macbook not charging anymore

This is freaking me out. Today I go get my macbook, 2008 white, and try and turn it on. It doesnt turn on, so I assume the battery must be out. I plug it in, and it starts just fine. But while im using it, I accidentally knock out the charging cable, and the computer instantly shuts off. I assumed that it was because the battery still hadn't charged enough. So I turn it back on, and when I login, I notice on the top, it has the battery icon with (not charging) next to it. It says: Condition: Replace now. Power source, Power adapter. I have never seen this warning before. so now it seems my battery is not working, when it was working fine yesterday. Whats the deal here? is it something with the cable?

Anyone?

AppleCider said:

...I notice on the top, it has the battery icon with (not charging) next to it. It says: Condition: Replace now. Power source, Power adapter. I have never seen this warning before. so now it seems my battery is not working, when it was working fine yesterday. Whats the deal here? is it something with the cable?

Click to expand...

Sounds to me you need a new battery.

- Nick

is that the only solution? it was working fine the day before...

AppleCider said:

is that the only solution? it was working fine the day before...

Click to expand...

It may have been working fine the day before (most things...before they fail...work fine the day before)...this is just the Nature of things.

Things almost always work fine...BEFORE they don't work fine!

On that day before...what was the battery's capacity? As batteries get older...their total runtime capacity decreases. So the day before...your battery may have only had 15 minutes of runtime on a 100% fully charged battery. Eventually that 15 minutes will dwindle to 12 minutes, 10 minutes. 8 minutes....etc. etc.

There's a distinct possibility this is why you're getting the "Replace Now" message.

With the information given so far...the is what can be deduced. If you have additional info that may induicate that something else is the problem...please share.

- Nick

It charged to 100% and lasted at least 2 or more hours. The light on the back of the mac doesnt light, and the magsafe light is green all the time when I plug it in.

AppleCider said:

It charged to 100% and lasted at least 2 or more hours. The light on the back of the mac doesnt light, and the magsafe light is green all the time when I plug it in.

Click to expand...

I see...that's a bit of a different situation than a reader would be lead to believe from the initial post.

Can you tell us how many charge/discharge cycles the battery has? If you are not sure how to determine this go to:

- Apple Menu
- About this Mac
- More Info (or System Report for OS 10.7)
- click on "Power" in the next window
- in the info to the right it will say "Cycle Count" and the number

- Nick

One other thing to try is resetting the SMC:

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

- Nick

I tried resetting the SMC, no dice. I also checked the cycles, and it said 0.

AppleCider said:

I tried resetting the SMC, no dice. I also checked the cycles, and it said 0.

Click to expand...

If your computer is saying that your battery has zero battery cycles...I'm thinking that your computer thinks that it has no battery. Since I'm sure your battery is used...and therefore would have a bunch of battery cycles on it.

By the way...this 2008 MacBook does have the user removable battery...right? If so, remove the battery...then reinstall the battery...then do the SMC reset once more.

If this doesn't help...one more thing to try is resetting the PRAM:

Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

- Nick

I will try reseting the PRAM, and it does have a removable battery. What I did was shut it down, then remove the charger and battery, then hold down the power button for 5 secs, then plugged it back in, then put in the battery and powered it up. No result.

Those batterys are really expensive. I have heard of the apple store replacing them for free if you get just the right people at the genius bar.

AppleCider said:

Those batterys are really expensive.

Click to expand...

All depends what you consider expensive. I know the Apple batteries cost $129. You can buy a non-Apple battery for less. You can get one here for $99 + shipping:

MacBook 13" White Laptop Battery High Capacity by NewerTech for all MacBook 13" 'White' models up to 2.13GHz

AppleCider said:

I have heard of the apple store replacing them for free if you get just the right people at the genius bar.

Click to expand...

Yes...it's possible...but usually if something is found to be wrong with the battery. And with an older 2008 computer...they may be less likely to do this. But you never know...anything is possible!

Good luck,

- Nick

I found one for 70. But I really want to try everything before I have to shell that out. I heard someone with a problem very similar to mine with a 2006 macbook and they replaced it for free, even though it had like 600 cycles.

AppleCider said:

I heard someone with a problem very similar to mine with a 2006 macbook and they replaced it for free, even though it had like 600 cycles.

Click to expand...

Was that recently???...or from an internet forum post from years ago...when that 2006 MacBook was only 1-2 years old (as opposed to 6 years old now in 2012).

- Nick

No, it was rather recently. Maybe 2010 or 2009