Hey, I just joined the forums and am having a problem.

My computer no longer recognizes its firewire ports. System profile says "No information found" when I go to the firewire part. I am pretty handy with computers, especially macs, but this has got me stumped. It all happened when I got my new LaCie d2 DVD + & - R Double Layer Burner. I thought that Toast Titanium may be in need of an update because DL burning is fairly new and I hadn't updated. I got version 6.0.7 and replaced the old toast app with the new one. Then it happened. I doubt that would cause it but it seems like thats what happened. My computer no longer recognized firewire. Neither the iPod or the burner or my external hard drive will pick up. I have swapped cables and such just as a test because you can never be too sure Regardless, it is frustrating too look at my new shiny LaCie drive without it working (I had an older LaCie drive that was a +- DVD burner).

Another note: A couple days ago something strange happened. I dont know if it was something I did but suddenly I didn't have permission to move files to the Applications folder or my hard drive. I have been using a combination of Psuedo (to gain root priveledges) and file buddy (to change the priveledges of the HDD) to unlock my folders. Could this have anything to do with it.

Yet another note: LaCie had some disks, one of which contained a disk recording package (I think it was for dual layer support in the built in burning apps) but I did not install them until I had plugged in the drive and firewire was no longer recognized.

Thanks for any help and please excuse me if this has been asked before (I did do some searching).

Any help is appreciated. I can't use my iPod nor burn DVD's!

I suggest that you Repair Permissions (Disk Utility). This should be done every month.

Thanks a bundle! One issue down, One HUGE one to go! I still have no firewire access. None, nada. Any help is appreciated. Check the first post for details.

Thank you so much for even bothering to look at my problem,
Bigswim

Have you tried shutting your computer down, unplugging the power cord and letting it rest for 10-115 minutes without any source of power;

I had the problem, did this and it fixed it

Seems to be a way to reset some devices

Good luck

Thanks for the suggestion! I will try it once I finish my paper (I'll be at a concert for 8 hours so I'll just leave it unplugged). I'll come back here to tell about any success.

Hi BigSwim.

Have you attempted to log in as Admin and verified permissions for your users?

Have you recently upgraded to 10.3.6? I saw another post about this being an issue. Have you tried booting with no USB/FW devices plugged in and then attempted to plug this one in and turning it on?

Thanks

David

Hey, the permissions was solved by the Disk Utility Repair Permissions function. Last night I unplugged my computer's power and all firewire/usb devices and now its working!

One thing.... The Permissions problem happened again. Should I log in as root and do it or could it be just because it was unplugged for a while?

Thanks

<One thing.... The Permissions problem happened again. Should I log in as root and do it or could it be just because it was unplugged for a while?>

Do you mean that the firewire stopped working again and that repairing permissions fixed it again? If so, you might want to run a good maintenance app like Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro.

If, on the other hand, you just saw a permissions error and repaired it (and the firewire was still working), you might have gotten an error message that can safely be ignored. See this article.

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November 29th.

I think I have experienced similar problems with firewire devices.

I was transferring files from an external firewire device (80GB disk, Formac Energy, powered from the firewire) to a new iBook (using 10.3.6). Everything was fine. But after a while, the drive disappeared (I noticed it, but was not able to remember if something special happened).
I went to connect the firewire device to a PowerBook G4 (using 10.3.6) and the drive was recognized, mounted and everything was OK.
I went back to the iBook and connected the firewire disk. It received power from the firewire but was not "mounted" by the system.
I went back to the PowerBook, connected the firewire disk and everything was OK.

BUT.....
After having done this several times (connecting, deconnecting, connecting another disk from LaCie), it appeared that finally the PowerBook was not able to mount the firewire disk anymore.
I tried to connect a Digital Cam, using iMovie on the PowerBook and on the iBook. The Digital Cam was not recognized neither.

In the system profiler, the firewire is detected.
When a firewire disk is connected, "disk utilities" do not see it.

I was wondering wether something was out of order from a hardware standpoint, when I saw the information about firewire problems in the discussions.

Does anyone have ideas on why firewire connection that use to work, suddenly, without apparent reasons, suddenly do not work anymore. And moreover, it seems impossible to get out of this situation (restart, using external power for the devices, etc.).


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December 5th.


The situation as it is today, one week after I encountered problems with FireWire disks on iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 running Mac OS X 10.3.6.
The two disks that I have (LaCie PocketDrive USB/FireWire 40GB, Formac Energy USB/FireWire 80GB) are perfectly OK. I can use them through the USB connection. I could verify that the FireWire problem had not damaged the content of the disks.

I checked the disks firmware. LaCie tools indicated that the PocketDrive was up-to-date (tested through the USB connection). But with the Formac/Energy disk, I could not test anything, as to do so, the tools search for the disks that are connected to the FireWire… and as the disk is not seen by the machine….it cannot proceed to the tests.

I followed some of the advices I read.

1) I shut down the machine (PowerBook G4), took the power cable off, took the battery out. I let the machine rest for 15-20mn. I then reconnected the battery, the power plug, started the machine again and connected the disk when it was running. At the end of the day, the FireWire disks were still not visible (I tested both LaCie and Formac disks). Same with my DV Cam that is still not visible to iMovie.
2) I then decided to boot the machine from a CD-ROM with 10.3. I started the machine, and launched “disk utilities” from the CD-ROM. A disk was connected to the FireWire, but was not detected by the “disk utilities” from the CD-ROM.

Now I have real concern, and I am questioning myself.
Is there a hardware damage on the FireWire ? Nevertheless the FireWire still powers the disks when I connect them to it.
Is it a software problem (Mac OS X, LaCie indicated that firmware was OK when connected to USB)? Then how can it be that after shutdown, power down, battery out and machine rest, the problem is still there? And why is it that when booting on a CD-ROM, “disk utilities” do not see the FireWire disk?
I must confess that I am a little bit lost at the moment.

Does anyone have an idea on how I could check (and be sure) that the FireWire hardware is still OK? As I can see it, the System Profiler lists the FireWire Bus, 400 Mb/s when checking the configuration.