firewire

[Seloce]

Not being a huge Apple enthusiast, my experience with Firewire and all its ins and outs is quite minimal.

However, at my new job, they use it extensively. We seem to be having problems where after using a cable for a short time (a matter of months) all input methods fail when said cable is plugged in. Removing the cable solves the problem. A new cable works, but again, only for a short period of time.

Do the cables go badly that quickly? Or is there something a little more obscure that I'm missing. All of the sites I can find about Firewire only tout its wonders and provide no trouble shooting techniques.

Anything you can think to try would be appreciated, I'm running out of ideas.

 

[Chopper]

Do you have a multimeter to test each individual lead in the dead wires? Maybe you're buying substandard cables that cannot handle the current.

 

[Seloce]

Actually, no. I didn't think to try that. I'll have to requisition the cash to buy one. Thanks for the tip.

Is there a particular manufacturer you'd recommend for the cables?

 

[Chopper]

When in doubt, go MONSTER! Monster makes some excellent IEEE1394 cables. Expensive, but you can no longer blame the cable for your problems. I've had devices conk out on me. Probably because there is very little current running through them at certain time, they just seem to "Disconnect". Not with the new cables though. Try it!

 

[Seloce]

Okay, found out that the cables we've been using have actually been Radio Shack brand. Not really sure if that's good or bad (never used much but the occasional spool of wire from there) but it costs the same as Monster. So I'm requisitioning one cable now. I'll let you know how it goes.