Have old mac mini (Firewire 400 port), can I attach a firewire 800 SDD external drive, it might be faster than the USB 2.0 option offered
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Well you have one part that makes it faster... the fact it's an SSD. Firewire 400 is slower than USB2 but USB2 is not faster than 800. So if you're going from an FW800 device, to a FW400 port, you're still only going to get FW400 speed, which is fine because you'll be getting the FULL 400 worth of speed because the read/write of the drive is faster than the pipe the data is traveling through. --- So yes, to sum it all up, you can attach the firewire 800 SSD and have great speed.
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Not this variant. Only the My Passport Studio works with Firewire 800. This particular variant of the My Book Studio comes only with 1 USB 3.0/2.0 slot. It's not a regular looking USB slot either. Scroll to the produce description to see how the USB looks like.
550602
Probably not. FireWire is either 400 or 800 Kbps, and both thunderbolt and USB 3 are faster.
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I haven't done so, but if U could transfer files between 2 macs that have FireWire 800, then it should work. If you're not sure, I'd check some of the Mac forums.
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The drive has a USB 2.0 port which will work on a Mac or a PC. As Anthony W. advised, format the drive in FAT32 for compatibility with both systems. (I seriously doubt that your Dell computer has a firewire port and USB transfer won't approach the firewire 800 speed, but it should work.) Formatting the drive will probably be easier and faster if you do it on the Mac before connecting to your Dell.Congratulations on upgrading to a Mac.
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Hi. The newest hardware version of the Seagate backup plus that I have is for USB 3.0. This version is only available in USB 3.0. Seagate sells an adapter separately that can support thunderbolt. I think that you then have to buy a thunderbolt to firewire 800 adapter then, finally, you would have to buy a firewire 800 cord as the adapter (made by Apple) is very short. The thunderbolt adapter for the Seagate Backup plus is 150 dollars and the adapter is 30 dollars so you are looking at a lot of money. Alternately, you could buy the previous generation of the Seagate backup plus. Search amazon.com for "Seagate Backup Plus 3 TB FireWire 800/USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive for Mac STCB3000100" and you will find it. Hope this helps. Patrick
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No, you cannot. You could use a Firewire drive with the Thunderbolt port of a MBP, but not the other way around. Sorry.
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Yup it works fine. FW800 on Mac Mini to FW400 external drive. You do need the 9 to 6 pin cable (and I thought I had 1 of every cable)
2197503
NOT that one! I bought the wrong one actually. The large end of THAT cable goes into my 2010 iMac FW800 port but u need an adapter to fit on the other end that will convert it to 'old style' FireWire 400 from the earlier macs. I never got around to getting the adapter. I took the HD out of the old Mac and put it into an enclosure. The pictured cable AND the old style FW adapter should work 4 U though.
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Yes, firewire works perfectly (on Macs at least, I'm fortunate not to have a windows machine to be able to test this on). Enough power is supplied via the firewire cable to run the drive. USB is a different matter ... a single USB cable from a Belkin hub attached to my Mac Mini will NOT spin the drive up. The light goes on, but the drive never mounts and it remains invisible on 'Disk Utility'. I was worried this would be the same story on my laptop ... however, a single USB cable works just fine with a 2 year old MacBook Pro. I suspect that it depends how much power the USB delivers, and that newer machines may deliver sufficient. So, USB doesn't suck ... it just depends what you attach it to. I've tried this on a Belkin hub attached to my Mac Mini and on a 15" MacBook Pro.
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I have used it on both Mac and PC and have daisy chained it with other drives on FireWire. It will do everything you are asking about here.
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Although it doesn't have a FireWire connection, you can use it with the USB connection. My idea was that this would be a temporary solution till I get my new Mac with thunderbolt and then it will fly. Hope this helps.
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Hi, thanks for your email, yes if your Mac has Firewire port. Take care, Norman.
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Laurarom; Whoever told you to use it Western Digital "My Book Studio" external hard drive for Time Machine gave you great advice. Your 2009 Mac will be a direct connect FireWire 800, but Apple discontinued that connection on later models, switching to Thunderbolt. When you upgrade to later Mac, you can buy an adapter for FireWire to Thunderbolt. Set up is easy, practically does it automatically. Buy it. You will love it. BTW, it is silent.
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Yes & No. For internal you need a 2.5" drive. If you put in an enclosure (like I did) you can attach via firewire or USB and will work just fine.
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I imagine so, but I cannot confirm. I have mine (the 2 TB model) daisy chained with two older 1TB WD My Studio drives, running into a thunderbolt port, and have had not problems. Comp < 2TB [firewire to thunderbolt] < 1TB [firewire 800] < 1TB [firewire 800]They are really pretty much a plug and play solution, set them up once, and forget em. I wish I would have ponied up the other fifty or so bucks and for the 3TB to run as time machine. Hope this helps.
1444637
this hard drive allows you to do it. i have daisy chained it to a lacie external drive. it is easy to do. the wd comes with 2 firewire cords and 2 ports. the first cord goes into one of the wd's ports and then into your laptop's firewire port. the second one goes from the second firewire port in the wd into the firewire port of your other drive. then they both will show up on your desktop. to eject them, just drag both icons to the trash and unplug. i always remove them before i start my powerbook. soometimes the powerbook gets confused and doesn't know which hard drive to recognize for start up. easier to plug them in after i have booted up my mac. hope this helps. this hard drive allows you to do it. i have daisy chained it to a lacie external drive. it is easy to do. the wd comes with 2 firewire cords and 2 ports. the first cord goes into one of the wd's ports and then into your laptop's firewire port. the second one goes from the second firewire port in the wd into the firewire port of your other drive. then they both will show up on your desktop. to eject them, just drag both icons to the trash and unplug. i always remove them before i start my powerbook. soometimes the powerbook gets confused and doesn't know which hard drive to recognize for... » Read More this hard drive allows you to do it. i have daisy chained it to a lacie external drive. it is easy to do. the wd comes with 2 firewire cords and 2 ports. the first cord goes into one of the wd's ports and then into your laptop's firewire port. the second one goes from the second firewire port in the wd into the firewire port of your other drive. then they both will show up on your desktop. to eject them, just drag both icons to the trash and unplug. i always remove them before i start my powerbook. soometimes the powerbook gets confused and doesn't know which hard drive to recognize for start up. easier to plug them in after i have booted up my mac. hope this helps. « Show Less