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November 18, 2005
Yikes!
We arrived safely, with very smooth travel connections (apart from Pippa’s smoothie, erm, disagreeing with her in a near-projectile manner; all well after it departed).
But my iBook battery isn’t charging, so I’ll only be online in dribs and drabs for the time being. I tried resetting the PMU with a restart-hold-down-the-power-button maneuver; if someone has a better idea, please leave a comment (iBook G4 2004, running 10.4.2, battery doesn't charge although the cord checks out and it seems to be operating fine while plugged in — just not charging the battery). Everything was working fine till I installed the World of Warcraft game, Joi. . . .
Posted by AKMA at November 18, 2005 01:28 PM | Threadorati
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Comments
Is the battery recognized by system profiler under Hardware>Power in the sidebar?
Posted by: Nick Janus at November 18, 2005 09:52 PM
Oh — projectile travel vomit, that is so ... unfortunate. I had the good fortune to have never experienced that. Mrs. Ref, on the other hand . . .
Posted by: Reverend Ref at November 19, 2005 12:28 AM
Hey, I’m just glad she missed my ear; a second before, she’d been whispering to me. We cam that close to a truly unforgettable departure.
Nick, it recognizes the battery but observes that the “AC adapter cannot charge battery: Yes”
Posted by: AKMA at November 19, 2005 03:33 PM
That's oddly astute of it... I don't mean to doubt your techincal prowess, but are you sure you followed these instructions for reseting the PMU? For the record, I came across the instructions below looking for a way to save my ibook's battery from physics.
From the apple knowledge base or whatever it's named:
1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Reset the power manager by simultaneously pressing and then releasing Shift-Control-Option-Power on the keyboard. Do not press the fn (Function) key while using this combination of keystrokes.
3. Wait 5 seconds.
4. Press the Power button to restart the iBook computer.
Note to self: Do not consume questionable smoothies around loved ones or hygienically inclined strangers.
Posted by: Nick Janus at November 19, 2005 11:12 PM
Nick, I had tried to reset the PMU by a different method (on the Apple page for battery problems); neither that suggestion nor the one you describe here made a difference. I’ll try to boot into Open Firmware to reset, and see if that helps — but I’m moer or less sure that it’s a problem in the hardware.
Posted by: AKMA at November 20, 2005 12:30 PM
Have you tried moving the battery to another iBook to see if the problem follows it?
Posted by: Bruce Schmoetzer at November 20, 2005 02:35 PM
Hi,
I found this blog entry on your iBook battery recharge problem on a Google search. I am having the exact same issue with my 2004 iBook G4. Problem just started in last week. Diagnostics show battery is fine. I have tried a different battery and different power supply with no resolution. I also believe it to be a hardware problem and System Profiler gives me the "AC Adapter cannot charge battery : Yes" message. I have reset PMU multiple times - no help. Were you ever able to resolve your problem? Thanks,
Mark Lee
Posted by: Mark Lee at February 8, 2006 02:16 PM
Mark, I took the iBook in to the nearest Apple Store, where they diagnosed a broken DC connector — it was the $90 repair instead of the $300+ repair. Everything’s been fine since I picked it up again, about five days later.
Posted by: AKMA at February 8, 2006 04:05 PM
