MacBook shutdown

The other night I set my mac up to backup to my external USB drive with time machine. I had the charger connected and went to bed. the next morning I checked and the LED on the charger was flashing amber and green. I got it out of sleep mode to see a message concerning the battery and then it shut off. I was unable to get it running for a few seconds before it shut off again. I checked the battery indicator on the bottom and it flashed one led. I have cleaned the connections and bought a new (correct wattage) charger and after connecting it, my mac will not power up. I read that they can boot without the battery and just the charger. It isn't the case here. I have done the rest procedures to no avail. I am hoping it has to just charge for several hours since the battery was ran down all the way. If it hasn't charged by morning I guess a new battery will be needed. The only question I have is: will an A1181 Santa Rosa model Macbook 4.1 run with only the charger attached and the battery out? If it should then I have a bigger problem than a battery. : (
Note: I have scoured the web and tried numerous things to bring it back to life, so post your thoughts and if I haven't already tried them I definitely will.
Thanks in advance.

What is numerous to save us mentioning PRAM and SMC resets? What model Mac and how many cycles?

This is the same mac that's in my specs
MacBook A1181
C2D 2.1ghz,
1 gb,
120gb SSD
OSX 10.6.8

As far as cycles goes, I don't know how many it had. Until this happened I didn't know to keep track of them. I do know that prior to this event I could run on battery power for 1 1/2 maybe 2 hours before it hit around 25% and I would connect the charger. The person I bought it from said that I would sometimes get a not charging icon and to shut down and reseat the battery. This happened twice and what he said to do worked. Before it started wigging out It was fine. The old charger started flashing amber and green, so I thought it was the problem. I set it up this morning before work and 9 hours later it is the same. No indicator lights on the battery itself and the new charger is amber.

Does anyone know if the Santa Rosa model A1181 can run with the battery out and the charger cable connected? I have found no answer to this on the web. I can take the battery out and connect the magsafe charger. The led is green, but the mac will not power up. If I knew that it does, maybe it is the charging port connector.

I believe they can and should run without a battery, but maybe with some slowdown.

MacBook Slowdown without Battery, DisplayPort and DRM, 256 GB SSD, MagSafe Solutions, and More etc. etc. and google...

I suppose this means that the charging port is the culprit. Do I have to disassemble it to see which port I have? I guess I should get a battery as well considering this one is about 5 years old.

I have tried resetting the PRAM and the SMC reset. I followed the instructions on Apples site.
With a new charger and the old battery, the charger led is orange and the mac will not boot. The old charger flashed orange and green, with no boot. The battery shows no lights on the charge meter. I looked at some screen shot I had and at last account the battery had 291 cycles. This was a week earlier I think.
I took the battery out and tried to boot with just the charger, but no go on that.I ordered a new battery to see if that works.

I received my new battery and it has 5 lights on the indicator lighting up. I installed it and powered up my Mac.I connect the magsafe charger and the light is green. However the battery icon at the top of the screen shows not charging. I am unable to run the mac with the magsafe connected and no battery. I am confused as to which charging port I need. I read that there are different pin configs and don't know which one to buy.
This is a late 2008 mac 4.1
Does anyone know which one to get or do I have to open this thing up to find out.
Thanks for any help, I've been distraught not being able to use it.

After you put the new battery in did you reset the SMC and the PRAM again? I have a 2009 Macbook that I had to run without the battery in it until the new one came.

When I put the new battery in it I had to reset the SMC and PRAM. Until I did the battery indicator would show it was not charging. Also had to reseat the battery.

Lisa

I tried SMC and PRAM reset with no effect. Currently the mac powers up and the battery icon shows a battery with a plug inside instead of the battery level. (Not Charging). The magsafe connector light is green. I can shut down, remove the battery and attempt to boot using AC power only which does not work. It will not power up without the battery in. About this Mac.
AC charger info
ID 0x0100
Wattage 60w
Rev 0x0000
Family 0x00ba
serial 0x004d7e33
Charging No
IT shows the charger connected
I removed the battery with the mac off and checked the connectors for the battery connector and I only get 3.4 volts. I wonder if the charging port is bad
When I did shift, control, option and hit the power button the mac just powered up normally.

after disassembling it I found that the charger is supplying voltage and ground. The magsafe port isn't telling the charger to charge. I get pos and neg voltage all the way to the battery, but no switch continuity.

cowdude said:

after disassembling it I found that the charger is supplying voltage and ground. The magsafe port isn't telling the charger to charge. I get pos and neg voltage all the way to the battery, but no switch continuity.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a bad DC input board. You might want to go to www.ifixit.com and identify what you need and then order the board.

It is the DC board. I'm going to order a new one.

cowdude said:

It is the DC board. I'm going to order a new one.

Click to expand...

I installed a new DC board and it had no effect. Battery in and charger connected shows not charging. Remove battery and leave the charger plugged in then try to power up, no go. It will not run on the charger alone. I tested voltage at the battery connector and it gets voltage, so it has to be in the circuit that controls the charging I guess. The new battery is at 56% and drops slightly when the mac is on, so the charger isn't powering it.
Any thoughts?
PS: I did another battery out hold pwr btn, SMC, PRAM reset again so it isn't a software issue I think.

Well, that's bad news. That leaves the logic board which could be messed up with regard to the charge - recharge cycle and when to stop charging. I don't know what else could cause the problem since you've eliminated everything else.

I bit the bullet and bought a logic board. I did extensive research to be sure it is the same as the one I have.
Hopefully my Mac will be good as new now. Well it will be accept for the case lol.

cowdude said:

I bit the bullet and bought a logic board. I did extensive research to be sure it is the same as the one I have.
Hopefully my Mac will be good as new now. Well it will be accept for the case lol.

Click to expand...

I sincerely hope you did not spend too much for this replacement logic board. Even with a 120gig SSD in it...it is still only worth about $225-$250 at best. Without the 120gig SSD (and with it's original 120gig HD)...it would only be worth about $150.

Many times (financially) it is not worth repairing these older laptops...ESPECIALLY if a replacement logic board is needed.

- Nick

I got one for $30 I don't plan to put any more into it. This will be a total of $225 I have in it including what I paid for it. It worked fine for a month or so. I deal with used cars at a dealership so I know things break whether it's new or not. When I can afford it, I will get a later model.

Well after receiving the wrong board, I cross shipped it back and got the right one. The seller was very apologetic and shipped the second one 2nd day. I am writing this on my mac and I am happy. The battery is charging, listening to itunes and all is good in the world.
Thanks all of you who had input on this for the guidance.