Pull data from old Firewire 400 external HD to 2017 iMac 21 inch

[zacventuschavez]

Hi all,

I have a couple of old firewire drives I would love to pull data off of. After some googling, it looks like it isn't straightforward to get from firewire to USB.

I have a 2013 macbook air 13" and a 2017 iMac 21" Intel Core i5 to work with. If I can get the data to either of those, I'm good.

I believe I can connect everything in this manner: Hard drive's Firewire 400 jack > FW 400 to 800 adapter cable > Firewire to Thunderbolt adapter > Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter > iMac.

My question is if this will actually work for transferring the data? The system report for the mac, under Firewire, just says "No FireWire ports were found." Will the mac be able to read the data?

Thank you for your help. I hope I've explained this clearly, but please let me know if I should be providing any additional information.

 

[Lufbrarunner]

I remember seeing this combination of adapters being used successfully with an audio interface.

 

[zacventuschavez]

Thank you!

 

[zacventuschavez]

Hi all,

I just tried this setup. I have a Firewire 400 drive. It lights up when powered on.

To transfer data I've gone from Hard drive's Firewire 400 jack > FW 400 cable > FW 400 to 800 adapter > Firewire to Thunderbolt adapter > Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter > 2017 iMac.

I also tried it with my 2013 mac book air (with a USB-C to USB adapter at the end).

Neither setup recognizes the hard drive. I've tried pulling it up in Terminal and Disk Utility too.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[dchyde]

I have a 2019 iMac and I use a couple of FW external drives and an ADVC 110 for video, both with a FW 400 to 800 Cable. I think the problem is the 400 to 800 FW adaptor. My kink sequence is: a 400 to 800 FW cable to the FW thunderbolt adaptor then the TB 2 Adapt to TB 3 adapt. One cable and two adaptors. I have experienced in the past a problem with too many adaptors. My link sequence works perfectly.

 

[zacventuschavez]

Interesting, I will try that. Thank you!