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MacBook Pro 2011 - Not Charging

ghall

ghall

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
3,771
1
Rhode Island
So this is basically a brand new MacBook Pro I bought a couple weeks ago. All of a sudden it randomly stopped charging. The indicator light on the MagSafe connector stays green. I've tried another MagSafe cord, I've reset PRAM and SMC, nothing. Ran a hardware test and it said that there were no issues. My battery seems fine. Any ideas? I am stumped and a bit stressed because I really can't afford any downtime right now. :(
 
S

snaky69

macrumors 603
Mar 14, 2008
5,908
488
ghall said:
So this is basically a brand new MacBook Pro I bought a couple weeks ago. All of a sudden it randomly stopped charging. The indicator light on the MagSafe connector stays green. I've tried another MagSafe cord, I've reset PRAM and SMC, nothing. Ran a hardware test and it said that there were no issues. My battery seems fine. Any ideas? I am stumped and a bit stressed because I really can't afford any downtime right now. :(
Click to expand...

Does it not charge at all, or is your battery somewhere between 95 and 100% and not charging?
 
ghall

ghall

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
3,771
1
Rhode Island
snaky69 said:
Does it not charge at all, or is your battery somewhere between 95 and 100% and not charging?
Click to expand...

I was using it plugged in and I noticed the battery icon in my menu bar said "not charging". I checked the battery percentage and it was at about 65%.
 
Y

Young Spade

macrumors 68020
Mar 31, 2011
2,156
3
Tallahassee, Florida
Look on the side of the machine (left side). Are the battery indicator lights lit? If so, push the button and wait until they turn off. Then plug the charger back in and see what happens.

From time to time, my machine won't charge and will just say "not charging" at the top.

I found out today that the light is on (for some reason) and when I push it, it lights up, then turns off and it will start charging again.
 
ghall

ghall

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
3,771
1
Rhode Island
Young Spade said:
Look on the side of the machine (left side). Are the battery indicator lights lit? If so, push the button and wait until they turn off. Then plug the charger back in and see what happens.

From time to time, my machine won't charge and will just say "not charging" at the top.

I found out today that the light is on (for some reason) and when I push it, it lights up, then turns off and it will start charging again.
Click to expand...

No luck. When I plug in the MagSafe the lights on the side come on and the last lit one blinks like its charging but then it stops after a few seconds. If I push the button again all the lights are solid.
 
O

oiuh151

macrumors 6502
May 18, 2011
359
0
Try quitting some applications. Mine doesn't always charge when the discrete GPU is activated likely because of the power-draw it requires. If all else fails then turn off the computer, unplug the charger from the wall, turn the computer back on and plug the charger back in.
 
Y

Young Spade

macrumors 68020
Mar 31, 2011
2,156
3
Tallahassee, Florida
ghall said:
No luck. When I plug in the MagSafe the lights on the side come on and the last lit one blinks like its charging but then it stops after a few seconds. If I push the button again all the lights are solid.
Click to expand...

Sometimes I close the lid, let it sleep, then open it and try it again; and did you try that after unplugging the mag safe? And then plugging it back in?

oiuh151 said:
Try quitting some applications. Mine doesn't always charge when the discrete GPU is activated likely because of the power-draw it requires. If all else fails then turn off the computer, unplug the charger from the wall, turn the computer back on and plug the charger back in.
Click to expand...

That still shouldn't happen; in his (and my case) it stays there, and for me, this happens when I don't have anything running at all. It isn't a power drain issue because, if it was, you'd see that happen AFTER it started charging whenever you initially put it in.
 
ghall

ghall

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
3,771
1
Rhode Island
oiuh151 said:
Try quitting some applications. Mine doesn't always charge when the discrete GPU is activated likely because of the power-draw it requires. If all else fails then turn off the computer, unplug the charger from the wall, turn the computer back on and plug the charger back in.
Click to expand...

Just gave that a shot. I logged out and put my MBP to sleep. I also turned off my AC incase that was having an effect. Nope, still no charge.


Young Spade said:
Sometimes I close the lid, let it sleep, then open it and try it again; and did you try that after unplugging the mag safe? And then plugging it back in?



That still shouldn't happen; in his (and my case) it stays there, and for me, this happens when I don't have anything running at all. It isn't a power drain issue because, if it was, you'd see that happen AFTER it started charging whenever you initially put it in.
Click to expand...

Yeah I just tried that. I think our problems are exactly the same because it also happens for me when nothing is running. Even when the laptop is completely turned off.
 
ghall

ghall

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
3,771
1
Rhode Island
Does anyone think reinstalling Lion would do anything? I'd rather not if I don't have to but if it has the slightest chance of working I want to try it.
 
Y

Young Spade

macrumors 68020
Mar 31, 2011
2,156
3
Tallahassee, Florida
ghall said:
Does anyone think reinstalling Lion would do anything? I'd rather not if I don't have to but if it has the slightest chance of working I want to try it.
Click to expand...

Did you try searching around to see if anybody else created a thread with the same problem?

Mine only lasts for a few seconds, if that, and is always fixed by either pushing the button or simply sleeping and waking the device.
 
ghall

ghall

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
3,771
1
Rhode Island
Young Spade said:
Did you try searching around to see if anybody else created a thread with the same problem?

Mine only lasts for a few seconds, if that, and is always fixed by either pushing the button or simply sleeping and waking the device.
Click to expand...

Yes, that was the first thing I did. This was the best thread I could find and none of the solutions worked. :(

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1195324/

Mine has been going for at least an hour and a half.
 
