smallbutfine
Well-known member
Yes, you are totally right about how hard it *should* be to reverse the plug. Actually, there was a cheap backplane and mainboard jack combination that effectively 'allowed' a wrong insertion easily. I felt so stupid and upset that I did a bit of research in this field and noticed that I am by far not the only one that had this experience. I found several upset statements of people that destroyed high-end cameras this way (requiring hundreds of dollar-repairs). Also, I had a talk with the out-of-warranty service company for m-audio in germany, who told me that destroyed phy's are by far the most common repairs on the firewire audio interfaces, so lack of protection is an issue with firewire really.
Ironically the mainboard was equipped with the well-suited TI chip so I did not even think of how cheap some mainboards are built when it comes to the jacks nowadays. It did not require more force to plug in in reverse than it did the right way on my own computers belkin card. Surely I check orientation twice ever since...
Well, in the meantime I can laugh about this, but I guess that would be different if it had cost me a few hundred dollars more.
Kind regards,
Martin
P.S.: The owner told me the jack and mainboard phy still works fine with external equipment, but he threw away all firewire cables with 'soft rubber'-like plastic plugs....lucky basterd he is, hehe ;D
Ironically the mainboard was equipped with the well-suited TI chip so I did not even think of how cheap some mainboards are built when it comes to the jacks nowadays. It did not require more force to plug in in reverse than it did the right way on my own computers belkin card. Surely I check orientation twice ever since...
Well, in the meantime I can laugh about this, but I guess that would be different if it had cost me a few hundred dollars more.
Kind regards,
Martin
P.S.: The owner told me the jack and mainboard phy still works fine with external equipment, but he threw away all firewire cables with 'soft rubber'-like plastic plugs....lucky basterd he is, hehe ;D