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howyes

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Original poster
Mar 23, 2016
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Battery died on me so I left it alone and charged it over night to see the charger had no light. Figured it was the charger so I used my spare and a friend's with no response on my computer yet all three of the chargers worked on his Macbook.

Did my logic board fail on me or could it be the battery/port? How can I test (tried SMC reset) it when my computer won't start up at all? o_O
 
Battery died on me so I left it alone and charged it over night to see the charger had no light. Figured it was the charger so I used my spare and a friend's with no response on my computer yet all three of the chargers worked on his Macbook.

Did my logic board fail on me or could it be the battery/port? How can I test (tried SMC reset) it when my computer won't start up at all? o_O

Your battery may have gone flat and died. According to Mactracker your MBA is a mid 2012 11" MBA. Do you remember how many charge - recharge cycles that you have on the battery?
 
Your battery may have gone flat and died. According to Mactracker your MBA is a mid 2012 11" MBA. Do you remember how many charge - recharge cycles that you have on the battery?
Hmmm - All 11-inch MBAir from 2012 to the current 2015 are model A1465.

Charger with no light is not a good sign.
Be sure to check closely on the power port, to see if there is any damage/discoloration/loose pieces, etc.

Try the SMC reset:
Leave the magsafe connector attached.
Hold Shift-Control-Option, and press the power button. The SMC resets as soon as you press that combination of keys.
You SHOULD see the power adapter LED light orange, then change to green.

Do the reset again with the adapter disconnected. Release the keys after you press the reset combo.
Don't be concerned if you don't see or hear anything happen - just press the buttons all at once, then release, and that's the reset.
Wait ten seconds or so, then plug the power adapter in again.
Let it sit undisturbed for several minutes, then try the power button.
Does the adapter plug LED ever light at all?
 
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Hmmm - All 11-inch MBAir from 2012 to the current 2015 are model A1465.

Try the SMC reset:
Does the adapter plug LED ever light at all?

Port looks fine even cleaned it to make sure there wasn't any sort of debris.

I've tried SMC reset on every plug like you said with no response. Before this happened the battery died so the computer just won't turn on at all.

Could the Magsafe port be bad or could is the battery not being recognized so the charger(s) won't activate? Do airs turn on if the battery is removed?
 
...
Could the Magsafe port be bad or could is the battery not being recognized so the charger(s) won't activate? Do airs turn on if the battery is removed?
No, I think you should get _something_ from the power adapter.
You can take the bottom cover off, then disconnect the battery connector - takes less than five minutes.
Try the power adapter with the battery disconnected. No need to physically remove the battery, just disconnect the battery.
You should get a green light on the magsafe connector, indicating that power is supplied.
If yo don't get any light at all, even with the battery disconnected, then that would eliminate the battery as the major problem.
You said you already tried other power adapters, with no progress. You might try one of those known-good adapters again with the battery disconnected, just to double-check.
And, no light will mean the power circuitry on the logic board has failed. You would need to replace (or possibly repair) the logic board. Could be a blown fuse, which is not replaceable without surface-mount soldering equipment and skills.
 
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And, no light will mean the power circuitry on the logic board has failed. You would need to replace (or possibly repair) the logic board. Could be a blown fuse, which is not replaceable without surface-mount soldering equipment and skills.

Disconnected the battery and got no lights at all. I remember having missing lights before on this mac so I've got a replacement port on the way. If that doesn't work you think selling a broken Air on eBay will make me some sort of profit? :confused:
 
UPDATE: it was the port I lucked out thanks for the help
 
Hi howyes,
I'm having the exact same issue. I've tried the steps listed with no success. What port did change out, do you have a part number? Any info would help.
 
AFAIK, the only port is the I/O board (which has the DC-in connector port for the magsafe power adapter.) If you don't have lights on the magsafe plug, then can be a failed adapter, or the I/O board. If you have already tried a known-good adapter, then the I/O board is your next step to try. iFixit has those for sale. Apple's part number would be 923-0430, if that helps.
 
Thank you for the response DeltaMac. I seem to have another problem, maybe this might make sense to you. I disconnected the battery and connected the charge cord and the Mac turned on displaying no battery (great right), but what purplexed me is there is no orange or green light on the magsafe charger showing. What might this indicate? A bad battery? The charge cord functions as it should on my other macs.
 
You did try BOTH the NVRAM/PRAM reset, and the SMC reset, and neither one made any difference, correct?

If the LED on the magsafe adapter does NOT come on, then either your adapter is bad (including the wire/plug itself) or the I/O board has failed. If you have tested your power adapter, and it works properly on another Mac, then you have a problem inside the MBAir. Start by replacing the I/O board. If THAT doesn't help, then try the same after disconnecting the battery inside your MBAir. If it works (and you get the normal green light showing that the adapter is supplying power, but not charging), then you probably have a bad battery. Reattach the battery connector as a final test. If the battery is bad, then charging still won't work. If you also can't get the green LED to come on with the battery connected, then replacing the battery is your next step.
If replacing the battery does not help, then the power chip on the logic board has failed.

First step is to eliminate the battery as the problem by testing without the battery connected.
Then, replace the I/O board...
 
My macbook air has same problem it would just not start up this morning.
When I put charger on it lights green then goes to red and stays on red even if I leave it for hour or so.
Does this mean battery has died.
Thanks

You did try BOTH the NVRAM/PRAM reset, and the SMC reset, and neither one made any difference, correct?

If the LED on the magsafe adapter does NOT come on, then either your adapter is bad (including the wire/plug itself) or the I/O board has failed. If you have tested your power adapter, and it works properly on another Mac, then you have a problem inside the MBAir. Start by replacing the I/O board. If THAT doesn't help, then try the same after disconnecting the battery inside your MBAir. If it works (and you get the normal green light showing that the adapter is supplying power, but not charging), then you probably have a bad battery. Reattach the battery connector as a final test. If the battery is bad, then charging still won't work. If you also can't get the green LED to come on with the battery connected, then replacing the battery is your next step.
If replacing the battery does not help, then the power chip on the logic board has failed.

First step is to eliminate the battery as the problem by testing without the battery connected.
Then, replace the I/O board...
 
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