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Hi !

I just received my new Mac G5 2.5 w/ 2x1gb sticks, 2- 20" Apple Cinema Displays, Pro Tools 002R, 2 - Glyph Gto50/250 Firewire Hard Drives and a Digi Command 8.

I like to know the best way to set-up my G5 to accommodate all this gear. The G5 only has 2 -USB 2.0 ports and 1 - Firewire 400 (6pin) port on the back and I rather not use the ports on the front of the unit. As far as the 2 Apple displays, I have a ADC to DVI adapter coming for the second display. Should a get PCI cards or USB hub and Firewire Hub ? Whats the best to get and the best way to hook all this up to the G5?

Here's a list of what each unit has on it.

2- 20" Cinema Displays : 2- USB 2.0 and 2- Firewire(6pin) cables
1- Apple Keyboard : 1- USB 2.0 Cable
1- Digi 002R : 1- Firewire (6pin) port
2- Glyph 250gb Hard Drives : 2- Firewire (6pin) ports on each
(Does it pay to install both Hard drives at once)
1- Digi Command 8 : 1- USB 2.0 port

Also I don't want to use a wireless router . Can someone recommend a good Hard Wired Cable/DSL router?

Any help would be appreciated !
Thanks Alot
Tom

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Comments

McCheese Tue, 07/19/2005 - 17:21

Hook the keyboard into the USB on the monitors, and the mouse into the keyboard ports.

You probably want to look into a PCI firewire card for all those HD's and the 002r. Not sure what brand to get.

For the router, Linksys makes a good ethernet switch.

Browse macmall.com for those things.

I would plug the command 8 into the back of the mac. for now (until you get the FW card) I believe digi recommends plugging your HD into the computer, then the 002R into the HD. or you could just use the front port temporarily.

I'm not sure on the FW ports on the cinema displays, mine is the older non-aluminum type, and doesn't have FW, but the USB on it is only good for keyboards and mice for the most part.

hociman Tue, 07/19/2005 - 17:32

If...

If the displays are close enough to the G5, you could connect the USB cable for each display to the USB ports on the G5. That would give you four (4) USB ports. If the monitors aren't close enough to do this, it can still be done, but you will need USB type A extension cables. They are not expensive. To do the same with the firewire on the monitor requires a firewire extension cable. Either Belkin or Geffen makes the cable you need to extend firewire from the display to the G5.

The Command|8 can be connected to any USB port. I also don't think it is a USB 2 device. I'm using it on G4s, which only have USB 1.1, and it works beautifully.

You will have to daisy-chain all of your firewire devices. For example, if you use the firewire port on the back of your G5, it would be cabled like this.

G5-->Glyph-->Glyph-->002R

I would connect your mouse/trackball/tablet to one USB port on the keyboard, and the Command|8 to the other. I would connect the keyboard to a USB port on one of the monitors. Wherever you put the iLok (other USB port on the monitor in my situation), make sure you won't break it in any fashion unless you buy a 2nd iLok and their zero downtime insurance.

A hard wired cable/dsl router is the modem that your ISP gives you. If you want to network more than one computer off of your cable/dsl connection via ethernet, you need a hub. I see you are in NY. I am in NYC, and have a few small (5 port) hubs available. Ping me off the forum if you are interested.

McCheese Tue, 07/19/2005 - 17:40

Re: If...

hociman wrote: If the displays are close enough to the G5, you could connect the USB cable for each display to the USB ports on the G5. That would give you four (4) USB ports.

The newer cinema displays run the USB and FW signals through the one ADC cable with the video signal, there aren't seperate cables for the USB ports (like on the Dell LCD's I've seen), so he'll have the ports available.

anonymous Tue, 07/19/2005 - 19:17

McCheese and hociman Thanks for the quick replies!

The newer cinema displays run the USB and FW signals through the one ADC cable with the video signal, there aren't seperate cables for the USB ports

The display cables are only one cable that branches off to 1- DC plug that goes to the power adapter,1- USB , 1-Firewire and 1-DVI.

If the displays are close enough to the G5, you could connect the USB cable for each display to the USB ports on the G5. That would give you four (4) USB ports. If the monitors aren't close enough to do this, it can still be done, but you will need USB type A extension cables. They are not expensive. To do the same with the firewire on the monitor requires a firewire extension cable.

hociman, Theres only one Firewire port 400(6pin)on the back of the G5, so I couldn't connect both displays like you suggested with the USB.

Wherever you put the iLok (other USB port on the monitor in my situation), make sure you won't break it in any fashion unless you buy a 2nd iLok and their zero downtime insurance.

hociman, I'm a Mac illiterate , what does this mean?

The Command|8 can be connected to any USB port. I also don't think it is a USB 2 device.

The Command 8 manual says ,connect the Command 8 USB cable to the host computer.

Hook the keyboard into the USB on the monitors, and the mouse into the keyboard ports. You probably want to look into a PCI firewire card for all those HD's and the 002r. Not sure what brand to get.

I was told they make a dual pci card with 3 x 4-pin USB 2.0 and 2 x 6-pin firewire. If I got something like that ,can I hook-up the two displays to the pci card. Then hook-up the Command 8 and the Keyboard to the two USB ports on the back of the G5. Hook-up the hard drive to the one 6-pin firewire port on the back of the G5 and then the 002R into the Drive. If I daisy-chain the two Hard drives can I still partition both drives?or should I get another Firewire Card and the second drive to that?

I want to install everything the right way, so I'll buy what ever
I need to do it right.

As far as the router ,Does this look good ?(Dead Link Removed)
I'd be hooking up a PC and the Mac from a Cable modem to this router.

The Help of this forum is really appreciated!

