Macbook Battery

[Newton]

I recently brought a 2nd hand Macbook,

Everything is ok except I can not get it detect the battery.

I have two batteries the one supplied with it (I was told this had a very short life of about 5 minutes) and one I brought of Ebay.

 

Neither battery is dectected by the laptop ( X is displayied within the battery symbol)

I have tried holding the power button down when turning on the laptop to reset something but this has made no difference.

 

appart for that works fine of mains

 

Any advice - I new to the world of Apple and the keyboard and mouse is taking a bit of getting the hang off.

[dsm]

Hi,

 

I have had the same problem recently with my Mac Book.

 

The original battery failed recently with the same signs that you mentioned. I purchased a new battery, but not from Apple and that too has failed.

 

It may be worth looking on the Apple site. There is a procedure for 'resetting' batteries. Unfortunatly I do not have the link, sorry.

[Newton]

Looked quite a bit on the apple site not had much look.

 

Did come across holding command + OPtion +P +R when you turn it

 

will try it tonight

[Midnight]

This article may shed some light on the batteries.

 

MacBook battery firmware fix reveals flaws, recall recollected | The Apple Core | ZDNet.com

[Robbocop]

Sadly, there have been a raft of problems with batteries from several manufacturers over the last couple of years. Apple's white Macbook batteries have been affected. Although batteries do have a warranty, buying them second hand or from eBay doesn't generally give you that extra security. Take the Macbook and batteries to your local dealer or Apple Store and ask them to test them. My guess is that both batteries are faulty, but you should have the machine checked as well just in case the fault is within the Macbook. Batteries cost the best part of a hundred quid, but given the short (roughly 3 years?) lifespan I would never buy a second hand one. How could you tell how long it will last?

[cpwon5]

Hi,

 

I have had the same problem recently with my Mac Book.

 

The original battery failed recently with the same signs that you mentioned. I purchased a new battery, but not from Apple and that too has failed.

 

It may be worth looking on the Apple site. There is a procedure for 'resetting' batteries. Unfortunatly I do not have the link, sorry.

 

I think you mean battery calibration. It worked on my macbook pro but it the issue come back after a while. I replaced my battery with a new one at the end however have a go, maybe your battery is no as dead as mine and calibration helps...

 

Here you go - Apple Portables: Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance

[chomperhead]

We bought three macbooks and one macbook pro (mine:) recently -- two of the macbooks had battery problems - the 'holding command + OPtion +P +R when you turn it on' fixed the problem on one, but not the other. Taking it in to the store.