Powerbook G4 Alum boots on battery - freezes on charger

My Powerbook G4 Alum works great if running on battery power. However, if you boot with the charger plugged in it frequently (75-85% of the time) freezes after starting. It will also freeze about 75% of the time if you boot on the battery and then plug the charger in.
Any ideas? I have not contacted Apple yet.

Sounds like a short or ground fault with the socket assuming a voltmeter shows the voltage from the charger as OK. Try another charger from an Apple store and see if it persists - if so that rules out the charger and a call to Apple is in order. If it is under warranty you may just want to call them now as the charger or laptop are at fault and they need to see both I suspect.

Similar Messages

  • MacBook pro will not boot.  Battery shows full charge.

    I usually just keep my MacBook pro sleep.  The lasting I try to use it, it won't come unswept.  I tried force quitting.  The battery is fully charged as per the lights on  the backs of the battery.  Nwhen I push the power button, the sleep light comes Alan briefly, but machine Willa not about.  I have Mountain Lion, and ahead no difficulties after it was a installed.  My amacbook pro is ablate 2008 vintage.

    I have this same problem.  Went over all of the self help that was recommended then after researching a bit more I have found out that our model and year MacBook Pro has a faulty logic board.  Talked to an Apple rep and he told me to take it to my nearest Apple store (which thank goodness) I have one here.  And hopefully they should be able to do a claim for me.

  • SONY XPERIA Z1C NOT BOOTING SONY/BATTERY LOGO WHEN CHARGED - THATS ALL.

    Hello. I got problem with my "new-used" Z1Compact. I get it 2 days ago.
    Phone is not starting, only bootlooping with sony and battery logo when charger is plugged.  
    There is no reaction for power button.
    When i turned phone ON(plugged to power) i can "make a move" but i can only restart it, with power+vol, im getting 3 vibrations, and phone is restarted. (after restart when im trying vol+ or vol- i dont get nothing)
    At first i thought it was matter of crashed ROM when somone updated, so i get STOCK for EU, and i plug phone to USB( same screen with sony + battery logo) with flashtool, he detects phone in flashboot and flash mode, so ive flashed my phone with D5503_14.4.A.0.108_Central Europe (1280-7864), but with no efect(i wasnt abble to WIPE in flashtool..).  
    Pc companion does not detects him, there is a Windows pip, but program dont recognize Z1C, but if i turn phone in flash mode( with vol-down) he is abble to detect device, like a Sony/Sony Ericsson.
    For Windows i'm SONY ADB Interface Device.(ive installed Flashtool Drivers for all Z phones).
    So i dont know what i can do to fix my sony. Any advise?  
    I'm not a pro in tel-service. Can someone can tell me do why system is not loading ?
     No bootloader? Something wrong with flashing ? No drivers in PC ? When ive briked my sony Z1, i was in same situation, but phone was reacting for power, and i was ablle repir him with PC Companion.

    If it's not switching on without power been connected then you have a battery issue or the connection between battery and board is faulty so you would need to either return your device to the place of purchase or contact Xperia care and have your device inspected http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/support/contact-us/
    For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.   Richard P. Feynman

  • G4 Ti Powerbook power only works when battery is removed.

    My G4/15 Ti Powerbook's stopped booting on battery power. When I press the Start button, the hard drive starts to spin, then it quickly stops. The battery is fully charged according to the little green lights.
    The Powerbook boots and runs reliably when connected to the power adapter, but only if the battery is removed. If I use the adapter and a battery is installed (even though fully charged), the G4 works for awhile, then shuts down spontaneously.
    (When I'm plugged in and powered up with the battery removed, I have to use the Apple Menu Shut-Down command to retain the Date and Time settings. If I accidentally pull the plug, I have to reset Date and Time the next time I power up.)
    What could be causing this puzzling behavior? The G3 Powerbook has a small battery that keeps the laptop alive between uses and retains the settings. Does the G4 Powerbook have a similar battery that might need replacement? What else could be the cause? Thanks for your advice.
    G4 Powerbook   Mac OS X (10.4.5)  