Thanks
Tom

McCheese Wed, 07/20/2005 - 00:55
The newer cinema displays run the USB and FW signals through the one ADC cable with the video signal, there aren't seperate cables for the USB ports

The display cables are only one cable that branches off to 1- DC plug that goes to the power adapter,1- USB , 1-Firewire and 1-DVI.

Which Apple Display do you have, All mine (clear plastic casing and aluminum) have one connector that plugs into the vid card and carries the USB, FW and Video signals. There are no breakouts or anything.

Wherever you put the iLok (other USB port on the monitor in my situation), make sure you won't break it in any fashion unless you buy a 2nd iLok and their zero downtime insurance.

hociman, I'm a Mac illiterate , what does this mean?

He's talking about an iLok USB key. It's a little thing that holds the copy protection for some programs. You leave plugged into a USB port. He's saying don't plug it in somewhere that's going to get it broken easily.

The Command|8 can be connected to any USB port. I also don't think it is a USB 2 device.

The Command 8 manual says ,connect the Command 8 USB cable to the host computer.

Right, it's USB 1.1, not USB 2.0 (faster than 1.1). Therefore it would be fine connected to a monitor port (which usually is slower) or a hub.

Hook the keyboard into the USB on the monitors, and the mouse into the keyboard ports. You probably want to look into a PCI firewire card for all those HD's and the 002r. Not sure what brand to get.

I was told they make a dual pci card with 3 x 4-pin USB 2.0 and 2 x 6-pin firewire. If I got something like that ,can I hook-up the two displays to the pci card. Then hook-up the Command 8 and the Keyboard to the two USB ports on the back of the G5. Hook-up the hard drive to the one 6-pin firewire port on the back of the G5 and then the 002R into the Drive. If I daisy-chain the two Hard drives can I still partition both drives?or should I get another Firewire Card and the second drive to that?

Yeah, most of that would work. the keyboard can go anywhere, so I usually put it in a monitor port. As for the Hard Drives on one port, I'm not sure, not to smart in that area.

anonymous Wed, 07/20/2005 - 05:57

Thanks McCheese!

Which Apple Display do you have, All mine (clear plastic casing and aluminum) have one connector that plugs into the vid card and carries the USB, FW and Video signals. There are no breakouts or anything.

I have the 20":googling
Check page four on this link,it shows the connections :http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/CinemaDisplays_20_23_30inchUserGuide.pdf

I was told they make a dual pci card with 3 x 4-pin USB 2.0 and 2 x 6-pin firewire. If I got something like that ,can I hook-up the two displays to the pci card. Then hook-up the Command 8 and the Keyboard to the two USB ports on the back of the G5. Hook-up the hard drive to the one 6-pin firewire port on the back of the G5 and then the 002R into the Drive. If I daisy-chain the two Hard drives can I still partition both drives?or should I get another Firewire Card and the second drive to that?

Yeah, most of that would work.

McCheese , What won't work?

Thanks
Tom

McCheese Wed, 07/20/2005 - 13:01

WOW, that 20" hookup is totally different than mine. I found on the net that when they introduced the 30" they started making them all with breakout cables like yours because the new nVidia card that powers the 30" doesn't have the ADC connectors. So that makes sense to me now.

As for what won't work, I was just unsure about the hard drives, everything else looks fine.

hociman Thu, 07/21/2005 - 20:46

Firewire

TomF wrote: Theres only one Firewire port 400(6pin)on the back of the G5, so I couldn't connect both displays like you suggested with the USB.

Not directly, no, but you could still pull it off. Connect one display's firewire cable to the G5, and connect the second display to the first. So your firewire chain would look like this.

Monitor-->Monitor-->G5. The first monitor would have two (2) firewire ports open, and the second monitor would have one (1) firewire port open.

anonymous Fri, 07/22/2005 - 07:00

Thanks again for the replies!

The harness on the Apple Display breakout to individual DVI. USB and FW cables. The manual shows to connect them all, I didn't realize that only the DVI's were needed to run the two displays. The USB and FW portition is connect if you want to activate the display ports.
So, with the info so far, this is what I figured.

Connect both display DVI cables to the G5, one to the DVI port, the other to the ADC port with adapter. Connect one USB cable from the Display breakout harness to the G5 USB port to activate the USB display ports.Connect the Keyboard to the USB display port on the monitor and then connect the Mouse to the Keyboard. Connect the Command 8 to the second USB port on the G5.

Connect the Glyph FWDrive to the G5 Firewire (6-pin) port. Then connect the 002R to the Glyph FWDrive. With a (FW800 to FW400) adapter, Icould possibly use the G5 FW800 port (4-pin) for the Hard Drive and connect the 002R to the G5 Firewire (6-pin) port. I could also get a FW hub like gdoubleyou suggested and connect the Hub, the 002R and the Glyph Drive to the G5 (fw400 6-pin) port.

TomF wrote:
Theres only one Firewire port 400(6pin)on the back of the G5, so I couldn't connect both displays like you suggested with the USB.

Not directly, no, but you could still pull it off. Connect one display's firewire cable to the G5, and connect the second display to the first. So your firewire chain would look like this.

Monitor-->Monitor-->G5. The first monitor would have two (2) firewire ports open, and the second monitor would have one (1) firewire port open.

hociman , The dealer I get my equipment from told me this on the displays..

Dealer's Quote: It probably isn't a good idea to connect both monitor's FW and USB ports in series as this would decrease power through the bus for devices requiring it.

Thanks
Tom

hociman Fri, 07/22/2005 - 17:34

probably

Dealer's Quote: It probably isn't a good idea to connect both monitor's FW and USB ports in series as this would decrease power through the bus for devices requiring it.

This is probably true, but you also gave the impression that you did not (could not?) want to use the ports on the front of the G5.