HI!
I just got a new MAC Mini and want to plug it into my MOTU 896. Apple said that the Thunderbolt to firewire adapter is my answer but I see mixed reviews about this solution from people so wondered if anyone else had had experience with this? The MAC mini is brand new. The MOTU is ancient. Trying to figure out what I need to do next. Thank you!
Shakeh Herbekian
There is no Thunderbolt 3 to FireWire adapter. You need a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter and then a Thunderbolt 2 to Firewire adapter. Users have used this combination without problems.
One concern I have is if the MOTU 896 requires drivers are the drivers compatible with Mojave.
There is no Thunderbolt 3 to FireWire adapter. You need a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter and then a Thunderbolt 2 to Firewire adapter. Users have used this combination without problems.
One concern I have is if the MOTU 896 requires drivers are the drivers compatible with Mojave.
That’s FireWire 400 or 800? If FW400 you will then need a FireWire 400 to 800 adapter, then a FireWire 800 to TB2 adapter and finally a TB2 to TB3 adapter. That combo of adapters works with my FireWire 400 hard drives and an old iSight camera at least.
Google search turns up a couple of hits that say there should be 10.14 drivers and compatibility for that device - http://motu.com/newsitems/motu-and-mac-os-mojave
Good luck!
Whilst the physical connection will be sorted based on the answers already given it maybe that there is no officially Mojave compatible driver for the 896 model adapter. This should be obvious from the fact that as it uses Firewire is an old product.
As far as I could see the most recent driver for this model dates from 2017 which predates Mojave.
It maybe that as a result things like SIP and other newer security measures will block loading old drivers. You may have to turn SIP off to get round this in the absence of an official Mojave driver.
I was ultimately successful due to the help from this community and I thank you all. My issue was getting my old MOTU 896 to work with the brand new MAC Mini. Apple support told me to get the Thunderbolt to fire wire adapter but the problem was that it's Thunderbolt 2 ($29) and I needed the 3. You, the community, told me I'd need the 3 adapter so I went back to get that. ($49) but that's not all......The MOTU drivers needed to be installed. You, the community, told me that there might be a problem with those and Mojave. Fortunately, that was not the case. The nice people at MOTU walked me through it and now it's all working like a well oiled machine. I'm going to copy and paste this thanking all of you who helped. From now on I'll come here rather than bother with Apple support. You guys rock!!!
You can get a dock like that that has Thunderbolt 3 input and many outputs/connections including FW 800
Have you checked the MOTU or other music forums? I know that the Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 dongle and then Thunderbolt 2 to FireWire 800 dongle combo works for hard drives. I personally wouldn't be happy about the long term stability of that combination on my desk though. However I don't know that it is viable for music recording.
Yes, it looks like you were right on needing the additional TB2 to TB3 adaptor. The one side for the firewire was fine but then no input on the MAC mini to fit the other Thunderbolt end....Didn't know there was more than one thunderbolt size and they should have told me. I sent them photos and was very thorough. Once I get it all set up will let you know and thank you for your help!!
Shakeh
Very cool shakeh88! Glad it all works now - it’s nice that technology progresses and we all like new stuff. But it is also very nice when reliable older tech can still be hooked up and used with the new.
There’s several variations true. TB1/2 used the same connector as the miniDisplayPort standard for backwards compatibility with miniDP. Since Thunderbolt is not only a data port standard but is fully VESA compliant with the DP/miniDP/usb-c, the new TB3 standard shifted to the newest DisplayPort standard using usb-c for data and display.
But because it’s a standard for both data and display connections, you can almost always find a combination of adapters and/or varied-end cables to hook up what you need between legacy devices and current be it DP/miniDP/usb-c or TB2/TB3/usb-c/FW.
Intel (who owns the trademark “thunderbolt”, not Apple) and Apple, when they collaborated to design the thunderbolt interface, were explicitly trying to develop one port and one combined standard for any and all data - combining the USB consortium data standards and the DP consortium display/audio standards.
The TB3 standard connector as usb-c is just the evolution of Intel developing one small connector type that handles everything, but it does mean chasing adapters to keep older hardware connected.
Will the Apple Thunderbolt to firewire Adapter work on the MOTU 896 to hook it up to my new MAC mini?
