Hello to all and Firewire problem

Joined
Jan 21, 2014
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hi,
New to the forum and looking forward to being educated in all things imac.
I have a Mid 2010 27 inch i3 imac which has been totally fault free until this morning.
I have 3 firewire external hard drives attached and last night I unmounted the drives as usual, turned off the power to them but, the first drive in the chain still showed the power light (not done this before) so I removed the firewire cable and the light went out. I closed down the imac and retired to bed.
This morning, I started the imac, turned on the external drives but, none of them mounted or showed on the desktop. I have read through various posts and tried all suggested (SMC reset, Pram reset etc) but, nothing has worked, the imac refuses to see the drives. I have swopped out cables and power supplies and are now using USB 2 which works fine.
Any help and advise would be most appreciated.
Thanking you in advance.......Tony.
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
If all the drives are working via USB, then at least the drives are ok.

Am "assuming" you had them daisy chained.
Would try them one at a time via firewire.
None of them recognized, change the cable.
Suggest you should be looking in Disk Utility rather than the Desktop or Finder at this stage.
 
OP
T
Joined
Jan 21, 2014
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Thanks for your reply.

Yes the drives are "Daisy Chained.
Tried all 3 drives individually.
Tried using different firewire cables.

Discs do not show up in disk utility
System Profiler shows
FireWire Bus:

Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec
It's as if they are not connected ?
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
Would try both - SMC and PRAM reset.

After that, would try them on a different computer.
 
OP
T
Joined
Jan 21, 2014
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Ok, thanks.
I have tried SMC and Pram resets a few times, my plan of action now is to shut down the imac this evening, unplug everything and leave over night ( 12 to 13 hours was suggested in a you tube video ) then boot up tomorrow and carry out Pram reset.
I will post the results.
Thanks again for your time.
 
OP
T
Joined
Jan 21, 2014
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Sadly, I have to report that the Firewire 800 ports still do not work.
Maybe that part of the Logic Board has failed.
I read somewhere on the net that if the PRAM battery is low, it can cause this problem with the Firewire Ports ?
Can anyone confirm this to be true ?

Thanks.
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
I doubt your PRAM battery is bad or low since your machine is a 2010 model. I've always been reluctant to daisy chain drives whether they be firewire, SCSI, or what have you. The reason is that a problem with one or more of the drives or cables can cause damaging current flow through the chain. While it may not damage the drives themselves it can cause a problem with the main board (logic board).

I would make an appointment with your local Apple Genius bar and have them run diagnostics. There shouldn't be a charge for that provided you go to a genuine Apple store not an authorized Apple repair service.
 
OP
T
Joined
Jan 21, 2014
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Ok, thank you for your input.
I am thinking that the logic board is damaged, after the drive light remained on after turning off the mains power.
I will be visiting my Son next week and will try my drives and cables on the Firewire port of his Macbook.
If all is ok then it's off to the repair shop.
Will keep you posted.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top