Daisy Chaining FW interfaces and hard drive?

[kestudi]

I'm working on a MacBook Pro, which only has one FW-800 jack. I have a mackie onyx 820i mixer/interface, and an mbox 3 pro, and I'm wondering whether it would create problems to daisy-chain these devices. (I was thinking I would put the Mbox closest, then connect the mackie to that.)

 

If that's a go, then could I add a FW hard drive at the end of that chain?

 

I have no experience with linking multiple FW devices like this, so I have no clue whether this would cause any stability issues.

[Scott Jackson]

If your devices are all daisy chainable (i.e. have two firewire ports each) you should be able to chain them. Regarding the order, you want the fastest device(s) first in the chain (i.e. connected to the FW port on your computer). Then chain slower devices behind the first device. Consult the attached diagram for a better understanding of how daisy chain works.

[kestudi]

Thanks for that info-sheet! That's really well-put-together.

 

I hadn't thought of the patching issue. It would be nice to have the freedom to shut down/unplug devices without worrying about the whole chain.

 

For the time being, then I will go:

 

PC --- FW800 Mbox3Pro ------ (FW800 HD)---- FW400 Mackie

[Scott Jackson]

Thanks for that info-sheet!

 

You're welcome!

 

I hadn't thought of the patching issue. It would be nice to have the freedom to shut down/unplug devices without worrying about the whole chain.

 

You could consider a hub, however, even though FW is said to be hot swappable (and I've done a lot of plugging/unplugging FW devices without shutting down the computer with no adverse side effects), there have been cases where damage is caused to the bus if you don't plug the device in just right.

 

PC --- FW800 Mbox3Pro ------ (FW800 HD)---- FW400 Mackie

 

If you are going to record to your FW800 HD you may want to place that first in the chain but you could experiment to see if you have any issues. If you are not going to record to the external drive and you are just using it for back ups, your chain is fine.

[kestudi]

If you are going to record to your FW800 HD you may want to place that first in the chain but you could experiment to see if you have any issues. If you are not going to record to the external drive and you are just using it for back ups, your chain is fine.

 

OK, so order still does matter? Do the closer devices get priority? Or is it just a matter of making sure your 800 devices are running at 800 so they have to be in front of 400?

 

I don't know the FW standard that well.

[triplets]

Or is it just a matter of making sure your 800 devices are running at 800 so they have to be in front of 400?

 

Exactly

[johnnyalan]

Nice diagrams and well explained.

 

I've always been wary of mixing FW400 devices into my FW800 chain. But what you say makes sense.

 

Thanks.