LATEST QUESTION: What can I do if my FireWire drives stopped working after I upgraded to Mac OS X 10.5.3? Answer
What is FireWire? Answer
What can I use FireWire for? Answer
USB2 is 480 Mbps – isn’t this faster than FireWire 400?
Answer
Isn't FireWire just used for DV cameras, whereas USB can be used for
a wide range of peripherals? Answer
Do I need to upgrade my BIOS when I add a 1394 card? Answer
What if my FireWire drives aren't working after an upgrade to OS X 10.5.3?
First, make sure that you're using the latest firmware for your device. Check the manufacturer's website for updates and install them; this will usually fix any issues. You can also try reinstalling the Mac OS X 10.5.3 Combo Update. TOP
What
is FireWire?
FireWire, also known as IEEE1394
or i.LINK, is a high-speed serial bus found in PC, PC Peripherals and
CE devices like Camcorders. TOP
What
can I use FireWire for?
FireWire is used for a wide range
of applications, including:
a) Storage - FireWire provides a very fast and flexible means of connecting
external storage and RAID systems to a PC.
b) Audio - FireWire is the bus of choice for connecting Pro and Semi-Pro
audio equipment to PC applications. It is used for multi-channel recording
& playback with guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS).
c) AV streaming - The vast majority of camcorders have a FireWire port
(also known as 1394 or i-Link) for connecting and transferring video
data to a PC. The FCC mandates the incorporation of a FireWire port
into all digital Set Top Boxes in the US, so future PCs could stream
contents to and from STBs.
d) Networking - PCs can be networked together directly using FireWire,
currently up to S400. Bridging to an Ethernet network is straightforward.
e) Bus-Powered Peripherals- FireWire has a much larger bus power capability
than USB, so PC peripherals such as 5.1 surround speaker system or storage
devices that draw their power from the bus directly without a need for
a power brick. FireWire bus provides up to 45W (30Volts, 1.5A) for connected
devices. This is adequate to drive a wide range of PC peripherals including
some hard drives. TOP
USB2
is 480 Mbps – isn’t this faster than FireWire 400?
480 Mbits per second is the raw
bus rate for USB2 and NOT the rate at which
data transfer can be achieved. There is a much higher overhead involved
in USB2
data transfer and typical actual data rates for an external HDD from a
Win XP
platform are:
| |
Headline |
Actual
Read |
Actual
Write |
Efficiency
(Average) |
| USB 2.0 |
480 |
264 |
208 |
49% |
| 1394a |
400 |
332 |
264 |
75% |
| 1394b |
800 |
712* |
496* |
76% |
Data Rates using
Oxford Semiconductor’s OXUF924
All data rates in Mbits/sec
* Striped RAID solution
Many current USB2 devices will only
run at ‘Full speed’, which is a very slow 12 Mbps.
FireWire is available now at 800
Mbps. The actual data throughput for FireWire 800 based RAID systems is
limited by the disk performance and not by the FireWire bus. FireWire
1600 and FireWire 3200 are in development. TOP
Isn’t
FireWire just used for DV cameras, whereas USB can be used for a
wide range of peripherals?
There are millions of devices shipped
each year with FireWire:
• 11 million Desktop PCs (which is roughly 10% of total PC market) are shipped annually with FireWire.
• 36 million Laptop PCs shipped annually have FireWire
• 6 million external storage devices have a FireWire interface
• 14 million Digital Camcorders have FireWire TOP
Do I need to upgrade my BIOS when I add a 1394 card?
No - for any PC or Mac system with a PCI or CardBus slot, you can add a 1394
card and it will be automatically detected and supported by the operating
system. On Windows you may be asked to install a driver, which is included in
standard Windows distributions.
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