    Bob: It sounds as if all or most of your problems may be attributable to the fact that your main battery doesn't make or maintain reliable contact when it's installed. Why you "take that for granted" and blame it on the design of the Powerbook, when many other owners of Tibooks up to five years old are still happily using them without any such problem, is puzzling.
    Did you perform the backup battery test described in the article I linked above? If you did, and your backup battery is still taking a charge OK, then the likelihood is that each time you transport your PB without a main battery installed, the backup battery is being drained again. This will happen if the moves exceed a few minutes in duration. The backup battery is really just meant to power your PRAM long enough to change main batteries when AC power is not available. It will only last five minutes or so in the absence of any other power supply. That is, you shouuld be able to move your PB from room to room without losing your PRAM settings (incl. date & time), but commuting to work probably exceeds the capabilities of the backup battery.
    If your main battery's position in its compartment isn't secure, you aren't likely to be able to address your constellation of symptoms satisfactorily without addressing that root cause first. Depending on where the case is cracked and how much that has to do with the battery's instability, you may need to replace the top case.
    What is the speed of your Powerbook's processor, and if it's a 667, does it have a VGA or a DVI port?

  • Powerbook G4 Wont Boot consistently

    I have an older Powerbook G4 867. ('Twas my first mac-**sniff**) abt 4 years ago, I was on my couch surfing and the screen went black. I never got it to reboot. A while later I got it to boot out of the blue. It worked fine, ran some software updates but when went back to the same problem when it rebboted for updates.
    Today, I decided to pull it out ofthe closet and give it a try. It booted right up! First thing I tried was going onto Disk Utilities and ran all the checks and it showed no problems with the HD.
    Ran 4-5 OS X and Java updates, a hand full of office 2004 updates fine. Rebooted every time. I was going to dig up the original OS X discs and boot into the disc and check any thing there. I set it down with the screen open, letting the battery charge while I cooked dinner. I glanced over at it periodically and it was charging and the screen was dimming slowly. After dinner it would not wake, and went into the same symptoms:
    When hitting power, you hear a slight click.
    Nothing starts, no screen, no welcome chime, etc.
    The machine acts like it is powered on, since the CAPS Lock light toggles on and off.
    Have to hold Power for 10 seconds then caps lock-and machine "shuts gown" Theres a slight noise when this happens
    I researched here and tried the following:
    Tried the PMU reset.
    I can't do the PRAM since it never goes into start up.
    Tried the NVRAM, again, nothing happens-etc.
    I am thinking its toast. Thoughts?

    OK, some things come to mind here.  First suspect is the internal PRAM./clock/backup battery.  We'll get to that in a moment.
    The first thing you should try is a PMU reset.  That button is under the keyboard.  That may be all that is needed.
    Now, we need to deal with batteries.  First off, how many green LEDs light on the main battery when you press the test button?  When on the charger, do you have the amber/green indication at the plug, as appropriate?  If you can get the battery to full charge, we might be able to kick-start the internal backup battery by shutting down the computer, connecting to the AC adapter and then removing the main battery and leaving things for at least 8-10 hours in that condition.  That will attempt to force charge the backup battery.  A weak or failed internal backup on that particular machine can cause some maddening behaviors.
    The backup battery may be tested by putting a running system to sleep, disconnecting the AC adapter and then removing the main battery for five seconds.  If the machine stays in sleep and then can be waked, the backup battery is serviceable.  If the machine shuts down, then the backup battery is discharged or plain kaput.  I have seen reports of the backup batteries keeling over in five years or so, although I have one TiBook that is over nine years old and the backup battery is still working fine, meaning I'm batting 0.500 on backup batteries.
    Oh, and a good source for main batteries is OWC.  Recommended by others as well, and the one I got from them a year or two ago is chugging along just fine.

