I must have done my research wrong. I read somewhere Firewire 400 (4 pins) doesn't carry power like USB, while Firewire 800 (6 pins) could. I've been playing around with it a bit- unfortunately with the Firewire connection, it's not powered, and with the USB1.0 to USB 2.0 connection, it needs a Power supply to 'kick start' the harddrive, but functions if I unplug the supply after it's started. Bizarre.
I always use a/c to run my notebook too, only thing is it's a bit annoying to plug in the external drive to a power supply too. Wires wires.. Cheers, Ryan ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <pentax-discuss@pdml.net> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 7:29 PM Subject: Re: Enablement! Sorta.. > That's nothing to do with it being Firewire 400 - you can > get Firewire with or without the power supply connections, > independent of transfer speed. > > It's possibly to buy an external powered adapter (complete > with it's own wallwart transformer) that injects power into > a Firewire connection. > > http://fwdepot.com/thestore/product_info.php?products_id=372 > > Of course this means you have to have mains power available, > which isn't always the case with a notebook computer. > > I really ought to get one of these; I've got a firewire reader > for CF cards, and I can't use it on my notebook for exactly > that reason (which is how I know about the external adapter). > > I almost always need AC power to run my notebook; it lasts > for less than two hours on a fully-charged battery (that's > the way it is designed; it's built for speed, not duration). > >
