FirewireDirect.com is the latest FireWire product vendor to offer a firmware update for their FireWire 800-based products to work under Mac OS X v10.3 “Panther.”
As MacCentral previously reported, Apple has acknowledged that certain drives that use the Oxford 922 chipset can experience data loss when used with Panther. The fix is to update the firmware on the drive’s FireWire bridge.
Affected FireWire bridges seem to be manufactured by Oxford Semiconductor, a popular maker of FireWire bridge technology that’s long been relied upon by manufacturers of FireWire-based storage products. The Oxford 922 bridge is commonly used in FireWire 800-based systems.
FirewireDirect.com stated that all of its drives shipping after October 30, 2003 have been updated with the new firmware that corrects the problem, but advises users who have storage products made before that time to update their firmware. To that end, they’ve posted a Web page that enables existing customers to submit their contact info and a serial number; users are then contacted with details on what to do next.
“FirewireDirect strongly urges all users of FireWire 800 products from any manufacturer to immediately disconnect their drive and seek information about the update. Failure to do so can result in catastrophic loss of data,” said the company in a statement.
If you’re not using a FirewireDirect.com-made storage product but you’re concerned about your own device’s Panther-compatibility, please contact its manufacturer.