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Doug · Aug 30, 2006, 06:46 AM

Hi all,

I'm having some problems with my battery/ power adapter with my G4 Powerbook.

It's a Alu 15" 1.25Ghz with 512Mb RAM running 10.4.7 (bought in Nov '03).

The battery is currently lasting about 20 minutes so I figure I need a new battery (it's not in the recall), but also it is very inconsistent when recharging (ie sometimes it does not) and the power adapter gets very hot. My biggest concern is that the laptop is making an unusual buzzing noise, and at times so is the power adapter. (Is this likely to be related?) In addition sometimes if I leave it on for too long (eg overnight) I come back to a black screen with white/grey/ purple stripes and have to turn it off and restart.

So:

1. Do I need to be concerned about my Mac suddenly dying?

2. Can I get a 3rd party power adapter here in the UK (I have read many bad comments about Apple ones)? If so please advise.

3. Can I get a replacement battery still? It wasn't obvious on the Apple Store.

Hope someone can give me some advice.

Cheers,

Doug.

hemant · Aug 30, 2006, 06:58 AM

Did you try a PMU reset?

Doug · Aug 31, 2006, 04:59 AM

Thanks, I've given it a shot...

7ff@MacNN · Sep 1, 2006, 12:36 AM

Originally Posted by Doug

Hi all,

I'm having some problems with my battery/ power adapter with my G4 Powerbook.

It's a Alu 15" 1.25Ghz with 512Mb RAM running 10.4.7 (bought in Nov '03).

The battery is currently lasting about 20 minutes so I figure I need a new battery (it's not in the recall), but also it is very inconsistent when recharging (ie sometimes it does not) and the power adapter gets very hot. My biggest concern is that the laptop is making an unusual buzzing noise, and at times so is the power adapter. (Is this likely to be related?) In addition sometimes if I leave it on for too long (eg overnight) I come back to a black screen with white/grey/ purple stripes and have to turn it off and restart.

So:

1. Do I need to be concerned about my Mac suddenly dying?

2. Can I get a 3rd party power adapter here in the UK (I have read many bad comments about Apple ones)? If so please advise.

3. Can I get a replacement battery still? It wasn't obvious on the Apple Store.

Hope someone can give me some advice.

Cheers,

Doug.

I'm having the same problem with my powerbook g4 12"Al 1.33ghz! One or 2 month ago I noticed that the battery was only lasting about 40 mins, than, wile charging the light would go orange, than green, than orage and so on forever. The power supplier (near the light) was going hot! Now I'm experiencing the same problems as Doug!!!

Anyone knows how to solve this issue?

Thank you very much.

ghporter · Sep 1, 2006, 08:54 AM

7ff@MacNN, have YOU tried a PMU reset? The PMU seems to be the key to whether or not the battery gets charged fully or not (when the battery is good)

7ff@MacNN & Doug, if the PMU reset doesn't change things (maybe not to "like new," but better than now) then you probably need to bite the proverbial bullet and buy new batteries. At least if you buy new batteries from Apple now they'll probably make sure they don't come from Sony!

Doug · Sep 2, 2006, 08:14 AM

Well, the PMU reset didn't seem to do anything so I think a new battery is the way. Dag nammit.

I also think I need a new powersupply aswell. Are there any non apple ones which are compatible and recommended?

Thanks for the advice!

Doug.

7ff@MacNN · Sep 3, 2006, 02:37 AM

I tried the MPU thing, but no good. I'm going to test a friends power supply tomorrow and afterwards decide whether to buy only the battery or the power sup us well.

Doug, I found this link in a forum (not shure if here): FastMac Announces TruePower Line of Affordable High Capacity Apple Laptop Batteries, Drops Prices on Pismo Upgrades

Check it out, apparently they have batteries for mac that last longer than the original ones.