Last Mac Pro with Firewire 400?

Just wondering, this article --> http://www.macperformanceguide.com/Reviews-MacBookProUnibody.html suggests there might be issues with port-powered FW 400 devices if one uses an adapter solution for FW 800 ports.

Any thoughts ?

Touché. I guess it's a reasonable trade-off.


The new Macbook, however.....

dchao99 wrote:
"9-PIN to 6-PIN BILINGUAL FIREWIRE 800-400 CABLE"

$5.00 on eBay

I find the idea of a "bilingual" cable to be quite funny.

"Zee seis pin she go in de nuef hole, eh, Joe?" "Well ,Pierre, so it does, I am amazed!" "Zuet allors!"

thanon wrote:
Just wondering, this article --> http://www.macperformanceguide.com/Reviews-MacBookProUnibody.html suggests there might be issues with port-powered FW 400 devices if one uses an adapter solution for FW 800 ports.

Any thoughts ?

Yes, use your computer more, read articles less.

Ricktoronto wrote:

Yes, use your computer more, read articles less.

Well, I currently use 12 FW drives with my MP, some FW800, some 400, some of them port-powered.

When I travel, I'm using the portable drives only with the MBP, again some FW800, some 400.

Also I shoot on a 30k digital camera back tethered, powered by a FW 400 port.

So you could say I have a vital interest in possible issues with FW800/400 adapters, and hesitate to just try and see if I manage to fry one of my devicesthat way.

I take it you have quite some experience with different FW400 devices connected to FW800 ports, in particular the port powered variety ?

Do you still miss the 25 pin serial connectors too, since they've all gone to 9 pin on the PC's? You need an adapter or 9 to 25 pin cable just to connect the same modem that you used to be able to use a 25 pin 2o 25 pin cable to use!

Technically, all Mac Pros have FireWire 400, they just have different ports. And if you aren't comfortable buying $5 cables on eBay, you can buy new FireWire 800>400 cables on monoprice.com... for 20% less (under $4).

With that in mind, it seems foolish to downgrade to an older Mac Pro just to get specific ports. I would probably add the card and boost the overall number of ports.

You guys are hilarious.

I completely understand both sides of the argument. I have several FW 400 devices and a couple do NOT work with my 8/4 transition cable. Including my Edirol FA 101 external sound capture box and having trouble mounting my $15,000 High Def video camera (only FW 400). Works just fine on my 08 Mac Pro, but my new MBpro will not mount the camera on the FW 800 ports. Pain in the *** in the field. I have an older 07 MBP that works fine and a G4 powerbook that's even nicer...since it has the regular expansion card slot for P2 cards to transfer direct in the field.

There ARE issues with the FW8/4 transition cords. Don't let this $5 cable talk fool you. If you need FW 400, take a good look at what you are buying. The older Pros are still available in alot of places right now. Also, not sure about PCIex 400 cards. Also, will those provide phantom power?

I need my older MBP and Mac Pro for another couple of years at least. Until the rest of the industry in audio and video production catches up (either with FW 8 or USB 3). I have 4 FW cameras right now...can't risk having connection issues for either Still or video production. Also, the sound gear market has to catch up....or make up their mind:) Seems like many have stuck with USB for now.

The flip side (as I mentioned, I see both sides:))...I love FW 800. I have several field drives from OWC that are FW8 only. (Self powered pocket drives) Smoking Fast! Incredible speed and these drives are 7200 rpm! Quicker than my internal for scratch, off load, and Time Machine:)

Just seems like alot of people jump in not really knowing what they're talking about. FW 400 is VERY much a necessity for many creative environments. Knowing that it WILL work without fail is mandatory. After all, isn't that the reason we use Macs? Knowing it won't fail!!!

J

Thanks for the info, PicGeek, that's good to know.

It's the internet , so one has to be careful with what the +'it's gonna work, stupid'+ crowd says anyways, but Apple really should have done its homework.

Oddly I don't see that the OP has replied or marked thread up or down (solved).

If FW400 can and is that important, one beauty or feature is freedom if you have an open PCI slot, to add FW400 and then you have an independent channel.

Going to be interesting to see what if any devices 'break' with the 2009s, as surely as some have in the past transitions.

Those are some good reasons that I wasn't aware of.

However, what it does is make me question where the real problem is. I am not sure which of the following is true:
a) There are issues which make FireWire 800 not 100% backwards compatible with FireWire 400.
b) FireWire 800 is 100% backwards compatible with FireWire 400, but some devices do not implement the spec properly.
c) FireWire 800 is 100% backwards compatible with FireWire 400, but Apple did not implement the spec properly.

All that is academic, though. I still see why you might want an older Mac Pro.

In another thread, someone brought up how poor some USB cables and devices are, lack of shielding, noise, RFI.

The same can be said of FW cables and problems when hard drives and consumer electronic devices are mixed together.

So you might have to test with just one device at a time, or one device period per channel.

I use to spend $100s on high quality shielded wires in Ultra160 SCSI cables that used $75 active terminators and such. Something now mostly gone and you don't find people spending that kind of money on cables and such. But maybe they should.

And we've seen external eSATA/FW/USB drive cases and bridges that don't work well, some better, some poorly, but no uniform and definitely there is more marketing to some than the technology implies.

I was intrigued at building a computer, with PCI Express along with support for old style PCI "legacy" cards. I always thought there should be room for both the latest (as when PCI-X came out and forced everyone to into new controllers) and a couple older style slots (I have a dozen good, fine older style FW800, Ultra160 and other cards now in boxes and unable to use).

The hatter wrote:
Oddly I don't see that the OP has replied or marked thread up or down (solved).

Going to be interesting to see what if any devices 'break' with the 2009s, as surely as some have in the past transitions.

Oh, you can mark a thread ? Always wondered how one awards stars, too . 😉

Anyways, when Apple jeopardizes compatibility with pro video and photo gear, it's not as simple as forcing people to buy a couple of adapter cables for harddrives or cheap gadgets - it's about abandoning whole (albeit small) market segments, and possibly turning consumer altogether .

So you're looking for a motherboard with ISA, EISA, PS-2, VESA, PCI, PCI-X, and PCI-E slots?

As the motherboard and computer manufacturers migrate to new standards, the peripheral manufacturers stop making the old stuff (or the price goes sky high). In many cases it's cheaper for you to buy new peripherals than to absorb the cost of making a new machine that still supports old standards in addition to the new ones. And how far back and in how much depth do you want to go? Should we still support the CN slot cards, or just the obsolete hardware that YOU want to use?

The biggest problem I see is manufacturers who feel it's ok to make a product that seems to work, but doesn't actually adhere completely to the interface specifications. That's why we see firewire and USB peripherals that work sometimes, but not always.

That isn't what I said or intended.... and you know it.

There was a big fuss when the G5 came out and people had to discard perfectly new find working ATTO UL3D in favor of UL4D which, really, was and is limited to TWO 15K drives per channel and costly as can be.

Or that $1K scanner.

So no, it isn't just ME.