Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacBook Pro won't turn on and charger flashing orange

B

bro4dhead

macrumors member
Original poster
May 8, 2011
32
0
Sorry if you have seen this just been informed it was in the wrong sub forum!

Hi

I plugged my phone on USB to my MacBook Pro to charge and a warning popped up (I can't remember exactly what but something about too much charge to he device)

Anyway I unplugged the phone and replugged it in and the laptop died. Now when the charger is plugged in it flashes slight orange and does not turn on!

Please help!
 
I will try and get my hands on a spare charger tonight. Not sure it will be that though because it is a reasonably new charger that was replaced under warranty a couple of months ago.
 
bro4dhead said:
I will try and get my hands on a spare charger tonight. Not sure it will be that though because it is a reasonably new charger that was replaced under warranty a couple of months ago.
Click to expand...

Well, I can tell you this, if the charger can't deliver the current the battery won't charge and if the battery is empty it won't work (obvious), but later on keep it plugged in for a while, if the battery is completely discharged a MBP won't start until there is a little charge in the battery, this is normal behaviour so try 15-30 minutes later on if it doesn't startup right away.
 
I hope you get it sorted out....the message you saw was to inform you that the Mac can't provide enough power to charge the device...it's common and doesn't usually result in issues. It's been a long standing rule of mine not to draw charging current from my IMac or rMBP...I use the dedicated charger and lighting cable for that....I just don't like drawing current through USB ports. Hope the new charger fixes you up.
 
Thanks for the help guys. Any ideas what to look at next if its not the charger?

I won't be charging my phone from the laptop again (if it works!)
 
bro4dhead said:
Thanks for the help guys. Any ideas what to look at next if its not the charger?

I won't be charging my phone from the laptop again (if it works!)
Click to expand...

I hope it's not a logic board issue....that would be expensive...I've never heard of it happening that way unless of course you had a fault there waiting in the background. Fingers crossed its not the LB....expensive repair.
 
How much would a mother board be if it is that?

It was strange how that message popped up then the whole pc automatically shut off when i re plugged the phone back in!
 
bro4dhead said:
How much would a mother board be if it is that?

It was strange how that message popped up then the whole pc automatically shut off when i re plugged the phone back in!
Click to expand...

If you're under warranty, it'll be free. Otherwise I believe the repair will be ~$700.
 
Have seen this a few times lately, mostly with 13" MBPs from 2011.

Resetting SMC, and if that doesn't work, resetting PRAM usually solves it.

Unless it is the logic board (rare), or the charger itself, maybe, but a dead charger usually won't light the cable orange either.
 
bdrake47 said:
Have seen this a few times lately, mostly with 13" MBPs from 2011.

Resetting SMC, and if that doesn't work, resetting PRAM usually solves it.

Unless it is the logic board (rare), or the charger itself, maybe, but a dead charger usually won't light the cable orange either.
Click to expand...

Is it possible to restart the smc or pram if it won't switch on?

Thanks
 
bro4dhead said:
Is it possible to restart the smc or pram if it won't switch on?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, both operations are done in power-off state, and then completed by powering on.

SMC
Shift+Control+Option+Pwr press all 4, release, power up.

PRAM
You reset the PRAM by rebooting a Mac and then immediately hold down the right Command+Option+P+R keys, you will then hear the Mac reboot sound again, signifying your PRAM has been reset. You must hit the key combination before the grey screen appears otherwise it won’t work.
 
bdrake47 said:
Yes, both operations are done in power-off state, and then completed by powering on.

SMC
Shift+Control+Option+Pwr press all 4, release, power up.

PRAM
You reset the PRAM by rebooting a Mac and then immediately hold down the right Command+Option+P+R keys, you will then hear the Mac reboot sound again, signifying your PRAM has been reset. You must hit the key combination before the grey screen appears otherwise it won’t work.
Click to expand...

Eventually the smc reset worked and the laptop has been ok for a while.

Last night I decided to plug my phone up to sync with the laptop and the exact same thing has happened again but the smc reset is not working now...!
 
So plugging the phone in again caused the same lockup/shutdown issue.

At this point I'd get it in for a checkup. Bring your phone and USB cable with you also. Sounds like either a USB port gone bad, the cable is bad, or phone 30-pin port is bad. Something is shorting out your system and it is shutting down. Hopefully nothing else damaged.
 
bdrake47 said:
So plugging the phone in again caused the same lockup/shutdown issue.

