USB to firewire cable?

Factual Questions
1

I bought an iPod Shuffle a month ago, and finally received notice that it will be shipping-- which prompted me to cruise various message boards, and realize that my new toy will not work with my eMac.

The reason why is obscure-- apparently the USB port on the Shuffle is 1/32 of an inch too short to connect to the high-powered side USB ports on my eMac, and it will sync, but not charge off the low-powered USB ports on my keyboard (this might be alleviated by upgrading my OS, but it’s still iffy).

However, my wife has this nice 3G ipod, with a charger that has quite a bit of downtime; it accepts the squat end of a Firewire cable.

So… does anyone know of the existence of a cable that will let me connect my Shuffle to that standard iPod charger? A USB plug on one end, and a Firewire plug on the other?

[sub]Yes I know I can buy a USB extender, but I figure if I have to buy a cable, I might as well buy something that lets me charge my Shuffle when my computer isn’t turned on. And the notion of buying a Shuffle-specific charger just irks me…[/sub]

2

The two standards are utterly incompatible. While there are cables with modular ends to allow Firewire or USB use There is no USB to Firewire conversion cable. Just get a tiny 2 or 4 port USB2 hub for $ 20.00 and plug it into your MAC. The input on the powered hub should be a standard sized USB.

3

Even cheaper, just get a 1’ or 3’ USB extension cord, and keep it plugged in to your eMac’s powered USB port.

4

Alternatively there are a number of devices that just provide power through a USB connector; you can get them to fit car lighter sockets and I think you can get ‘wall wart’ types that plug straight into your domestic supply.

5

Am I ornery this morning, or are people just not reading the bits of the OP where I mention my awareness of specific USB wall-chargers, and that I know I can buy a USB extension cable?

6

You’re looking for a complex solution when a simple one will do. :slight_smile:

7

My WallStreet was born with neither USB nor FireWire, so its FireWire ports can’t serve as the power source for a drive and cannot charge an iPod, but I can load music onto an attached iPod as long as it’s freshly charged.

You should be able to do likewise.

8

You mentioned shuttle-specific wall chargers; I’m talking about relatively inexpensive generic ones that will provide power (and only power) for any USB device; I mentioned this on the offchance that you or someone else reading this thread might find the information useful. I won’t bother next time.

9

I decided to go with the simplest solution of all, since my Shuffle arrived today: carve a bit out of the case of my eMac so the thing will fit into the USB port.