Firewire enclosure replacement

[Lil' Dave]

Recently had to replace a firewire hard drive external enclosure.

The original, I simply turned it on while in XP, ran my imaging software and
let it verify the image when done. All was normal, no problems. Set for
quick removal in device manager by XP.

The replacement, keeps bringing up a bogus new hardware found. Never finds
any driver including internet. I tried removing the hard drive entry and
the SBP entry in device manager. After reboot, I turn the firewire
enclosure on, and it does the same thing all over again. Hard disk and SBP
entries are there, same bogus new hardware. Image file verification fails
everytime on that hard drive when device manager is set for quick removal
for that hard drive. When set for performance and write caching, all is
well for image file verification.

Same hard drive and firewire cable used on both enclosures.

How come the new hardware found everytime I turn the enclosure on?

How come the disparity in device manager disk drive setting, quick removal
vs. performance for proper operation?

 

[R. McCarty]

Is the new enclosure a multi-technology type ? ( USB, eSATA & FW ).
If so, then the enclosure may have some type of translation hardware to
accommodate the various supported interface types. The new hardware
detection may be that translation chip which XP cannot correctly ID.

 

[Lil' Dave]

Yes, its also has USB2 capability. The old one was also firewire/USB2. I
can't find any pure firewire/1394A version enclosure anymore. That may
explain the bogus thing in device manager not finding a driver, although its
not connected via USB. It don't explain the need for setting the hard drive
for performance rather than quick removal.

Original was a Startech IDECASE35U2F.
Replacement is an Irocks ir-9410-si.

Both have firewire port, and passthrough firewire port, one USB2 port.

Reason for replacement was the negative side 12V wire came out of the
modular plug when I was attempting to temporarily move the hard drive. Some
googling found that this is not unusual on some Startech enclosures.
--
Dave

Is the new enclosure a multi-technology type ? ( USB, eSATA & FW ).
If so, then the enclosure may have some type of translation hardware to
accommodate the various supported interface types. The new hardware
detection may be that translation chip which XP cannot correctly ID.

 

[R. McCarty]

I'd run some type of "Throughput" benchmark on the drive just to see what
type of performance you're getting on the external enclosure. Do the tests
with both operating modes - Cached and Quick Removal for comparison.

Yes, its also has USB2 capability. The old one was also firewire/USB2. I
can't find any pure firewire/1394A version enclosure anymore. That may
explain the bogus thing in device manager not finding a driver, although
its not connected via USB. It don't explain the need for setting the hard
drive for performance rather than quick removal.

Original was a Startech IDECASE35U2F.
Replacement is an Irocks ir-9410-si.

Both have firewire port, and passthrough firewire port, one USB2 port.

Reason for replacement was the negative side 12V wire came out of the
modular plug when I was attempting to temporarily move the hard drive.
Some googling found that this is not unusual on some Startech enclosures.

 

[smlunatick]

Yes, its also has USB2 capability.  The old one was also firewire/USB2. I
can't find any pure firewire/1394A version enclosure anymore.  That may
explain the bogus thing in device manager not finding a driver, although its
not connected via USB.  It don't explain the need for setting the hard drive
for performance rather than quick removal.

Original was a Startech IDECASE35U2F.
Replacement is an Irocks ir-9410-si.

Both have firewire port, and passthrough firewire port, one USB2 port.

Reason for replacement was the negative side 12V wire came out of the
modular plug when I was attempting to temporarily move the hard drive.  Some
googling found that this is not unusual on some Startech enclosures.

Several "external" device categories usually have problems for XP to
locate them after XP has started. The "Plug & Play" (aka Plug & Pray)
system seems to have problems with detecting devices. Unless you are
reconnecting the drive enclosure to different ports, the "Found New
Hardware" should not come up all the time. You might need to reset
the Firewire "ports" by:

1) Removing all the Firewire device drivers from Device Manager
2) Disconnect all Firewire devices
3) Remove the Firewire controller card from Device Manager
4) Reboot

Once XP reboots, it should refresh the Firewire controller card
drivers and reset the Firewire device ID enumeration process. Then,
you should be able to have the Firewire device successfully detected.

(NOTE: As with all Windows XP, no two PCs are ever the same and the
"resetting" of the Firewire "device" might not help.)

 

[Paul]

Yes, its also has USB2 capability. The old one was also firewire/USB2. I
can't find any pure firewire/1394A version enclosure anymore. That may
explain the bogus thing in device manager not finding a driver, although its
not connected via USB. It don't explain the need for setting the hard drive
for performance rather than quick removal.

