Firewire port compatibility

[JC.Legion]

Hi,

I am quite experienced with building computers, but I have never built a Hackintosh. This is going to be my first attempt, and I've done a ton of research (mostly through this site and iHackUrMac's youtube videos) and have found nothing about compatibility for a firewire port (unless I overlooked it). I have made sure all other parts are fully compatible for my build, so can someone tell me if this part is compatible with a Hackintosh build so I can go ahead and start buying?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815166033

If I can't use this piece, can someone recommend a firewire port that is compatible?

Thanks

 

[nobodynose]

Hi,

I am quite experienced with building computers, but I have never built a Hackintosh. This is going to be my first attempt, and I've done a ton of research (mostly through this site and iHackUrMac's youtube videos) and have found nothing about compatibility for a firewire port (unless I overlooked it). I have made sure all other parts are fully compatible for my build, so can someone tell me if this part is compatible with a Hackintosh build so I can go ahead and start buying?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815166033

If I can't use this piece, can someone recommend a firewire port that is compatible?

Thanks

I don't know if this one is compatible with Mac OS X or not, because Rosewill's site only says it uses a VIA chipset, not which one.

I know for a fact that both of these are compatible (though more pricey than the Rosewill card you mentioned):

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Express-FireWire-Adapter-PEX1394B3/dp/B000WCT5HK
http://www.amazon.com/Syba-Profile-PCI-Express-Chipset-SD-PEX30009/dp/B002S53IG8

According to this thread, the StarTech PEX1394B3 is probably the best one.

Good luck!

 

[rohith]

Hi,

I am quite experienced with building computers, but I have never built a Hackintosh. This is going to be my first attempt, and I've done a ton of research (mostly through this site and iHackUrMac's youtube videos) and have found nothing about compatibility for a firewire port (unless I overlooked it). I have made sure all other parts are fully compatible for my build, so can someone tell me if this part is compatible with a Hackintosh build so I can go ahead and start buying?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815166033

If I can't use this piece, can someone recommend a firewire port that is compatible?

Thanks

Hi friend if you are using Lion or ML please consider PCI-E firewire cards. The TI chipset one is better but i am using a cheap VIA chipset PCI-E Firewire card it is running smoothly .

 

[joncas]

For the heck of it I tried a PCI Firewire card using the Via VT6306 chip that came from an old Acer computer in the two builds I experiment with, a GA-Z77X-UD3H and a GA-Z87M-D3H, and it worked in both (should be able to find one on ebay for 15$).

From the picture of the Newegg link in your first post, it's the same chip, so that one should work too.

 

[ProjectAD]

did you do anythin scpecific to make it work?? i have the same card but am not able to make it work..it shows up in system profiler but does not detect anything plugged into it.

 

[joncas]

did you do anythin scpecific to make it work?? i have the same card but am not able to make it work..it shows up in system profiler but does not detect anything plugged into it.

Hi,

I didn't do anything particular -- just installed it and plugged in a DV video camera to test it. It's with a friend in Switzerland now, so I can't provide any more details ...

 

[Midphase]

My advice is to step away from FW completely. Even Apple has abandoned it. The protocol never quite took off and it looks destined to be one for the dusty computer history books.

I have used a number of FW cards in my builds and they all work, but can be somewhat wonky. On the plus side, this happened on my old Mac Pro as well. As a matter of fact, FW for me was always less reliable than USB.

I would suggest re-housing those FW drives into USB 3.0 enclosures which should yield much faster speeds, alternatively you could just install the drives internally.

 

[atlantis852]

FW800 may be an old standard but I still needed to keep it around. I have a generic two port IEEE 1394b card that works well on 10.9.2. I've pushed about 8TB of data through it so far without any issues.