Using The Card; Connecting Devices; Daisy Chain Connections; Repeater Connections - HP 8886 - Photosmart Camera Dock Digital Docking Station User Manual

3

Using the Card

This chapter covers a few points on how to use the card once it is installed in your
computer system.

Connecting Devices

There are two ways to connect 1394/FireWire devices to the host card. Devices can
connect in serial in a "daisy chain" or through a repeater connected to one of the card
ports.

Daisy Chain Connections

When you connect devices in a daisy chain configuration you can connect up to 63
devices in a row. This scheme is simple and convenient, but has one drawback.
Since 1394/FireWire devices are "hot-pluggable," you can connect and disconnect
devices while the computer is turned on. When you disconnect a device, the other
devices that come after it are temporarily disconnected until you reconnect them to the
chain.
The 1394/FireWire card supplies power to devices through the cable connection. This
power has some limitations. See the Power Considerations section later in this chapter
for more information.

Repeater Connections

If you use a 1394/FireWire repeater to connect devices to the card, all connected devices
are independent of each other. You can then disconnect any device without disturbing
the other devices connected to the card.
An additional feature of using a hub is that the repeater can also provide power for
devices that use more power than the 1394/FireWire cabling supplies. This allows
connecting one or more devices that use more power.
1394 Cabling
The 1394 standard has a maximum connection cable length of 4.5 meters (15 feet). This
means this is the maximum distance between devices.
If you need to connect two devices more than 4.5 meters apart, you can use a repeater to
extend the cable length between the devices.
7