MacBook not recognizing battery

I just purchased a used 13" black MacBook running OSX 10.6.8
The girl who sold it to me promised that the battery was working the last time she tried using the computer a couple of weeks ago. Now the battery health claims to be 0% and every time I unplug it, the computer just dies.

She has done many updates as well as deleting her files, I have seen instructions for battery update 1.4 but it does not seem to apply to my version of OSX.

My battery is an A1185 model, which as I have seen has had issues being recognized following updates.

I attempted to instal battery updater 1.4 using Pacifist, but this appears to have been unsuccessful.

Battery Specs:
Model Information:
Manufacturer: DP
Device name: ASMB016
Pack Lot Code: 0002
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 102a
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0102
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 0
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 0
Health Information:
Cycle count: 913
Condition: Replace Now
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 4957

Could be that the battery is shot and I need to replace it, but it seems to me that the computer just isn't recognizing that the battery is there at all.

I am also having a permissions repair issue which may or may not be related to this battery problem. Perm repair issue detailed in following thread:
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os...-help-osx10-6-8-repair-permissions-issue.html

Any suggestions for troubleshooting and fixing this problem?

You're probably going to need a new battery. What year is the Black MacBook? I believe the last year they were made was 2008 although I could be wrong. Anyway, it's likely that battery is dead and won't accept a charge. You can buy a new one from Other World Computing. Their batteries exceed the specs for the Apple replacement battery.

I looked at the permissions errors. You can ignore them.

chscag said:

I looked at the permissions errors. You can ignore them.

Click to expand...

Thanks for answering that for me. I've spent the last 3 hours messing with my permissions and trying to fix these errors. I guess I'll just ignore them for now...

chscag said:

What year is the Black MacBook?

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the seller said that she got it in 2007 and had the hard drive and shell replaced right before her AppleCare ran out in 2008.

She swears up and down that the battery was holding a good charge a month ago. And seemed just as surprised as I was when we looked at the health of the battery, she seemed to think that was an error and unplugged it to show that it would work. She looked surprised when it died. Then she offered to knock an appropriate price off the deal, so I don't think she was being dishonest.

Also, it strikes me as odd that the battery health isn't registering a low number, it just says 0%. What would cause a battery to loose all of its health so quickly?

I just don't want to replace the battery only to discover that a firmware problem is at fault.

EDIT: I took the battery out of my husband's white macbook and tried it in my black one and... voilá it works! So I guess it was the battery afterall! At least she knocked $100 off the price, I know I can get a good battery for less than that, so it was still a good deal.

Thanks to chscag for answering my question. +Rep coming your way.

EDIT: I took the battery out of my husband's white macbook and tried it in my black one and... voilá it works! So I guess it was the battery afterall! At least she knocked $100 off the price, I know I can get a good battery for less than that, so it was still a good deal.

Click to expand...

I'm glad to hear that you wound up with a discount. That was nice of her to do that as most sellers would leave you high and dry.

One bit of advice: Buy a good battery. There are lots of cheap knock off batteries around mostly on eBay but they usually don't last long. Consider buying one from the folks at Other World Computing. They also have an 800 number you can call and speak with a live person.