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iDriveX · Oct 14, 2005, 01:08 AM

So I got a Nano....and I got a Cube. But the nano has no way of connecting over FireWire. And the Cube has no way of getting a USB 2.0 port.

So here's my thinking. Is there a hub that has both FireWire and USB 2.0 and connects to the computer only over FireWire? Or do all FireWire/USB 2.0 combo hubs need to connect both to a FireWire port and a USB port? Is there any solution out there or is the iPod Photo and iPod mini the last iPods I will be able to use with my Cube?

PurpleGiant · Oct 14, 2005, 01:33 AM

You can connect the Nano to your cube's USB1. It will simply be slow. After the first fill of your Nano, updates won't be too slow. If you have a bit of patience.

iDriveX · Oct 14, 2005, 01:48 AM

I remember transferring songs onto my Rio via USB on my Blue & white. It took 10 minutes for like 15 songs....

PurpleGiant · Oct 14, 2005, 03:23 AM

Set it to sync overnight?

Cubeoid · Oct 14, 2005, 03:52 AM

Hey PurpleGiant, put your self portrait in the self portrait thread, you're a goofball and i think you'd make something interesting.

Cubeoid

Hawkeye_a · Oct 14, 2005, 04:11 AM

im kinda shocked that Apple hasnt included support with FireWire with the new iPod Nano and the video iPods. i have a Titanium PBG4(550) USB1.1 and FW. it'll be a real bitch transferring files over for us semi-legacy users. i mean it cant be that hard to have a FW cable(even sold seperately). i got both a USB2 and a FW calble with my 20GB iPod(click wheel).

<Sigh> i hope theyre not phasing out FW.

iDriveX · Oct 14, 2005, 06:08 AM

Someone actually talked to Apple about that issue, I guess the chipsets for both USB 2.0 and FireWire are about the same thickness, but by supporting both on the iPod, it doubles the size of it. Also by only supporting one chipset reduces the cost of manufacturing two different iPods and supporting two different iPods. Since the majority of PC users, a much larger segment of Apple's iPod business than Mac Users, have USB 2.0 and NOT FireWire, the decision was made to go ahead and move ahead only with USB 2.0. They supposedly are not phasing out FireWire in any other respect, only in their iPod line.

lavar78 · Oct 14, 2005, 09:58 AM

... which, although it sucks, makes total sense.

turtle777 · Oct 14, 2005, 10:07 AM

I hate farkin' USB2. FW is so much more reliable. No only the protocol, but also the implementation in hardware. All theose farkin' problems with USB2 sticks I had, aaaaarrrrrrggh.

-t

Millennium · Oct 14, 2005, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by turtle777

I hate farkin' USB2. FW is so much more reliable. No only the protocol, but also the implementation in hardware. All theose farkin' problems with USB2 sticks I had, aaaaarrrrrrggh.

Cheap-over-good. That's Apple's new gig, it seems. Rather a shame, that.

willed · Oct 14, 2005, 12:05 PM

So FireWire is basically only useful for video cameras now? Or has USB2 invaded that too?

mchladek · Oct 14, 2005, 12:10 PM

But someone somewhere must have (or soon to have) an iPod dock with a firewire connection, right? Is it really that difficult to convert from USB 2.0 to Firewire?

tooki · Oct 14, 2005, 12:16 PM

A few camcorders have switched to USB 2, but since USB video isn't a standard, it requires drivers on the PC, and for now works only on Windows. Most camcorders still use FireWire, and there's no reason for that to stop.

FireWire still has plenty of uses, including some that USB cannot do. (For example, USB requires one device to be a "host", through which all data must flow. Direct device-to-device communication with no host isn't possible. This is really useful in many situations.)

tooki

turtle777 · Oct 14, 2005, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by mchladek

But someone somewhere must have (or soon to have) an iPod dock with a firewire connection, right? Is it really that difficult to convert from USB 2.0 to Firewire?

Since the new iPod doesn't have a FW chip on board, even a FW dock won't help.
ASAIK, there is no simple FW to USB conversion possible. You need a processor / computer to do that.

-t

CharlesS · Oct 14, 2005, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by mchladek

But someone somewhere must have (or soon to have) an iPod dock with a firewire connection, right? Is it really that difficult to convert from USB 2.0 to Firewire?

Yes.

If you've got a Mac that's 2 years old or more, you cannot buy any of the current iPod products. You will have to get a 4G on eBay, because the current iPods are not compatible with your computer.

willed · Oct 14, 2005, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by CharlesS

Yes.

If you've got a Mac that's 2 years old or more, you cannot buy any of the current iPod products. You will have to get a 4G on eBay, because the current iPods are not compatible with your computer unless you are willing to put up with the incredibly slow transfer speeds of USB1

Correctinated™

iDriveX · Oct 14, 2005, 01:31 PM

Wow, I never thought I'd see the day that I'd have to upgrade my original 12" PowerBook just so I could use an iPod. That's insane. Thus is the ever continuing life cycle of computer components. I wonder how many Mac Users will be buying the iPod Nano or Video thinking they will just use it with their existing FireWire dock, or connect it with the supplied USB 2.0 cable and be like "Is there something wrong with my computer? It's going so slow!"