Fire wire and USB the same?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ritter197
  • Start date Start date
Bob I wrote:
Yes, 127 devices in a heap all blinking and flashing would certainly
make for an interesting video.
Click to expand...

i'm waiting for a linux propagandist to say you can do it easily
 
Ritter197 said:
I have an external drive enclosure that came with a firewire which fits
into any USB opening. BUT it is not beeing detected there.

Is Firewire something special that needs something other than a "normal"
2.0 USB port?
Click to expand...

Firewire is special in many ways. You'll need a Firewire port running 400
speed for good/fast data movement on that hard drive. The cable for
firewire is different in many ways vs USB. Its maximum length is 6 feet for
starters. There's a 4 wire (no power support) smaller port, and 6 wire
versions/bigger port. Firewire is written with scsi and LAN type code. It
needs little support from the OS for it to work. There is little help in MS
newsgroups if you have anything beyond the usual firewire problems. At
least that's been my observation.

Haven't seen any strictly Firewire enclosures for long time. You probably
have a USB/Firewire combo. Stick with USB if you have USB ports.
 
Stick with USB if you have USB ports.
Click to expand...

Please clarify some areas of confusion for me.

1) Is a 2 1/2" "laptop" hard drive preferred for an external USB
enclosure?

2) Is it true you do not need separate power for a 2 1/2" external USB
enclosure because the drive can be powered by the USB port?

3) What kinds of sustained transfer rates (in megabytes per second -
MB/s) to another hard drive can be expected with external USB
enclosures? What is the fastest kind?

4) Is SATA preferred over PATA for speed and low power use?


--

Govt is an insult to human dignity. With or without govt,
you would have good people doing good things and evil
people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil
things, that takes govt. Govt is the root of all evil.
 
Craig said:
See: http://www.coolnerds.com/Newbies/Ports/ports.htm
Click to expand...

Very good site and info, but It´s outdated. They states:

"IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394, also
known commercially as FireWire, is a faster connection than USB, but
not as widely used."

Currently USB 2.0 ports are 480Mbits/s, while Firewire are 400Mbits/s.
The old USB (1.0/1.1) it´s, yes, too much slower: 12Mbits/s, I think.
 
I was wrong. The wire looked so different, that I thought it was a firewire,
totally wire mesh enclosed.

It was a USB wire after all.

Thanks to all who responded.
 
See my earlier response. I was wrong. It was USB

Dave B. said:
Firewire (or 1394) is an entirely different interface than USB and not
interchangeable. I can't understand how you plugged a firewire cable into
a USB port, hopefully you didn't fry anything.
Click to expand...
 
Kony:

Thanks for all the detail.

As I stated in earlier replies to answers, I was wrong and it was indeed a
USB connection.

What happened then was VERY Strange.:

The CD which came with the Nexxtech Enclosure (nice size and smaller than
earlier ones I had) would come up with a VIRUS "VB.NEI.worm"

That happened when I tried to install the SW and when I scanned the CD just
by itself.
I called Tech Support and they wanted me to cancel the virus scanner (no way
would I do that!) and kept on saying it is impossible etc etc. Well, I
worked for a SW company for 1 year and I KNOW it can be done by a
disgruntled employee, who otherwise seems to be doing his normal work.

I insisted, they convey this (I gave them detailed information) also that
NOD32 had detected this type virus in Feb. 2006 already, and finally, after
a number of tries, was able to proceed without their software and the
external enclosure is working (not all the time they way I would like it,
but MOST of the time)

Regards
 
Please clarify some areas of confusion for me.

1) Is a 2 1/2" "laptop" hard drive preferred for an external USB
enclosure?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, a 3.5" is faster and far higher capacity
per dollar. On the other hand, a 2.5" is more portable
(assuming it's in the smaller enclosure that only accepts
2.5" drives), including that the drive may be able to run
from the ~500mA (minus what the enclosure itself consumes)
that USB supplies, or supplies additionally through a second
cable plugged into another USB port for more power, so the
whole thing is only one smal piece of gear plus a USB cord
or two. With the 3.5", you have it even larger if it has an
internal PSU, or more commonly a power brick similar to
those used on notebooks.

I'd go with the 3.5" unless you plan on transporting it off
premises.


2) Is it true you do not need separate power for a 2 1/2" external USB
enclosure because the drive can be powered by the USB port?
Click to expand...

Usually, though as mentioned above, some have a 2nd cord or
a special cord with a USB plug at one end that turns into a
small barrel connector at the other end which plugs into the
enclosure's power jack.


3) What kinds of sustained transfer rates (in megabytes per second -
MB/s) to another hard drive can be expected with external USB
enclosures? What is the fastest kind?
Click to expand...

Sustained large file transfers are typically under 28 MB/s,
sometimes much lower (depends on the enclosure and even more
the system's host controller chipset). If you want some
kind of random average I'd call it 18MB/s on large files,
10MB/s on smaller but without any contention for bandwidth
from other devices on same USB hub (controller).


4) Is SATA preferred over PATA for speed and low power use?
Click to expand...

eSATA is preferred over USB for external enclosures.
SATA is only marginally faster when comparing same drive
family/model in PATA vs. SATA interface. NCQ on SATA300 can
help in certain types of uses but moreso fileservers than
typical PC uses, where you have multiple I/O requests
simultaneously.

Power differences are too trivial to consider.
 
One other reason why Firewire did not sell well is the fact that it was
largely developed by Apple. Apple was promoting it mainly for their Macs
and
charged a "royalty" fee for PC makers.
Click to expand...

Sony slapped Apple down when they tried to get royalties for the iLink
port...that died quickly when they reminded Apple that Sony financed and
supported the development of Firewire. That, and Sony could have chewed up
and spit out Apple in those days... I think they wanted $1 per port
originally, I don't know if they get anything for it today.

-John O
 
I'd still like to see 127 devices on one host controller. I think that'd
Yes, 127 devices in a heap all blinking and flashing would certainly make
for an interesting video.
Click to expand...

Someone did it at a trade show when USB first came out. I remember the
article, maybe PC Computing or something, but have long forgotten who did
it. It was mostly keyboards and mice and hubs.

-John O
 
External enclosures have their own power supply. Any current 3.5" hard
drive is fine. 2.5" drives are slower, resulting from less power available
for one.
I don't trust USB for anything consistent regarding throughput. Reason
being is the consumer puts all kinds of gadgets on that bus, eating up
throughput on the bus. The hard drive mounted in the USB enclosure isn't
the issue here. But, can be, if not self-powered.

Smell fish, probably fishy. I know crap about SATA. Ask Ron and company.

There's nothing wrong with govt. Just the people running it.
 
There's nothing wrong with govt. Just the people running it.
Click to expand...

The govt IS the people running it.

"What is the State? The State is people - people who believe
they have a right to rule others. These people are the thieving,
murdering brutes responsible for war, conscription, taxation,
massacres, slave camps, gas chambers, killing fields, nuclear
missles, and endless death stretching back ten thousand years.
Luckily for all, the State is only people. And, generally, the
least competent of people. They are the ones who cannot innovate,
only steal. They cannot reason, only kill. They are brutes who
see the greatest efforts of mankind as loot to seize and control.
Yet when they seize the creations of greater minds, the works
crumble in their hands, for they cannot control what they are
incapable of understanding."
-- Victor Koman, "Kings of the High Frontier"

--

"Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverence. Talent
will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education
will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and
determination alone are omnipotent."
--Calvin Coolidge
 
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