ok i ordered a firewire port and it came today in thee post. http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-FWPCI - this is the one the picture on that page is accurate to the card i got. however, the specifications underneath the picture are not. it says Jumper select power source from Floppy power jack or PCI bus at the very bottom. im fairy sure the card i've been sent does not have this feature as i can find neither a jumper or the external 12 volt connector which i assume is required for the extra power input and it noted in the manual. i bought this for my ipod which i havnt bought yet (none in the whole country it seems) so i cant find out if its ok all the same. if it was then i wouldnt bother with the no doubt complicated return proccess and just make do with it. im just worried that it wont have enough power for the ipod and ive heard some fumblings that an unpowered firewire will not charge it up while its docked. is this true? or will it be ok? http://www.miglia.com/products/expansion/alchemy_fw400/pix/power_w130.jpg i think this is the external 12 connector im missing on my card. is this whats referred to on the site as "Jumper select power source from Floppy power jack or PCI bus" or am i getting confused

You will be ok. Some `older' PCI slots did not supply one voltage to the cards. There aren't many of those around anymore. I'm sure your motherboard is new enough to supply this voltage and you don't have to worry about it.