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48 Chapter 3
Using FireWire Devices
Your computer has two FireWire ports. FireWire is a high-speed data system that lets you
easily connect and disconnect external devices—such as digital video (DV) cameras, printers,
scanners, and hard disks. You can connect and disconnect FireWire devices without restarting
your computer.
These are some of the things you can do with FireWire:
m Connect a digital video camera and capture or transfer high-quality video directly to your
computer. Then you can use video-editing software such as iMovie to edit the video.
m Connect an external FireWire hard disk drive and use it to back up data or transfer files. A
FireWire hard disk icon appears on your desktop immediately after you connect the drive
to your computer. In addition, most FireWire hard disks get their power from the FireWire
cable, so there is no need to carry around a power supply.
m If you have a problem with your computer that prevents you from starting up or you want
to transfer files, you can use FireWire to connect your computer to another computer so
that your computer will appear as an external hard disk on the other computer (a feature
known as “FireWire target disk mode”).
To use a FireWire device with your computer, connect the device to the computer and install
any software that came with the device. Your computer automatically senses when you attach
a new device.
To start up from a FireWire hard disk that has the Mac OS on it, use the Startup Disk control
panel to select the FireWire hard disk as the startup drive. If your FireWire hard disk doesn’t
appear or can’t be selected in the control panel, consult the FireWire hard disk vendor for
updated software drivers.
FireWire ports (2)