FireWire 9-pin to 6-pin problems

[jimhoyle]

I bought a PSG90231 FireWire 9-pin Female to 6-pin Male adapter. This one: http://cpc.farnell.com/1/1/70967-adaptor-firewire-9p-f-6p-m-psg90231-pro-signal.html

I connected my FW cables to a hard drive, using the PSG90231 adaptor. My hard drive has both, 6-pin and 9-pin ports so it's a good device to test with. With PSG90231 in between, the computer does not recognize the hard drive.

So I bought a second PSG90231 because I thought the first one is broken. I also bought it from a different seller. No difference, there is no connection. However, if I use very similar setup but change PSG90231 to a 9-pin Male to 6-pin Female adapter (and add a 6-pin cable), everything works without a problem. So 9-Pin Male to 6-pin Female conversion WORKS.

Is there some inherent reason why 9-pin Female to 6-pin Male doesn't work at all or what is going on here?

Why would they sell that adaptor if it doesn't work. Two bad units from different shops sounds too unlikely. My cables and devices work with 100 % certainty, tested.

 

[corkyg]

The 6 pin FW has no power. It is normally used with cameras that have their own power. If the device you are connecting to with 6 pin has no internal power, it may not exist as far as the system goes.

 

[Essence_of_War]

I think that is incorrect. 6pin FireWire is 400Mbps with full power, and 4pin FireWire is 400Mbps w/o power. I don't know what is going wrong with the OP's stuff, and it still might be a power issue, but I don't think it is an intrinsic problem with 6pin FireWire.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

As an old-time Mac user - 6 pin FW has power, but it's rarely enough to spin up a 3.5" HDD. You usually need a power brick for that.

The spec was good for 45w of power delivery, but I think most manufacturers stuck with 7-10w per port max draw. Since most 3.5" HDDs draw 10-12w and need a little "surge" to spin up, it's rare that a HDD worked on FW bus power alone.

 

[Essence_of_War]

As an old-time Mac user - 6 pin FW has power, but it's rarely enough to spin up a 3.5" HDD. You usually need a power brick for that.

Yeah, I certainly never see FW bus-powered 3.5'' drives, but bus powered 2.5'' ones are pretty common.

OP, can you specify exactly which hard-drive/enclosure you're using?

 

[jimhoyle]

This is LaCie Quadra hard drive with a power supply connected. But I also tried another device (RME Fireface 800). There is no life whatsoever if the PSG90231 is used somewhere between computer and the device. Would be nice to hear if someone has actually got this adaptor working.

I tried with a multimeter shortly, it is beeping (connecting) at least for some of the pins. Didn't check 100 % because it's a bit hard to be precise.

 

[Essence_of_War]

This is LaCie Quadra hard drive with a power supply connected.

So this?

http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-Quadra-FireWire800-Desktop-9000481U/dp/B00HRKB3VQ

And the external drive works over usb and/or esata?

 

[jimhoyle]

Almost exactly that drive. But the drive is not only working over USB (didn't try eSATA), but it is working over all of the FW ports it has, just without the problematic adaptor. (What I'm trying to accomplish is get the adaptor working with any device but the hard drive and the RME is a good way to test it.)

 

[jimhoyle]

I am still fighting this problem. Now I found something that completely flabbergasts me. I have two of these PSG90231 9-to-6 FW adapters and if I use TWO in a chain (not direct chain but on cable's two ends), there IS connection. If I use just one, there is NO connection!

I have confirmed my hard drive's all FW ports (9-pin and 6-pin) are working 100 %. So it is all about the adapters (or some intrinsic problem with 9/6-pin FW in general). My cables are faultless.

This is one test I did (F=female, M=male, bold=PSG90231):

1) desktop PC 9-pin -> 9-pin cable F -> 9-pin-F to 6-pin F -> 6-pin M to 9-pin F -> 9-pin cable (M-M) -> 9-pin F to 6-pin M -> hard drive 6-pin F. Result: WORKING

2) desktop PC 9-pin -> 9-pin cable F -> 9-pin-F to 6-pin F -> 6-pin M to 9-pin F -> 9-pin cable (M-M) -> hard drive 9-pin F. Result: NO CONNECTION

How on earth can this be explained?