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Bluebomber21XX · Nov 29, 2002, 05:21 PM

Hi, I have a Rev. B 400 MHz PowerBook Pismo. Immediately after I upgraded to Jaguar, my battery ceased being able to hold a charge. If I unplug the power adapter from the back, it powers down right away.

If I press the small black button on the side of the battery, the first of the four green lights starts blinking, then stops after a few seconds. This behavior happens in both the drive bays.

Has this happened to anyone else? What can I do? I already tried a battery discharge utility in OS 9, but since the computer powers down after I unplug it, it can't discharge the battery all the way.

Help me please!

angelmb · Dec 1, 2002, 10:32 AM

I have a Pismo with Jaguar 10.2.1 too, a 500 Mhz 1 GB RAM revision A. Sometimes when I attached the battery to it, I almost don�t use it (the battery), I find that it is not charged when I supposed it must be charged, that is, the battery was charged, not used and then not charged. I insert it with the power adapter plugged and it charges without problem...

Other users have posted about the Pismo battery with Jag, here:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...ery+AND+jaguar

Regards,

icruise · Dec 1, 2002, 10:48 AM

Pismo users unite! I assume you've tried resetting the power manager?

danielb0101 · Dec 1, 2002, 02:29 PM

Do you have applecare? My battery died on my Pismo a few months ago. I went to the Apple Store Buffalo and the Genius went in the back, and got me a new battery.

AppleCare doesn't state that it will cover batteries, but according to the MacGenius, it doesn't state that it *won't* cover it either.

--does that make sense?--

Bluebomber21XX · Dec 1, 2002, 02:46 PM

Originally posted by Icruise:
Pismo users unite! I assume you've tried resetting the power manager?

No, I haven't... How do I go about trying that?

icruise · Dec 1, 2002, 03:11 PM

Good question! I can't recall the procedure right at the moment, but it should be in the system help or, failing that, oon Apple's support pages. Anyone?

seanyepez · Dec 1, 2002, 03:41 PM

Turn off your PowerBook. Disconnect all power from the notebook (A/C and battery). Open your port cover, and press the small button with a triangle over it with a ballpoint pen or some other object that fits. Hold it there for two to three seconds. Plug the A/C adapter back in. As you do this, you may notice the green light on your PowerBook blink. Plug in your PowerBook's A/C adapter. If it boots, put the battery in.

You're done!

Bluebomber21XX · Dec 6, 2002, 12:46 AM

No go. Looks like I'm stuck with a jacked up battery.

I do have a question, though. Does anyone here have AppleCare on their Pismo? If you do, please private message me, or send me an e-mail!

I'd like to propose something to you if you do...

jokell82 · Dec 6, 2002, 01:24 AM

Ah, fraud. It's the coolest!

eScrib · Dec 14, 2002, 11:09 AM

Same thing is happening to me. I have a Pismo 400mhz with 384megs of RAM.

In just the last couple of days my powerbook battery has NOT been able to hold a charge. And charging is painfully slow. I pick up a little utility called: X-charge. It shows when the battery is being charged and when it's not.

Notice that it charges for about 30 seconds, then stops then resumes. And it only charged about 10% of the battery in 10 hours....

2002-12-13 23:16:00: Battery stopped charging (current charge = 11%)
2002-12-13 23:16:30: Battery started charging (current charge = 11%)
2002-12-13 23:16:55: Battery stopped charging (current charge = 11%)
2002-12-13 23:17:15: Battery started charging (current charge = 11%)
2002-12-13 23:17:35: Battery stopped charging (current charge = 11%)
2002-12-13 23:18:20: Battery started charging (current charge = 11%)
2002-12-13 23:18:45: Battery stopped charging (current charge = 11%)
2002-12-13 23:19:05: Battery started charging (current charge = 11%)
2002-12-13 23:19:15: Battery stopped charging (current charge = 11%)
2002-12-13 23:19:40: Battery started charging (current charge = 11%)
2002-12-13 23:19:53: --- X-Charge terminated

2002-12-14 09:01:45: --- X-Charge started
2002-12-14 09:01:55: Battery started charging (current charge = 21%)
2002-12-14 09:02:20: Battery stopped charging (current charge = 21%)
2002-12-14 09:02:40: Battery started charging (current charge = 21%)
2002-12-14 09:03:00: Battery stopped charging (current charge = 21%)
2002-12-14 09:03:15: Battery started charging (current charge = 21%)
2002-12-14 09:03:35: Battery stopped charging (current charge = 21%)
2002-12-14 09:03:55: Battery started charging (current charge = 21%)

Anyone think it's the battery only??? I' guessing so, but it's so weird that others have posted this issue which is really similiar to what I'm experiencing. I've reset the power management and even tried some stuff in OS 9.x. No luck...

Thoughts???

Alan from Paris · Dec 17, 2002, 07:03 PM

Make a search on the discussion forums of APPLE regarding Powerbook G3/Battery. Use "voodoo chicken dance" as keywords.

It is a method for reconditionning a battery on a pismo; it does not save a defective battery cell but it works in many cases, when the system and the battery itself thinks the charge is low even if it is not. The operation needs to be done several times (3 to 5) in order to be fully effective; must be done in OS 9 (sigh).

A summary can be found on http://homepage.mac.com/robbieford/FileSharing1.html
Alan