tonyzub999
Thanks Jim. I really appreciate your expertise. Is there a way to check to see whether a Firewire driver is in the laptop and if so which one? I guess another more important question is whether I need a Firewire driver or whether the thunderbolt 3 is backward compatible. This is all way beyond technical knowledge.

Hi Tony,
Look in Device Manager.
You should see a section called 1394 Bus Host Controllers.
Your Firewire controller should be listed under there.
If not, the machine isn't recognizing it... (and thus nothing connected to it would be recognized/function).

abacab
It looks like you are trying to convert a FireWire audio interface to Thunderbolt 3 at the PC end.
 
FireWire Audio <=====> Converters <=====> Thunderbolt 3 over USB-C (no FireWire port on PC)

On paper, the chain should work... but both these components can potentially be incompatible (especially on PC).  Running both increases the odds of an issue.

• Apple Thunderbolt-3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt (Thunderbolt-2) adapter
• Apple Thunderbolt to Firewire

We've had very good luck with the Apple Thunderbolt-3 to Thunderbolt-2 adapter.
It's worked on every PC and Mac configuration we've tried (desktop and laptop)... but it was used to connect a Thunderbolt audio interface (not daisy-chained with another adapter).

Jim Roseberry

tonyzub999
Thanks Jim. I really appreciate your expertise. Is there a way to check to see whether a Firewire driver is in the laptop and if so which one? I guess another more important question is whether I need a Firewire driver or whether the thunderbolt 3 is backward compatible. This is all way beyond technical knowledge.

Hi Tony,
Look in Device Manager.
You should see a section called 1394 Bus Host Controllers.
Your Firewire controller should be listed under there.
If not, the machine isn't recognizing it... (and thus nothing connected to it would be recognized/function).

The Dell Precision 5510 that the OP is inquiring about has these ports listed.  Don't see any FireWire.  I assume that is why he is attempting to daisychain his Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 into his Dell via USB-C.
 
5510 Ports and Connectors:

Audio • One headset port (headphone and microphone combo)

USB 3.0 • two USB 3.0 ports with PowerShare

One Thunderbolt 3 port with PowerShare (USB-C)

Video • one HDMI 1.4

Memory card reader  SD 4.0

Focusrite support told me to use the adaptors. It's the only way to make the connection between the Saffire Liquid 56 which is firewire 400/800 9 pin and my new laptop which is thunderbolt 3.

Thanks Jim I will try that tonight.

Abacab, Correct

Jim, Abacab and others, I did not see a 1394 Bus Host Controller anywhere.  Here's what's there
 
Under Audio inputs and outputs I have
     Microphone (Realtek High Def Audio)
     Speakers/Headphones (Realtek High Def Audio)
 
Under Sound, Video and Game Controllers
     Intel(R) Display Audio
     Realtek High Definition Audio
 
Universal Serial Bus Controllers
     Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller-1.0 (Microsoft)
     USB Composite Device
     USB Root Hub (USB3.0)
 
Is there somewhere else I should look?  I checked every folder in Device Manager and didn't see anything.
 
So now I am still confused.  Several users said that their drivers were loaded with Windows.  I checked my Windows and it said I was up to date.  I didn't see anything for Thunderbolt or USB-C either. Not sure why it's not in there.  I saw an article in Microsoft in how to manually load 1394 legacy drivers.  Should I do that
 
So do I need both the 1394 and Thunderbolt?  Now what???  I'm still confused. 
 

Well clearly, if you had a 1394 (FireWire) controller aboard, your problem with the Saffire 56 would be solved.  No adapters needed either.
 
But unfortunately most laptops today do not ship with 1394 (FireWire).
 
I do not have USB-C or Thunderbolt in any of my machines, so I am not clear how it should present itself in Device Manager.  Maybe somebody who has it will chip in here!
 
But I assume that if the USB-C hardware device is equipped, and enabled in the BIOS, there should be SOMETHING in there.
 
Maybe it is disabled in the Dell BIOS by default, and needs to be enabled?
 

I know usually disable devices and busses not in use. It's less of a problem these days with ACPI/EFI BIOS although I do that by default.

If there's no 1394 Bus Host Controller section in Device Manager, the Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter isn't working.
If it were working, there would be a Firewire controller listed.