Mac Pro early 2009 FireWire problems

firewiremac pro

I have an early 2009 Mac Pro and a FireWire audio interface that I haven't used in a couple of years. I just plugged it in to the Mac and nothing happens. The device doesn't get power, and even if I connect external power to the device the system still doesn't see it. I found an article online that said to try resetting the NVRAM. I did that but the problem still exists. This is the only FireWire device I have and I only have one cable, so I don't have a way of seeing if the problem is the device or the cable. Does anyone have any ideas about how to track down the problem? Is there some way I can see if the FireWire ports are functioning without a device? (I did try all 4 ports.)

Best Answer

You can lookup connected FireWire devices in the Apple system profiler under Hardware > FireWire

Open the System Information or System Profiler app from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Or just hold down the Option key while choosing System Information or System Profiler from the Apple menu.

Most FireWire devices will show up out of the box. FireWire audio devices usually require additional third party driver software.