  • AC adapter bad? Powerbook won't run without battery

    I think my powerbook (G4 aluminum, purchased Dec 2005) AC adapter is bad--the powerbook won't boot up without the battery (which, thankfully has not been recalled!).
    I did check the AC issues listed in this Apple doc:
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302461
    The light on the adapter is green, the battery charge indicator menu states "Charged." However, none of the 5 lights on the battery are lit when the AC adapter is plugged into the computer and an outlet.
    I have both AppleCare and ProCare--would a replacement AC adapter be covered under either plan?
    P.S. the logic board was replaced in this powerbook last week by Apple because the computer would not boot up, there was a loud "fan" sound and one beep every 3 seconds.
    Anyway, help!
    powerbook G4 ( Dec 2005) - ARRRGHH!   Mac OS X (10.4.7)   and ibook G3 (10.3.9) -- never any problems!

    I appreciate your advice! I agree that I should take in the powerbook for another round of repairs. However, I want to get some idea of the possible causes of this problem before returning it. Here's why:
    [warning: venting ahead]
    I am not taking it back to the nearest Genius Bar because of the poor, indifferent service there. Specifically: first guy guesses that the logic board needs replacement, and says the contents of my hard drive are not "protected," then tries to sell me ProCare, which has some kind of hard drive back up deal included. Since I hadn't backed up in months, I bought the Procare contract.
    The next day, a different local Genius tells me that the hard drive could not be recovered, it was the cause of the computer crash, and just the hard drive will be replaced at the factory, and it will take 2 weeks.
    Two days later, another Genius calls to say my computer's ready for pick up. They replaced the logic board, and the hard drive is fine--untouched. Hurrah.
    I used my Procare status to get a Genius appointment to pick up the computer. Yet another Genius doesn't want to listen to my complaints about the "hard drive disaster Genius." I make him turn on the computer [battery power] to make sure the hard drive is OK (yes). I am then shooed out the door.
    This is why I don't trust the local Geniuses to examine my computer again. The second nearest Apple store is 25 miles away, so I guess I'll go there for future repairs.

  • Powerbook G4 Titanium 867-1ghz battery/charge problems

    I inherited a g4 titanium powerbook titanium 867 DVI that would recognize the battery for a while and then it would stop seeing the battery. While it saw the battery, it would charge without any problems - all they way up to 100%. Sometimes it would run on battery power properly, meaning it saw the battery and was able to estimate a remaining time for use. Other times, it would start off seeing the battery, then it would change the battery icon in the upper left hand corner (OS 10.4.11) to a battery with an "x" inside it or it would change to (calculating time...) and never change. Another interesting trait is that it gets progressively worse (meaning it alternates between working properly and not working properly more frequently as time goes past any of the fixes I've done until it won't work properly at all).
    Apple said it needed a new motherboard. I installed another 867 board which fixed the problem - temporarily. It worked for a couple of days flawlessly and then started having problems again. I then reinstalled my original logic board. It produced the desired effect, everything worked like it should. Then, several days later after using the computer on and off battery power, the symptoms came back. I bought a G4 1ghz logic board and put that in the system. This seemed to work the longest, but a week later the symptoms came back. I reset the PMU on the board after the computer would not recognize a battery was installed (yet it ran off the battery until it was discharged), and this fixed the problem - temporarily. After the computer charged the battery up again, I was using it without AC, and again the battery icon changed to no "battery installed". I then reset the PMU again, and it worked for about two minutes. I tried again, and it the battery won't even be seen for that long.
    So that is three motherboards that are supposedly bad - which I don't believe. The battery seems to run the computer normally assuming it is charged, even when the computer doesn't see that it's installed. I tested the cables connecting the battery to the motherboard and the dc inboard to the motherboard and they are good with no shorts or crosses.
    When I took it to the apple store originally, they put a good battery in and it did the same thing. The battery I have has 53 charge cycles on it according to the hardware profiler. My AC adaptor is brand new and puts out the correct wattage. The battery will take a full charge and run the machine for about 4 hours.
    Has anyone had these types of symptoms? I am going to replace the dc inboard and see what happens. I would love to hear any suggestions that people have. My system runs well other than this battery issue.

