How do I resolve FW800 daisychaining issues?
Firewire attempts to use &quot;smart&quot; daisy chaining, which permits links in the daisy chain to be off. Unfortunately, that doesn't always work effectively. Apple recommends you first plug the device into the Macintosh, wait for it to become visible, and then add devices one at a time. 1
As for particular details with regards to your problem, I've had issues with card readers in which they either didn't really truly meet the firewire spec and therefore were unhappy with daisy chaining, or they would attempt to &quot;smart&quot; turn-off when a card was not in them, which caused it to also disable other parts of the chain.
In short, daisy chaining with Firewire is great, except when it isn't. YMMV.