Can firewire port provide power?

Question

Hi,

My iBot pro firewire web cam won't work, and my only guess is when I plugged it in the firewire port of my inspiron 8500, it couldn't draw any power from it.

I experienced with my iPod that need to be fully charged before I plugged it in. On the contrary, when I plugged the iPOD to the mac firewire port, it charged the battery. Do you have any solution for the web cam or power up the firewire port?

Cheers,

Tiger-sea.

nanakivii · Answer

The 4-pin FireWire port on your computer does not supply power. Only full-size 6-pin FireWire ports can do that. (That's what the extra 2 pins not found in the 4-pin port are for.)

Tiger-sea · Answer

Thanks James!

I agree with you, on the other hand there must be a solution for this, it's not just there for the sake of have a fire wire port; useless so far for me as I couldn't use my fire wire web cam, amd my iPod run out of battery during the music loading process. Come on DEll! please do something about it.

Cheers,

Tiger-sea.

Karell · Answer

Tiget-sea, Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum. There is nothing that Dell can do about it. It's a 4-pin firewire port, this means it does not provide power. 4-pin firewire ports will not provide power no matter what you do, or what system brand or model you have. Only 6-pin firewire ports will provide power to firewire devices. The solution is to purchase a powered firewire hub. The hub would provide power to any firewire devices that you connect to it, because it has it's own power supply. You would then attach the hub to the firewire port on the computer. If you search Google for 'powered firewire hub' you will find many web pages selling them.

Tiger-sea · Answer

Thanks Karell.

naqoyqatsi · Answer

the firewire port and the usb port are what they call 'weak' ports. it doesnt give power to devices attached to it unlike in desktop computers. this is because it can eat up the power of the portable.

Tiger-sea · Answer

I can get power from my Mac laptop via firewire and usb ports. If this is the result of numerous meetings to cut the production cost, then Dell doesn't know what it havs lost in the competitive market.

Merry christmas,

Tiger-sea.

captiveshark · Answer

You can also try this device.  AC Adapter for the Apple IPOD series (all models) PN: M8636LL/A  Available for example at http://shop.store.yahoo.com/laptopsforless/acadforapips.html .  It costs $25-30 and it charges through the headphone connector while the firewire is connected to the other end of the ipod.

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Can firewire port provide power?

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