Apple Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio) - Manual (Page 40)

40 Chapter 3
Using FireWire Devices
Your computer has two FireWire ports. FireWire is a high-speed data transfer 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 Apple’s iMovie to edit the
video. Your accessory kit comes with a standard 6-pin to 4-pin FireWire cable that you can
use to connect most digital video cameras.
m Connect an external FireWire hard disk drive and use it to back up data or transfer
files. If you have installed software for your FireWire hard disk, the FireWire disk icon
automatically appears on your desktop after you connect the disk drive to your Power
Mac G4. Some FireWire hard disks get their power through the FireWire cable, so you
don’t need to connect an external 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 Power Mac G4 to another computer
so that your Power Mac G4 appears 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 disk. 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)