At this point I'd get it in for a checkup. Bring your phone and USB cable with you also. Sounds like either a USB port gone bad, the cable is bad, or phone 30-pin port is bad. Something is shorting out your system and it is shutting down. Hopefully nothing else damaged.
Click to expand...

Yeah i think its the plugging in of the phone that is the culprit as it has happened both times due to me plugging it in and then the message popping up which is then followed by the shut down.

The charging light was flashing orange on and off last night but now has no light in it.
 
bro4dhead said:
Yeah i think its the plugging in of the phone that is the culprit as it has happened both times due to me plugging it in and then the message popping up which is then followed by the shut down.

The charging light was flashing orange on and off last night but now has no light in it.
Click to expand...

Just an update to everyone that I went to the mac store and they reset the battery (unplugged it and plugged it back in)

The reason for it fusing was because I had used an cheap imitation iPhone 5 wire to plug to my PC.

So I hope this helps anyone else who has a similar issue... DO NOT USE THE CHEAP iPhone 5 wires you can buy online. Apparently they usually do not have the apple chip that should be installed inside of them.

Anyway macbook is working fine now and have binned the cheap wire! :)
 
Glad to hear it all worked out okay, and very nice to know that your MacBook Pro protected itself the way it was designed to do.
 
bro4dhead said:
Just an update to everyone that I went to the mac store and they reset the battery (unplugged it and plugged it back in)

The reason for it fusing was because I had used an cheap imitation iPhone 5 wire to plug to my PC.

So I hope this helps anyone else who has a similar issue... DO NOT USE THE CHEAP iPhone 5 wires you can buy online. Apparently they usually do not have the apple chip that should be installed inside of them.

Anyway macbook is working fine now and have binned the cheap wire! :)
Click to expand...


I just encountered the same problem and I guess it is because I also charge my phone on it with a non apple charger.... I don't have warranty as well how much was it for the repairs or reset of battery?
 
macbook pro shut off upon plugging in iphone, blinking orange

My macbook pro (mid-2012 unibody) suddenly shut off last night as I was attempting to plug my iphone into it's usb port.
It would not start up after that. And I noticed that the light on the power supply was pulsing orange. This had never happened to me before.

Via google I found some info and I followed the advise on this and other forums - to try resetting the battery. I opened the back of the computer and disconnected and then reconnected the battery, and voila - the problem was solved!
My laptop started right up after that and thankfully no data was lost.
As far as I can tell, everything is fine with the laptop. What a relief!

I wanted to mention a few possible contributing factors:
1. I was using a cheap iphone cable, as others have described who've had this same problem.

2. I'd been using said cables without incident for weeks, but...one thing that was unique on this particular occasion was this:
I had the cable plugged into the iphone, and then attempted to plug the usb cable into the macbook. It seemed like as soon as I even touched the usb end to the port there was a short or something, and the computer immediately went dark.
I don't usually plug my phone in this way. I usually plug the cable into the laptop, then the cable into the phone.
I'm mentioning this because I noticed someone else noticed this factor in their experience... and because it was an uncharacteristic approach in my case as well.
Still, I'm going to be wary in using these kind of cables now...

Hope this info is helpful for people.
 
I had the exact same problem , my macbook pro 13' inches wouldn't start and the charger blinked orange and green, what i did was open the back of the computer. I know it sounds a little extreme but it worked. I opened the back of it, disconected the battery with alot of caution, and then plugged it back on. It started back automaticly once i pushed the start button. This problem might happen if you use a cheap iphone 5 charger. Apparently most of them have something that troubles macs. So do this at your own risk, be carefull not to damage anything and remmember to put the screws back on. Good luck! This might affect the warranty of your mac.
 
Green and orange blinking light on battery charger and MacBook Pro won't power on.

I had the same problem with my MacBook Pro i5 13" not powering on and the charger flashing green and orange and it not charging!!

Unscrew the back cover of your laptop and set aside. Click the link below but ONLY DO STEP 3. I used finger nails to pop it out and pushed it back in. After doing that and before you put the back cover on, carefully flip the laptop over and power it on!! It should power on. Now flip it back over and put your screws back in.

This all happened because I used a generic iPhone 5 charger in my USB port to charge my phone!!!

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Unibody+Model+A1342+Battery+Replacement/1667
 
  • Like
Reactions: TechyMS
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back