RE: [WinMac] FireWire (IEEE 1394) comments updated

From: Dan Schwartz (Expresso[at]snip.net)
Date: Thu Aug 30 2001 - 04:56:07 PDT

  • Next message: Dreux: "[WinMac] Re: winmac Digest 30 Aug 2001 11:57:46 -0000 Issue 123"

            Yesterday we talked about FireWire; and I cautioned to keep an eye on the
    drivers - For any platform. Then John Welch mentioned that he's "cooking along
    nicely."

            Well, John, I'm going to throw a turd in your punchbowl...

            From this morning's MacFixit at:
    <http://www.macfixit.com/archives/august.01.c.shtml#08-29-01>

    Blue-and-White G3s and FireWire: a follow-up

            We received a large response to our recent item on problems with FireWire and
    Blue & White G3's. Several users were simply unable to get a particular
    FireWire device to work. However, problems are not universal. Other users
    report certain hard drives work without problems. Some also reported that the
    exact same setup which did not work on a B&W would work fine on more recent Mac
    models, further suggesting that there is a problem endemic to at least some B&W
    machines. The bottom line: if you are having problems that seem insurmountable,
    install a PCI FireWire card instead of using the ports on the motherboard. Here
    are the highlights:
    Confirmations

            Dennis DiGiacomo writes: "Apple finally admitted to me, after some prodding,
    that the FireWire implementation on the B&W's is problematic. Our best
    workaround is a $35 PCI FireWire card, which works with all the hardware we've
    tested it on."

            Scott Boettcher writes: "I can wholeheartedly confirm issues on these boxes. I
    had about six of these boxes that had OS 8.6 on them and none of them would
    work with FireWire drives of any brands/drivers. After I reformatted the drives
    and installed Mac OS 9.1, I was able to use the FireWire drives, but they are
    very finicky - totally unlike any other FireWire-equipped Mac I deal with."

            Brandon Lewis adds a few additional details: "When I try to boot into Mac OS 9
    on my B&W G3 it freezes during the portion of the bootup that scans the busses.
    When I boot using the original restore disks that use 8.5.1 (with no FireWire
    drivers) it boots fine. When I boot into Mac OS X it also boots fine. Most
    likely because Mac OS X just registers the error and moves on."

            See also this MacFixIt Forums thread (FireWire HD balks at large transfers).
    http://www.macfixitforums.com/php/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=periphs&Number=230641

            Use the Mac OS drivers Several users recommended avoiding
    manufacturer-specific drivers, utilizing Apple's built-in driver instead.
    Thomas Armbruster's note was typical. He writes: "I have a B&W G3/400 with a
    LaCie Pocketdrive connected to the FireWire port. I do not have any problems
    since I removed the LaCie driver and use only the Mac OS FireWire drivers
    (German Mac OS 9.1 & 9.2.1 with FireWire Enabler and FireWire Support now up to
    D1-2.8.4). When I used the LaCie driver I had the problems Andrew Duncan is
    reporting."

            Update LaCie drivers Byron Miller writes: "After months working with LaCie to
    figure out why none of the 5 drives I went though worked, LaCie finally figured
    out the problem. The new hardware in the newer drives had bus timing errors
    with B&W G3s. They then created Silverlining 6.4.1 which I installed and it
    fixed all of my problems. Supposedly, the new drivers force the drive to
    operate at a lower speed on G3s so they do not mis-time."
    <http://www.lacie.com/support/drivers/index.cfm>

            Andrew Duncan similarly resolved his peviously cited issue with FireWire and
    blue-and-white G3s by updating to the latest 6.4.2a version of the Silverlining
    software for his LaCie FireWire drive.

            Success stories John Rosenfeld writes: "I have been using a Western Digital
    external FireWire hard drive for many months with no apparent problems. Before
    buying the Western Digital drive I tried two Maxtor external drives and both
    would intermittently spin down and crash my system. I've used a new
    Transinternational portable drive with the Oxford 911 chipset a few times and
    it seemed fine. I also use a QPS CD burner without problems."

     -----

            Looks like you're about the only one who is "cooking along nicely" with your
    FireWire...

            Cheers!
            Dan

    >-----Original Message-----
    >From: John Welch [mailto:jwelch@aer.com]
    >Subject: Re: [WinMac] FireWire (IEEE 1394) comments updated
    >
    >
    >On 08/28/2001 09:48, "Dan Schwartz" <Expresso@snip.net> wrote:
    >
    >>
    >>This is a Good Development, because now more of those previously esoteric
    >>FireWire peripherals can be used on greater than the 7% of the market that
    >>is Mac based. Key to all of this, though, is robust drivers: How many
    >>of us have had fits with Toast not finding a balky CD-R deck?!
    >
    >Um...considering that Ti and a couple of other companies, like Sony, helped
    >develop IEEE-1394, this has been the case with Sony machines for a while
    >now. Glad to see you're up on things. And Toast 5.0.1 has been flawless for
    >me...better by far than iTunes.
    >
    >>
    >> Damned if it ain't that "devil" from FireWire's "devil in the details"
    >> throwing a turd in the punchbowl...
    >
    >Only yours man, the rest of us are cooking along nicely.
    >
    >john

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