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Resolved Advice: USB splitter, or USB to Firewire?

Ranstone

Ranstone

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 9, 2017
24
2
I need advice. I'm in uncharted territory for my skillset.
I have an old imac, (I mean, duh, I'm posting in the iMac forum.)and I'm plannign on geting a new external hard drive. Problem is, I have 3 USB ports on the Mac, and two firewire ports.

One USB is for the mouse.
One USB is for the keyboard.
One USB is for external HD A.
One firewire is for external HD B.
One firewire is available.

So to summarize, I have only one port available, and it's a firewire.
I can't find HDs with firewire ports.
Should I get a USB HD, and try and use a USB splitter? Or should I try a USB to male firewire coverter?
Or do you know of any decent firewire external HDs?

I'm looking for a new HD.
I cant have mouse or keyboard latency increase over about 10ms.

( I mean, preferably. beggars can't be choosers, right?)

Advice, experience and all ideas are appreciated.
 
I don't know which iMac are you using. But if its USB ports are at least USB 2.0 you should buy a good USB hub (Amazon Basic ones are pretty good and cheap) and use USB hard disks.

Firewire was an awesome technology faster and more stable than USB but it's 100% obsolete and buying firewire external disks will cost you an arm.
 
netnewswireuser said:
I don't know which iMac are you using. But if its USB ports are at least USB 2.0 you should buy a good USB hub (Amazon Basic ones are pretty good and cheap) and use USB hard disks.

Firewire was an awesome technology faster and more stable than USB but it's 100% obsolete and buying firewire external disks will cost you an arm.
Click to expand...

I just checked. I'm using USB 3.0. (Odd to see 3.0 on the same Mac with firewire...)
Thanks for the tip. Imma do some research/shopping.
 
what model imac ? might be listed in the About this Mac.

i.e "mid 2011"; "early 2013"

also, what's wrong with sticking the mouse and keyboard together on a hub?
 
Get a usb hub.

I have 2007 iMac with 3 USB ports and 2 firewire.

keyboard in one usb, apple keyboard so has 2 ports on keyboard so mouse in one port.
20" apple cinema screen in another USB port, the screen has 2 ports on rear. With iPod dock in one and graphics tablet in the other.
last USB port on iMac has a 7 port usb 3.0 hub (yes I know usb 2.0 Mac) In this hub is my 2.5" time machine drive (uses 2 ports) and my usb to usb C cable for my phone, also in hub is card reader. The hub is mains powered of course!

Firewire in the iMac (1x400 and 1x800)
the 800 is left empty but the 400 port has the cinema screen hub connected, again two ports on the screen.
In one port is an acer firewire DVD-RW, the second port is empty.

USB to firewire does not work.
They are different technology and voltages.
USB is 5v and firewire is upto 12v

Firewire caddies are hard to find yes.
 
Ranstone said:
I just checked. I'm using USB 3.0. (Odd to see 3.0 on the same Mac with firewire...)
Thanks for the tip. Imma do some research/shopping.
Click to expand...
I doubt you have both firewire and USB 3. AFAIK there is no iMac model with that combination. When USB 3 was added, firewire had been replaced by thunderbolt.
 
Machine Name: iMac
Machine Model: iMac4,1
CPU Type: Intel Core Duo
Number Of Cores: 2
CPU Speed: 2 GHz
L2 Cache (shared): 2 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: IM41.0039.B00
Serial Number: SECRET
SMC Version: 1.1f2


I'm ok putting the mouse and keyboard on a hub as long as there's no latency. I mean, relative latency.
[doublepost=1512038108][/doublepost]I checked my USB settings again.
Mac is mid 2005.
Checking the HDs, they return this.

External USB 3.0:

Capacity: 465.76 GB
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk2
Version: 0.00
Bus Power (mA): 500
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
OS9 Drivers: No
Product ID: 0x0200
Serial Number: 20150107006796C
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
Vendor ID: 0x0480
Volumes:
YOUR BOOK:
Capacity: 465.76 GB
Available: 2.82 GB
Writable: Yes

File System: MS-DOS FAT32
BSD Name: disk2s1
Mount Point: /Volumes/YOUR BOOK

Not sure if that means I have 3.0 or not...
 
