Linux to Support Firewire Until 2029
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.
Firewire is one of the more ancient standards in modern computer history. It began development all the way back in 1986 by Apple as a serial bus solution for high-speed communications, and it worked like USB ports allowing users to connect external devices to their computers. But FireWire has a few advantages over the original USB revisions, including Thunderbolt-like daisy chain support (for up to 63 devices), as well as peer-to-peer networking support.
The original version was released in 1995 and had a transfer speed of up to 400Mbps, the connector featured a 6-pin and it was able to supply power to connected devices. Firewire went through five revisions in total, with the final version being released in 2012, offering a substantially faster 1.57Gbps of bandwidth.
After 2012, support was effectively dropped with Firewire since Apple introduced its new Thunderbolt standard during that time. The first iteration of Thunderbolt was substantially more capable than Firewire, with 20Gbps of bandwidth utilizing 4 PCIe 2.0 lanes. Thunderbolt also featured DisplayPort 1.1a functionality for driving monitors.
Linux is now the final operating system that still supports Firewire, with Apple discontinuing support a few years ago and Microsoft discontinuing support in Windows 10. Again, support will end in 2029 for Linux-based operating systems -- unless, of course, someone else decides to take up the mantle and continue support.
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Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.
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edzieba ReplyIt began development all the way back in 1986 by Apple as a serial bus solution for high-speed communications
Apple introduced its new Thunderbolt standard
RDF still in full effect: 'Firewire' (IEEE 1394) was developed by a bunch of different entities, Apple being only one of them. Sony (for example) were even shipping IEEE 1394 devices at a time when Apple had internally cancelled their own Firewire implementations before ever shipping a device!
As for Thunderbolt, that was a 100% Intel developed standard, stretching all the way back to the "Light Peak" optical interconnect development. -
ravewulf I remember getting (slightly) better performance with Firewire than with USB 2.0 for my Icy Dock external HDD enclosure back in the day. But then I moved to eSATA and eventually USB 3Reply -
vern72 This should have been the universal connector standard but because it used six wires instead of four, it lost out. Too bad.Reply -
AloofBrit Reply
Yup - there was a 4 pin "i.LINK" port on the original PS2 for connecting two consoles togetheredzieba said:RDF still in full effect: 'Firewire' (IEEE 1394) was developed by a bunch of different entities, Apple being only one of them. Sony (for example) were even shipping IEEE 1394 devices at a time when Apple had internally cancelled their own Firewire implementations before ever shipping a device!
As for Thunderbolt, that was a 100% Intel developed standard, stretching all the way back to the "Light Peak" optical interconnect development. -
USAFRet Firewire - USBReply
Betamax - VHS
HD/DVD - Bluray
Many others
Along the way, one of them dies out. It might have even been a 'better' one.
But, Oh well. -
AloofBrit Reply
You're not wrong - it was generally accepted that for AV stuff, Firewire was superior https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_1394#Comparison_with_USB iirc it was also able to provide more power per port than USB, so you wouldn't need a separate power cableravewulf said:I remember getting (slightly) better performance with Firewire than with USB 2.0 for my Icy Dock external HDD enclosure back in the day. But then I moved to eSATA and eventually USB 3
The whole 'not invented here' thing kept it pretty niche, not helped by Cupertino trying to charge people for using the port https://www.cnet.com/culture/apple-licensing-firewire-for-a-fee/
The original iPod had a 6 pin FW 400 port -
Grobe Still have an old Firewire HDD enclosure, not used in years.Reply
I remembered the firewire had two connectors, the smaller one was too weak compared to the stiffness of the cable.
Also, it had the thing about being able to daisy-chain other firewire units together. -
USAFRet Reply
Yep, that was a BIG bonus.Grobe said:Also, it had the thing about being able to daisy-chain other firewire units together. -
Amdlova The connection for hot line maiami, way back core 2 Duo era... never have one single use for me... too expensively on the time. Today one use in mind is the Sony ps2 OPL... faster than usb 1.1 portReply -
My Epson Perfection 4870 scanner has both USB and Firewire connectivity. The Firewire is head & shoulders faster than USB (like twice to three times faster) in both Linux and Windows. Looks like I'll have to keep a system running an old kernel for scanning when the end finally comes.Reply