My Laptop has a 4 Pin Firewire Port

[ido1957]

The firewire interfaces all seem to have the larger 6 pin. Can I connect my laptop to a firewire interface? I've heard that you cannot "hot" connect firewire (both must be turned off before connecting) or you risk blowing your interface and or laptop - any truth to that statement??? I've hot connected USB with no impact at all - like mouse/keyboard etc...wondering why firewire would be so much more volatile....
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated....tax time is coming and I'm thinking about an interface with my refund

 

[KineticSound]

The difference between 4- and 6-pin ports is that the 6-pin can also send power via the FireWire cable. You can still connect to 6-pin devices with a simple adapter like this one:

http://www.antonline.com/p_27028-GP_286770.htm

However, you wouldn't be able to use a bus-powered FireWire interface - only ones that have a separate power source.

 

[dgatwood]

FireWire, at least in theory, is designed to handle hot plugging. That said, the 6-pin (FW400) connector has a tendency to bend too easily, and as a result, if you aren't careful, it is possible to torque the connector in such a way that you short the power pins to the data pins, frying the port and possibly the device at the other end of the cable.

It's a good idea in theory to shut down before you plug in. That said, I've never bothered to do it and probably never will. Generally when I have heard about people frying things, it has either involved A. a device with a connector stretched badly from tripping over the cable or B. plugging the cable in backwards, which, while difficult, is not impossible.