Oh, For The Love Of ...
I'm kind of at a stand-still on some things, but the externalized DVD recorder is recognized by the XP Pro box as another drive. The problem, however, lies with my ProMax 180G external hard drive. It's an FW800, or IEEE-1394b, drive, while the FireWire card in the XP Pro box is of the older FW400 variety. But try to find one of those cards for PCI! I ran into a Radio Shack-style clerk at the CompUSA in Ann Arbor on this one. He refused to believe the 1394b standard even exists! He said “Well, the A device is the computer and the B device is the outboard device itself”, and when I tried to insist he had some reading to do, all he did was say “Ohhhhh-Kayyyyyyyyy ...” and walked away in a huff. Sheesh, I can't stand when salespeople who don't know something insist they do, and then get mad when you call one of their bluffs.
Meanwhile, Sonnet Technology's Allegro FW800 PCI card seems the least expensive of the bunch. There's a new computer store in Fenton that has offered to order me one. As they've only been open five weeks, I think I'll go ahead and give them some business.