Original was a Startech IDECASE35U2F.
Replacement is an Irocks ir-9410-si.

Both have firewire port, and passthrough firewire port, one USB2 port.

Reason for replacement was the negative side 12V wire came out of the
modular plug when I was attempting to temporarily move the hard drive. Some
googling found that this is not unusual on some Startech enclosures.

The fact that the new enclosure has USB2 or SATA, as well as Firewire,
should not make any difference. In the Firewire path, the same information
is going to be seen by Windows, and the same protocol stack used.

One thing I could see happening though, is if Windows uses the serial number
of the hard drive, for uniquely identifying what is plugged in, then it will
have seen both the Startech and the Irocks, with the same drive serial number.
But I don't know enough about Firewire, to say whether that is responsible
for your symptoms or not. I'm still "batting a big zero" when it comes to
finding utilities to enumerate Firewire.

In terms of showing what is on the Firewire bus, the Macintosh has a nice
display in System Info, that shows a "tree" for a network of Firewire devices.
In Windows, I was barely able to get some info from Sisoftware Sandra.

The last experiment I did, was to place a CDROM in a Firewire case, as a test,
and this is what I got.

Device Manager - This is the chip on my motherboard, that does the Firewire
The second entry is the enclosure, using SBP2 (SCSI) protocol.
The "repeater" is probably mentioning the passthru connector.

IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers
VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Controller
(drivers = 1394bus.sys, ohci1394.sys)

DVD/CD-ROM drives
ADS Technologies_ Inc. 1394 Storage+Repeater IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device
(drivers = cdrom.sys, redbook.sys, storprop.dll)

Sisoftware Sandra Lite (free) is able to get the ident string from the
drive. But no other information. So if there was a serial number or
a shoe size, it cannot be seen. And it could be, that the SBP2 protocol,
being a SCSI stack, hides any other info. For example, I wouldn't
expect to get SMART info from the drive, if it was running over Firewire.

Matshita CD-ROM CR-588

So that was my last experiment with Firewire. Still no closer to getting
a free utility that can get more info.

There is a utility in a commercial development package, but its usage could
be keyed to the whole package being installed.

Paul

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Recently had to replace a firewire hard drive external enclosure.

The original, I simply turned it on while in XP, ran my imaging software
and let it verify the image when done. All was normal, no problems. Set
for quick removal in device manager by XP.

You really can't do this reliably or safely with FireWire devices.

It's supposed to work, but it is known to lead to port destruction, the host
or remote port or both.

You need to power *everything* off before connecting or disconnecting
FireWire devices, and turn the peripherals on first.

The replacement, keeps bringing up a bogus new hardware found. Never
finds any driver including internet. I tried removing the hard drive
entry and the SBP entry in device manager. After reboot, I turn the
firewire enclosure on, and it does the same thing all over again. Hard
disk and SBP entries are there, same bogus new hardware. Image file
verification fails everytime on that hard drive when device manager is set
for quick removal for that hard drive. When set for performance and write
caching, all is well for image file verification.

Same hard drive and firewire cable used on both enclosures.

How come the new hardware found everytime I turn the enclosure on?

Possibly due to damage to the port caused by hot-plugging. You may also
need to replace the port on the host PC.

HTH
-pk

 

[M.I.5¾]

You really can't do this reliably or safely with FireWire devices.

It's supposed to work, but it is known to lead to port destruction, the
host or remote port or both.

You need to power *everything* off before connecting or disconnecting
FireWire devices, and turn the peripherals on first.

Absolute rubbish. Firewire connectors are specifically designed to be hot
plugged. The supporting software is written specifically to detect hot
connected and disconnected peripherals.

Possibly due to damage to the port caused by hot-plugging. You may also
need to replace the port on the host PC.

The port cannot be damaged by hot plugging. It is designed precisely to be
used in this manner.

 

[Lil' Dave]

Yes, its also has USB2 capability. The old one was also firewire/USB2. I
can't find any pure firewire/1394A version enclosure anymore. That may
explain the bogus thing in device manager not finding a driver, although
its
not connected via USB. It don't explain the need for setting the hard
drive
for performance rather than quick removal.

Original was a Startech IDECASE35U2F.
Replacement is an Irocks ir-9410-si.

Both have firewire port, and passthrough firewire port, one USB2 port.

Reason for replacement was the negative side 12V wire came out of the
modular plug when I was attempting to temporarily move the hard drive.
Some
googling found that this is not unusual on some Startech enclosures.

