LaCie d2 DVD
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RW Drive
User Manual
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Helpful Technical Information
4.5. FireWire Questions & Answers
What is FireWire /IEEE 1394?
A serial bus used to connect external computer and
consumer electronic devices to computers and consumer
electronic consoles.
What does IEEE 1394 mean?
“1394” is an abbreviation of IEEE 1394, the name
given to this highperformance serial bus. IEEE (the
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) is the
name of the engineering corps that developed this stan-
dard. The 1394 refers to the 1,394th standard that the
IEEE has produced.
What is the relationship between IEEE
1394, FireWire, iLink and DV?
These four names all refer to the same interface:
IEEE 1394 -
the name of the standard, used in the
computer industry.
FireWire -
the brand name used by Apple.
iLink -
the brand name used by Sony.
DV -
logo used by video camcorder manufacturers.
What can the FireWire interface be used
for?
With its high data transfer rates, FireWire is a great
interface for consumer electronics, like BD, DVD and
CD recorders, external hard drives and video devices,
such as digital camcorders, because it has an extremely
large bandwidth and supports two types of data transfer
(anyschronus and isochronous) which help to guarantee
the transfer of time-critical data.
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FireWire is also a point-to-point interface, mean-
ing that a FireWire device can transmit data to another
FireWire device without having to go through a com-
puter. This lets several computers share a given device,
and also allows up to 63 devices to be daisy-chained to
the same FireWire bus (with a max of 16 devices on
one branch). To daisy-chain, connect your one FireWire
drive directly to the computer, then connect another
FireWire drive to the first FireWire drive.
Does my computer have a FireWire port?
All Macs and most recent PCs come with FireWire
or i-Link interfaces. If your computer doesn’t include a
FireWire interface, an extension card can be purchased
from your LaCie reseller or from the LaCie website:
www.lacie.com
Will my LaCie drive work faster if con-
nected to a FireWire 800 port ?
No. Your LaCie drive can be connected to a FireWire
800 port (cable not supplied) but the speeds will remain
identical.
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