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    Dell Inspiron 9400 / E1705: Which firewire port?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by deadstone2706, Aug 30, 2006.

  1. deadstone2706

    deadstone2706 Notebook Geek

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    Hi,

    I have an Inspiron 9400 and I know it has a Firewire port on it.

    But when I bought an external hard drive (Western Digital) the firewire connector was the wrong size.

    My next external hard drive is coming from this list:
    • My Book Pro Hard Drive Usb 2.0/ Firewire 1394a/1394b Ext 250gb 8.9ms 7200rpm With 8mb Buffer Eu
    • My Book Premium Hard Drive Usb 2.0/1394a Firewire Ext 250gb 8.9ms 7200rpm With 8mb Buffer Eu
    • My Book Premium Hard Drive Usb 2.0/1394a Firewire Ext 320gb 8.9ms 7200rpm With 8mb Buffer Eu
    • My Book Pro Hard Drive Usb 2.0/ Firewire 1394a/1394b Ext 500gb 8.9ms 7200rpm With 16mb Buffer Eu
    some of them have Firewire 1394a only, while some have Firewire 1394a and 1394b - which one is right for my Dell?

    I only have one USB port left, so which external hard drive has the correct firewire connection for my 9400 please?

    thanks

    Philip
     
    deadstone2706, Aug 30, 2006
    #1
  2. abcd12345

    abcd12345 Notebook Consultant

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    1394a. AFAIK dell notebooks don't support 1394b.

    What do you mean by the wrong size? Do you have a 6-4 pin cable? Hard Drive has a 6 pin jack but the notebook has a 4 pin jack. 1394b port is 9 pin AFAIK.
     
    abcd12345, Aug 30, 2006
    #2
  3. deadstone2706

    deadstone2706 Notebook Geek

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    Hi,

    what I mean is, the firewire cable that came with the WD MyBook drives doesn't fit into the firewire port on my 9400 ...

    I think the cables are 6-pin to 6-pin ...

    So I guess I need to get a 6-pin to 4-pin adaptor cable...

    is there a firewire port replicator? I'd like to put more than one drive on that port if possible.

    thanks

    Philip
     
    deadstone2706, Aug 31, 2006
    #3
  4. aglowlight

    aglowlight Notebook Guru

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    Bestbuy has the 6 - 4 pin cable on sale for 24.00. that should be what you need.
     
    aglowlight, Aug 31, 2006
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  5. Leo_s84

    Leo_s84 Notebook Geek

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    24 bucks for a cable, thats very expensive
     
    Leo_s84, Aug 31, 2006
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  6. xAMDvsIntelx

    xAMDvsIntelx Notebook Deity

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    A port replicator would probably cost more.
     
    xAMDvsIntelx, Aug 31, 2006
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  7. dudesdudets

    dudesdudets Notebook Deity

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    Target has belkin firewire cable for $15. Comes with a 6pin to 4pin adaptor.
     
    dudesdudets, Aug 31, 2006
    #7