    So just an update, I did try to boot the computer up on battery right after I wrote that last reply and nothing happend. I then replaced the new DC in-board with my old one and again the system came up and saw the battery. Then after about a half hour or so it stopped seeing the battery again. One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier posts is that usually reseating the battery allows the computer to see it for a period and charge it. Then after varying lengths of time it will stop charging / recognizing the battery even if the computer is still on and running from battery power. Right now I came home after leaving the battery to charge and saw that the charge lights had turned off. I pressed the battery indicator and found that it had not charged it completely (meaning it stopped seeing the battery at some point after I left). I pulled out the AC charger and plugged it back in. The battery lights came on for about three seconds then turned off. I then reseated the battery and the lights came on again and presumably would have stayed on for longer than a minute. I then disconnected the AC and turned on the computer. It has been running now and recognizing the battery for about 10 minutes. What a mystery (misery)!

  • 4 days old MBP 13". First boot up showed charge of 100%, next boot up showed battery fully charged but the percentage read 98% in the subsequent boot ups the battery is fully charged but percentage reads 96%. Whats wrong??

    I recently purchased a 13" MacBook Pro. On my first boot up, the battery charged to 100%. I didn't operate this thing on the battery. The next time I booted this thing up, the battery was charged but the meter read 98%. In the subequent boot ups of this machine, and I still having not used the battery, my battery is fully charged but the meter now reads 96%. IS there some problem with the hardware or the software? Help is appreciated!!
    Thanks.

    hey thank you for the info. Based on what happened, the battery has gone up to 100% just once when I booted this machine for the first time. On subsequent occasions the Battery Charged symbol has appreard at below 100% charging. I have been using my MacBook Pro for the whole day with outlet power and never did the battery go back to 100%. I hope I don't have to calibrate the battery on this model?

  • My powerbook g4 wont boot

    Hello today i need to ask some people why my powerbook g4 wont boot it goes all the way to the blue screen and then it has the spinning lines than it goes to the mouse cursur and just stays there. I trien reseting pmu, pram, nvram but nothing happens i have the mac disk but when i put it in and hold c when i start it just has a blank white screen and it pops the cd out. i tried open firmware way by typing boot cd:,
    :bixs but it just sais open Atapi-diak cant read disk label cant open cd:,
    :bixs. i tried startup manager but the disk isnt there and my mac hd is in the startup manager but has a little x in the picture what does that mean.  So anyone there can some one help me
        Xhevat.G
      just an ordinary mac user

    Disconnect all peripherals from your computer.
    Press the Power Button and immediately press and hold down the Command  and the S keys as the machine starts up.  This boots you into Single-user mode and you should see white text appear on the screen.
    When you see the # Command prompt, type /sbin/fsck-fy and hit the Return.
    Now sit back & let your computer do its thing.  This should take approximately 15 minutes or so.  Depending on how messed up your computer is.  Just be patient.
    If and when you see the message File System was modified repeat the steps above again & again until you hopefully see the message "no problems were found." When that happens type reboot and hit Return again.
    If these steps do not work then boot from your install disc to repair disk.  To use the Install Mac OS X disc, insert the disc, and restart your computer while holding down the C key as it starts up.
    Select your language.
    Once on the desktop, select Utility in the menu bar.
    Select Disk Utility.
    Select the disk or volume in the list of disks and volumes, and then click First Aid.
    Click Repair Disk.

