Sounds like it sees it as a new device every time you plug it in from a cold start and loses it every time you power down. I would guess that if you leave the device connected when you cycle power it is, somehow, not seeing the device or loading the driver properly.

I am not sure how firewire works as I do not use it but I have seen similar conditions occuring with USB - Ie you need to either re-plug or swap ports to make the OS read the driver again. Make sure you have the latest drivers for the firewire ports. If they are onboard the MB make sure your Motherboard chipset driver is up to date as well. Finaly check with Micros**t. Unfortunately their XP patches do sometimes need to be applied when they discover it doesn't work properly with a new device.

One last question though. Are you sure this is not the way it is supposed to work? Maybe firewire does need to see the new device AFTER the OS has booted? If so, how about a firewire 'extension cable' so you can plug it in at the front?

Cheers

Dave