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April 6th, 2022 05:00

Looking for a Firewire card for my Vostro 3471 to use with a Focusrite Pro40

Can anyone point me to where I might get a Firewire 400 (6 pin) card for my Vostro 3471. My problem is finding a half height card (Dell seem to only have full height boards - e.g. Dell part 403-BBHN).

Would appreciate any help.

6 Posts

April 6th, 2022 06:00

Thanks for such a quick and helpful reply.

9 Legend

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33.3K Posts

April 6th, 2022 06:00

Not sure on half height cards, but it has to be a card with a T.I. chipset.  I had a Saffire PRO 40 and it only worked with a T.I. chipset Firewire interface.

One possibility, there are "extender" cards (or used to be) that would stick out of the case and allow full size cards to be used.  If they are still around that's one option.

 

6 Posts

April 6th, 2022 18:00

For anyone interested, given the TI chipset mentioned by firebird (above) this is the card I think I need - now to find an Australian retailer.

Ableconn PEX-FW107 1394b & 1394a 3-Port PCI Express (PCIe) Low Profile FireWire Host Adapter Card - TI XIO2213 Chipset

http://www.ableconn.com/products_2.php?gid=147

9 Legend

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33.3K Posts

April 7th, 2022 07:00

That looks like what you need.  You might have to "import" it from the US.

 

8 Wizard

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47K Posts

April 7th, 2022 12:00

@Hazsys 

@fireberd 

Firewire Adds 15 levels of incompatibility starting with 64 bit windows 8.1 and the removal of the OHCI driver.  TI also never made DCH drivers for this so secure boot would need to be OFF for the hardware to be seen and legacy driver to load.

Legacy Directx June 2010 is also removed as is movie maker and windows live components from 2012.  So All of those will need to be added back.

Startech low Profile FireWire B0037ECAMM

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

Windows Live Essentials 2012

Windows Live Essentials 2012 setup

Lastly the PCI-E version is 2.0  not 2.1 or 3.0 so the PHY line code is 8b/10b  not 128b / 130b which is also a problem.

https://www.ti.com/product/XIO2213B

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1B0msn9xcI

startech firewire windows legacy driver 

  1. Download the Microsoft Firewire 1394 Legacy Driver Installer
  2. Double-click to run the 1394_OHCI_LegacyDriver.msi file. This will extract the drivers to: C:\Program Files (x86)\1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy)\
  3. Open the folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy)\X64_driver\
  4. Right-click on Legacy1394.inf and choose Install to install the drivers
  5. Press the Windows Key + R
  6. Type devmgmt.msc
  7. Click OK
  8. In Device Manager, expand IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controllers
  9. Right-click on 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller
  10. Click Update Driver Software
  11. Click Browse my computer for driver software
  12. Click Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer
  13. Click 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy)
  14. Click Next
  15. (When Windows has finished installing the driver) click Close

 

6 Posts

April 7th, 2022 21:00

Wow Speedstep, thank you for that info. Unsurprisingly you've got me concerned that my investment in the now ordered card will open up an unanticipated 'can of worms'.  Amazon say the card should arrive towards the end of April. I'll update here my installation/compatibility experiences. Fingers crossed all will work.

9 Legend

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33.3K Posts

April 8th, 2022 03:00

I didn't do anything @speedstep mentions, including the "Legacy" driver and it all worked with the Windows 10 defaults.   Thus start out with the default driver that Windows installs.  If it doesn't  work then take the steps outlined.

Actually, I didn't use the Legacy driver in Win 7 or 8 either.  Last OS I used the Legacy Driver was Vista.

 

8 Wizard

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47K Posts

April 8th, 2022 04:00

9 Legend

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33.3K Posts

April 8th, 2022 05:00

As I noted I did NOT use the Legacy FW driver and it all worked perfectly with two different Firewire recording interface units, one being the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 that this user has.

I was using the Legacy driver and did a clean install of Win 7 and forgot to install the Legacy driver and it was working properly,  I installed the Legacy driver and it didn't make any difference so I uninstalled the Legacy driver and just used the Windows default driver.  Upgrading to Win 8 and then 8.1 and finally Win 10 I continued to use the default Windows driver and no problems.    

6 Posts

April 14th, 2022 22:00

Happy to report that I received the Ableconn PEX-FW107 from Amazon and installed in my Vostro 3471. The repurposing of my old Vostro to be my primary home-studio machine is coming together slowly but there's snags galore when you're trying to it as cheaply as possible. So many things to spend money on.

Rookie first problem I'm not 100% sure about properly connecting the card’s Molex mini 4Pin power connector to any available power supply. 

My instinct is to use the Vostro’s hard drive’s power input (which is a mini Molex 4Pin) and split it using an appropriate Y-type power cable to supply power to the Ableconn card - also a mini Molex 4Pin.  Yes/No?

Assuming the answer is yes then the immediate problem is that the Y-type power cable that Ableconn supplied to power the Firewire card (via its mini 4Pin) has the larger (old generation) Molex 4 pin connectors for the primary split (male) and one output (female) – the other female output connector is a Molex mini 4Pin (intended for the card).  

So far Dell support are yet to respond to my RFI about an appropriate Y-cable to get power to the new Firewire card.

8 Wizard

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47K Posts

April 15th, 2022 00:00

@Hazsys 

Sata 15 pin to 4 pin molex is 24w and works fine.

https://www.amazon.com/LIQUN-Adapter-15-pin-Female-0-66Ft/dp/B01IJGL8PW/

 

June 3rd, 2022 14:00

Hi 

I too am looking at buying this firewire card.  How much did it cost you to get it from the US?  Also are you interested in selling yours?  I am in Brisbane, Australia.

Regards
Shelton

June 3rd, 2022 15:00

Thanks - I am a Linux user.

Regards
Shelton

6 Posts

June 3rd, 2022 17:00

Hi Shelton,

I ordered the Ableconn PEX-FW107 from amazon.com.au on 07Apr’22 - using an 'Overseas Amazon Store' (USA) but off hand I don't know which store that was. The card arrived around the 15th in my PO Box here.
The cost was AU$87.38 plus postage AU$10.17 (with GST the total was AU$107.30 but I got a $11.18 promotion discount off that total).

Ableconn support confirmed with me that the PEX-FW107 will take power from the PCIe bus without using the Molex power input.  All is working fine so not selling it - sorry!  Performance is even better after I bought another 16GB of RAM.

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