Macbook won't stay on

[davosfromgot]

Hi,

I've got an Early 2011 Macbook Pro 13". The battery has been shown as "service" for a long time now (more than two years), but I had never had trouble with using it plugged in before.

However, since yesterday the charger green LED goes off as soon as I turn the Macbook on. If I leave it turned off and the charger plugged in, the light is on. But when I turn the laptop on, the light goes off, macOS does not detect the charger and (since the battery cannot hold power anymore) it turns off after a minute or two.

I've tried to reset the SMC, removed the battery, tried to turn the Macbook on without it, all to no avail.

I believe that it can be an issue with either the charger, the battery or the Magsafe board. I don't believe that it's the charger, since the light is on when the laptop is off. So that leaves me with either the battery or the board.

Since I currently cannot afford buying both, if you were to guess, which one would you say is faulty?

I'd also appreciate any advice on other things to try before buying the parts.

Thank you in advance.

 

[DeltaMac]

What is the condition of the magsafe plug, both the internal socket on the MBPro, and the connector from the adapter?
I just saw a Magsafe adapter plug where the end contact pins would not line up. You could push the pins slightly into the adapter plug, and good pins should spring back so that all five contacts are about the same length. These would push in, but stay pushed in.
Also check that the plug seems mostly clean, and undamaged.

I have a couple of spares that I can try, but you may not have access to another Magsafe adapter to try out. If there are any kind of wear or damage on the cable, you may want to consider simply replacing the adapter. However, your symptoms may mean that the Magsafe board (inside your MBPro) may be faulty.
You already know that the battery can be an issue, but you shouldn't lose the LED on the Magsafe connector, even with the battery completely removed.
If the battery can charge, the magsafe LED should change from green to orange, indicating charging (unless the battery can't accept a charge at all, or the battery is removed, then the LED might always be green) Do you ever get an orange magsafe light now, when the battery is connected?
Try to find a different Magsafe adapter. Maybe you can borrow one. You will know if there is any change pretty quickly (?) - but, I do suspect that the Magsafe board is the failure point.

 

[davosfromgot]

Thank you for the answer, DeltaMac.

What is the condition of the magsafe plug, both the internal socket on the MBPro, and the connector from the adapter?
I just saw a Magsafe adapter plug where the end contact pins would not line up. You could push the pins slightly into the adapter plug, and good pins should spring back so that all five contacts are about the same length. These would push in, but stay pushed in.
Also check that the plug seems mostly clean, and undamaged.

The Magsafe cable is frayed. The plug is fine, all the pins push back after I pull them in. I tried to clean the internal socket yesterday but it didn't help. It doesn't look damaged though, only a little worn out.

If the battery can charge, the magsafe LED should change from green to orange, indicating charging (unless the battery can't accept a charge at all, or the battery is removed, then the LED might always be green) Do you ever get an orange magsafe light now, when the battery is connected?

Yep, sometimes it gets orange when I plug in the charger.
However, when I removed the battery no lights were on after connecting the charger (so I thought that the battery was needed to power on the laptop).

Try to find a different Magsafe adapter. Maybe you can borrow one. You will know if there is any change pretty quickly (?) - but, I do suspect that the Magsafe board is the failure point.

Those are good news since the board is cheaper and I can get it faster. I'll try to borrow a charger from a friend and know for sure.

Thank you again!