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Battery Issue Assistance

LarkStarr

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Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
1,625
let me start off by saying I know very, very little about Macs. I'm versatile with computers and I'm semi-familiar with the OS, so please consider me a noob, but not THAT noob 8D

My friend has a Macbook from around 2006 (a black 13 inch model) currently running a fresh copy of Snow Leopard.

Now the issue is, the battery was working fine around the beginning of this year, until a Windows laptop was purchased, in which case the Mac was used very infrequently. Recently my friend fired up the macbook again to the message that the battery needed replacing. It seemed odd to me because the battery was performing fantastically. I'm trying to find out information as to why the computer has deemed this battery unusable. I've discovered the system profiler, the power cycle count is high (~390) but all the other information is skewed (0 mAh capacity, for instance)

Searching around a little has yielded many people with this issue, including a patch here : MacBook: About Battery Updater 1.4 which matches the installed battery's device name, but this apparently requires Leopard or Tiger which we don't have.

to this point I've only done a little google-fu, and I'll be continuing my googling after I finish posting but I was hoping for a quick solution from some knowledgeable Mac users here.

My thanks in advance,
~Lark

EDIT: apparently "many" was an understatement. it seems this is a rather severe issue on Apple's part! and new batteries are $150?... what a ripoff.
 
Last edited:

KeepSix

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Jan 27, 2009
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276
I don't know if this has any bearing on your issue or not, but I'll share just in case. I spent days researching a similar issue years ago, digging through several manufacturer's documentation on laptop batteries. What I found (buried) in several different documents was the fact that every time you reboot a laptop with the battery installed, regardless of whether the unit is hooked up to A/C power, and regardless of how charged the battery is, it counts as a full charge/discharge cycle. So theoretically you could leave it plugged in forever, never discharging the battery, and still use up all the charge cycles of the battery. Most are only good for 300 to 400 cycles, and I would burn through that in less than two years no problem with my habit of rebooting twice a day. When I found all that out, I started leaving my battery out of my new laptop until I actually needed to use it off the grid. Mine is 6 years old and still works like new when I need it. Of course, the mfg's don't want you to know this, so don't tell them I told you.
 

LarkStarr

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Oct 4, 2007
Messages
1,625
all I know is, when my ~$1300 Lenovo's battery died (like actually died, not when Apple decided my battery is dead), they shipped me a new one. FREE in two days. no warranty.
There appears to be no real solution except buy a new battery. what complete bu!!$h!t - this battery was well taken care of, and I know for a fact it works perfectly fine.

I'm going to bash Apple right now. Fanboys look away.

This is Apple's overlording engine at work. you would think that if such a high quality machine encounters such a problem, Apple would get of thier feet to fix it, but no, they just get more of your money if they do nothing. I'm sorry but that's unacceptable. This is why closed systems do not work. You are leashed to the company like a dog once they hook you in and forced to live their ideals. Yes other companies can/are this way as well, but NOT to the degree of Apple. Do not make me bring up the Flash issue.

</end angry rant>
 

SneakySnake

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Mar 1, 2009
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315
Location
Waterloo
This is Apple's overlording engine at work. you would think that if such a high quality machine encounters such a problem, Apple would get of thier feet to fix it, but no, they just get more of your money if they do nothing. I'm sorry but that's unacceptable. This is why closed systems do not work. You are leashed to the company like a dog once they hook you in and forced to live their ideals. Yes other companies can/are this way as well, but NOT to the degree of Apple. Do not make me bring up the Flash issue.

</end angry rant>

It's a 4 year old laptop. I wish more companies would be like Lenovo when it came to your situation, but the truth is that the vast majorities of companies aren't going to replace a 4 year old battery for free
 

LarkStarr

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Oct 4, 2007
Messages
1,625
the problem is, I know for a fact (suspicious anyways) that the battery isn't dead. this is either some firmware or software issue that should have been resolved earlier in the macbook's life. You should be asking why these computers are still having these battery issues after 4 years. you're welcome to use google if you don't believe me. I'm hoping to meet up with a buddy of mine that also has a macbook to confirm my suspicion either way, going to battery swap for a little bit.
 

m1dget

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Nov 21, 2008
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Terrebonne, Qc
the problem is, I know for a fact (suspicious anyways) that the battery isn't dead. this is either some firmware or software issue that should have been resolved earlier in the macbook's life. You should be asking why these computers are still having these battery issues after 4 years. you're welcome to use google if you don't believe me. I'm hoping to meet up with a buddy of mine that also has a macbook to confirm my suspicion either way, going to battery swap for a little bit.

Like I said to begolas in the other thread, seek professional help for Apple hardware related problem.
Go to the nearest apple store and explain them the problem quickly and they will tell you potential solutions that you will be able to try.
They are dealing on a daily basis with WAY worst customer that what you are if you go just there to ask polite and concrete questions :bleh: (just think of who they have to deal with all week long)
 

LarkStarr

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Oct 4, 2007
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I'm scared (and possibly sure) the only "solution" they'll give me is to buy a new battery. Apple store is out of the way for me too, blah. oh well, it might be a possibility if all else fails. I really don't want to recommend to spend more money on this machine
 

m1dget

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Nov 21, 2008
Messages
697
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Terrebonne, Qc
I'm scared (and possibly sure) the only "solution" they'll give me is to buy a new battery. Apple store is out of the way for me too, blah. oh well, it might be a possibility if all else fails. I really don't want to recommend to spend more money on this machine

Dude, walk in the Apple store, ignore completely the sellers and go right to the genius bar with your macbook and explain them exactly your problem as you wrote here. Why the heck would you be scared of them? That's completely illogical.

Anyway it's your laptop, you have the last call on it.
 

belgolas

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Joined
May 9, 2007
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4,359
Location
St. Thomas, Ontario
Well if you can try a different battery from a friend than you don't need to go to the apple store. The quickest way to find out though is to go to the apple store. Depending on the store and the person working there they can be a lot of help.

My brothers Macbook battery would not work and the only way to use it was pluging it in. Well he took it to the Apple store and they found out it was a much bigger problem and he would have to buy some new parts in order to get it fixed. It was like $250 worth of repairs so he took it appart and sold the working parts on eBay. Now he is using a old windows laptop that used to be my dads.

So all I am saying is it could be more than just a dead battery but your laptop is 4 years old and batteries don't last that long.
 

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