File transfer via Firewire

[Zukeeper]

Hi all,
On my current setup I'm frequently transferring large (>1GB) files between two computers on a 100Mb LAN. I'd like to reduce the transfer time but changing everything over to Gigabit is too costly. Both machines have IEEE1394a and I understand that transfers can be roughly 4 times faster.

The sticky point, however, is that I haven't found any solid information of what cable I need. It seems to me that a 6-pin to 6-pin cable may damage one or both computers since the 6-pin plug carries power. Connecting two power sources that are even slightly mismatched is not a good thing to do.

Has anyone here done this? What cable did you use? What were the results?

Kent

[JohnnyMalaria]

I've used 6-pin to 6-pin successfully.

(Note, networking via IEEE-1394/FireWire has been dropped in Vista and I don't think it works with XP Pro x64 - not entirely sure about that, though).

[12Quidkidinnit]

I do it and it hasn't blown anything up yet, so I guess it's ok.

[ofbarea]

networking via IEEE-1394/FireWire has been dropped in Vista

This is true, Firewire networking not working in vista enymore. Just tested

If you are still using XP take a look at the foloowing article: Increase and Speed Up Slow FireWire 1394 Copy and Transfer in Windows XP SP2

[ahhaa]

that's like the 5.1 thing; there's no DRM cutoff in Firewire, which is known to be used by lawless video types... 8)