Flybye Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Hi all, My motherboard doesn't have firewire. I bought a firewire card, but it only has the 6 port external connector on the pcb. The card came with an adapter cable to convert it from the 6 port to the 10 port motherboard header pin type connector with pins sticking out. Getting physical adapters is not a problem. The problem is it only has 1 power pin shooting out 12v, and I verified it with a multimeter. Front panel diagram states the firewire pin needs 24v which you would usually just join the 2 12v pins from the firewire header on a motherboard. But I don't have firewire on my motherboard as I mentioned above. So would the front panel work with just 12v feeding into the 24v pin or will I have to tap another 12v from someplace else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackCH Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 As per the IEEE 1394 specs you should have 30v-no-load coming out from the pin 1 (on the 6-pin external connector type): http://pinouts.ru/Slots/ieee1394_pinout.shtml On the 10-pin internal connector you should split this signal in two (going to pins 7 and 8). I guess you would have to try connecting a firewire device to see if it works at 12v... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flybye Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 See I'm totally confused because of what this article says: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2952 "Output voltage range: 12 V to 30 V (varies by product)" I think I remember reading on another site that the firewire port goes into a power saving mode when not in use, and that it can scale up to 30v. I just don't want to have to put it all together and then not have the entire front panel work. I don't think this is the case, right? USB has its own power, LED gets its own power from LED on +, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackCH Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 The front panel circuit gets the GND signal through the firewire internal connector (pin 3/4). As long as you provide that signal the other connections will work. Anyway, I think if you split the firewire voltage in two it will work just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flybye Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 I'm going to go ahead and try it. By the way, I wish I would have seen your thread on the cables you sell. I should have just purchased one of those from the beginning. I've already spent half of that in other cables I have already purchased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts