Various problems with MacBook upgrades

[Scrouge]

Hi All

I wonder if anyone could offer some advice or some insight as to what is happening with my Macbook?

I have a 2007 2Ghz Macbook.

It has been working fine (aside from a backlight that flickers as it dims which i've been putting up with for years).

Anyway, about 3 months ago, I upgraded from 10.4 (tiger) to 10.6 (snow leopard) and also upgraded my ram from 1 to 2GHz.

Since then i have had a few problems:

Firstly, it will, on occasion, crash. I receive a message in several languages telling me that i need to turn off the system by holding down the power button.

My charger died recently. I have since been using a spare (45w) charger. With this charger, however, my battery does not charge, and, the charger often cuts out. At which point my macbook immediately dies and i have to turn it on again. My battery has done around 1500 cycles.

Finally, the back light will go completely black from time to time. adjusting the brightness sometimes works (if i go all the way down and then up again), or closing the lid, allowing it to sleep, and then opening again also works.

I've tried resetting the SMC a few times but that doesn't seem to help.

I've ordered a (i'm told genuine) 60w macbook power charger, and i feel i may have to buy a new battery as well.

Is there anything else that i should be doing? is it worth taking it into a shop to have it looked at? Are these problems as a result of upgrading the OS?

Any help or advice would be warmly appreciated

Thanks

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Anyway, about 3 months ago, I upgraded from 10.4 (tiger) to 10.6 (snow leopard) and also upgraded my ram from 1 to 2GHz.

RAM is measured in MB and GB, the CPU is measured in MHz and GHz.

Firstly, it will, on occasion, crash. I receive a message in several languages telling me that i need to turn off the system by holding down the power button.

About "You need to restart your computer" (kernel panic) messages
Resolving Kernel Panics
Mac OS X: How to log a kernel panic

It would be best to post a kernel panic log or several in one of your next posts, the parts between BACKTRACE and BACKTRACE are the important bit, there are on the top.

My charger died recently. I have since been using a spare (45w) charger. With this charger, however, my battery does not charge, and, the charger often cuts out. At which point my macbook immediately dies and i have to turn it on again. My battery has done around 1500 cycles.

1,500 cycles can kill any battery, especially a battery using older technology.
Normally the MB comes with a 60 W charger, and while a 45 W charger will work, it does not charge as fast and during CPU intensive tasks does not provide enough power, thus the battery has to be used.

Finally, the back light will go completely black from time to time. adjusting the brightness sometimes works (if i go all the way down and then up again), or closing the lid, allowing it to sleep, and then opening again also works.

Did you do a clean install or an upgrade install?

I've tried resetting the SMC a few times but that doesn't seem to help.

The SMC is not responsible for that, the PRAM/NVRAM is. It can be reset too.

Is there anything else that i should be doing? is it worth taking it into a shop to have it looked at? Are these problems as a result of upgrading the OS?

Did you back up your valuable data? And the 2007 MB should be able to run Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, even with 2 GB RAM.
Most likely the RAM is defect, try it with the original 1 GB RAM.

 

[Scrouge]

Thanks for your reply.

I was considering going back to my old RAM and seeing if that makes a difference.

That makes sense about the charger cutting out. I have noticed that this occurs at particularly intensive times (i've stopped trying to charge my phone etc through the MB now). Presumably a 60w charger would solve this.

I had a kernal panic just a few minutes ago. Is there anyway to have a look at that transcript now? I'll read up on what you've posted (thanks) and post the next time one occurs.

In terms of my upgrade. I did an upgrade install, and kept all my data on the MB. I didn't back anything up.

Do you think i need to buy a new battery then? presumably this one will not charge again?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I had a kernal panic just a few minutes ago. Is there anyway to have a look at that transcript now? I'll read up on what you've posted (thanks) and post the next time one occurs.

Go to the Utilities folder in Finder via CMD+SHIFT+U or any other means and open Console and look for

The highlighted portion is the important one, but with RAM it might be a lot of gibberish.

In terms of my upgrade. I did an upgrade install, and kept all my data on the MB. I didn't back anything up.

And upgrade install should not introduce new errors, but you should efinitely back up your data, unless it is easily re-acquireable or re-creatable.

Do you think i need to buy a new battery then? presumably this one will not charge again?

Wait till the new charger arrives, but the battery is probably shot after that many cycles and probably abuse.

______________________________________________________
This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:
Apple Notebook Battery FAQ by GGJstudios
The F.A.Q. includes the following topics:

• BATTERY INFORMATION
• BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE
• AC POWER
• CALIBRATION
• BATTERY LIFESPAN
• CHECKING STATUS AND HEALTH
• CHARGING
• WHAT IS A CYCLE?
• BATTERIES ARE NOT COVERED
• BULGING OR SWELLING BATTERY

______________________________________________________​

 

[Scrouge]

Thanks again for the reply

i had a look through the console for the time that it happened but found nothing.

I did, however, find a message:

21/04/2013 16:49:46 SubmitDiagInfo[560] Cleaning up expired diagnostic messages database at path: /var/log/DiagnosticMessages/2013.03.19.asl

not sure if that relates to it

Anyway, I no doubt need to acquire a new battery and learn about proper care/usage

Next time i have a kernal panic, i'll post immediately

Thanks again