Old Firewire to New Firewire?

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pagan11460


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I have an old Mac Pro 1,1 from 2006 and I've been using it with a 20" monitor that I bought at the same time. This weekend, I got a good deal on a Mac Pro from 2009 and since I can't afford the new Mac Pros that came out this past December, I bought it. I *thought* that I'd be able to use this Mac Pro 4,1 with my 20" monitor. But when I just attempted to hook it up... oh rats. The firewire cable on my monitor isn't shaped correctly to fit into the firewire ports on the Mac Pro 4,1. Is there such a thing as an adapter that can make my old monitor work with my new Mac Pro? Or do I need to get myself a new monitor?
 
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pagan11460 said:
I have an old Mac Pro 1,1 from 2006 and I've been using it with a 20" monitor that I bought at the same time. This weekend, I got a good deal on a Mac Pro from 2009 and since I can't afford the new Mac Pros that came out this past December, I bought it. I *thought* that I'd be able to use this Mac Pro 4,1 with my 20" monitor. But when I just attempted to hook it up... oh rats. The firewire cable on my monitor isn't shaped correctly to fit into the firewire ports on the Mac Pro 4,1. Is there such a thing as an adapter that can make my old monitor work with my new Mac Pro? Or do I need to get myself a new monitor?
Click to expand...

What sort of monitor is this that it has a firewire cable on it? Just curious.:)

- Nick
 
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I'm with Nick - sure it is Firewire and not ADC (Apple Direct Connect) with power and USB connections all in the one cable?
 
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I used an 800 - 400 cable to attach an iomega external drive to my old 2007 iMac - worked like a dream.

I now have to use it in conjunction with an Apple thunderbolt to firewire adapter which sadly isn't as reliable :Not-Amused:
 
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chas_m

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I have a little black "dongle" that is FW800 male on one end and FW400 female on the other and has worked great for years for me. I plug this adapter into my MBP and connect it to my FW400 hub (hey, remember those??)
 
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dtravis7 said:
Apple Cinema Display 23-Inch (Aluminum) Specs (Aluminum, M9178LL/A, A1082) @ EveryMac.com

Read closely. Has Firewire ports. If it has Firewire ports there has to be a cable to plug it into the Firewire on the computer.

DVI, Firewire 400 and USB all in one cable.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dennis.:)

I was mostly visualizing a hard-wired firewire cable coming off the monitor itself (seemed to be the way OP was describing things). But I'm sure you're right...it's probably a firewire port (a firewire port on the monitor is much different). My 30" Apple Cinema Display has two firewire ports as well.

OP just needs a firewire 400 to 800 cable...or an adapter.:)

- Nick
 
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pagan11460


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Thanks for all of your replies. The old Apple monitor has three cords... the usual monitor connection plus a USB cable and a firewire cable. All three plug into the back of the Mac Pro. The Belkin adapter that OSXX recommended looks like it should work. I just need to make sure that I'm not hurting the monitor or the Mac Pro by using an adapter. I would guess that it will be safe but will try to find out from Belkin and/or from Apple before I buy one.
 
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pagan11460 said:
The old Apple monitor has three cords... the usual monitor connection plus a USB cable and a firewire cable.
Click to expand...

I wanted to mention...that there is such thing as the "usual monitor cable". Apple has used so many different connectors for a computers video port over the years...that nothing is "usual".:)

pagan11460 said:
I just need to make sure that I'm not hurting the monitor or the Mac Pro by using an adapter.
Click to expand...

You will definitely not hurt anything. Worst case scenario is things won't work. But converting from firewire 400 to firewire 800 (monitor to computer) via a special cable or adapter is not a big deal at all.:)

Just out of curiosity...since there have been a bunch of Apple monitors over the years...maybe you could tell us exactly what model Apple monitor you have...so we know what we're dealing with.:)

Thanks,

- Nick
 
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100% Agree with Nick. In no way with that adapter hurt anything and it should work perfectly.
 

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