Comments on: USB to Firewire?

Question: USB to Firewire?

wordswinker — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:09:44 -0800

Whiny, unrelenting, know-it-all co-worker insists there's a firewire-to-USB cable. This once, I hope he's right.

The USB female receptor on my external harddrive fell off into the box, leaving only firewire connections; my clunky PC doesn't have a Firewire plug. and there's my problem. I have some important stuff on the harddrive, and I want it now. It's kinda like bringing a sex toy to Europe only to discover you can't plug it in, only way more boring.

I think the hard drive needs to be put in a new box. I hope I'm wrong, because it's under warranty and that might take a while.

I beseech the green to enlighten me.

By: alexei

alexei — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:38:31 -0800

I haven't heard of such a thing, but try one of these instead:

For laptops, for desktops.

Or you can just buy a new box for the hard drive. If you're willing to forget the warranty, it's pretty cheap and really quite easy (unscrew, pull apart, plug in, screw back together). You'll have to make sure you get the one that fits your drive, though, when it comes to SATA or IDE.

By: ten pounds of inedita

ten pounds of inedita — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:43:08 -0800

There are Firewire-to-USB adapters, but they're not cheap. The cheaper solution is to just buy a cheap Firewire card for your PC. They run about $12.

By: sully75

sully75 — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 05:57:23 -0800

yeah firewire card if you have a desktop pc. pretty easy to put in, no biggy. Just make sure you keep your hand on the metal case while you put it in (to avoid static).

If you have a laptop, you can get a firewire card for your pcmia slot or whatever you call it. I've done both.

By: geos

geos — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 06:04:36 -0800

thats about $12 with shipping: cheaper than most cables you get retail

By: Cobalt

Cobalt — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 06:19:35 -0800

Well, the cable does exist. It may just be a question of finding one cheap enough for this.

By: Class Goat

Class Goat — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:47:48 -0800

It isn't possible to simply wire them together. They use different electrical standards, and they use different communications protocols, not to mention having different addressing. The cable that Geos linked to has a bubble in the middle that contains electronics, including a microprocessor, that takes care of all those conversions.

By: nanojath

nanojath — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:34:58 -0800

The cable Cobalt linked to says it's for DV only.

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:59:06 -0800

That "cable" is 86 dollars. There's a firewire controller in the middle of the cable. You can get a firewire PCI card for like 10 bucks nowadays.

By: sgmax

sgmax — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:49:41 -0800

Seconding the buy a new box for your harddrive solution. It's really easy -- you can buy them from Amazon, Newegg, or even BestBuy ... If your drive is a serial ATA drive (it should say on your existing drive box), buy an SATA USB hard drive enclosure. If not buy a PATA (parallel ATA) USB hard drive enclosure. Get the right size for your drive -- if it is a pocket size drive, you need a 2.5" enclosure; a bigger drive needs a 3.5" enclosure. (The size is the depth of the hard drive). You need a small crosshead screwdriver to do this (buy a cheap set at the same place you buy the enclosure). It only takes about 5 minutes and the enclosures come with good instructions, so this is really not a big deal ... :-)