USB to Firewire?

April 13, 2008 2:09 AM

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.

posted by wordswinker to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

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.
posted by alexei at 2:38 AM on April 13, 2008

Best answer: 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.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 2:43 AM on April 13, 2008

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.
posted by sully75 at 5:57 AM on April 13, 2008

thats about $12 with shipping: cheaper than most cables you get retail
posted by geos at 6:04 AM on April 13, 2008

Well, the cable does exist. It may just be a question of finding one cheap enough for this.
posted by Cobalt at 6:19 AM on April 13, 2008

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.
posted by Class Goat at 8:47 AM on April 13, 2008

The cable Cobalt linked to says it's for DV only.
posted by nanojath at 12:34 PM on April 13, 2008

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.
posted by damn dirty ape at 12:59 PM on April 13, 2008

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 ... :-)
posted by sgmax at 4:49 PM on April 13, 2008