M.A. Hochberg’s Technology for Teaching

If your MacBook or MacBookPro will not run using the battery, here are some steps to try:

1. Try this first.
   1. Turn off the power.
   2. Remove the battery.
   3. Remove the power adapter.
   4. Wait 30 seconds.
   5. Replace the battery and power adapter and restart the computer.
   6. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, move on to the next step.
2. Reset SMC
   1. Turn off the power.
   2. Remove the battery.
   3. Remove the power adapter.
   4. Hold down the power button for 5 seconds.
   5. Replace the battery and power adapter and restart the computer.
   6. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, move on to the next step.
3. Make sure that it is running OS 10.4.9 or later
   1. If not, run System Update and restart the computer.
   2. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, move on to the next step.
4. Make sure that Battery Update 1.2 is installed
   1. Go go the folder “System/Library/System Configuration”
   2. Click once on “Battery Update” and check the version number.
   3. If it is missing or has an older version, go to Apple.com and download & install it. http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/batteryupdate12.html
   4. If it is there, go to the next step.
5. Check the battery icon & power adapter
   1. If the adapter light is orange and the battery icon on the menu bar shows a jagged line in it, calibrate the battery. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284
   2. If the adapter light is green and the battery icon is black with an X in it, the battery needs to be replaced. There is a special extended warranty replacement available. http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/
6. While you are doing all this, don’t forget to check the battery itself. Press the button on the back of it to see how much, if any, power it has.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 10:38 am and is filed under User Support. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.