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USB 2.0 & Firewire, Powered?
- Thread starter rarora
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When I plug my external FireWire drive into my iMac, I don't need a trasformer, so the FireWire port is powered. When I plug that same drive in via USB 2, I need to also plug in a power cord. But I do know that USB 2 does provide some power, because there are some things, like minature fans, that can be plugged in via USB 2.
This is on a desktop Mac, iBooks and PowerBooks are different.
This is on a desktop Mac, iBooks and PowerBooks are different.
DGFan said:
By full sized, do you mean all hard drives or just 3.5" ones? The FireWire cable powers my iPod powers it just fine, and my external hard drive is a 2.5" and that doesn't require any extra power.
DGFan said:I have yet to see a 3.5" HD (which is what I meant by full size - it's the desktop standard) work off only a FW cable. I know some smaller ones will (Microdrives and iPods at least). Thanks for the extra (2.5") data point
I thought the iPods were being powered by their internal batteries...
The 2.5" hard drives can be powered with bus (firewire). 3.5" which are the normal sized hard drives in powermacs and the lacie d2, for example, cannot be bus powered. The iPod has a 2.5" hard drive.
back to the question, my 750mb iomega zip drive can be used with a firewire cable but it need a power supply when using USB2.0. and the same with my lacie pocket drive. so usb 2.0 probably can power some things like small fans but its probably not enough for larger devices.
back to the question, my 750mb iomega zip drive can be used with a firewire cable but it need a power supply when using USB2.0. and the same with my lacie pocket drive. so usb 2.0 probably can power some things like small fans but its probably not enough for larger devices.
Coolvirus007 said:
That's one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of USB 2, if it were up to me, I'd have my mouse connect via FireWire 800; Maximum data transfer baby!
I think they mean it can run/charge off of the power from the computer.carletonmusic said:I thought the iPods were being powered by their internal batteries...
Right, the original posting I was asking if it could simply be plugged into the respective dataport and run without a clunky AC adaptor. I've seen very very few instances of USB 2.0 powering external HD's; if so, they are tiny ipod sized drives.
Firewire has one up from what I can tell, too bad it's not standard on most PC's. When you buy an ipod from apple, they give you a firwire cable but no usb 2.0. I'm sure there are TONS of people that go back to the Apple store to pick up the USB cable for 20 or 30 bucks. Hmm...more revenue for Apple-and they get to keep their ego trip by plugging (no pun intended) the firewire standard.
Firewire has one up from what I can tell, too bad it's not standard on most PC's. When you buy an ipod from apple, they give you a firwire cable but no usb 2.0. I'm sure there are TONS of people that go back to the Apple store to pick up the USB cable for 20 or 30 bucks. Hmm...more revenue for Apple-and they get to keep their ego trip by plugging (no pun intended) the firewire standard.
rarora said:
reading some other posts and looks like Apple made a business decision to drop firewire support in favor of supporting the Windows market and making the iPod smaller! good or bad? you make the call.
a bit of a bummer for me...i was hoping to experiment and see if I could boot from my iPod off firewire n make it an emergency boot drive
chinarut said:reading some other posts and looks like Apple made a business decision to drop firewire support in favor of supporting the Windows market and making the iPod smaller! good or bad? you make the call.
a bit of a bummer for me...i was hoping to experiment and see if I could boot from my iPod off firewire n make it an emergency boot drive
Well, i think that for the majority of iPod owners its a good thing. They are mostly PC users (as am I, currently) and they have USB 2.0 over FW (I have 4 pin FW on my laptop). So Apple is providing the cable for the majority of the users (USB 2.0 in this case). I think that its a good thing overall, giving your customers what they need and not making them shell out ANOTHER 30 bucks after spending a few hundred.
I am also upset, though, that Apple has dropped the FW support, which is why I will not upgrade to a 5th gen iPod, but would happily buy a 4th gen iPod w/ color screen. When I switch, id like to then use my current iPod (2nd gen) as an emergency boot drive. But Apple may also make their new "Open Firmware" (I know it will be something else) capable of booting from both FW and USB with their switch to Intel.
I love it when old threads get dragged up, it's so much fun
Anyways, 3.5" bus powered drives are possible: http://wiebetech.com/products/superdrivedockplus.php
Anyways, 3.5" bus powered drives are possible: http://wiebetech.com/products/superdrivedockplus.php
Do you think that the reduction in Firewire support for the iPod in any way indicates that Apple will move toward USB 2.0 exclusively as they move to Intel Macs? Will we be able to boot our Macs via USB 2.0 HDs if that comes to pass?
Because of the way the technologies work, I know that Firewire 400 is slower and more laggy than USB 1.1 when it comes to mice and keyboards. I doubt FW800 would be much better in this situation.musicpyrite said:...I'd have my mouse connect via FireWire 800; Maximum data transfer baby!
Apple will not drop FW support. People look at it as USB vs FW. That shouldn't be the case. They complement each other well and each have advantages. Computers of all brands will have both technologies for years to come. Booting via USB is a possibility though. Some PC motherboards support it, so I know it can be done. It's just up to Apple to implement it or not.sgmorr said: