. With the new FW card installed the system log is constantly flooded with this message: Studio kernel[0]: AppleFWOHCI_AsyncReceive::waitForDMA - context not going inactive

Also, System Profiler crashes when I click the Firewire line.

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Answer 8

The hatter

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Aug 19, 2008 3:23 PM in response to cticompserv

"a card" doesn't tell us as much as "Sonnet... etc" or Aaxeon brand, or what chipset it uses even.

Maybe it's telling you to upgrade to Leopard (just kidding) 😟

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Answer 9

cticompserv Author

Level 1

9 points

Aug 20, 2008 6:58 AM in response to The hatter

Sorry, the card is a StarTech PEX1394B3 which according to the StarTech website is compatible with my G5. My discussions with a StarTech tech support rep indicate that he doesn't know if it's compatible or not.

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Answer 10

The hatter

Level 9

61,001 points

Aug 20, 2008 7:49 AM in response to cticompserv

Well that is a new one to me, and when in doubt, look on xlr8yourmac.com or stick to macsales.com

I don't think it is worth the hassel to go with "off brand" vendors, esp when you have had trouble enough.

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Answer 11

cticompserv Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 20, 2008 11:33 AM in response to cticompserv

We had the logic board replaced which solved the on-board FW problems.

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