Mac OS X 10.4.4 Special Report: FireWire issues; fixes

Some users have issues with FireWire drives after updating to Mac OS X 10.4.4, including spontaneous unmounts, lack of recognition and more.

MacFixIt reader Daniel Crowley writes:

"Since upgrading to Mac OS X 10.4.4 because I wanted to use themes in iMovie HD, one of my three Firewire 400 drives unmounts spontaneously at least twice a day. This never happened in the time I have been using these drives - back to Mac OS X 10.3. I cannot establish if any data has been lost on the unmounting drive - it looks okay but one never knows until one goes looking for a specific item. The drives are LaCie. It is the drive at the start of the Firewire chain that unmounts. The pass-through to the other drives works fine. I re-mount the drive by merely switching the power button on the drive back on."

The first remedy to try in cases of unexpected FireWire unmounting is to upgrade to the latest firmware available from your drive manufacturer's Web site or via VersionTracker's search function. Sometimes outdated firmware presents an issue with a new Mac OS X release.

The following process may also restore FireWire connectivity: Shut down the Mac, then disconnect all FireWire devices from the Mac and from their external power sources if necessary.

If you're using an iSight camera in conjunction with any FireWire drives, you may want to check the tutorial "Minimizing FireWire (iPod, iSight) interference."

In some cases, it appears that a faulty power adapter (to which Mac OS X 10.4.4 may be more sensitive) can be to blame. Check if your manufacturer offers replacement power supplies and test with an alternative supply if available.

Other workarounds include:

Uncheck FireWire as Network connection method Some users have reported that unchecking FireWire as a network connectivity method restored access to non-networked FireWire devices. This can be accomplished via the following process:

1. Open System Preferences
2. Click on the Network pane
3. From the "Show" drop-down menu, select "Network Port configurations"
4. Uncheck "Built-in FireWire," then click "Apply Now"

Adding a new FireWire card Meanwhile, some users have resorted to adding a third-party FireWire PCI card in order to restore connectivity to critical devices.

MacFixIt reader Mike Barron writes:

"All of a sudden, one of the firewire ports stopped working. Before too long the other port stopped as well. I tried zapping PRAM. I tried resetting open firmware. I tried unplugging everything and letting it sit for 30 minutes. I even reset the PMU. Nothing. Oddly, System Profiler would initially show the port. But after plugging in a drive, the port would disappear from System Profiler completely after a minute or two. In the logs (I think the system.log, but I don't remember for sure) was an error stating that the Firewire bus had reset itself after two minutes, which seemed to correspond to the amount of time it took the port to disappear from System Profiler.

"Ultimately the fix, while perhaps not ideal, wasn't too painless. We put a cheap PCI Firewire card in the machine. It's been working great, and was a lot cheaper then a new motherboard."

We should also note that various FireWire issues can be caused by outdated firmware. Run Software Update and make sure there are no firmware updates available for your Mac.

Finally, some users have reported success by performing a hardware reset that involves holding down the power key for 10 seconds or so while the system is off.

One reader writes:

"After reinstalling my PCI firewire card, it would not function in 10.4.4, until I did a 'firmware update reboot'. If you shut down the system then hold down the power button until you hear a constant tone (hold about 10 seconds), the power light flashes a couple of times and the system stops. Pushing the power again boots the system. After doing this, the PCI firewire card lets drives plugged to the card mount. Also this cured the Network settings crash - I have deleted firewire option from my network preferences/ port configuration window. "

Increased FireWire interference On numerous occasions we've explored issues related to FireWire interference -- usually where the iPod and iSight refuse to cooperate in a friendly fashion.

MacFixIt reader David McDonough reports that, in his case, the increased FireWire interference sensitivity started to occur under Mac OS X 10.4.4:

"There have been a number of reports of problems with the iPod after updating to Mac OS X 10.4.4 and installing the iPod update 2006-01-10. I experienced the problem with the iPod freezing part way into an iTunes update causing the iPod to lock up completely. (mine is a 3G by the way). [...] Checking my Firewire status in System profiler I found that my old Firewire iSight was connected but was listed as an 'unknown device'.

"Disconnecting the iSight and reconnecting resulted in the Mac recognizing it as an iSight but if I restart the computer the iSight is again unrecognized and I need to disconnect and reconnect. [...] When the iSight is plugged in the iPod runs extremely slowly. The iSight appears to be using a huge amount of bandwidth or causing some sort of interference. This is I emphasis with it plugged in and 'on' with the iris open, but not in use by any application (except that the updater reports that it is in use). The instant I pull the iSight out the iPod update accelerates dramatically and doesn't freeze. "

For more information on the interference phenomenon, see our tutorial: "Minimizing FireWire (iPod, iSight) interference."

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