Two Firewire or USB adapter cards

[georgeg]

Would there be any problems with installing two Firewire adapter cards (or for that matter, two USB adapter cards) in my computer? I've got a combination media card reader with USB and Firewire ports on it installed and the USB port and the card reader each require there own USB connector. I also need to buy a Firewire adapter that comes with video capture software & drivers to capture video from my Sony DCR-HC20 digital camcorder. My mobo only has the back of case USB connections. I have installed a combination USB/Firewire adapter card that has one USB and one Firewire connection internally. I need a second internal USB connector for the card adapter and since the camcorder doesn't come with any drivers for Firewire (Sony tells you to use the drivers that come with the software accompanying your Firewire adapter) and my combo adapter card didn't come with software, I guess I'm going to have to buy another adapter card to get the software & drivers that I need. So, can I have two cards? Any probems there? Somehow, I don't think this is a great idea!

[Ian]

Why not get a USB hub?

[georgeg]

Why not get a USB hub?

I have a USB hub but that only works for external devices. The card reader with USB & Firewire ports is one that mounts in a 3.5" external drive bay so it needs a header connection inside the case. To get the firewire access I'm looking for, it looks like I'll have to buy a new card that comes with software and drivers. If I'm doing that, I might just buy another card that has both firewire and USB on it so I can hook up both of the USB devices on the card reader, assuming two adapter cards wouldn't interfere with each other. This is what I'm trying to find out. It would be a whole lot simpler if I could afford to upgrade my rather old PC but I can't right now so I'm trying to skate by with adapter cards.

[Ian]

Having two cards shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't have IRQ conflicts and stuff.

[georgeg]

I think what I'll do is replace my combo firwire/USB card with a dedicated card for each. I've found a USB card with two internal pin headers which should (in theory, at least) allow me to use both the external USB port and the memory card reader I've installed in my pc. Maybe I should have gone this route in the first place!

[digitaldoc]

I would recommend a dedicated usb and a separate dedicated firewire card. If you have enough pci slots this would probably be the most cost effective solution.