Miscellaneous Technical Notes Volume 2
This page contains miscellaneous short technical notes for various products.
- Contents
- Using the 4-pin iLINK and USB to 6-pin FireWire extension cable
- Using the IOFlex PC CardBus to FireWire IEEE 1394 Ruggedized with MacOS
- Finding Unusual PCMCIA Products
- Identifying a Computer's PCI Slots Types
Using the 4-pin iLINK and USB to 6-pin FireWire extension cable
The FireWire to 6 in 1 Multi-Card Read-Writer 2 Slot was designed as a very low power device, based on its sister product for USB. This low power attribute allows it to operate under the 5VDC when using the extension cable. As such, the 4-pin iLINK and USB to 6-pin FireWire extension cable designed specifically for this device is not intended for use with any other product. Furthermore, do not use the extension cable when 6-pin FireWire ports are available. See the user guide included with the FireWire to 6 in 1 Multi-Card Read-Writer 2 Slot for instructions on using the extension cable. Using the extension cable with any device other than the PCM-CR-FW6EMUL is unauthorized, and may damage the device or host system. Never use the cable with any device other than the PCM-CR-FW6EMUL.
Using the IOFlex PC CardBus to FireWire IEEE 1394 Ruggedized with MacOS
Introduction and Configurations
Because of its low cost, many Macintosh users may be interested in the PCM-FIO-01X1 card. As it was not designed for MacOS, the Card is unsupported. However, it was tested and known to work with the following configurations:
- Configurations Tested
- PowerBook G3 400MHz 1024MB RAM (M7711LL/A)
- Mac OSX 10.1.5 (5S66)
- PowerBook G3 400MHz 1024MB RAM (M7711LL/A)
- Mac OS 9.2.2
- Power Mac G4 867MHz 640MB RAM (M8360LL/A)
- Using the PCI Bus to PC Card and CardBus Read-Writer 1 Slot Internal Rear (PCM-CR-PC1IC2)
- Mac OS 9.2.2
The card should work equally as well on any CardBus capable PowerBook.
- FireWire Devices Tested
- Canon ZR50 MC Digital Video Camcorder
- UltiFire 20GB FireWire IEEE 1394 Hard Drive Series I Mini
- Formac Studio DV/TV FireWire Digital/Analog Video Capture-Converter Mac
- FireWire IEEE 1394 Repeater Hub 6 Port
General Observations
While the PC Card functions fine with Hard Drives and other mass storage media, it cannot boot from drives connected to it under either OS9 or OSX because PC Card drivers are loaded after the System. The Startup Disk Control Panel/System Prefs allows selecting connected drives as startup devices, but will fail on boot. The system will boot off the last selected OS from an internal drive in this case.
Although the PC Card provides two 6-pin connectors, it does not provide bus power and unlike some other host adapters, does not have an optional power supply. Any device connected to the PC Card must be self powered. A reasonable work around is to place a powered FireWire repeater hub in the chain between the PC Card and any bus powered devices.
We suspect that the card will provide higher throughput than some Macintosh models with under performing FireWire host controllers built on board. However, we have not tested this assumption as of yet. For more information regarding this issue, please see: Why do certain computers achieve less than ideal interface speeds?
Use with Mac OS X
Using the PCM-FIO-01X1 with Mac OS X wasn't noticeably different than using the built in FireWire ports.
Use with Mac OS 9
OS9 mounts a generic card icon (see image generic card icon is the last on the bottom) for the host adapter. Before removing the PC Card from the Mac, always unmount the card first by choosing Put Away from the File Menu (Command-Y), Eject from the Special Menu (Command-E), or dragging the icon to the Trash. When using devices such as FireWire Hard Drives, always unmount the drive or device in the finder before unmounting the PC Card icon. Unmount the FireWire devices by choosing Put Away from the File Menu (Command-Y), Eject from the Special Menu (Command-E), or dragging their icons to the Trash.
Always unmount a FireWire device before powering it down or disconnecting from the FireWire chain.
Finding Unusual PCMCIA Products
Synchrotech receives many calls for PC Card products that we do not carry. In some cases they may be products that we carried in the past, but in others they are just general questions. We provide this list as a service to customers looking for some of these items, it does not constitute an endorsement of any of these products or vendors.
- 3D Video PC Cards (PCMCIA)
- Do not and have never existed. One look at the size of a 3D GPU and cooling fan on any PCI or AGP graphics card will explain why.
- Analog Video Capture PC Cards (PCMCIA)
- Check with ebay or similar sites for auctions on used video capture cards from Margi Systems, Inc. or Nogatech Inc.
- GPS PC Cards (PCMCIA)
- Delorme
- Sony/ETAK
- ISDN PC Cards (PCMCIA)
- 3Com
- Sound PC Cards (PCMCIA)
- audioMIDI.com
- Terminal Emulator PC Cards (PCMCIA)
- Check with ebay or similar sites for auctions on these cards.
- Token Ring PC Cards (PCMCIA)
- Check with ebay or similar sites for auctions on these cards.
- MIDI PC Cards (PCMCIA)
- Check with EXP Computer, Inc.
- Game Port PC Cards (PCMCIA)
- Check with EXP Computer, Inc.
Identifying a Computer's PCI Slots Types
The following illustration should make it easy to identify the types of PCI slots that are inside a computer. 66MHz slots are keyed so that 33MHz cards cannot be used in them, nor can 66MHz cards be placed in 33MHz slots. 33MHz 32-bit cards are keyed so that the cards will physically fit in both 32-bit and 64-bit slots. Typically, compliant 64-bit slots will run any 32-bit card. 33MHz 64-bit slots cards are keyed so that the cards will physically fit in 64-bit slots. 64-bit cards will also fit into 32-bit slots as long as there is enough physical space behind the trailing edge of the slot. Some 64-bit cards will work in 32-bit slots, albeit with some loss in functionality. An example is Synchrotech's FW8-FIO-01 FireWire 800 host adapter which will provide something between 400 and 800Mbps speeds when used in a 32-bit slot. Before trying to install a 64-bit PCI card into a 32-bit slot read the documentation carefully, or check with the manufacturer to make sure that it will work and that it won't damage the card or computer.
