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Chinasaur · Aug 4, 2009, 08:33 PM

Late 2006 MacBook (C2D 2.0Ghz, 3GB, 250GB) will NOT startup. Have tried all reset tips on Apple's Knowledgebase and everywhere else. The odd thing is that the Magsafe connector is displaying the green "fully charged" light. Battery is most definately dead. Press button and no lights. Pull battery and try to run on mains...nothing. Same mocking green light...

Yes, I've taken out battery, held power button, danced naked, gotten down (Tonight!), gotten up, boogied around the room, shaken chicken bones above keyboard...nothing works.

Am I going to eat a large repair bill to get this thing going? If so, there are a hojillion MacBooks on the refurb store today so it's probably better to just get a new one, if so.

Constructive, non-flameazoid responses appreciated

TIA!

ghporter · Aug 4, 2009, 09:34 PM

Whenever you connect a power adapter to a Mac, it will initially read green until it gets data from the Mac reflecting the battery's actual charge status. I think your adapter is simply waiting for a response from the computer.

It sounds like the MacBook is dead, dead, dead. Sorry.

AKcrab · Aug 4, 2009, 09:35 PM

It's possible it's your DC board, but the only way to test is with a battery that DOES have some juice. If it can boot from the battery (and you still get just the green light) it's probably the DC board. The good news is that's a cheap part. The bad news, is that it could also be the logic board.

Chinasaur · Aug 4, 2009, 09:37 PM

Always darkest before the dawn eh? I've been dinking with this thing for 5 days now and it's been non-booting for 20 days, and gave up and posted. Should have kept the faith eh?

I always thought it was a "sleeped" issue since the GF sleeps her MacBook vs shutdown. So I've been pulling the battery, holding power to reset the SMU, reseating batt, pulling batt, etc. Ad Nauseum. To no avail.... till after I posted...

So after I posted, I went berserk. Went into pull batt and reset mode and pull batt and reset mode and pull bat and reset mode, and held power for 20 to 30 seconds with no battery. Reseated batt, added Magsafe.. power button..screen flicker..... POWER!!!!!! Then did PRAM reset with Cmd+Opt+P+R for 3 chimes.

W00TAGE!!!! "Yah Mon!!!" "We have a boot screen Houston!!!!"

So now, it will run fine w/out the battery in. The MagSafe light is green with batt out.. Is that normal? But it DOES run without Battery...
And it will start with batt in... MagSafe light is Green too... but shuts down after login.

After all this and an hour charging, Batt light is fast blinking and MagSafe is Green with Batt In OR OUT. Batt does NOT seem to be charging..

Any ideas????

Cold Warrior · Aug 4, 2009, 09:50 PM

Could it be a safety mechanism on the battery where it has detected a problem? Or it could be a physical defect not causing enough current flow or a charge.

If the machine works without it, then it probably isn't the machine. I'd get another battery to check.

RasaFrasa · Aug 5, 2009, 01:45 AM

This is insane, my girlfriend's 2006 MacBook is doing the EXACT same thing. I was just going to take it home for the week to tinker with it. I bought an aftermarket battery for her which has an extended capacity back in December and wondering if the battery took a dump and took the machine with it.

@Chinasaur I will be trying what you posted on her machine and see if I get any results, please keep me updated with your system!

Chinasaur · Aug 5, 2009, 07:28 AM

Well, not so good. And RasaFrasa this MB has the orginal battery in it.

It will start up with battery in or out..but it won't stay on in either configuration. I'm hopeful that since it boots, and I can log in, that it's not the mobo and just the power connector TO the mobo.

Off to the Apple store I go...

ghporter · Aug 5, 2009, 07:49 AM

"Genius Bar" time is the right way to go, I think. The battery is obviously part of the problem, but maybe only part of it. Having someone with the tools to do an in-depth set of tests on the machine seems to be the best way to proceed.

kylef · Aug 5, 2009, 08:31 AM

A green LED on the MagSafe doesn't necessarily indicate full charge. It can also be "removal of battery" or "battery not recognized". If you can, test it with a known working battery .. but I'd say it's genius time.

If it is working with a new battery it's either a) just a bad battery you had or b) a MagSafe board issue. Probably the latter. For my unibody, that cost £85 (of which Apple warranty then paid .. £85 of it).

megasad · Aug 5, 2009, 01:15 PM

My MacBook had similar symptoms a few months ago. Replacing the upper case (the bit with the keyboard and trackpad) fixed it. Because said part had cracked, Apple replaced it for free but failing that, if you can get one from eBay of iFixit and try that, you may have luck.