Last edited:
elf69 said:
4,1 is 2006 white case model.

no usb 3.0 in that one.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Can I still use a USB hub?
BTW, it was 2005, I'm sure of it. However, we got it from a brick and mortar mac store, and back then they used to showcase pre releases. it was a special snowflake back in the day. XD
 
yes you CAN use hub without problems.

what keyboard do you have?
I have an apple pro with usb hub and have my mouse in the keyboard.

this is your Mac:
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_cd_2.0_20.html

Make sure you get a POWERED hub. powered by mains not just passive!
I bought a 7 port hub off ebay and then bought a high power, power supply for it.

I love my 7,1 (2007) does what I want if a little slow at times.
dreamweaver, photoshop, facebook, email, music, etc.

I have 6GB RAM
 
Ranstone said:
Not sure if that means I have 3.0 or not...
Click to expand...

USB 3.0 didn't exist in 2005. - the key bit is the "Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec" - which is USB 2, a fraction of the speed of USB3. Most USB3 drives are backwards-compatible with USB2 computers.

A Firewire 800 (not 400) external drive would potentially be faster than a USB 2 one.

If you're using an Apple keyboard, it should have a built in USB hub which is perfect for attaching the mouse.

Oh, and if you've got a 2005 Core 2 duo Mac, a bit of keyboard lag is probably not the reason for your low Call of Duty XVIII ranking or the lack of bookings for your Rick Wakeman tribute act :)
 
Story time.

Elf69: "What keyboard do you have?"
Ranstone: "Wha? Keyboard? Why? Meh, this guy prolly knows somthing I don't..." * picks up keyboard to find model number. finds two USBs on the back, both compatable with my mouse... *

Ranstone:"Oh... That's why he asked..."

yeah, well that solved my issue... Just gunna get a USB HD...

Real sorry for all the wasted time all.

Elf69, you saved my tail.

Thanks to everyone else too. I learned some good stuff along the way!
 
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theluggage said:
USB 3.0 didn't exist in 2005. - the key bit is the "Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec" - which is USB 2, a fraction of the speed of USB3. Most USB3 drives are backwards-compatible with USB2 computers.
Click to expand...
USB 3 is 10x faster than USB 2 (USB 2 and 3 is not really the right way to name this)

A Firewire 800 (not 400) external drive would potentially be faster than a USB 2 one.
Click to expand...
It has 2xFirewire 400, but despite the lower bandwidth, they are still faster than USB 2, because it is an more efficient protocol.
 
I have an A1048 apple keyboard if that helps.

Glad we could help, we all learn something new everyday.

More ram might help with any lag slowing you are experiencing.
1GB is somewhat low.
 
Ranstone said:
Story time.

Elf69: "What keyboard do you have?"
Ranstone: "Wha? Keyboard? Why? Meh, this guy prolly knows somthing I don't..." * picks up keyboard to find model number. finds two USBs on the back, both compatable with my mouse... *

Ranstone:"Oh... That's why he asked..."

yeah, well that solved my issue... Just gunna get a USB HD...

Real sorry for all the wasted time all.

Elf69, you saved my tail.

Thanks to everyone else too. I learned some good stuff along the way!
Click to expand...

I had an entertaining reading. Thanks. I laugh WITH you. A dozen years with a device and Apple still surprises you! ;-D
But the anecdote remembers me why I became to like Apple products (23 years ago): I found the idea of plugging mice to keyboard a wonderful one. I even use the spare usb in the keyboard to plug a memory stick sometimes (speed is not critical for small text files). At that time (and still now) PCs had the plugs for those two devices in the “tower”.
Having the mouse near the keyboard makes sense, is more “ergonomic”. And design is so nice... they’re so well integrated, symmetrically...
Congratulations. You have two more usb plugs! :)
 
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OP:

Make sure that when you buy a hub and/or a new USB drive, that they are USB3.
USB3 will give you "backward compatibility", yet be "ready for the future" when the time comes.

You might want to keep the keyboard plugged -directly- into the Mac (no hub). There are certain key combinations used in special startup situations that may not work if the keyboard is run through a hub. Mouse will be fine there.
 
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