[LAU] Anyone used a Firewire-to-USB3 or ESATA adapter?

Clemens Ladisch clemens at ladisch.de
Thu Apr 17 12:40:54 UTC 2014


david wrote:
> On 04/15/2014 11:46 PM, Clemens Ladisch wrote:
>> david wrote:
>>> there's no Windows 7 device driver for his Firewire PC Card adapter.
>>
>> All FireWire controllers use the same driver interface (OHCI), and that
>> driver ships with Windows.
>>
>> If there is a problem, it is with the PC Card controller driver.
>
> Hmm, no, that's not what Windows 7 said about his Firewire PC card
> device. It said he needed to get and install a driver for it.

Internally, there's more than one device involved, and the actual
FireWire controller is only the last one.  What particular device did
Windows complain about?

>>> So I thought, maybe a Firewire<->USB adaptor would work.
>>
>> These are completely different protocols; they cannot be mapped to each
>> other.
>
> Yet there are a bunch of connectors that appear to do that, although
> probably not reliable enough for serious use.

There is partial degree of reliability.  Either the port has been
constructed to be a FireWire port with a USB jack (where the adapter
just maps the pins back), or it doesn't work at all.

>>> Unfair: There's an Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter!
>>
>> Thunderbolt is just a PCIe bus.
>
> Then why not a Firewire<>ESATA adaptor?

Because SATA is a completely different protocol.  This could work only
with FireWire hard disks.


Regards,
Clemens


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