10-03-2006, 06:23 PM

Hi,

Litterally 20 minutes ago, my macbook turned itself into a desktop machine. I have had zero problems with this Macbook pro, an 11th week production model, appart from a random "I'm not going to eject your disc no matter what" situation about 3 days after I got it, but that went away.

My problem is this. I was sitting in the living room typing an email, and watching tv. Closed the lid and went into my room. Rang my girlfriend, and had the laptop on my - lap - and opened it up to use the net at the same time. It them powered up, and in 3 seconds, turned off.

I thought I had jiggled the battery somehow (first thoughts) and put it on the desk and powered it up, the hard drive powered up, and 2 seconds later, it sounded like I had held the power button down for five seconds, and it dropped all power.

I took the batttery out, held down the power button for five seconds to drain it of any residual power, re-inserted the battery and it did the same thing again. I got out my power adapter, plugged it in, and it turned on fine. I removed the power cord and it powered down in 2 seconds.

So I now have to keep it plugged in to use it. Hmmmm. This calls up memories of reading about folks who have their machine randomly shut off whilst on battery or mains power. It seems to be working fine now as I am on this forum typing, but I know if I disconnect it, it will power off.

Any ideas?

I am in the middle of a lot of work at the moment, and the thought of returning this to Apple sickens me. Meaning I will have to wipe the hard drive before sending it and re-install all the crap again aftyerwards.

Any tips on what to try? I havent updated any firmware on it for ages, just general software updates a few weeks ago with Itunes 7 and the like. The only odd thing it did today, was I went home from the studio for a few hours, and left it in sleep mode with the power adapter plugged in, and an external hard drive plugged in. when I came back, and opened the lid, it wouldn't respond whatsoever, so I eneded up force shutting it down by holding the power button in for 5 seconds.

Anyway, I know if there is an answer, it will be from you guys. Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any help you can give me.

In my mind, it feels like a logic board problem. Oh, by the way, the battery I am using is the re-issued one from apple after they initiated the recall. I got it about 7 weeks ago and it has been fine.

Mel.

10-03-2006, 07:43 PM

Is it a 15"? If so, see if it falls in this category.

https://support.apple.com/macbookpro15/batteryexchange/

10-03-2006, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by Mattlike

Is it a 15"? If so, see if it falls in this category.

https://support.apple.com/macbookpro15/batteryexchange/

yeah, the battery I am using IS a refurbished one. maybe apple sent me another duff one, not that there was anything wrong with my original battery, but I excahnged it anyway to be on the safe side

10-03-2006, 09:27 PM

First, reset the PMU. That's the first thing to try in this situation, and it's what Apple will tell you to do if you call them.

If that fails to solve the problem:

Click on the Apple ? menu
Select About This Mac.
Click More Info.... The System Profiler will open.
Click on Power in the Hardware list.
Scroll down. What does the Battery Information pane say?

10-04-2006, 06:45 AM

Hi Technologist.

Ooooh, this seems like someone who knows their stuff!! I did that and this is what it says...

Battery Information:

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 5390
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 5366
Amperage (mA): -38
Voltage (mV): 12507
Cycle Count: 25


I think I did a PMU reset, in that I removed the battery and held the power switch for just over 10 seconds and reinserted the battery. Foolishly I woke up this morning thinking a magic fairey had come in the night and fixed it, but no. Anyway, thanks for taking interest. I hope this information gives you an idea as to what might be wrong with my little laptop. I just re-read my post above, and I didn't mean to say it was re-furbished. I meant I took part in the battery recall program, and the one I have at the moment is a fresh new battery from apple.

10-05-2006, 12:07 AM

Unfortunately for you, those are the numbers of a perfectly healthy, nearly-new battery. You've still got virtually all of the original capacity, as well you should. So the battery is not likely to be the problem.

If there's an Apple Store near you, I'd suggest you make an appointment and take it there. They'll probably have a spare they can swap in, just to be sure. But I think its likely that you'll have to send the computer in. Good luck.

10-09-2006, 10:49 AM

Well,

I phoned Apple, and was told my laptop was out of it's 90 day warranty for phone help, and that the only way they could help was to make me pay a £35 charge for being helped out this one time, or fork out £280 for the 3 year protection plan. I told the man I had no money for either, and I was in the middle of 2 projects (which i am) and I am kinda stuck for when I need the laptop mobile (which I do a lot for work)

He said, seeing as the battery I was using was an exchanged battery, he would see about getting me a replacement one sent out. He took my details, and today after faffing about with UPS, only a little mind you, I had the battery in.

3 seconds later and it was still firing up!!!

I am now sitting in my chair writing this email off battery power. Cheers to anyone who replied and tried to help!! and thanks to the chap who asked me to check my battery info in the system profiler. i have now learnt a new thing to look at on apple computers.

10-09-2006, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by melmation

Well,

I phoned Apple, and was told my laptop was out of it's 90 day warranty for phone help, and that the only way they could help was to make me pay a £35 charge for being helped out this one time, or fork out £280 for the 3 year protection plan. I told the man I had no money for either, and I was in the middle of 2 projects (which i am) and I am kinda stuck for when I need the laptop mobile (which I do a lot for work)

He said, seeing as the battery I was using was an exchanged battery, he would see about getting me a replacement one sent out. He took my details, and today after faffing about with UPS, only a little mind you, I had the battery in.

3 seconds later and it was still firing up!!!

I am now sitting in my chair writing this email off battery power. Cheers to anyone who replied and tried to help!! and thanks to the chap who asked me to check my battery info in the system profiler. i have now learnt a new thing to look at on apple computers.

I'm glad everything worked out for you. Apple is pretty fast about the batteries. I submitted my exchange application on a Saturday afternoon and had my battery when I got home from work on the following Monday and it was there.