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MBP Mid 2007 (A1226) - Won't power/wake unless battery has significant charge

M

mstrswrd06

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 30, 2007
17
0
Odd question but I'm a little stumped as to where to take this one, and was hoping to get some second opinions.

I've got a mid 2007 Macbook Pro (A1226) that POSTs fine, boots fine, but only when the battery has a decent charge; REGARDLESS if the charger is hooked in or not.

The battery itself still works, only barely though. I can get about an hour out of a full charge (health is around 40%) but I'm not in a situation where I can purchase a replacement quite yet.

After I haven't used it for a day or two, the battery will typically be dead. I plug it in with a known good charger, but it won't power on with the power button. I have to wait about 20-30 minutes with the charger in before IT POWERS ON BY ITSELF. Charging/usage is normal after this, and I can even shut it off and power it back on with the power button as usual, as long as it has a charge.

This also applies to sleep, too. If it's asleep with a weak battery, when I plug it in and try to wake it up it will not wake until it's been plugged in for at least 5-10 minutes. Again, charging/usage is normal afterwards.

Resetting SMC didn't seem to correct the issue.

I can charge, power on, remove the battery and turn it on/off with the charger alone no problem. If the charger is removed and replaced without the battery it won't power on again, but if I replace the battery (charged) while plugged in it powers on (with no button press). So maybe it's not the main battery.

The problem is independent of the OS - this is strictly a hardware issue.

Was there ever a PRAM/CMOS battery in this model, and could that be causing my trouble? It is a nearly 5 year old laptop at this point. I've opened it up a few times for HDD swaps but never noticed such a battery while working. I don't believe it's the motherboard because after having a charge and powering on, it functions fine but weirder things have happened so I could be wrong.

I still have some more troubleshooting I can do on it, but does anyone have any insight?
 
Last edited:
Other than replacing the battery, I don't know if you have options. My gut feeling tells me, and I am no expert in batteries, that your battery is 60% dead and those "cells" can no longer be recharged. When you start charging it, it tries to charge the 60% of damaged cells first, which it fails to do, so your computer has absolutely no battery power left for the first 20-25 min of charging. Ever notice how your iphone (if you have one) won't turn on if you let it die, it'll stay in a recharging state till it has at least some juice left? Same can probably be applied here. it's just trying to charge a battery that's hard to charge.
 
justperry said:
Buy a new battery, I am pretty positive that is the problem, as the above poster says.
Click to expand...

Doesn't explain why it won't power on off the charger alone. At least, without previously having it plugged in while working.
 
Last edited:
Got the new PRAM battery and installed. No joy.

Did some more troubleshooting and I'm still at the point where the Macbook won't cold start off AC alone. With a charged battery it's just fine. :confused:
 
Found the potential problem.

My workplace has a bunch of 60w chargers. It's what I've been using since all I really work with here is mid 2007 Macbooks (non-Pro). Those all use 60w chargers. The Macbook Pro uses 90w chargers.

This whole time I've been using the 60w charger without even considering that factor.

I am embarass.

I'll pick up a 90w charger tonight and that should fix the issue.
 
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