Chapter 3: Port-o-Rama: Using Thunderbolt, USB, and FireWire
In This Chapter
Using FireWire, USB, and Thunderbolt with OS X
Adding a USB or FireWire hub
Troubleshooting external connections
Adding and updating drivers
Apple’s list of successes continues to grow over the years — hardware, applications, and (of course) OS X — but the FireWire standard for connecting computers to all sorts of different devices is in a class by itself. For many years, FireWire was the port of choice for all sorts of digital devices that needed a high-speed connection.
And let us not forget that Apple was the first major computer manufacturer to include Intel’s Universal Serial Bus (or USB) ports as standard equipment — and, recently, the Thunderbolt external port (providing the fastest connection speed ever to an external device) made its debut on the MacBook Pro!
In this chapter, I discuss the importance of all three of these connections to the digital hub that I discuss in Book III, and I compare FireWire with Thunderbolt, USB version 2.0, and USB version 3.0 connection technology. I also talk troubleshooting ...