Several "external" device categories usually have problems for XP to
locate them after XP has started. The "Plug & Play" (aka Plug & Pray)
system seems to have problems with detecting devices. Unless you are
reconnecting the drive enclosure to different ports, the "Found New
Hardware" should not come up all the time. You might need to reset
the Firewire "ports" by:

1) Removing all the Firewire device drivers from Device Manager
2) Disconnect all Firewire devices
3) Remove the Firewire controller card from Device Manager
4) Reboot

Once XP reboots, it should refresh the Firewire controller card
drivers and reset the Firewire device ID enumeration process. Then,
you should be able to have the Firewire device successfully detected.

(NOTE: As with all Windows XP, no two PCs are ever the same and the
"resetting" of the Firewire "device" might not help.)


Thanks.

The 2 firewire ports are onboard the motherboard.
I always use the same firewire port for this external and the previous one
as well.
Using the same 6 wire firewire cable in both instances.
My normal motis operandi is to allow XP to finish booting including when
after the XP desktop comes up by monitoring the HD LED activity. When done,
I turn on the firewire HDD enclosure. Before shutting down XP, I stop the
firewire enclosure with the option in the system tray for same. Then, turn
off the enclosure. I was curious, and found that XP still finds new
hardware when leaving the enclosure on all the time, and restarting. That
is, if I remove the instance in device manager where no drivers were found
for this unknown device before restarting. Irregardless, there is an entry
for SBP devices for it, and, an entry in hard disk drives in device manager
for the enclosed hard drive. All drivers for motherboard are installed from
motherboard CD. Before changing to the new enclosure, all was uneventful,
and flawless using quick disconnect option (default) for the hard drive.

 

[Lil' Dave]

The fact that the new enclosure has USB2 or SATA, as well as Firewire,
should not make any difference. In the Firewire path, the same information
is going to be seen by Windows, and the same protocol stack used.

One thing I could see happening though, is if Windows uses the serial
number
of the hard drive, for uniquely identifying what is plugged in, then it
will
have seen both the Startech and the Irocks, with the same drive serial
number.
But I don't know enough about Firewire, to say whether that is responsible
for your symptoms or not. I'm still "batting a big zero" when it comes to
finding utilities to enumerate Firewire.

In terms of showing what is on the Firewire bus, the Macintosh has a nice
display in System Info, that shows a "tree" for a network of Firewire
devices.
In Windows, I was barely able to get some info from Sisoftware Sandra.

The last experiment I did, was to place a CDROM in a Firewire case, as a
test,
and this is what I got.

Device Manager - This is the chip on my motherboard, that does the
Firewire
The second entry is the enclosure, using SBP2 (SCSI)
protocol.
The "repeater" is probably mentioning the passthru
connector.

IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers
VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Controller
(drivers = 1394bus.sys, ohci1394.sys)

DVD/CD-ROM drives
ADS Technologies_ Inc. 1394 Storage+Repeater IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device
(drivers = cdrom.sys, redbook.sys, storprop.dll)

Sisoftware Sandra Lite (free) is able to get the ident string from the
drive. But no other information. So if there was a serial number or
a shoe size, it cannot be seen. And it could be, that the SBP2 protocol,
being a SCSI stack, hides any other info. For example, I wouldn't
expect to get SMART info from the drive, if it was running over Firewire.

Matshita CD-ROM CR-588

So that was my last experiment with Firewire. Still no closer to getting
a free utility that can get more info.

There is a utility in a commercial development package, but its usage
could
be keyed to the whole package being installed.

Paul

That information is available in device manager in XP on my system for the
SBP device, the firewire port, and the hard drive within the enclosure.

 

[Lil' Dave]

You really can't do this reliably or safely with FireWire devices.

It's supposed to work, but it is known to lead to port destruction, the
host or remote port or both.

You need to power *everything* off before connecting or disconnecting
FireWire devices, and turn the peripherals on first.

You misinterpreting. I don't simply turn off the enclosure when done. XP,
by default, sets the hard drive in the firewire enclosure for quick removal.
This is under the policies tab in device manager for that hard drive. I use
the standard routine for turning off the hard drive enclosure via system
tray stop procedure.

The point I was trying to make is with the original enclosure, with policy
set to quick removal, all worked fine. The replacement enclosure, in
operation, has problems with that. That is, image file verification fails.
The replacement does well when the policy is set for performance AND
checking write caching. The latter policy is normally done with an onboard,
rather than a removable hard drive.

