On 26/04/2021 15:14, GB wrote:
> On 26/04/2021 15:00, Andrew wrote:
>> The M/B has
>> firewire and I have a slide scanner that I prefer to keep.
>> Intel and Apple seem to have dumped firewire though :-(
>>
>
> Loads of internal cards for firewire available.

Not if I retire the desktop (or it expires) and I
switch to a laptop.

Do external PCIe extender boxes work with modern laptops?

Andrew <Andrew97d-junk@mybtinternet.com> wrote:
> Not if I retire the desktop (or it expires) and I
> switch to a laptop.
>
> Do external PCIe extender boxes work with modern laptops?

It's possible to go from a miniPCIe slot to an external box, but typically
the cabling is awkward - the mPCIe slot is likely on the underneath (and
often occupied by a wifi card), making the arrangement fragile and
non-portable. Similarly for M.2 NVMe slots.

You can get Thunderbolt PCIe cages, mainly intended for external GPUs.
They're quite large and pricey though.

Apple have a Thunderbolt 2 Firewire dongle, so I'd suggest that plus their
dongle to convert Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3. IIRC the Firewire chip in
their dongle is the LSI643 which should have drivers on all popular OSes.
The stack of Thunderbolt protocol stuff shouldn't get in the way, although
you may have to tweak the BIOS settings for Thunderbolt security if you OS
doesn't support that properly (most do, now). It's not super cheap to go
this route, but a lot neater and more compact. You may find the parts
cheaper on ebay though, as Thunderbolt 2 is rather outmoded these days.

You need to buy a laptop with Thunderbolt 3 or 4, as cheaper laptops often
only have USB-C but no Thunderbolt.

Theo

On 27/04/2021 14:42, Theo wrote:
> Andrew <Andrew97d-junk@mybtinternet.com> wrote:
>> Not if I retire the desktop (or it expires) and I
>> switch to a laptop.
>>
>> Do external PCIe extender boxes work with modern laptops?
>
> It's possible to go from a miniPCIe slot to an external box, but typically
> the cabling is awkward - the mPCIe slot is likely on the underneath (and
> often occupied by a wifi card), making the arrangement fragile and
> non-portable. Similarly for M.2 NVMe slots.
>
> You can get Thunderbolt PCIe cages, mainly intended for external GPUs.
> They're quite large and pricey though.
>
> Apple have a Thunderbolt 2 Firewire dongle, so I'd suggest that plus their
> dongle to convert Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3. IIRC the Firewire chip in
> their dongle is the LSI643 which should have drivers on all popular OSes.
> The stack of Thunderbolt protocol stuff shouldn't get in the way, although
> you may have to tweak the BIOS settings for Thunderbolt security if you OS
> doesn't support that properly (most do, now). It's not super cheap to go
> this route, but a lot neater and more compact. You may find the parts
> cheaper on ebay though, as Thunderbolt 2 is rather outmoded these days.
>
> You need to buy a laptop with Thunderbolt 3 or 4, as cheaper laptops often
> only have USB-C but no Thunderbolt.
>
> Theo
>

Ok, thanks for that

Andrew <Andrew97d-junk@mybtinternet.com> wrote:
> Ok, thanks for that

It's worth saying as a followup that there are things on ebay labelled as
Thunderbolt 2 to 3 adapters, but they aren't. The TB2 port can also work as
Mini Displayport, and the TB3 port is a USB-C which can also carry
Displayport. So passive mDP to USB-C adapters are being labelled with
'Thunderbolt' even though they're nothing to do with it. They're no good in
this instance where you aren't plugging in a monitor.

So unless you read the description very carefully, stick to the Apple
adapter. I've taken one apart and it does the right kind of conversion
(and it won't do Displayport).

Theo