Firewire cables

[protocol7]

I'm looking on ebay for a cheap firewire cable as the only one I have is the too-short one that came with my LaCie drive. I found a couple of cheap ones from HK/China, which would be perfect but what's thrown me is the text at the bottom of the adverts:

Notice:Not for MOTU Traveler MK3,Apple Firewire and Sony iLink's harddisk data transfer.

I thought any 6-to-6 pin firewire cable would work. I want it to hook up Macs via TDM.

 

[LCGuy]

I don't get it...as long as its 6 pin it should be the same as any other FW cable.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

The only thing I can think of is that it has a physical 6-pin connector, but the power pins aren't connected?

 

[protocol7]

The only thing I can think of is that it has a physical 6-pin connector, but the power pins aren't connected?

I think we might have a winner here. I looked at the description on one of the listings and saw this:

Contacts 6 pin to 6 pin (no power)

Seems a bit odd, but hey it's cheap Chinese cabling. So I'll just look for a more "deluxe" cable.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Well, if you're using TDM, a power-less cable should work fine. Connecting the systems to each other won't use the power anyway. Probably the only reason they mention lack of Apple support is because it doesn't meet the official Apple definition of "FireWire" by missing the pins.

 

[Paralel]

The lack of power wouldn't explain the Sony iLink HD exclusion. The iLink is only a 4 pin interface with no expectation of power being provided.

 

[protocol7]

Well, if you're using TDM, a power-less cable should work fine. Connecting the systems to each other won't use the power anyway.

Hmm good point. Now that I think of it, I can't see why I'd need power on a 6-pin cable. It'd either be used for TDM or connecting an external firewire hard disk (which would be powered anyway, at least in my case).