The replacement, keeps bringing up a bogus new hardware found. Never
finds any driver including internet. I tried removing the hard drive
entry and the SBP entry in device manager. After reboot, I turn the
firewire enclosure on, and it does the same thing all over again. Hard
disk and SBP entries are there, same bogus new hardware. Image file
verification fails everytime on that hard drive when device manager is
set for quick removal for that hard drive. When set for performance and
write caching, all is well for image file verification.

Same hard drive and firewire cable used on both enclosures.

How come the new hardware found everytime I turn the enclosure on?

Possibly due to damage to the port caused by hot-plugging. You may also
need to replace the port on the host PC.

HTH
-pk

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Absolute rubbish.

I wish it was. Unfortunately, personal experience and research into
FireWire equipment failures has shown me otherwise.

Firewire connectors are specifically designed to be hot plugged. The
supporting software is written specifically to detect hot connected and
disconnected peripherals.

Yes, these things are true as far as design specifications are concerned.

But as described below, reality does not quite seem to adhere to these
particular design specifications.

The port cannot be damaged by hot plugging.

Yes, it can.

I have sent many FireWire devices to the trash, and for repair if they were
expensive, for precisely this reason. And I know that I am not alone in
this.

It is designed precisely to be used in this manner.

Yes, it is. Unfortunately, FireWire port failures are well documented.
One possible cause can be static discharge *while* hot-plugging.

http://www.wiebetech.com/whitepapers/FireWirePortFailures.php
"3. FIREWIRE FAILURE SCENARIO

A typical failure scenario is as follows: The user attaches a FireWire
storage device to the computer. The user expects the device to mount on the
desktop, but this does not occur. Repeated attempts to mount the storage
device (usually by connecting and disconnecting the FireWire cable) produce
the same results. Ultimately, the user attempts to mount other FireWire
devices on the same port without success, and consequently verifies that the
port is no longer functional. Various attempts to resolve the situation may
be attempted, all without success. This may include machine rebooting,
Parameter RAM resetting, power disconnection for extended periods of time,
etc.

It's worth noting that the host FireWire port may be on the motherboard (as
is the case for most Apple computers) or it may be on a PCI FireWire host
adapter card. The result is the same; the particular port no longer works.
The port may still be capable of supplying power to the attached FireWire
device, but the device is no longer seen on the desktop or in the various
disk management utilities.

The failure of the host's FireWire port can produce a very bad day for the
user. The knowledge of possible damage (and consequential repair cost /
hassle) to the computer is compounded by the frustrating inability to mount
and use external storage devices."

http://lowendmac.com/misc/03/0421.html
"I just read the above article, and I too agree it's ironic that the highly
touted "hot swap" advantage of FireWire technology is actually a
disadvantage when considering the cost of replacing or repairing damaged
equipment. In my case the situation has proved extremely costly.

I manage the Center for Digital Media at the San Francisco Art Institute,
where we run a couple Mac networks with approximately 40 FireWire enabled
computers and roughly 7 or so FireWire peripherals. These peripherals
include video decks, CD burners, and peripheral hard drives. Of these, three
Panasonic video decks now have burnt out motherboards from hot-swapping to
and from Apple G4 towers (the decks cost $900 new, and $1,200 to replace the
motherboards). Our JVC video deck has been in for repairs to the FireWire
bridge three times at approximately $400 per repair. Two FireWire peripheral
hard drives have fried, and four peripheral FireWire CD burners have
burnt-out bridges, making the cases useless (we have since loaded those CD
burners as internal units in the towers). This puts the grand total of
damaged and repaired FireWire devices at roughly $3,500. Quite a nut for the
convenience of hot-swapping, wouldn't you say?"


I've personally seen a number of devices destroyed this way. I stopped
buying FireWire hard disk cases because they consistently failed after
hot-plugging. I have, and use, a FireWire audio interface, and it still
works because it is never moved.

I've sent back for service (replacement) a $1500 interface that was damaged
by hot-plugging; the Powerbook it was with got a PCMCIA FireWire card
because the ports on the board are fried and motherboard replacement was out
of the question.

This defect is why manufacturers of FireWire audio interfaces caution
against hot-plugging. For example,
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=support.faq&ID=c9d161aac920b52a508de3167730a7ae&setlocale=en_us
"Caution: Do Not Hot-Plug FireWire Devices

Reports have come to our attention of isolated problems when hot-plugging
IEEE 1394 (aka "FireWire") devices. (Hot-plugging refers to making
1394/FireWire connections when one or more of the devices-including the
computer-is on.)

