Buffalo External HD - Firewire?

[danielsangeo]

Hello, folks!

So, I’m once again soliciting assistance. This time, it’s in regards to an external hard drive of mine. So, let’s begin at the beginning.

It’s a Buffalo 1TB external hard drive, model #HD-HS1.0TIU2/FUS. On the back of the hard drive is a USB and two firewire ports (one 6-circuit and one 4-circuit).

On my computer (HP with Windows 7), I have a 6-circuit firewire port. I also have a 4-circuit to 6-circuit firewire cable.

Currently, I have only a single USB cable which the hard drive is hooked up with now and it’s working fine (756GB free, still. Whoo!). However, my printer is also USB so whenever I want to print something, I have to disconnect the hard drive to use the cable.

So, I figure, why not try my firewire cable, right? Keep the printer on USB and use firewire for the hard drive.

However, when I hook it up (6-circuit into the computer and 4-circuit into the hard drive), nothing happens. Windows doesn’t recognize the drive. The drive doesn’t show up in “Computer”. The hard drive doesn’t power up. Nothing.

I plug the USB cable back into the drive and the drive powers up and Windows detects the drive.

Any ideas? I hope it doesn’t get to a point where the only option is “Get another USB cable” because getting down to the store is a hassle and I won’t have any money until the 1st (or 2nd).

[Cameron_D]

4 pin firewire doesn’t give power IIRC, so you need an alternative power source for the drive.

[danielsangeo]

Whoops. More info was needed (I thought providing the model number was enough): There’s a power cord as well. The drive can be set to “auto power” or “manual power”. Auto-power is where the power comes from the computer (I imagine) while “manual power” is where the power comes from the outlet (considering when I flip it to “manual”, the power light on the drive comes on).

However, regardless of whether the drive is set to “auto” or “manual” power, it’s not recognized by Windows.