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Notebook Firewire Port: Standards, Standards, Standards...

post #1 of 12
9/24/04 at 6:21pm
Thread Starter 
Hi,

My notebook have a 4-pin firewire port:



However, the external enclosure I will probably buy has a 6-pin firewire port (in fact, two of them):



How can I connect it? Can I just use a 4pin to 6pin cable? I've heard something about "transfer just one-way, since it's unpowered" (about 4pin), may someone elaborate a bit more about this?. My question is, is there any problem using these cables? Are they a "simple-and-buggy" solution or they are perfectly fine and correct (It's the first time I'm using Firewire...)?

Thank you, DDDa.


: None of those worked for me:

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=42501
http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=42269
http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=40753
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post #2 of 12
9/24/04 at 6:53pm
They are perfectly fine and correct. But since a 4-pin port deletes the two pins that provide bus power, your external device must have its own power supply. Since the photo you included above shows that the device has an external DC power input jack, you should have no trouble.
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post #3 of 12
9/24/04 at 6:59pm
Thread Starter 
<edited - removed a question>

anyway, thanks

edited: no, I will ask it: why this enclosure would put a 6pin if it already has a DC input???
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post #4 of 12
9/24/04 at 7:17pm
that looks like a nice enclosure, where's it from? i'm looking for one right now. Thanks!
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post #5 of 12
9/24/04 at 7:19pm
It's amazing what you can learn by looking at the properties of the picture.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...146-311&depa=0
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post #6 of 12
9/24/04 at 7:55pm
Thread Starter 
@kronus - I choose this not for the blinking lights, but for the Oxford 911 chipset (Firewire. USB uses Cypress).

Just to confirm: this cable will do the job, right?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=0

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post #7 of 12
9/24/04 at 9:57pm
Most devices use the 6-pin connector because that's all that was defined in the original standard. The 4-pin connector was developed by Sony outside the standard; I think it has been adopted now though. I think Sony figured that the amount of bus power available was generally inadequate, and most peripherals would be self-powered anyway. So far, it seems they're right, because I've only seen a small number of external drives that could run entirely on bus power.

That cable looks fine.
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post #8 of 12
9/24/04 at 11:40pm
I would want one without lights though. We're sorta adults now I would want it to be lightweight too. One of these days I'll break down and pay the $50 for a nice one. It's strange to me because I only paid $70 for the 250 gig drive
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post #9 of 12
9/25/04 at 1:00am
Thread Starter 
I know, I was discussing that with drawmonster, too (http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=42856), but I just couldn't find another one cheaper than that that has:

- Oxford 911 chipset for the Firewire port.
- Made of Aluminum.

I prefer to think that the lights would be "an extra", rather than a "kid's thing". As you can see, just a problem of choosing the right word for that ...
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post #10 of 12
9/25/04 at 1:06am
Wouldn't a 3.5" enclosure be better than a 5.25" enclosure? Especially if you're going for size and weight?

Just a thought.
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post #11 of 12
9/25/04 at 1:07am
Thread Starter 
If it fits the NEC 3500A, then it's OK
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post #12 of 12
9/25/04 at 1:14am
Ohhhhhhhh. LOL - yeah, then you're going 5.25".
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