When hot-plugging, there are rare occurrences where either the FireWire
peripheral or the FireWire port on the host computer is rendered permanently
inoperable. While M-Audio products adhere rigidly to the FireWire industry
standard and pass stringent internal testing, the possibility remains that
hot-plugging your M-Audio FireWire interface with some computers may result
in the type of problem described here.

We strongly encourage you to protect your equipment by refraining from
hot-plugging any bus-powered FireWire device, including the M-Audio family
of FireWire products. Connect your FireWire device while both the computer
and FireWire device are powered off. Power on the FireWire device, then turn
the computer on last. If you are using bus power (systems with IEEE1394
6-pin connectors) make sure you make the cable connection first, then turn
the FireWire device power switch on, and turn the computer system on last."

As you can see, this problem is not imaginary.

HTH
-pk

 

[M.I.5¾]

I wish it was. Unfortunately, personal experience and research into
FireWire equipment failures has shown me otherwise.


Yes, these things are true as far as design specifications are concerned.

But as described below, reality does not quite seem to adhere to these
particular design specifications.

[Snipped for brevity]

I have used firewire devices of various flavours (including bus powered)
both professionally and at home. I have never had a failure of either a
peripheral or a port. I do not know anyone else who has either.

The way the firewire connector is designed, it is not possible for any of
the known interface failure scenarios to cause either half of the interface
to fail. It would be possible if the 6 pin connecter were to be inserted
upside down, but it would require more force to get it to insert this way
(though I gather it's not impossible).

You must be doing something wrong, though I have no idea what it is.

 

[Pavel A.]

There were several reports that firewire hard drives do not work well
with Windows, because of defective drivers.
Maybe this is the time for switch to ESATA.

Regards,
--PA

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I wish it was. Unfortunately, personal experience and research into
FireWire equipment failures has shown me otherwise.


Yes, these things are true as far as design specifications are concerned.

But as described below, reality does not quite seem to adhere to these
particular design specifications.

[Snipped for brevity]

I have used firewire devices of various flavours (including bus powered)
both professionally and at home. I have never had a failure of either a
peripheral or a port. I do not know anyone else who has either.

The absence of this problem from your experience does not mean that the
problem does not exist.

The way the firewire connector is designed, it is not possible for any of
the known interface failure scenarios to cause either half of the
interface to fail. It would be possible if the 6 pin connecter were to be
inserted upside down, but it would require more force to get it to insert
this way (though I gather it's not impossible).

You must be doing something wrong, though I have no idea what it is.

I used them as intended. They failed.

Note that at least one manufacturer of FireWire devices has run into the
problem enough times to have found the need to issue a support bulletin
advising against hot plugging, because it can cause permanent port damage to
devices at both ends of the cable.

It sure isn't just me. If you've been lucky enough to avoid it, well,
you've been lucky. Might I suggest lottery ticket purchases.

-pk

 

[M.I.5¾]

Recently had to replace a firewire hard drive external enclosure.

The original, I simply turned it on while in XP, ran my imaging
software and let it verify the image when done. All was normal, no
problems. Set for quick removal in device manager by XP.

You really can't do this reliably or safely with FireWire devices.

It's supposed to work, but it is known to lead to port destruction,
the host or remote port or both.

You need to power *everything* off before connecting or disconnecting
FireWire devices, and turn the peripherals on first.


Absolute rubbish.

I wish it was. Unfortunately, personal experience and research into
FireWire equipment failures has shown me otherwise.

Firewire connectors are specifically designed to be hot plugged. The
supporting software is written specifically to detect hot connected and
disconnected peripherals.

Yes, these things are true as far as design specifications are
concerned.

But as described below, reality does not quite seem to adhere to these
particular design specifications.

[Snipped for brevity]

I have used firewire devices of various flavours (including bus powered)
both professionally and at home. I have never had a failure of either a
peripheral or a port. I do not know anyone else who has either.

The absence of this problem from your experience does not mean that the
problem does not exist.

The way the firewire connector is designed, it is not possible for any of
the known interface failure scenarios to cause either half of the
interface to fail. It would be possible if the 6 pin connecter were to
be inserted upside down, but it would require more force to get it to
insert this way (though I gather it's not impossible).

You must be doing something wrong, though I have no idea what it is.

I used them as intended. They failed.

Note that at least one manufacturer of FireWire devices has run into the
problem enough times to have found the need to issue a support bulletin
advising against hot plugging, because it can cause permanent port damage
to devices at both ends of the cable.

