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ruttencutter · Oct 3, 2005, 09:47 PM

My wifes powerbook has been running like a champ for the last year and a half. Until this last week.

Here is what we've figured out.

The battery, will not charge when in sleep mode or when the computer is powered off. The power cord will go from green to off, or alternatively from green to orange--but the lights on the battery will never come on and blink like my powerbook does when shutdown and the battery is not fully charged.

The battery will not charge until the OS is loaded. Once the OS is loaded, the power adapter needs to be unplugged from the wall to be reset (we've tried 4 different adapters, all the same). Then, when plugging in the adapater it goes green to orange, and the battery starts charging.

So we're wondering what the function of the DC board is in these machines? Is charging handled by software when the computers are on, and by the dc board (hopefully not logic) when the machines are turned off or sleeping.

We're trying to track down the achilles heel for this guy to see if we can get him up and running again.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

-S

tooki · Oct 3, 2005, 10:10 PM

Try resetting the PMU: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

tooki

ruttencutter · Oct 3, 2005, 10:36 PM

Heh.

I've reset EVERYTHING. A million and one times.

Did it again just to humor you. Make it a million and two.

I'm going to kill and reinstall the OS now to see if it helps.

It won't... but it's something.

ibook_steve · Oct 4, 2005, 02:14 AM

Charging is handled in hardware by the PMU (Power Management Unit). I'd look more at a problem with your battery if resetting the PMU has had no affect. Go to an Apple store and see if you can try another battery.

Steve

ruttencutter · Oct 4, 2005, 08:33 AM

Same situation if I swap in any number of known good batteries.

One thing it won't do is boot off the power adapter with no battery on board. Is that typical?

-S

ibook_steve · Oct 4, 2005, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by ruttencutter

Same situation if I swap in any number of known good batteries.

One thing it won't do is boot off the power adapter with no battery on board. Is that typical?

-S

No, not at all. I think it's time to go to the Apple store.

Steve

ruttencutter · Oct 4, 2005, 05:31 PM

I just double checked. I have 4 powerbooks. None will boot without a battery.

You sure?

-S

tooki · Oct 4, 2005, 06:33 PM

It depends on the model. iBooks and 12" PowerBooks require the battery, while 14", 15" and 17" PowerBooks can boot with no battery installed.

tooki

ruttencutter · Oct 4, 2005, 06:35 PM

None of my 15" books, 2 1.25's and 1 1.67, can boot without an adapter.

And this 1.25 is out of warranty--so I'm trying to figure out if this is a pricey logic board issue, or something that could be blamed on the power supply.

Thoughts?

-S

ibook_steve · Oct 5, 2005, 12:40 AM

Originally Posted by tooki

It depends on the model. iBooks and 12" PowerBooks require the battery, while 14", 15" and 17" PowerBooks can boot with no battery installed.

tooki

False. I worked on the design of the white iBooks and 12" Powerbooks and we rarely if ever had the battery connected in the lab. The battery is not required for normal operation. However, on some 12" models, without a battery, the CPU will always operate in reduced speed mode.

Steve