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cpac · Sep 19, 2006, 03:42 PM

Just received my new black nano and because I've got a 5+ year old TiBook 500, I only have USB 1 and syncing was VERY slow (as expected).

Now I'm wondering if, despite the fact that it didn't ship with the cable, I could use one of my dock-connector/firewire cables with the nano? Is this likely to break something? Just not work? Or is it just that Apple decided USB 2 was cheaper and more common so they standardized on that with firewire remaining an working (if unused) option?

kapkorn · Sep 19, 2006, 04:01 PM

I am fairly sure on the newer ipods you cant use firewire at all.

nbnz · Sep 19, 2006, 04:02 PM

It won't work, the new iPods will only support USB, there is no FireWire chip in them.

I have a 3G iPod that only supports FireWire, a Mini that supports both, and a 2G Nano that only supports USB - makes it a pain to manage the cables.

Scott-G · Sep 19, 2006, 04:21 PM

The support pages say that firewire can only be used for charging. Data cannot be transferred.

parsec_kadets · Sep 19, 2006, 06:59 PM

FW wasn't dropped for being expensive. The consensus seems to bee that the controllers are too large and were forcing Apple to make the iPods bigger than they needed to be. I see a USB 2 PC Card in your future.

ghporter · Sep 19, 2006, 07:40 PM

The chip developers have had a huge amount of pressure to develop TINY USB controller chips, but the push for tiny firewire chips just hasn't been there. Firewire has become in many ways a niche product, focused on multimedia transfers rather than generic data, so that's where the market has gone.

You could get a USB 2.0 PC card (the TiBook has a slot for those, right?) and that would work fine.

slugslugslug · Sep 19, 2006, 10:49 PM

The TiBook models all had PC Card slots. I'm pretty sure that'll give you unpowered ports, though, so if you wanted to charge over USB, you'd have to either get a card that comes with an A/C adapter (if they make 'em) or use a USB hub.

icruise · Sep 19, 2006, 11:48 PM

Is there such thing as an unpowered USB port? I thought they all supplied power, although some are low-power (like the ones on an Apple keyboard). I guess the distinction isn't that important -- what you want to know is whether or not it has enough power to charge the iPod. I actually think a USB 2 PC card would charge, but I'm not sure.

tonton · Sep 21, 2006, 12:54 AM

Originally Posted by Icruise

Is there such thing as an unpowered USB port? I thought they all supplied power, although some are low-power (like the ones on an Apple keyboard). I guess the distinction isn't that important -- what you want to know is whether or not it has enough power to charge the iPod. I actually think a USB 2 PC card would charge, but I'm not sure.

AFAIK you cannot supply USB power through a PC card. However, many if not most USB 2.0 PC cards have a power connector cable that plugs into your USB 1.0 port so they can provide power through the USB 2.0 port (did that make sense?). I bought one for my old TiBook for about $10. Works great. Too bad my TiBook died... now I've got a perfectly good USB 2.0 PC card with no need to use it. If I were in the States I'd send it to you...

But yes, get a USB2.0 PC card for $20 and your problem will be solved.

cpac · Sep 22, 2006, 06:46 PM

Thanks all.

I think I may just limp along until I upgrade the TiBook (it's been trusty for the past five years, but it's time for it to move on - perhaps with the next generation of books or the release of 10.5)

The Godfather · Sep 23, 2006, 05:10 PM

You need this.

IOGEAR gpu202 - IOGEAR USB 2.0 2-Port Cardbus PC Card

slugslugslug · Sep 24, 2006, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by The Godfather

You need this.

IOGEAR gpu202 - IOGEAR USB 2.0 2-Port Cardbus PC Card

Except that card looks like it won't take an A/C adapter, meaning cpac probably couldn't use it to charge the nano.

Unless the power cable tonton referenced is one that goes right from a USB A port on the card to a built-in one on the computer...

ghporter · Sep 24, 2006, 11:42 AM

IoGear's site says the GPU202 does support an optional external DC power supply.

slugslugslug · Sep 24, 2006, 07:37 PM

Whoops, missed that when I checked The Godfather's link. Looks like just what cpac needs in case the sluggishness of USB 1.1 gets too irritating during the wait for Leopard (which, if it's not ahead of schedule, should be at least 6 months away).

ghporter · Sep 24, 2006, 09:57 PM

Originally Posted by slugslugslug

Whoops, missed that when I checked The Godfather's link. Looks like just what cpac needs in case the sluggishness of USB 1.1 gets too irritating during the wait for Leopard (which, if it's not ahead of schedule, should be at least 6 months away).

I don't think it was particularly clear in the store page Godfather posted, which is why I went to the manufacturer's pages. The picture is different too-there's an obvious cylindrical jack between the two USB ports in the IOGear picture.

b11051973 · Sep 25, 2006, 12:04 PM

I just got a new 80 GB iPod last week. I had my old iPod plugged in by firewire and just plugged that same wire into my new iPod. The iPod displayed a message that it wasn't compatible with firewire and to connect a USB one.

wake266 · Sep 25, 2006, 06:21 PM

It will charge with the firewire, but it wil display the message"firewire not supported, please use included Usb cable."

danbrew · Oct 2, 2006, 10:18 AM

I just bought an 80g iPod video and was looking for a charging solution while on the road. I try to keep all of my music on my home computer - one copy of the music - and it's somewhat of a pain to connect the iPod to my laptop - it asks if it should sync the laptop (on which there is little/no music) with the iPod - I worry that I'll screw up and erase my iPod while on the road. That would suck. Yeah, I know I can turn off that prompt - but it would still suck.

I've been connecting the iPod to the laptop with the USB cable - and charging that way, but then it occured to my that my 4th gen iPod came with a wall socket adapter that had a firewire connection on it and a iPod connection on the other end. That charges the 5th gen iPod just fine - and now I don't have to worry about bringing a laptop along.