My mac now only registers a little X for the battery...

[Codizzo Hawks]

Hello, i have had this mac for almost a year now
i went away on vacation and forgot to turn it off when i left, (its a laptop)
when i came back i plugged it back in and it turned on ok but the battery isnt charging, its pretty frustrating.

all i see is the battery icon with an X in the top :/

 

[fistful]

I started having a similar problem the last few days. First my powerbook wouldn't wake from sleep. After I restarted the battery icon was showing a black x. Tried resetting the PMU with no change. I started using it plugged in and eventually it started to charge. Unplugged it and let it sleep overnight and it wouldn't wake, same thing occurred after I restarted. Hopefully it's working again but I haven't let it sleep more than a few minutes at a time.

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the 10.4.10 update, have you by chance installed it recently?

 

[Scarlet Fever]

Have you tried restarting?

I had a similar problem, and restarting solved it the first time, but it happened again, so i had to get a battery replacement.

 

[coastertux]

If you have tried resetting the NVRAM and the PRAM and PMU, the circuitry in your battery has gone bad. You are going to need to get a new battery. If you have AppleCare it is covered under that.

 

[dornoforpyros]

If it's a macbook pro your battery is shot and needs to be replaced. Check the serial # on the apple website because it's most likely covered under the extended battery replacement plan.

 

[theheyes]

Definitely take it back. The problem is with the battery itself. The fault occurs when the charge drains to the point where the battery goes into a sort of hibernation mode and can't wake itself from it.

 

[Codizzo Hawks]

so the battery goes into a hibernation that it cant wake from... ok, thanks for the help (glad i still have a warranty on the macbook)

 

[theheyes]

Yes, its a very low power state that preserves the battery when the charge reaches zero. Some batteries just have problems waking from it.

 

[jabrowntx]

Had the same problem with my MacBook last summer. Took it to the Genius Bar and after trying to boot my machine directly then by their OS via firewire with no luck, they put in a new battery and all was well.