The ancient connectivity standard still has years of life ahead of it.
Firewire is getting a new lease on life and will have extended support up to 2029 on Linux operating systems. Phoronix reports that a Linux maintainer Takashi Sakamoto has volunteered to oversee the Firewire subsystem for Linux during this time, and will work on Firewire’s core functions and sound drivers for the remaining few that still use the connectivity standard.
Further, Takashi Sakamoto says that his work will help users transition from Firewire to more modern technology standards (like perhaps USB 2.0). Apparently, Firewire still has a dedicated fanbase that is big enough to warrant six more years of support. But we suspect this will be the final stretch for Firewire support, surrounding Linux operating systems. Once 2029 comes around, there’s a good chance Firewire will finally be dropped from the Linux kernel altogether.
I have a feeling its mostly due to some audio and video hardware that has some real longevity. I’ve got a VHS+minidv player that I am transferring old videos from using FireWire (well, for the minidv. VHS is s-video capture).
I’m just passing a FireWire PCI card through to a VM though. Though with how old the box is, it doesnt really need to be a VM. Thats a whole different discussion though.
I had some FireWire audio interfaces too, 8ch and 16ch, but I got rid of those a while back. I’m sure someone’s making use of it though! Probably the m-audio delta 1010 I sold too, I think they are still going for a few hundred each despite being so long in the tooth.
I have a feeling its mostly due to some audio and video hardware that has some real longevity. I’ve got a VHS+minidv player that I am transferring old videos from using FireWire (well, for the minidv. VHS is s-video capture).
Yeah, that’s a thought…though honestly, unless whatever someone is doing requires real-time processing and adding latency is a problem, they can probably pass it through some other old device that can speak both Firewire and something else.
Probably the m-audio delta 1010
That doesn’t have a Firewire interface, does it? I thought I had one of those.
checks
Oh, I’m thinking of the 1010LT, not the 1010. That lives on a PCI card.
I bought a PCIe card for FireWire slots, there might be a usb converter though. On windows it worked out of the box, and I used WinDV for importing video.
SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
How do you use firewire on modem operating systems? I need to know.
tal@olio.cafe 2 months ago
If it’s Linux, sounds like it should just work out of box, at least for a while longer.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/linux-to-support-firewire-until-2029
curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 2 months ago
I have a feeling its mostly due to some audio and video hardware that has some real longevity. I’ve got a VHS+minidv player that I am transferring old videos from using FireWire (well, for the minidv. VHS is s-video capture).
I’m just passing a FireWire PCI card through to a VM though. Though with how old the box is, it doesnt really need to be a VM. Thats a whole different discussion though.
I had some FireWire audio interfaces too, 8ch and 16ch, but I got rid of those a while back. I’m sure someone’s making use of it though! Probably the m-audio delta 1010 I sold too, I think they are still going for a few hundred each despite being so long in the tooth.
tal@olio.cafe 2 months ago
Yeah, that’s a thought…though honestly, unless whatever someone is doing requires real-time processing and adding latency is a problem, they can probably pass it through some other old device that can speak both Firewire and something else.
That doesn’t have a Firewire interface, does it? I thought I had one of those.
checks
Oh, I’m thinking of the 1010LT, not the 1010. That lives on a PCI card.
FireWire400@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I have to confess that I don’t actually use FireWire, nor have I ever used it to transfer anything. I just thought the port looked cool…
JustRalph@lemmy.world 2 months ago
You might be bi
FireWire400@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Nah, I’m not. Besides, what?
SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
That’s fair. Thanks for being honest, at least.
datavoid@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
I bought a PCIe card for FireWire slots, there might be a usb converter though. On windows it worked out of the box, and I used WinDV for importing video.
AtariDump@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Same, when I was using it. It was just like USB: plug and pray.