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Firewire 400 to USB C

i have a LaCie Porsche Design 250 GB External Hard Disk Firewire 400 with a lot pics and information, actually i have a Macbook pro 13" 2017 with USB C port only, i try to connect this drive but i can't, what would you recommend to resolve this issue?


MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 13.2

Posted on Mar 8, 2023 1:14 PM

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Posted on Mar 8, 2023 1:56 PM

You would need a Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 adapter, and a firewire 800 to thunderbolt 2 adapter, and then finally a thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) adapter.


  1. Elago Firewire 400 to 800 adapter - Amazon.com
  2. Apple Thunderbolt 2 to FireWire Adapter - Apple
  3. Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter - Apple


Then pray all the adapters work together.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 8, 2023 1:56 PM in response to hugo_9277

You would need a Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 adapter, and a firewire 800 to thunderbolt 2 adapter, and then finally a thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) adapter.


  1. Elago Firewire 400 to 800 adapter - Amazon.com
  2. Apple Thunderbolt 2 to FireWire Adapter - Apple
  3. Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter - Apple


Then pray all the adapters work together.

Mar 8, 2023 5:50 PM in response to hugo_9277

Another option would be to remove the physical hard drive from the enclosure and connect it to the Mac using an USB to SATA/IDE Adapter.


What file system is on the drive? Is it HFS+ or just the older HFS (no plus)? If the latter, then you will need to boot from macOS 10.15 or earlier in order to read the older HFS (no plus) file system.

Apr 13, 2023 6:51 AM in response to Jeremy Dunham

A FW 400 to FW 800 cable will work as well.


You will need to use the device's external power supply. If you don't have the power supply, then you can try removing the drive from the enclosure. Personally I think it will be less expensive to remove the drive from the enclosure and using a USB drive adapter such as these (the first one is a bit more expensive due to all the wall plug adapters included):

https://www.startech.com/en-us/hdd/usb3ssataide


https://vantecusa.com/products_detail.php?p_id=90&p_name=IDE/SATA


You will need a USB-C to USB-A Adapter as well if your Mac only has USB-C ports.


If this drive has not been used in years, then the drive may have trouble spinning up or may not work at all.

Apr 13, 2023 9:41 AM in response to hugo_9277

hugo_9277 wrote:

i buy adapter but it doesn't works…


I’d expect the hard disk to need and have external power, if an adapter has any shot of working. I don’t see a power connection on that hard disk, other than via FireWire, or some (weird) power cabling via that DIN. Or on the back side, of course.


Easier than the adapters: Extract the hard disk, and use a USB sled.


Or contact a local Apple authorized service provider, and request their assistance migrating this data. They might still have an old FireWire Mac around. They likely will have USB sleds around.

Firewire 400 to USB C

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