ajc4000 Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Hi, I'm interested in getting an external hard drive for my laptop. The laptop already has a 4 pin firewire port but only usb 1.1. Thus I'm looking at external bays (in the UK) that have firewire. They don't seem to detail, however, whether they have 4 or 6 pin firewire connections. Is there a difference between the two? Would a 4-6 pin wire be sufficient? Cheers for your help. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/297305-external-hard-drive-firewire-connection/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyGlass Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Yes it would but if im correct wouldnt the motherboard have to support a 6 pin external hard drive and i think the 6 pin would have a faster data transfer. Edit: Do you mean (4 pin USB Type B), (6 pin FireWire)? -DannyGlass Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/297305-external-hard-drive-firewire-connection/#findComment-585624654 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajc4000 Posted March 16, 2005 Author Share Posted March 16, 2005 There's a four pin firewire connection on the laptop. All the external bays I've seen just say they have a firewire connection. Does this mean they have four or six pin firewire connections? Would it matter what connection the bay has given that you can get 4-4 pin firewire wires, 6-6 wires and 4-6 wires. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/297305-external-hard-drive-firewire-connection/#findComment-585624683 Share on other sites More sharing options...
livesoca Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 You'll most likely need to get a 4 to 6 pin Firewire cable (4 pins on one side of the cabel and 6 pins on the other side) if you haven't got one already. That's the cable I use on my laptop because my the Firewire slot on my laptop is a 4-pin, and my external harddrove is a 6-pin. Most external Firewire devices are 6-pin Edit: As far as I know there is on difference between a 4-4 pin, a 4-6 pin and a 6-6 pin. They all have the same speed and work the same way. It just depends on the slots on the device and laptop/pc. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/297305-external-hard-drive-firewire-connection/#findComment-585624711 Share on other sites More sharing options...
edbro Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Is a 4 pin one of those little firewire connections like used with digital cameras? That is what I have on my laptop. I would also love to use firewire as my USB is also only 1.1. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/297305-external-hard-drive-firewire-connection/#findComment-585624713 Share on other sites More sharing options...
livesoca Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 This is a snapshop of what a firewire slot should look like on a laptop. It looks a bit like what is on a digital camera, but is a bit different and has a 3-sided symbol next to it. Edit... This is a better pic http://www.neo-shop.com/tiendas/0009/vario...0firewire-2.jpg http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/video-edit-firewire.jpg Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/297305-external-hard-drive-firewire-connection/#findComment-585624752 Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazzyyfool Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 (edited) There is no difference in data rate between 4 and 6 pin FireWire connections. The main difference being 6 pin is powered and 4 pin isn't. If your laptop has a 4 pin connection, it means you must use a powered external hard drive and use a 4 pin > 6 pin cable. If your laptop has a 6 pin connection, you can use an un-powered external hard drive and use a standard 6 pin > 6 pin cable. The hard drive will be powered by your laptop. (Like what I use :yes: ) Generally PC laptops come with 4 pin connections and all Mac's come with 6 pin connections. Hope that clears things up a bit ;) Edited March 16, 2005 by thefunkymunky Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/297305-external-hard-drive-firewire-connection/#findComment-585624798 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajc4000 Posted March 16, 2005 Author Share Posted March 16, 2005 ^ Thanks The extra pins make sense now! Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/297305-external-hard-drive-firewire-connection/#findComment-585624923 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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