Battery and shutdown issues

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Hello all,

I have a Mid-2010 MacBook Pro, running OS X 10.8.4, with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 memory.

I am wondering how long a fully charged battery should last. I keep getting different answers to this question. It seems to me that my battery charge does not last long.

My battery info is in the attachment.

Also, this computer has, for a year or longer, had problems shutting down. It doesn't shut down unless I hold the start button. I am constantly having to reset the PRAM.

I've had this machine to the Apple store, and they keep telling me that "all is well". I am hoping that what I have read in a few places, and heard from a couple people, that it isn't true that they wait until your Apple Care has expired, then tell you that there IS a problem, which, of course, has to be repaired at a COST.

Can anybody give me answers?
 
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I have a Mid-2010 MacBook Pro, running OS X 10.8.4, with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 memory.

I am wondering how long a fully charged battery should last. I keep getting different answers to this question. It seems to me that my battery charge does not last long.

You likely are getting different answers because the battery life is dependent on WHAT you are doing on your MacBook. Some apps and tasks require more energy than others. It'd help to know what software you use regularly.

My battery info is in the attachment.

There is no attachment here.

Also, this computer has, for a year or longer, had problems shutting down. It doesn't shut down unless I hold the start button. I am constantly having to reset the PRAM.

Constant PRAM resets are odd. It'd help to know what software you use on the Mac. Also if you have done anything with the hardware yourself, like replace the memory. Also take note of my signature below.

I've had this machine to the Apple store, and they keep telling me that "all is well". I am hoping that what I have read in a few places, and heard from a couple people, that it isn't true that they wait until your Apple Care has expired, then tell you that there IS a problem, which, of course, has to be repaired at a COST.

Tin foil hats off, please.
 
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Sorry,

I thought I saw the attachment take hold. Trying again...

I mainly surf the 'Net. I do some Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign work.

My usual usage is to surf, while playing an onboard jigsaw puzzle game.

9302311106_7becff84d5.jpg
[/url]
Screen Shot 2013-07-16 at 9.02.11 AM by ScrapJAG, on Flickr[/IMG]

Software: Adobe - Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Flash; Screenflow, a Seagate 1TB portable HD, and Time Machine. Other than those, it's mostly what comes on the machine/with Mountain Lion.

I've never done anything with the hardware.

Hats off! Well, just telling you what I've read, and heard. My Apple Care is about to expire, and because I've complained to "them" about the battery and PRAM for some time, I'm a bit nervous that what I've heard and read are true.
 
C

chas_m

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Download the free Coconut Battery. Run it. Post a screenshot of what it says.

How long your battery will last changes *from moment to moment* as you do different things. When I am using my 2009 MBP on battery I dim the screen as low as possible, turn off things I'm not using (like Bluetooth) and try to avoid using processor-intensive programs. Under those circumstances I can reasonably expect 3-4 hours.
 
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Download the free Coconut Battery. Run it. Post a screenshot of what it says.

How long your battery will last changes *from moment to moment* as you do different things. When I am using my 2009 MBP on battery I dim the screen as low as possible, turn off things I'm not using (like Bluetooth) and try to avoid using processor-intensive programs. Under those circumstances I can reasonably expect 3-4 hours.

Will give Coconut Battery a try.

3-4 hours!?! On a full charge? Well, then, maybe my battery IS normal. Still doesn't explain the PRAM issue.

I'll be back with the screenshot, thanks!
 

Slydude

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Let's see if we can narrow that problem down a bit. Here are a couple of questions that I have to get the ball rolling.

1. How long are you waiting before holding down the power/start button? If you just wait does it shut down? Not saying you are causing the problem. It is one piece of the troubleshooting puzzle.

2. When you go to the Apple menu and shut down uncheck the "reopen windows" box before shutting down. Does that improve things at all?

3. Were you having this issue under 10.7?
 
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Let's see if we can narrow that problem down a bit. Here are a couple of questions that I have to get the ball rolling.

1. How long are you waiting before holding down the power/start button? If you just wait does it shut down? Not saying you are causing the problem. It is one piece of the troubleshooting puzzle.

2. When you go to the Apple menu and shut down uncheck the "reopen windows" box before shutting down. Does that improve things at all?

3. Were you having this issue under 10.7?

1. I try shutting down using the Apple icon, then clicking on Shut Down. It hangs forever. I've even left it over night, and opened it in the morning, and that gray screen with the spinning wheel was still there. So, I use the button to shut down. Some times, it shuts down almost immediately, and some times it takes a few seconds.

2. I always uncheck the "reopen windows". It does not improve things.

3. Yes. I've been having issues for about a year and a half, if not longer. I've complained about the battery for quite a while (was surprised at how quickly it lost its charge right from the beginning), and have also complained about the PRAM.

I guess I just want ONE answer about the battery... IS this normal behavior for this style laptop?

As to the PRAM issue, I'd really like it to be solved BEFORE my Apple Care expires!

I've attached the most recent Coconut Battery screenshot.

