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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Did my powerbook die?

Did my powerbook die?
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Mar 31, 2004, 03:19 PM
 
I have a less than 1 year old PowerBook. It has been running fine since day one. Yesterday I had left it charging for awhile, and used it while plugged in (just like any other day). Last night, I unplugged it, and went upstairs to do a bit of work before bed. I got a message saying the battery was low, but I worked through it thinking I had like 10 more minutes. I was wrong, and it went to sleep. this has happened before, and I know to just go plug it in. However, when I went to plug it in, th elight on the power cord didn't turn on. I was a bit worried, so I checked the outlet with another device, and it worked fine. So I plugged my powerbook back in, and still no charging light. I thought perhaps the light just got blown out, so I went to bed. When I woke up in the morning, still no light on the adaptor, and my powerbook wont statup, so it didn't charge. I tried reseating my battery (takign it out and putting it back), but still nothing on the charge light.

I honestly dont know what the issue could be. So any help is much appriciated.

[edit] I tried resetting the PMU, but nothing happened...
     
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Mar 31, 2004, 03:28 PM
 
Did you try another outlet? Even though that outlet may work fine for other devices, it could be blowing the AC adaptor. Don't worry, though. It should automatically reset. Try it in another outlet. If it still doesn't work, try a friend's AC adaptor or go to the Apple store. Best case scenario: you just need to buy a new AC adaptor or battery. Worst case scenario: something is wrong with the power or charging circuit in the Powerbook, requiring a repair. Most likely not, but the Apple Store can help you out here.

Steve
     
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Mar 31, 2004, 03:43 PM
 
Originally posted by ibook_steve:
Did you try another outlet? Even though that outlet may work fine for other devices, it could be blowing the AC adaptor. Don't worry, though. It should automatically reset. Try it in another outlet. If it still doesn't work, try a friend's AC adaptor or go to the Apple store. Best case scenario: you just need to buy a new AC adaptor or battery. Worst case scenario: something is wrong with the power or charging circuit in the Powerbook, requiring a repair. Most likely not, but the Apple Store can help you out here.

Steve
Ya I tried another outlet, and no luck. I wish I had a friend with a powerbook, but no luck. Luckily there is an Apple sotre about 5 minutes from here, so i will take it down there. I am hoping that it is just the battery (how much do one of those cost?)
     
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Mar 31, 2004, 03:58 PM
 
Batteries without a student discount cost, $129.00 and an AC adapter will cost around $79.99. Do a search on ebay and you'll find it for alot cheaper.
NOW YOU SEE ME! 2.4 MBP and 2.0 MBP (running ubuntu)
     
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Mar 31, 2004, 07:00 PM
 
i had the exact same problem with my ibook. if your applecare is still in place, they will replace it for free. same scenario: i unplugged the charger from the computer, went upstairs, and plugged it in and it would not work. i called apple to get it replaced! easy as pie
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Mar 31, 2004, 07:21 PM
 
Originally posted by rag on a muffin:
i had the exact same problem with my ibook. if your applecare is still in place, they will replace it for free. same scenario: i unplugged the charger from the computer, went upstairs, and plugged it in and it would not work. i called apple to get it replaced! easy as pie
Heh, never got AppleCare (I am not a believer in warenties and such, but that is a different isssue).

Anyways, just to update. I am now at the Apple store (man, gota love the internet here), and as soon as they plugged in their charger, the light came on! They booted up the machine, and want to now see if it will start charging the battery. One thing they did do at first was to remove the battery for about 1-2 minutes (somethign I did not do). If it charges up, then perhaps this was all just a fluke.

They also noticed that 2 of my powerbooks "feet" had fallen off. The lady offered to replace them for free. Its the little things that make teh differences.
     
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Apr 1, 2004, 10:54 PM
 
we always get warranties, they pay fore themselves so quickly for us because we have had bad luck with our computers breaking. we would have spent over 2000 on repairs on a 1000 dollar computer, but we paid a little extra to get a whole lot more. i would definitely consider warranties for higher quality equipment.
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