FireWire and VMware Fusion FAQ

[#1]

While VMware Fusion does not virtualize FireWire devices directly, you are able to access and use FireWire hard drives, CD/DVD drives, and printers with Mac drivers with VMware Fusion 2.

See below for details:

Can I access my FireWire hard drives in Windows?

Yes, you can access your FireWire hard drives in VMware Fusion by mapping the hard drive to a VMware Shared Folder. Go to the Virtual Machine menu, select Shared Folders and select Add Shared Folder. Select your FireWire hard drive and click Open to assign your FireWire disk to the shared folder. To access your FireWire hard drive in Windows, go to My Computer and use the drive letter for Shared Folders and select your FireWire hard disk. The advantage of using Shared Folders is that you can access HFS formatted FireWire drives in Windows without any additional software.

Can I use my FireWire CD and DVD drives in Windows?

Yes, you can access your FireWire CD/DVD drives in VMware Fusion by

assigning your FireWire CD/DVD drive to a specific virtual CD/DVD drive. Go to the Virtual Machine menu, select CD/DVD and select CD/DVD Settings. Select "Specify physical CD/DVD drive" and choose your FireWire CD/DVD drive and close the Settings windows. To access your FireWire CD/DVD drive in Windows, go to My Computer and choose your CD/DVD drive which is now using the FireWire CD/DVD drive for it.

Can I use my FireWire printer in Windows?

If your FireWire printer has Mac drivers, you can can use it via Apple's printer sharing feature or VMware Fusion's driverless printing feature.

Can I use my FireWire camera or scanner in Windows?

No, VMware Fusion does not support virtualizing FireWire devices, so you cannot use your FireWire camera or scanner with Windows.

[Ruske]

Now that it's 2015 and we're up to VMware Fusion 7, is this FAQ still accurate?

[dariusd]

FireWire is not a virtualizable technology... Its low-level design leads to massive security problems in a virtual environment.

The FAQs are still accurate and are likely to forever remain accurate.  The only thing I see that might change is that Fusion 7 now supports additional video camera virtualization features, so it might be possible to use a physical FireWire iSight camera as a virtual USB video camera (the guest would see it as USB).  I haven't tried doing so.

[JuanPC2021]

Well, we are in the year 2021, Fusion Player 12.1
VMware Fusion - Wikipedia

and still No FireWire Scanners?
Parallels 16 also No FireWire..

¿how about QEMU ? UTM ?

ive read QEMU works in M1 Macs with PPC emulation and OSX Leopard 10.5 and OSX Tiger 10.4...

problem is: FireWire very sensitive to OSX version...

Thunderbolt2 FireWire adapter has drivers from OSX Lion 10.7.4 and later 

Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter - Apple

but most vintage FireWire scanners or SCSI scanners with a FireWire adapter were designed for OSX SnowLeopard 10.6.8 maximum, using Rosetta 1.

 Most Scanner manufacturers did Not continue to support Vintage scanners in Newer OSX.
some develop a New Software compatible with latest OSX, But... No driver support for vintage scanners.

to force owners to buy new hardware, but most vintage scanners still work fine today in a compatible Machine except Virtual.

Apple dropped support for OSX Snow Leopard since Mid 2011 Mac Mini 5,1
Mac Mini - Wikipedia
Can I install Snow Leopard on the new Mac… - Apple Community

in Windows has No problems, with a small modification to the 32-Bit .inf driver, can install in 64-Bit Windows, rebooting with Driver Signature Enforcement Disabled.

in MAC, most scanner software were done for PPC G4 G5, but work OK with Rosetta1.

Newer macs dont have Firewire ports built-in, cannot install SnowLeopard, and SnowLeopard does Not have drivers for Thunderbolt FireWire adapter, and Rosetta2 does Not emulate PPC, Only Intel.

Rosetta (software) - Wikipedia
installing on a Mac Newer than 2012 is impossible in OSX.
IF Rosetta2 had the same capability of Rosetta1, would be Problem Solved.
but Rosetta2 Only translates intel/amd x86_64 OSX to M1 aarch64 ARMv8 CPU,
Apple M1 - Wikipedia
if Rosetta2 could translate also PowerPC G4 G5 to M1 would be awesome, but i guess it will never happen, because Apple dropped 32-Bit support since OSX Catalina.
If Rosetta1 had support for Newer OSX like HighSierra would be awesome, but Rosetta1 was discontinued since OSX Lion, added to the list of Amazing software discontinued by Apple, another i remember was Shake video editing software.. modern replacements are many, but the 1st one was purchased by Apple and discontinued for No reason.

The Only hope vintage scanner owners is a VirtualMachine with FW support.

if you think about it, seems that Apple business tactics of forcing people to buy New by discontinue support, in the end is hurting Apple HW sales,
people instead of purchasing New is purchasing Old, "because there is No support & backward compatibility."

think about it:
¿who wants to buy an used MacPro5,1 2010 ? if the New MacPro7,1 2019 is faster, quieter, runs OSX SnowLeopard, Rosetta1, and has Firewire drivers.? Nobody.

Vintage Scanner owners are forced to buy a New Scanner, a New Mac or buy a cheap used old Mac and stay with the old scanner, because it was an investment, Not a burger you eat, and need to buy again, and again.

technically MacPro5,1 2012 is the same as 2010, and vey similar to 4,1 2009, but... with a different Firmware that makes it incompatible with OSX SnowLeopard, the 2012 requires a Bios/FirmWare downgrade, instead MacPro4,1 2009, requires a 2010 Firmware Bios upgrade to work in Sierra, HighSierra, Mojave and Catalina... best Bios/Firmware version is the 2010, No up or down grade, just update when installing HighSierra and Mojave to 144.
Mac Pro - Wikipedia