Windows 10: 1394 (Firewire) Driver

I've been jogging my memory and I think I remember the history, but I could be wrong.
Firewire was mostly adopted by video enthusiasts and then later by the audio industry.
There were 2 versions 'a' and 'b' - a = 400 Mbps, b= 800 Mbps.
The legacy driver had something in it for the 'b' version that later drivers lacked.
So there was controversy over chipsets - VIA versus TI or whatever - and they may have used different drivers.
All this is hazy, but I think that eventually Microsoft merged everything together in the Win 7 or 8 driver.
So now that Firewire is 'dead' all the problems should be resolved.

 

It developed at same time as USB as they are closely related.

 

If memory serves, Apple invented FireWire along with several other vendors and wanted to charge a licensing fee per port which largely made USB more popular.

A similar thing happened with Lightpeak, invented by Intel, but later picked up by Apple and called Thunderbolt.

I may have the politics all wrong, but finance and marketing has a lot to do with getting the technologies adopted - leadership and better design doesn't always win out in the end.

 

I guess the only option now for FireWire connectivity is a desktop with PCIe FW adapter? I have a PCMCIA FW adapter that I use with a software defined radio. The laptop crapped the bed and I've been looking for a solution. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Although I never had any Firwire adapters, I had some other cards made by Vantec and they were good: https://www.amazon.com/Vantec-3-Port.../dp/B004QY9IYA

 

If you are going to buy a PCIe card, make sure it has the T.I. chipset. Many Firewire devices will only work or work properly if the Firewire port has the T.I. Chipset.