USB and FireWire converters?

[LeoTheLion89]

i know they have USB to IDE and SATA converters such as this but do any of these exist in FireWire configuration?

[DeltaMac]

Do you mean for adapting any hard drive to Firewire?
sure - here's a good one:
http://www.wiebetech.com/products/UltraDock_v5.php

that connects to just about anything, and wiebetech sells adapters for multiple other types of drives. Very good stuff...

[LeoTheLion89]

Way too expencive!!!

[LeoTheLion89]

Since getting a eMac is probably at some point gonna involve investing in a FireWire device of some kind i have some questions does the Power Supply provided with USB/FireWire enclosures need to be used when using FireWire? of course FireWire Drive for use on a mac would also require a FireWire Card for a Linux computer so my question is do PCI FireWire Cards also provide said 30V Macs do? I know that FireWire drives will power up and work just fine on an 12V firewire port. do they have FireWire keyboards or mice?

I also read that apart from the higer voltage and the faster speed FireWire is no different than USB so why does Apple push the need of FireWire ports when most people will not have a use for them.

Also i did read that all macs (even the PPC ones) can boot from USB Flash Drives aslong as the flash drive is formatted properly.

[djackmac]

Since getting a eMac is probably at some point gonna involve investing in a FireWire device of some kind i have some questions does the Power Supply provided with USB/FireWire enclosures need to be used when using FireWire? of course FireWire Drive for use on a mac would also require a FireWire Card for a Linux computer so my question is do PCI FireWire Cards also provide said 30V Macs do? I know that FireWire drives will power up and work just fine on an 12V firewire port. do they have FireWire keyboards or mice?

I also read that apart from the higer voltage and the faster speed FireWire is no different than USB so why does Apple push the need of FireWire ports when most people will not have a use for them.

Also i did read that all macs (even the PPC ones) can boot from USB Flash Drives aslong as the flash drive is formatted properly.

The need for an external power source for a firewire enclosure depends on what size drive will be used. 3.5 inch drive, then yes external power will be needed as there is not enough bus power, 2.5 inch drive then no.

Firewire is preferred sometimes because it does not use the CPU. Therefor the processor won't slow down on data transfer rates because the processor is needed for other tasks. Firewire runs independently of the processor for maximum speeds and consistentcy.

No, PPC won't boot usb. Similarly there is no target disk mode through usb. You say you read that somewhere than it wasn't a reliable source.

[LeoTheLion89]

if a 3.5 drive requires 12v and firewire gives 30 wouldnt bus power be enough?

[DeltaMac]

I don't remember ever seeing a 3.5-inch Firewire drive that gets power from the bus.
Most 2.5-inch _are_ bus powered...
Likely just a difference in the current needed for the larger drives, so an enclosure would come with that power source, either through a wall-wart, or internal power supply that just plugs into your house power.

There's several choices on this page - http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/

[LeoTheLion89]

what is the diff between 4 and 6 pin firewire?