[turtle777]

Hey guys, several posts have been going on reporting that 10.2.4 is killing battery life.

( see Apple Support Discussion )

Apparently, for many users, neither resetting PMU, nor resetting PRAM, nor re-installing OS 10.2.4 nor going back to an earlier OS version will fix the problem. Most likely, the battery is being physically killed.

I talked to Apple Support on the phone. They collected all the data and information, but said, that this is supposedly the first time (haha) that anyone reported the problem. Well, whoever believes that.

Right now, the Apple Support guy thinks it's just my old battery dying.
They advised me to buy a new battery, try how the new battery does and if there is any problems, return the battery. This would be proofing that it is not a battery problem.

So, what can be done ?
I think, the best way to get it fixed AND to get a new battery is doing the following:

YOU ALL SHOULD CALL APPLE SUPPORT AND REPORT YOUR PROBLEMS.

Every caller will increase the awareness and likelihood that Apple will actually acknowledge the problem as being causeb by faulty software and replace batteries for free!

[dowNNshift]

I feel your pain - I have an affected iBook too.

I've spent the last few weeks trying to figure it out on my own iBook too, but finally today I broke down and visited Apple Store Willowbend. The guys at the bar were pretty helpful, although they 'denied' any knowledge of the 10.2.4 bug... so instead of falling for a 'jedi mind trick' and buying a new battery, I had them swap it with one from the floor just to see. Wow! It devoured the battery whole in 10 min flat - they were flabbergasted. "Yep, welcome to our world", I replied. They reset my power manager, verified my power settings, turned off my airport card - no improvement. C'mon Apple! Help out us iBook users and fix the power manager bug! ...I guess for now I've got a really portable desktop

[prolix]

My battery was slowly on its way to death a while back but the minute I installed 10.2.4 it definitely sped up the process. I couldn't even turn the ibook on from battery. I needed a new battery to begin with so I went and bought a new one. So far its pretty good. I have power management set on automatic and am using X-charge to keep on eye on the drain/charge of it. So far I'm getting between 3.5 - 4 hrs out of it which is pretty good. I've only had the new battery for a week so I'll keep watching. For reference I have an iBook 500 dual usb (one of the first ones).

I've read a bunch of stuff here and read through the reports on apples site. It seems pretty random as to what machines are affected. People with identical model ibooks seem to be hit and miss with the problem. I've read some with the same model as me having major problems, then others (with the exact same model) have zero problems. I hope this new battery holds out for a bit.

[damosan]

Originally posted by turtle777:

I talked to Apple Support on the phone. They collected all the data and information, but said, that this is supposedly the first time (haha) that anyone reported the problem. Well, whoever believes that.

I got my batter replaced about the beginning of the year...so I wouldn't believe it.

It worked fine and then suddenly died -- don't know if it was 10.2.4 or not but it *was* around that timeframe.

Damo

[blackmacx]

Hi,

My battery has worked fine from day one (I get about 4 hours on it regularly); like you all I have zapped the PRAM, reset the PMU and such. I have heard enough similar situations to know its a real problem; one thing you might all want to do is head over to http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...17671#comments
and try the mentioned script in Terminal (I get about 4000 as my battery score (which is what it should be ideally when fresh from Apple and brand new(and my iBook was bought in 11/01). It's interesting and might give some ammunition to you when contacting Apple.

Good luck and it's my 2 cents worth.

BM

[turtle777]

Talked to Apple Support, again.

Meanwhile, Apple admits that there are problems and said that technicians are working on that problem.

I read in The Apple Discussion Forum that several people out of warranty got a free battery replacment.
I tried that today, but I was not lucky.

I'm gonna try again, though, since it seems to be rather depending on an understanding Support employee.

I'm gonna complain at Apple Customer Relations, too (same telephone number as Apple Support, 1-800-APL CARE, ask to be transfered), since it these claims seem to be differently handled, which shouldn't be the case.

I guess you just have to get on their nerves

Well you guys, keep trying, CALL APPLE !!!

[Peter]

Never had any problems with the battery in my iBook. So I am going to leave it running on the battery until 10%.
THe time estimated is 3 hours 30 minutes, be interesting to see what happens ...