In article 0001HW.BA9B60520003721D1783B780@redacted.invalid, DaveC anon@redacted.invalid wrote:
About 3 weeks ago I installed OS X 10.1.5. Shortly thereafter, my battery started acting up. I'm wondering if these are related. Prior to installing OS X I hadn't had any problems with battery life.
Yes, people have been reporting battery problems with several versions of OS X. It got better at some point, but 10.2.4 is actually the worst so far. 10.2.4 caused my Pismo battery to suddenly lose half it's life. Apple support told me it is a known issue and are working on a fix.
I then pressed the reset button (the one below the triangle icon under the connectors door) and restarted.
Try it one more time, but hold the reset button for about 25 seconds. At least that's what Apple support suggested.
Has anyone experienced these symptoms, and cured the problem by:
- replacing the battery
This is what Apple is doing for AppleCare owners.
- removing OS X or some other drastic measure
- reinstalling firmware (is this possible?)
- some yet undiscovered action
Look on the Apple Discussion Boards for some of the voodoo people have been trying. Nothing worked for my battery, so I'm awaiting a new one from Apple. Or else wait for the promised fix from Apple. The support person told me they felt the battery wasn't dead, just communicating poorly with the computer.
DaveC anon@redacted.invalid wrote:
About 3 weeks ago I installed OS X 10.1.5. Shortly thereafter, my battery started acting up. I'm wondering if these are related. Prior to installing OS X I hadn't had any problems with battery life.
The symptoms are that the battery wouldn't charge beyond 2 LEDs (indicators on the battery itself). I tried completely discharging the battery (unplug AC adapter and wait until computer goes to sleep) and recharging, but this didn't help the situation.
That doesn't completely discharge the battery - it keeps some in reserve for a decent amount of sleep time. ISTR you have to run as console to completely deplete it (at the login prompt, type >console as login, no password; "reboot" (no quotes) then return will reboot the machine from there). When in console mode, typing "yes" (no quotes) then return will consume maximum CPU time to deplete the battery faster. cmd-. (period) or ctrl-c should stop yes running.
I then discharged the battery completely and recharged it which allowed it to reach 4 LEDs, but the charge will only last 5 minutes or so.
I've read several reports on macintouch's web site about this problem, but still don't know whether cause and effect are easily distinguished.
The reports are actually about 10.2.4, if they're recent. 10.1.5 had no issues that I remember; I think 10.0.x had short sleep times (it wasn't a proper sleep). OSX generally uses more battery than OS9 anyway.
Has anyone experienced these symptoms, and cured the problem by:
- replacing the battery
Will probably work; I'm having 10.2.4 issues and a (borrowed) replacement battery fixed it.
- removing OS X or some other drastic measure
Booting into OS9 is effectively the same as 'removing OSX' (when in OS9, OSX is nothing more than a bunch of files on the disk). Is your battery life still this poor in OS9? If so, it's not an OSX issue.
- reinstalling firmware (is this possible?)
shrug
- some yet undiscovered action
Have you tried sacrificing a goat?
-z-