Screen Shot 2013-07-18 at 9.06.05 AM.png
 

Slydude

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That clarifies some of the questions I had. At least I know that the increased time is not due to the reopen windows option being checked. Here are a few additional thoughts. These things have probably been checked out but we haven't touched on them so far:

First an apology I wasn't as clear as I could have been about the first question. If you are shutting down and do not close the lid how long does it take? Less than a minute, several minutes etc. Closing the lid can stop the shutdown process. I closed the lid on mine once before the process was 100% complete and a few days later when I opened the lid the computer was waiting to finish shutting down.

Have you verified the hard drive and repaired permissions? This isn't an issue I recommend for everything but multiple hard shutdowns can corrupt the directory structure?

If you start from a different user account, perform a few tasks, then shut down does the same problem (long shutdown) occur?

If at any point in the troubleshooting process you performed a clean install does the long shutdown process still occur?
 
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That clarifies some of the questions I had. At least I know that the increased time is not due to the reopen windows option being checked. Here are a few additional thoughts. These things have probably been checked out but we haven't touched on them so far:

First an apology I wasn't as clear as I could have been about the first question. If you are shutting down and do not close the lid how long does it take? Less than a minute, several minutes etc. Closing the lid can stop the shutdown process. I closed the lid on mine once before the process was 100% complete and a few days later when I opened the lid the computer was waiting to finish shutting down.

Have you verified the hard drive and repaired permissions? This isn't an issue I recommend for everything but multiple hard shutdowns can corrupt the directory structure?

If you start from a different user account, perform a few tasks, then shut down does the same problem (long shutdown) occur?

If at any point in the troubleshooting process you performed a clean install does the long shutdown process still occur?

Thank you!

Shutting down, without closing the lid, takes a random amount of time. MOST times, I have to force it. I can reset the PRAM, open it and work on it. When I shut it down, it shuts down almost immediately. That's with the lid open. I open it again, do some work. If I try to shut it down, it balks. That quickly. Some times, it shuts down within a minute, or two, then sometimes it just hangs - forever.

I believe that the Apple tech did a verification on the hard drive and repair permissions. I do not recall, though, for certain. He did a number of things, and I was distracted while he was doing them.

I've never tried a different user account. I've not even set up another user account because I'm the only one to use this computer. Should I try that?

I've never performed a clean install, either.

So, just so you know, I HAVE chatted live with an Apple tech. I've tried doing all the usual things.

And, here is a log I started last night:

7-17
9:09 p.m. - battery at 100% - started editing photos on flash drive, in Photoshop. Had one website open. Edited photos for approx. 1.5 hours, then closed Photoshop and removed flash drive. Switched websites.
11:50 p.m. - battery at 42%. Started playing game on Facebook.

12:43 a.m. - battery at 20%. Finished playing game on Facebook. Put laptop to sleep.

7-18
6:40 a.m. - battery at 17% - started charging. Opened Internet. Emptied trash.

6:55 a.m. - battery at 30% - opened second tab in Internet.

6:57 a.m. - downloaded Coconut Battery and installed. Opened and took screenshot.

8:20 a.m. - battery at 97%. Started Facebook - playing game, and surfing through it.

I haven't kept track since the last entry. Right now, the battery is at 100%, with the charger still on. I'm going to take it off, and start entries again.
 

Slydude

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As far as the shutdown problem goes I am wondering if there isn't some piece of software/extension causing an issue. I would certainly try a new Admin user account and see what happens.

Perhaps I missed it but are you running any anti virus software or utilities such as "Clean My Mac"?
 
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Whatever the problem is in keeping your Mac from shutting down properly and timely may also be the reason your battery is draining, if indeed it is draining too fast. My first suggestion is to create a new user on your Mac and work in that account. If you stop having problems, then you have an answer... "something" has gone awry with your user account.

If you still have problems even with a new user account, I would just flat out do a clean reinstall of the OS and manually migrate your user data back over. Do a full clone of your system to an external drive so you have a nice secure, bootable backup to recover from.

Another thing to try is running the Apple Hardware Test to see if it finds any issues. Also check your hard drive to see if it is failing. An easy way is to use an advanced SMART monitoring tool. I recommend DriveDx. It provides a wealth of data for early warning of potential drive issues. Run the "long" self test. That may take a couple hours, but will be fairly comprehensive.
 
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As far as the shutdown problem goes I am wondering if there isn't some piece of software/extension causing an issue. I would certainly try a new Admin user account and see what happens.

Perhaps I missed it but are you running any anti virus software or utilities such as "Clean My Mac"?

I'll try the new Admin user account.

Not running any kind of anti-virus or other utilities. That was one thing the Apple tech suggested - to get rid of Kaspersky. So, I totally uninstalled it. Didn't seem to make much difference after a while. It did seem to speed things up just a bit right after I uninstalled it.
 
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Whatever the problem is in keeping your Mac from shutting down properly and timely may also be the reason your battery is draining, if indeed it is draining too fast. My first suggestion is to create a new user on your Mac and work in that account. If you stop having problems, then you have an answer... "something" has gone awry with your user account.

