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MarkLT1 · Jul 20, 2006, 10:21 AM

Ok, so i have an old 1ghz TiBook, which has been my trusty sidekick for almost 4 years now. Everything has been working great. I noticed the typical decline in battery life, from 3 1/2 hours down to a little under 2 hours (got about 1hr 45mins of battery life out of it on a trip a few weeks ago). But now, suddenly, the powerbook seems to not be able to run at all on battery. Symptoms-

Plugged in, the power light lights to green, and shows that the battery is charged. If I pull the battery, and hit the button, all 4 lights glow.

Pull the power plug, and the TiBook shuts off.

So, I am thinking it is one of two things- the DC-DC board which connects the battery to the logic board, or, that the battery has finally given up the ghost. I suspect it is probably the DC-DC board, as the battery seems to hold a charge, shows 4 lights, etc.. and was working fine 3 weeks ago.

Any way to troubleshoot this? I dont have access to a second battery, to test the battery.. so is there any way to test it with a multimeter, or diagnose it from the terminal? I dont want to go out and buy a battery if it turns out to be the DC-DC board...

Thanks!

tooki · 11:29 AM

Sounds like classic power manager corruption. Here's how to fix it: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

tooki

MarkLT1 · Jul 20, 2006, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by tooki

Sounds like a corrupted power manager. Here's how to fix it: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

tooki

tookie-

Thanks so much for the tip!! Man, that would be GREAT if it is a corrupted power manager (didn't even think of that!). I'll give that a try this afternoon when I get home, and report back. (keeping my fingers crossed that this will work!)

tooki · Jul 20, 2006, 11:30 AM

The symptoms you describe are absolutely typical of power manager corruption. I expect a reset to fix it.

Good luck!

tooki

MarkLT1 · Jul 20, 2006, 12:30 PM

Well, that was a no-go

. I did the reset, and when I try to turn it on with just the battery, a fan starts to spin up, but then it just wont turn on. As soon as I plug it in, it powers right up.

so, any other ideas?

Cross · Jul 20, 2006, 07:57 PM

hmm test it with another battery. If your still having problems I have a few spare parts that could help you.

If you don't want to deal with it I have a 867 I will trade for ur 1ghz. Has a good battery in it. ^-^

And thanks for the article I saved it among my many others. Good stuff!

amazing · Jul 21, 2006, 09:23 AM

Download CoconutBattery and see how many load-cycles the battery has. Nothing lasts forever, especially batteries.

Dr.Michael · Jul 21, 2006, 09:44 AM

My Tibook had these symptoms:

Battery fully charged, OS X claimed 3 hours of battery life. After 1 hour the Tibook shut down without warning. The last battery charge that I saw indicated that it should still last 2 more hours, but the voltage broke down within some seconds.

New battery fixed the problem.

MarkLT1 · Jul 24, 2006, 09:33 AM

Well, it looks like the battery has officially died. I found a known good battery, and the PB booted fine.

Kinda funny that the battery would go from 2 hours of life, to dead, overnight.. but oh well... I guess that was still a great run for an almost 4 year old battery!