It sure isn't just me. If you've been lucky enough to avoid it, well,
you've been lucky. Might I suggest lottery ticket purchases.

I am reminded by a colleage, that we have a firewire interface built into
one of our aircraft. In this case, the connection is via a standard
aircraft style connector so should be ripe for failure. It can only be
connected hot, and no known failure has occured.

 

[M.I.5¾]

Recently had to replace a firewire hard drive external enclosure.

The original, I simply turned it on while in XP, ran my imaging
software and let it verify the image when done. All was normal, no
problems. Set for quick removal in device manager by XP.

You really can't do this reliably or safely with FireWire devices.

It's supposed to work, but it is known to lead to port destruction,
the host or remote port or both.

You need to power *everything* off before connecting or disconnecting
FireWire devices, and turn the peripherals on first.


Absolute rubbish.

I wish it was. Unfortunately, personal experience and research into
FireWire equipment failures has shown me otherwise.

Firewire connectors are specifically designed to be hot plugged. The
supporting software is written specifically to detect hot connected and
disconnected peripherals.

Yes, these things are true as far as design specifications are
concerned.

But as described below, reality does not quite seem to adhere to these
particular design specifications.

[Snipped for brevity]

I have used firewire devices of various flavours (including bus powered)
both professionally and at home. I have never had a failure of either a
peripheral or a port. I do not know anyone else who has either.

The absence of this problem from your experience does not mean that the
problem does not exist.

The way the firewire connector is designed, it is not possible for any of
the known interface failure scenarios to cause either half of the
interface to fail. It would be possible if the 6 pin connecter were to
be inserted upside down, but it would require more force to get it to
insert this way (though I gather it's not impossible).

You must be doing something wrong, though I have no idea what it is.

I used them as intended. They failed.

Note that at least one manufacturer of FireWire devices has run into the
problem enough times to have found the need to issue a support bulletin
advising against hot plugging, because it can cause permanent port damage
to devices at both ends of the cable.

It sure isn't just me. If you've been lucky enough to avoid it, well,
you've been lucky. Might I suggest lottery ticket purchases.

I can only assume that there items around that are not properly designed.
Anything designed to the letter of the IEEE-1394 (either a or b) should not
fail due to hot plugging. I do know that there are suppliers that try their
best to *interpret* these things to try and save a cent ot two.

 

[M.I.5¾]

There were several reports that firewire hard drives do not work well
with Windows, because of defective drivers.
Maybe this is the time for switch to ESATA.

I have not encountered that. In fact firewire drives actually work much
better than USB2 drives for a variety of reasons. This is so even though
the numerical speed of Firewire (400 Mbps) would appear to be less than the
numerical part of USB2 (480 Mbps). The practical upshot for hard disc
drives is that the firewire version works between 30 and 50% faster.

There was a brief period when hard disc drives were available that had
firewire ports built into the bare drive, but these were somewhat specialist
items and unlikely to be encountered in the mainstream market.

 

[Walter Wall]

I wish it was. Unfortunately, personal experience and research into
FireWire equipment failures has shown me otherwise.


Yes, these things are true as far as design specifications are concerned.

But as described below, reality does not quite seem to adhere to these
particular design specifications.

[Snipped for brevity]

I have used firewire devices of various flavours (including bus powered)
both professionally and at home. I have never had a failure of either a
peripheral or a port. I do not know anyone else who has either.

The way the firewire connector is designed, it is not possible for any of
the known interface failure scenarios to cause either half of the
interface to fail. It would be possible if the 6 pin connecter were to be
inserted upside down, but it would require more force to get it to insert
this way (though I gather it's not impossible).

I too am unaware of any firewire failure of a port being hot plugged *where
the port conforms to the official specification*. I am aware of failures
where parts of the specification have been ignored so they don't count.

 

[Walter Wall]

I wish it was. Unfortunately, personal experience and research into
FireWire equipment failures has shown me otherwise.


Yes, these things are true as far as design specifications are concerned.

But as described below, reality does not quite seem to adhere to these
particular design specifications.


Yes, it can.

I have sent many FireWire devices to the trash, and for repair if they
were expensive, for precisely this reason. And I know that I am not
alone in this.


Yes, it is. Unfortunately, FireWire port failures are well documented.
One possible cause can be static discharge *while* hot-plugging.

This would be a clear case of a port not complying with the specification
then. The firewire ports are specified as being protected against high
levels of static damage. Maybe not quite a lightning strike, but enough for
almost every normally encounted scenario.