If you still have problems even with a new user account, I would just flat out do a clean reinstall of the OS and manually migrate your user data back over. Do a full clone of your system to an external drive so you have a nice secure, bootable backup to recover from.

Another thing to try is running the Apple Hardware Test to see if it finds any issues. Also check your hard drive to see if it is failing. An easy way is to use an advanced SMART monitoring tool. I recommend DriveDx. It provides a wealth of data for early warning of potential drive issues. Run the "long" self test. That may take a couple hours, but will be fairly comprehensive.

My thought, too, about something running in the background. That was checked, also, but the Apple Tech. The only thing he found was Kaspersky, and he recommended uninstalling that, which I did.

I am in the process of removing items from this machine. Once that is done, and I know I have those items safely stored, I may try the clean install. COULD that be the problem? I installed Mountain Lion via a download from the App store. I'm pretty sure that is a safe download. ;-)
 

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I am in the process of removing items from this machine. Once that is done, and I know I have those items safely stored, I may try the clean install. COULD that be the problem? I installed Mountain Lion via a download from the App store. I'm pretty sure that is a safe download. ;-)

Yeah I doubt the Mountain Lion download is the issue. I'm a little curious about whether something got left behind by Kaspersky. I was just looking at their site and it seems there are two different uninstall procedures depending upon what you have. Kaspersky Virus Scanner support suggest dragging it to the trash is sufficient. Kaspersky Security uses an uninstaller.

Which version did you have? Even though their site says Kaspersky Virus Scanner can be removed by a simple drag to the trash I'm skeptical. Most anti virus program leave several parts and pieces in various parts of the System folder.
 
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My thought, too, about something running in the background. That was checked, also, but the Apple Tech. The only thing he found was Kaspersky, and he recommended uninstalling that, which I did.

This forum is riddled with threads where we outguessed the Apple Techs. Most are very good at what they do, but they occasionally miss things. In some instances, they may be hampered by what Apple policies allow them to do.

That said, as has been pointed out, Kaspersky may not have been removed properly and "something" is stuck in the background.

I am in the process of removing items from this machine. Once that is done, and I know I have those items safely stored, I may try the clean install. COULD that be the problem? I installed Mountain Lion via a download from the App store. I'm pretty sure that is a safe download. ;-)

Most upgrade installs work fine. In some instances, they don't. Legacy drivers and whatnot may get left in place, especially those from 3rd parties.
 
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Yeah I doubt the Mountain Lion download is the issue. I'm a little curious about whether something got left behind by Kaspersky. I was just looking at their site and it seems there are two different uninstall procedures depending upon what you have. Kaspersky Virus Scanner support suggest dragging it to the trash is sufficient. Kaspersky Security uses an uninstaller.

Which version did you have? Even though their site says Kaspersky Virus Scanner can be removed by a simple drag to the trash I'm skeptical. Most anti virus program leave several parts and pieces in various parts of the System folder.

I had Kaspersky Internet Security 2012. I went through and deleted all the files I could find for it, then uninstalled the program, because I know things can get left behind.
 
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i was just going to ask the same question, how long should a batter charge last. just got my wife a 2006 macbook pro 15.5". she also plays game son it and it seemed today it only lasted 2 hours. its suppose to have a new apple battery in it. i check it out with that coconutBattery program.
 

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i was just going to ask the same question, how long should a batter charge last. just got my wife a 2006 macbook pro 15.5". she also plays game son it and it seemed today it only lasted 2 hours. its suppose to have a new apple battery in it. i check it out with that coconutBattery program.

Total battery runtime on a single charge can vary greatly depending on what you are doing. I can tell you one thing...playing games (in most cases)...is a BIG drain on the battery (takes a lot of power to play most games).

Also...yeah...maybe the seller said that the battery is new...but I''l tell you what. Given the value of a 2006 MacBook Pro...putting a brand new $129 battery in it is a pretty expensive endeavor.

Definitely check "Coconut Battery" to see how many charge/discharge cycles the battery really has.

- Nick
 
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ran it. says 5079 mAh. battery loadcycles = 6 / current 4967 mAh //max charge 5079 mAh. now does load cycles mean the number of times it has cycled. i did follow his feedback and saw that he did buy a apple battery for it. who knows how long the battery had been sitting on the shelf.
 

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ran it. says 5079 mAh. battery loadcycles = 6 / current 4967 mAh //max charge 5079 mAh. now does load cycles mean the number of times it has cycled. i did follow his feedback and saw that he did buy a apple battery for it. who knows how long the battery had been sitting on the shelf.

Yes...with only 6 cycles on it...it does sound like a new battery. So good for you!:)

But back to what I said earlier...battery runtime on a full charge greatly depends on what the computer is doing.

On a 2006 MBP (under the most ideal conditions)...it's supposed to get 4-5 hours of runtime on a full charge. But if someone is gaming on it...that runtime can be seriously lower...and 2 hours would not surprise me.

2.0 to 2.5 hours is about how long the battery would last on a full charge if you were watching videos as well.

- Nick
 

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