Resolved rMBP Thunderbolt-Firewire power supply

[MDFang]

Hey all,

G'daaaaamn this laptop is amazing! Was a much needed upgrade from my early-2006 MacMini though, haven't ever experienced anything as fast as this!

Anyway, something's got me a bit troubled.
I have an external firewire-800 HDD. On my MacMini I could just go HDD->800->400->MacMini, without having to use the power supply for the drive (which, somewhat oddly, goes into a usb-port).
I bought the Thunderbolt-Firewire800 dongle with the rMBP, so I thought I'd hook my drive up. Sadly though, it won't boot itself when it's just plugged into the Thunderbolt port (drive->800->TB->rMBP). I solved this by plugging in the power supply (usb cable) into the laptop as well, and bam, there it goes!

I find it odd though, that Thunderbolt isn't capable of providing sufficient power for my external drive, where the Firewire-800 port on my old Macmini could. Is this normal? Is there a workaround?
I've already got a ton of cables going into this thing as is (MagSafe, TB-ethernet, TB-firewire, audio, HMDI), so it'd be nice if I could keep that there usb-slot free.

Thanks!

 

[GGJstudios]

Apple Thunderbolt Adapters: Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

How much bus power does the Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter supply?

The Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter provides up to 7W of bus power. This will power the majority of FireWire devices, but there may be some devices or chains of devices that require more power.

 

[MDFang]

Ah, bummer. I don't have the documentation for the drive anymore, but I'm just going to assume that it needs more than 7W then. Hrrr, I might want to save up for a new external then, but for now, this'll have to do.
Thanks!