Y

Young Spade

macrumors 68020
Mar 31, 2011
2,156
3
Tallahassee, Florida
Wow. Well in that case I'd say to take it in and see what they can do about it. I'm guessing there's a problem with the chip they put that regulates the charging with the battery inside the machine.

It's probably locked up or fried or something.

But I mean I have no idea, it just seems that since they have something regulating the "traffic" of current in there, chances are, somebody hit the traffic guard.
 
ghall

ghall

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
3,771
1
Rhode Island
Young Spade said:
Wow. Well in that case I'd say to take it in and see what they can do about it. I'm guessing there's a problem with the chip they put that regulates the charging with the battery inside the machine.

It's probably locked up or fried or something.

But I mean I have no idea, it just seems that since they have something regulating the "traffic" of current in there, chances are, somebody hit the traffic guard.
Click to expand...

Great...that is something I'm really hoping to avoid since I use this for my work and I really cannot afford to go without it. I did run a hardware test though and everything checked out fine. :confused:
 
ghall

ghall

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
3,771
1
Rhode Island
I should also point out that even though the power cord is not charging the laptop it is giving it power.

Edit: neverminnd. The MagSafe is not giving any power and the battery is just depleting.
 
Last edited:
shyam09

shyam09

macrumors 68020
Oct 31, 2010
2,229
2,498
ok i might have the solution.
a little background- the exact same problem happened to my sister and i figured it so it might actually work out.

The [Possible] Solution:
Have you tried to insert the cord into another AC place thingy.
Like say you are charging your MBP in your bedroom, try taking it to say the living room and plugging it in there.

i dont remember if i tried using my magsafe cord on my sis's computer, but i do remember taking her laptop into my room and charged it there and it worked. all my sister had to do then was use another AC "place" and it worked!

Another thing i tried was turning the MagSafe end part around. What i mean is: you know the part at the end of the cable that hooks into your computer? Well flip it around and then connect it. So say you connect the Magsafe to the port and the wire is outward [away from your mac]

well flip that around so the wire runs next to the other ports.

if that doesn't make sense ill make a drawing or something.

These are extremely weird solutions, but well they worked for my sister. Interesting world we live in lol..

if this fails, just make an appointment at the Genius Bar or something
GL :D
 
ghall

ghall

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
3,771
1
Rhode Island
shyam09 said:
ok i might have the solution.
a little background- the exact same problem happened to my sister and i figured it so it might actually work out.

The [Possible] Solution:
Have you tried to insert the cord into another AC place thingy.
Like say you are charging your MBP in your bedroom, try taking it to say the living room and plugging it in there.

i dont remember if i tried using my magsafe cord on my sis's computer, but i do remember taking her laptop into my room and charged it there and it worked. all my sister had to do then was use another AC "place" and it worked!

Another thing i tried was turning the MagSafe end part around. What i mean is: you know the part at the end of the cable that hooks into your computer? Well flip it around and then connect it. So say you connect the Magsafe to the port and the wire is outward [away from your mac]

well flip that around so the wire runs next to the other ports.

if that doesn't make sense ill make a drawing or something.

These are extremely weird solutions, but well they worked for my sister. Interesting world we live in lol..

if this fails, just make an appointment at the Genius Bar or something
GL :D
Click to expand...

Gave it a shot. I'm just going to bring this thing in to an Apple Store ASAP. I checked to see if I could just exchange it but I'm 3 days past Amazon's return policy. Figures right?

Edit: The battery is stone dead right now. Just out of curiosity I decided to plug it in and see if it would turn on. It will. For some reason the battery was draining even though the AC adaptor was plugged in and it is indeed giving power to the laptop. So I'm thinking this is a battery issue. Curse Apple and their built-in batteries, this would be so simple otherwise. :(
 
Last edited:
Y

Young Spade

macrumors 68020
Mar 31, 2011
2,156
3
Tallahassee, Florida
ghall said:
Gave it a shot. I'm just going to bring this thing in to an Apple Store ASAP. I checked to see if I could just exchange it but I'm 3 days past Amazon's return policy. Figures right?

Edit: The battery is stone dead right now. Just out of curiosity I decided to plug it in and see if it would turn on. It will. For some reason the battery was draining even though the AC adaptor was plugged in and it is indeed giving power to the laptop. So I'm thinking this is a battery issue. Curse Apple and their built-in batteries, this would be so simple otherwise. :(
Click to expand...

Try this

Plug it in (not charging)
Remove cable, push button (battery meter)
Replug

I 'Just" did that after having the same problem and it fixed it.
 
S

sunnyj

macrumors 6502
Oct 18, 2010
430
9
Vancouver, British Columbia
my 2011 17" mbp stops charging when I'm using the discrete GPU and using 90-100 cpu power. from what I've read the reason why it stops charging is because the 85watt power supply doesn't give enough power to the computer so it starts taking it from the battery.
 
GuitarG20

GuitarG20

macrumors 65816
Jun 3, 2011
1,020
1
ghall said:
No luck. When I plug in the MagSafe the lights on the side come on and the last lit one blinks like its charging but then it stops after a few seconds. If I push the button again all the lights are solid.
Click to expand...

it sounds like your battery is actually charged, and just the percentage in OSX is wrong... are all 8 of the battery lights lit up? and what does the system say the battery percentage is?

if that actually is the case, you need to calibrate the battery:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1490
 
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E

ewalkie

macrumors newbie
Aug 14, 2014
2
0
I'm having the same issue where the battery won't charge. But if I put the battery into another macbook it charges. It's not the magsafe board because I tested the magsafe board on another macbook and or worked fine, while the magsafe board from the other macbook didn't help when I connected it to the macbook in having the issue with.
 
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