Crossover firewire cable

[snip]

And how this relates to Firewire? Just had to ask since the original question is refering to Firewire cable and which type is more common.

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OOps! OK, what's "firewire"? I'm guessing it's pretty much the same deal with the cables, just from the context - there's a "straight- through" and a "crossover" - it makes me think of the null modem cables from days of yore.

OK, I've looked up "Firewire", and it uses hubs, so if they make crossover cables, it must be to connect two devices without using a hub. Call it a "null hub", maybe. :-)

Thanks, Rich

There are two types of firewire cables: Straight-through and crossover. Which one is the most common and what are they for? Your guidance is appreciated.

Thanks,

Ray

Interesting discussion. My browsing is showing that firewire cables are not sold as "straight" and "crossover," but rather by connector type. The 6-pin connector is the computer side, and the 4-pin connector is the component side. So it would seem that if one wants to connect PC to PC, you use a cable with two 6-pin connectors, and if one wants to connect two peripherals together, one uses a 4-pin to

4-pin connector, etc.

Perhaps the people you are trying to buy cables from do not understand what you want to buy because you are using the wrong terminology?

A little more digging reveals that IEEE-1394 uses a somewhat different configuration than the Tx/Rx setup that those familiar with RS-232A and ethernet would know, and is more akin to MIL-STD-1553. What has driven you to believe that there are crossover IEEE-1394 cables? I'm not saying there aren't, but I sure can't find any reference to them. Are you using adapters that switch between 6-pin to 4-pin, or male-to-female, that might be of non-standard construction?

"NOTE that in all standard IEEE 1394 cables, the connections to the two signal twisted pairs are transposed between the two ends. That is, in a 6-pin to 6-pin cable pins 4 and 3 at each end connect to pins 6 and 5 at the other, respectively. Similarly in a 4-pin to 4-pin cable pins 2 and 1 at each end connect to pins 4 and 3 at the other, respectively."

Rich,

I note that the external hard disk, dvd writer, etc., normally have two firewire ports and requires a crossover cable to connect from pc to them and some other device, i.e., iPod docking, that has one firewire port on it and requires straight-through cable. When I buy the firewire cable, it seems the shops do not know what type of cables they are selling, unlike CAT5 cable that normally marked on the packaging.

It leads me to find out if there are two types of cable readily available on the market or iPod docking device accompanying cable is custom-made one. I am unsure if the same technology of CAT5 cable is applied to firewire as well. Your guidance is appreciated.

Thanks,

Ray

Kitchen,

Many thanks for your good information.

You are quite right that most shops are selling 6-pin to 6-pin, 4-pin to

4-pin or 6-pin to 4-pin cable without mentioning crossover or straight-through types. However, I do have purchased some cables that are straight-through type and some docking devices that require such type of cables.

One obvious different is that the devices that require straight-through cable have only one firewire port while the devices that require crossover or so-called standard cable have two firewire ports that can connect more than one device in daisy-chain format. Does the connection method determine the use of cable type?

Ray