MBP problem - battery?

[ringo747]

Was using my MBP this afternoon and all of a sudden it went to sleep of its own accord. I kept waking it and noticed that the battery status was around 94%, however, it kept going back to sleep within around 10 secs.

Also noticed that there was no light on the charger that was connected to mains. The battery status seemed ok but when I unplugged everything and tried to wake it from sleep it was the same. Could this be a dodgy battery? Or charger? Or both maybe? It is strange that the charging light doesn't illuminate at all.

It is an early 2007 model. I am hoping it is only a battery that needs replaced.

Any suggestions of things to try?

 

[DTWD]

I can't speak for the MBP but don't laptops in general light up on the power brick regardless of them being plugged into the laptop as long as they are recieving power?

I other words, it sounds like your PSU isn't working properly. However I don't have one so I can't really comment.

 

[ringo747]

Normally the charger indicator will either show green if charging or orange otherwise. Charger isn't illuminated at all.

If the battery was ok and reading 94% then I don't know why it keeps switching off randomly.

 

[DTWD]

Yeah sounds like at least a faulty charger, it could be the fuse in the plug. Worth a check if you can open it/replace it.

As for the 94% it could be a false reading. Your battery might be dead, I had a laptop battery that failed to apparantly charge over 4% but lasted ages without power. I also had a laptop that told me it was charged just for me to unplug it and it die on it's arse.

An old trick I used to use was to power down, remove the battery and plug in the mains, now try and switch it on. A laptop would power up off the mains, I am sure a Mac would be the same (but not sure), if it doesn't (and it should) then it's a faulty PSU. If it does power up maybe the bulb has gone?

 

[ringo747]

Managed to get it to stay on for 2 minutes there - coconut battery showed health at 81%. Have had it 3 years so obviously capacity has gone down a fair bit. With the battery still in, and the charger disconnected, it still switches of at random after 10-30 seconds.

 

[pingwing]

Best course of action, TO THE APPLE STORE!! (victoria square...) did you get apple care? if its either i think they can pretty much sort it out in the shop for your straight away (well if you book an appointment)

 

[DTWD]

Failing Apple, look at temperatures, could be overheating, maybe the CPU fan is dead?

 

[ringo747]

Think I'll have to take it to Victoria Square tomorrow. It is over 3 years old now so it will be out of warranty unfortunately.

Hope it doesn't cost a bomb to fix!

 

[QwaF]

Try this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Some of your symptoms seem to be there.

 

[ringo747]

Try this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Some of your symptoms seem to be there.

Already tried the SMC reset. Not booting up at all now. I'm hoping its just a dodgy battery, and that that is the reason why my charger light isn't illuminating.

I had noticed recently that the thing had kept waking from sleep at random intervals. I thought it was something to do with the magic mouse but maybe was an underlying power problem.

 

[ringo747]

So the Apple guys get back to me and say that they have found no hardware issues and that I should reinstall the OS. I find this very strange as the laptop wasn't booting at all when I left it in!

They said they found no hardware faults yet when asked then hadn't checked my battery or charger. How it can be a software issue when the thing doesn't even boot is beyond me. Do they just assume everyone is stupid and will believe anything??

 

[ringo747]

Update - I got the power cord replaced at £44, bring laptop back into work, switch it on, 5 seconds later it powered off again.

What a bunch of idiots. This is what they have told me so far:

- It is software related - please reinstall OS
- I say it isn't software. My charger light doesn't ignite
- They check charger and tell me I need a new one
- They also say my battery is in bad shape - they say it has only 42 cycles which, for a 3 year old battery, means it is more than likely damaged
- They agree to replace power cord
- I pick it all up and go back to work
- Switch it on - and after 5 seconds its gone again

Surely they would test a new power cord before leaving it up to me to discover a new one doesn't work?

They really must think everyone is stupid.

 

[ringo747]

Just found this article about battery issues when upgrading to snow leopard. I think this is whats happening to mine.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10426564-263.html