Problem booting with Firewire

[dr bu]

one day my nice working external firewire enclosure died. since then, i have not been able to boot firewire-vise. ive got two new enclosures and one docking station. new and old disks in these behave normal = showing up and transferring files to and from any OS9-computer. but they WILL NOT boot. system folder is blessed. pressing option key at startup.. disk looks happy, but when chosen the screen stays gray with a flashing questionmark until the regular HD is chosen (after this the disk does not mount until restart). i tried different hard drives with different OS:s to no avail. OSX-computers shows the same questionmark. connecting enclosure with USB boots! but thats not an option obviously. and any blessed system/setup on a CD boots. what is this all about?

[GaryN]

Okay Doc, this is a head-scratcher but let's apply some deductive logic and see…
1) Old enclosure = OK; New enclosure = not so much.
2) Drives = same ones - no change.
3) Same symptom in OSX.
4) System folder seems visible at start but no data transfer on select.

Again, ONLY change is the enclosure.

Logic says that the new enclosure is lacking something the old one had. My guess is that's some sort of enabler that :

Allows the Mac to begin communication with the enclosed drive before any Firewire extension(s) are loaded.

Your new drive enclosures are lacking or have some sort of defect in their FW communications kits. You should be asking: What could this be, who made these damn things and how do I get them on the phone?

Actually, I'll bet you knew this already… good luck.

[Protools5LEGuy]

Just 2 words: Texas Instruments 

Anything without that chipset it is Russian roulette. (synthhero, this is just figurative)

Lacie + newtech + a few others works.

Maybe we should make a topic on compatible firewire drives.

My first question is for Diehard. Does that infamous LEXAR FW CompactFlash reader allow booting?

[Protools5LEGuy]

MacTron did a Firewire to SD converter using "Cheapo" housing with no Texas Instrument chipset IIRC.

That thing was USB and Firewire. And couldn't boot, only be used as transfers unit. Maybe he can put some light on the subject.

[dr bu]

well, (as Gary pointed out very pedagogically) in my case the drive (Seagate 80GB) is not the problem, but the enclosure. the original enclosure (Rockstore, details lost) worked, but broke. i suppose having a list of combinations of enclosures and drives that boot would be a good thing. does someone here have a working 2.5" SATA FireWire 400 unit?   

[MacTron]

MacTron did a Firewire to SD converter using "Cheapo" housing with no Texas Instrument chipset IIRC.

That thing was USB and Firewire. And couldn't boot, only be used as transfers unit. Maybe he can put some light on the subject.

This is not true, this "device" support Mac Os 9 booting without any problem. I never had a FireWire device that persistently refused to boot Mac os 9. I "only" have 4 or 5. But that I have found is that sometimes this Firewire  devices are a bit waywards.

[GaryN]

well, (as Gary pointed out very pedagogically)

NOW I'm impressed! Don't worry Doc, anyone who can use that word in a sentence can figure out a solution to your Firewire problem. I'm sure!

[dr bu]

I never had a FireWire device that persistently refused to boot Mac os 9. I "only" have 4 or 5.

Ok. do you mind giving me specifics about these?