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iPod Confirmation of Nano Firewire-less-ness from ThinkSecret

mkrishnan

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Well, beats heck out of "Unexpected error #501." :D

Thanks for posting; I too was among those wondering what would happen if one plugged a FW docking cable into the Nano. :eek:
 
fartheststar

fartheststar

macrumors 6502a
Dec 29, 2003
504
2
Toronto
Dr. Dastardly said:
The message should read:

"Oh, is someone a poweruser all of a sudden?
Use the USB cable provided jack @$$.

Press center to dismiss"

;)
Click to expand...

hey man, some of us have older macs with firewire and Usb 1.1
 
Sedulous

Sedulous

macrumors 68030
Dec 10, 2002
2,530
2,577
Why USB? I really dislike USB and it isn't like Apple has to license Firewire from anyone.
 
fartheststar

fartheststar

macrumors 6502a
Dec 29, 2003
504
2
Toronto
Whyren said:
*hugs 2nd Gen. FireWire iPod...casts glaring eye at shuffle*
Click to expand...

hee hee... love my 3rd gen. I tell you.... buy something from Apple, goes out of date fast, but I still love it. My computer is only 2 years old.. the last G4 MDD Dual 1.25's without USB 2.0 support.

At some point I'm going to need a new video card and maybe a USB 2.0 card IF I happen to need a new iPod (protecting current iPod as a result).
 
iGary

iGary

Guest
May 26, 2004
19,580
7
Randy's House
Derrr.....

OK, not including the cable is one thing...not supporting it at all is another. :rolleyes:

So basically if you have a 2-year-old Mac, you're effed.
 
clayj

clayj

macrumors 604
Jan 14, 2005
7,619
1,079
visiting from downstream
iGary said:
Derrr.....

OK, not including the cable is one thing...not supporting it at all is another. :rolleyes:

So basically if you have a 2-year-old Mac, you're effed.
Click to expand...
I guess this is one way to drag people kicking and screaming into the future... planned obsolescence. I'd bet a donut that the next iPod (full-size) will also drop Firewire compatibility.
 
mkrishnan

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Whyren said:
...and will only work on MacTel machines. :eek:
Click to expand...

I know you're kidding, but that's hugely unlikely, I think... there are probably technical and cost advantages in dropping firewire support from the iPod. But I can't think of any reason why the processor in the Mac would have anything to do with anything.

BTW, I didn't see any mention of whether the iPod Nano appears to support USB 1.1 in the tradeoff or not. Anyone know? I guess I do sympathize with mac users who bought relatively recent Macs that lack USB2. :(
 
F

faithfulFrank

macrumors regular
Dec 31, 2003
114
25
Central Florida
Hi. Now you got me a bit nervous.......I just ordered a Nano ipod today. The guy from apple told me that I CAN charge the nano with my ac firewire adapter, but could not download using firewire....that I would have to use my usb ports.
I thought, no problem. I told him that I have a imac G4, 1 gig processor, 768 Mb of ram. I told him that I had a usb port unused on my keyboard, and an extra usb hub.....He said that was fine.

Now here is a dumb question....how do I tell if I have usb 2.0, or 1.1 ?
I looked in "about this mac", but even after clicking "more info" then clicking USB, it really did not tell me.

As you can already tell, i'm a bit of a novice here, but I do love my mac, and the ipods the family has. My son needs a new ipod, so I'm giving him my Gen4 20 gig, and buying the nano for me.

Will it even work on my computer??

thank you in advance for your help.

Frank D.
 
iGary

iGary

Guest
May 26, 2004
19,580
7
Randy's House
fartheststar said:
hee hee... love my 3rd gen. I tell you.... buy something from Apple, goes out of date fast, but I still love it. My computer is only 2 years old.. the last G4 MDD Dual 1.25's without USB 2.0 support.

At some point I'm going to need a new video card and maybe a USB 2.0 card IF I happen to need a new iPod (protecting current iPod as a result).
Click to expand...

My last computer was--what would be--a two-year-old 1.25 in October.

No USB 2.0. :rolleyes:

What really got me was until 10.4 none of the PCI cards supported sleep...

Asshats.
 
iGary

iGary

Guest
May 26, 2004
19,580
7
Randy's House
faithfulFrank said:
Hi. Now you got me a bit nervous.......I just ordered a Nano ipod today. The guy from apple told me that I CAN charge the nano with my ac firewire adapter, but could not download using firewire....that I would have to use my usb ports.
I thought, no problem. I told him that I have a imac G4, 1 gig processor, 768 Mb of ram. I told him that I had a usb port unused on my keyboard, and an extra usb hub.....He said that was fine.

