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External Firewire400 drive conflicting with DV device
I use G5, 2.7 dual Power Mac and just bought an external firewire 400 drive. I am trying to use it in the back port and plug my Canon GL-1 in the front fw400 port. When I play video off of the fw400 hard drive, it makes the video image going out to my monitor (through GL-1) flicker. Anyone else have this problem. Can I not use both firewire 400 ports at the same time?
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7 Replies
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If you’re using FW for source and capture at the same time, you should consider getting a card to give you another FW bus. All the ports that come standard on the Mac all go through the same internal hardware.
debe
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Thanks Debe. Wish I had known this earlier. Recommend any FW cards. Are they called PCI cards with firewire ports?
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I’d look at this page at wiebetech.com
https://www.wiebetech.com/products/pci.php
I think one of the top two would be good for you. Double check your specs, though. My G5 is older than yours, so there may be different things to consider. I’m not up on all cards for all Macs, just what I have in my corner of the world!
I’m also sure there are others out there. I like wiebetech because they are good and fast and accessible, and I’ve never had a bad experience with them. Perhaps someone else can recommend another brand or seller, and then you’ll have something to compare. Comparison shopping is almost always a good thing!
debe
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Ryun,
Depending on your needs, here is another, albeit more expensive, choice for a PCI-X FW card:
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Dave, so how on a device like that does FCP know which FW bus has the deck you want connected? Is it a off/on strategy? Only the deck you want to capture from or output to should be on, the other(s) off?
I have up to 4 FW sources (one camcorder, 2 DVCam/DVCPro decks, and a Beta/Digibeta multiplayer) and up to 6 FW drives that I use for archiving, but not media storage. I was considering a FW patchbay so I could have at least my three decks connected at all times and re-patch when necessary, avoiding unnecessary unplugging and replugging wear on my G5’s FW port.
You are certain that this card is 4 separate busses?
Interesting option. I shall look into it more.
debe
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debe,
From what the person said who posted this info (who knows where?), yes there are 4 separate host controllers (separate FW control chips on the card) or “buses.” I would ask the vendor for more details. That’s why the thing costs so much. Most other PCI FW cards have a single “controller/bus” (hence the price difference).
The WiebeTech cards are nice, as are many others. However, I would guess that they have only one controller/bus, so the slowest device plugged-in would affect overall speeds. Not so with the Indigita card.
As far as what FCP or the OS would see (more so, FCP) regarding having multiple decks connected and powered up, you’d have to ask someone who is doing so, or try things yourself.
The Indigita card does sound like a great piece of hardware.
-Dave
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Thanks, Dave…
I’ll check into it! It may be exactly what I’m looking for…and a nice little dedution, too!
debe
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