Now here is a dumb question....how do I tell if I have usb 2.0, or 1.1 ?
I looked in "about this mac", but even after clicking "more info" then clicking USB, it really did not tell me.

As you can already tell, i'm a bit of a novice here, but I do love my mac, and the ipods the family has. My son needs a new ipod, so I'm giving him my Gen4 20 gig, and buying the nano for me.

Will it even work on my computer??

thank you in advance for your help.

Frank D.
Click to expand...

You have 1.1 - You can transfer, it will be slow.

Charge with your AC adapter.
 
F

faithfulFrank

macrumors regular
Dec 31, 2003
114
25
Central Florida
Thanks Gary.
I currently transfer songs with this computer using either the usb port or the firewire on my 20 gig 4th gen ipod.....when I use the usb now with the 20 gig ipod, I don't think it is that slow....I must have low expectations.

I know I can no longer use the firewire to transfer songs, but if using my "old" usb1.1 is about the same as it is now with my 20 gig, I do not think I will mind.

thank you for calming my fears....

Frank D.
 
mkrishnan

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
faithfulFrank said:
Thanks Gary.
I currently transfer songs with this computer using either the usb port or the firewire on my 20 gig 4th gen ipod.....when I use the usb now with the 20 gig ipod, I don't think it is that slow....I must have low expectations.

I know I can no longer use the firewire to transfer songs, but if using my "old" usb1.1 is about the same as it is now with my 20 gig, I do not think I will mind.

thank you for calming my fears....

Frank D.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...according to apple-history.com, there was at least one round of iMac G4s that still had 1GHz processors (at least in the 15" model) and also had USB2. They peg the first USB2 iMac G4's at Sep 2003.

And I'm actually not sure how you tell in system profiler. :eek: Do you have an entry for a USB High Speed Bus in addition to all the other USB entries in system profiler (in the right side, after you click on USB in the left)?
 
Nuc

Nuc

macrumors 6502a
Jan 20, 2003
798
6
TN
..

They better not do away with firewire on the Mactel machines. All I have are FW external HD. Video cameras still use firewire to transfer video... I just purchased a Sony HDV camera so they better not. I really don't like USB 2, sure it has faster transfer speeds in bursts but FW is consistently fast (from my experience).

Nuc
 
Dr. Dastardly

Dr. Dastardly

macrumors 65816
Jun 26, 2004
1,317
1
I live in a giant bucket!
fartheststar said:
hey man, some of us have older macs with firewire and Usb 1.1
Click to expand...
Alright alright didn't mean to offend. You read post after post about the speed differences in firewire and usb 2 and they all start looking the same.

If its a connectivity issue could it be resolved with something like a
D-Link 4-Port USB 2.0, 3-Port Firewire, Combo Hub. Just a thought that this might be a work around if people really want to pay $60 for a work around.

I'm acutally suprised that it doesnt support firewire at all. I mean why? doesnt make any sense. :confused:
 
F

faithfulFrank

macrumors regular
Dec 31, 2003
114
25
Central Florida
mkrishnan said:
Hmmm...according to apple-history.com, there was at least one round of iMac G4s that still had 1GHz processors (at least in the 15" model) and also had USB2. They peg the first USB2 iMac G4's at Sep 2003.

And I'm actually not sure how you tell in system profiler. :eek: Do you have an entry for a USB High Speed Bus in addition to all the other USB entries in system profiler (in the right side, after you click on USB in the left)?
Click to expand...

Nothing says "High speed" bus...I assume that all I have is 1.1 USB.
I have a 17" imac G4.......I guess it is what it is...I'm happy with it. As long as the new nano will work with it, like my current 20 gig ipod does, I'll be happy.......you don't miss what you never had I guess....
Thanks!
Frank D.
 
K

kainjow

Moderator emeritus
Jun 15, 2000
7,958
7
I'm willing to bet they dropped FW from the nano in order to conserve space. Probably not enough space for 2 chips to support USB and FW
 
Heb1228

Heb1228

macrumors 68020
Feb 3, 2004
2,217
1
Virginia Beach, VA
kainjow said:
I'm willing to bet they dropped FW from the nano in order to conserve space. Probably not enough space for 2 chips to support USB and FW
Click to expand...
Ditto here. Its obviously to keep it smaller. The big boys (iPods) will continue to support Firewire. Apple is not dropping Firewire anytime soon.
 
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