  • Failure to boot on battery power

    My MacBook Pro (5,5) is failing to boot unless connected with the AC cable (mag-safe) turned on.
    from battery power (with fully charged battery) the machine beeps in the following sequence:
    3 fast beeps
    3 slow beeps
    3 fast beeps 
    (that's NINE beeps in total)
    the screen stays black the entire time.
    the light on the front of the laptop is turned on, but the screen never activates.
    if I hold down the power button for a few seconds the LED indicator (sleep light?)
    turns off.  then I can connect the mag safe and boot successfully.
    I have run the hardware diagnostic delivered on the installation CD and this
    discovers ZERO problems. 
    does anybody have experience with this error or know what is wrong?
    thanks in advance!
    |K<

    @capt fred:  those EFI restore images are extremely poorly documented and horribly indexed, aren't they?  8(
    not a single one mentions a macbookpro5,5 ...
    anyway, I think I have figured out what has happened, now all I have to do is figure out how to remedy it...
    (( achtung:  this would seem to be the user-story-from-**** ))
    the macbookpro5,5 ( 13" ) was shut down and NOT connected to AC power.
    a very distracted (and somewhat in a hurry) user (ie ME) picked up the laptop and
    pushed the power button-- WHILE in that very instant being distracted by his daughter
    wanting to know some piece of very important information (for a 10-year-old).  ALL THE WHILE
    the distracted user (ME) kept holding down the power button while explaining to the
    10-year-old-girl why the mice run away when you turn on the lights (which took some minutes). 
    Still holding the power button down the distracted user (ME) noticed that the macbookpro had
    begun to emit a series of beeps.  It was at this point that the distracted user (ME) released
    the power button and himself emitted a series of vocalizations that his 10-year-old-daughter is not
    supposed to ever hear (EVAR).  from this point forward the macbookpro will NO LONGER BOOT
    FROM BATTERY POWER, instead opting to only emit a series of beeps (3 short, 3 long, 3 short).
    now... I understand that I have unwittingly (and un-willingly) informed my macbookpro that she is
    to expect a firmware update via cd-rom.  however:  she does not accept any firmware update CD's
    AND she will not boot if not connected to AC power.  so how do I get out of this catch-22 ?
    please, apple gurus!  please please please make my expensive little toy work properly again!!
    thanks in advance,
    |K<

  • PowerBook Won't Boot Past the Apple and Spinning Flower Screen...

    I've been reading a lot of these forums, but still haven't figured out how to fix it on my laptop. So, I made my own topic.
    Anyways. My dad gave me this laptop since he got a new one, so it's a hand-me-down which means I don't have this startup disk that I keep seeing talked about. I've tried Safe Boot, but when I do it with Command + V, it says all sorts of things that I just don't understand, and there is a lot of talk about the Apple Power Management? Such as:
    com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement isn't a valid mach-o (magic is cefaedfe)
    error mapping module file com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement
    can't map com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement in preparation for loading
    couldn't alloc class "AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement"
    Etc, etc. And then the last lines that it ends with say:
    BSD root: disk0s3, major 14, minor 2
    [HCIController][configurePM] power parent ready after 1 tries
    And it just stays there and doesn't boot up.
    I honestly don't know what any of this means, or if it is even relevant to why my PowerBook won't boot past the Apple screen. If you have any information on how I could fix it, that'd be great. Also, if you have any questions that would help you figure it out, ask away and I will answer them.
    Thanks a lot.
    Message was edited by: MixtapeChick

    MixtapeChick:
    Welcome to Apple Discussions. Congratulations on your "new" PowerBook. I suggest that you begin with this combination procedure:
    • Shut down the computer.
    • Locate the following keys: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously later.
    • Turn on the computer.
    • Press and hold the Command + Option + P + R keys immediately after the startup chime.
    • Hold keys down until you hear the startup chime for the third time.
    • Release the keys and immediately hold down Shift key to start up in Safe Mode.
    • Log in and empty Trash.
    • Restart normally and log in.
    Let us know how it goes.
    cornelius

  • W520 won't boot on battery

    I just bought a new w520 machine from lenovo and from day 1 I am having a very annoying issue. It just wont power up on battery even if battery is full but power on fine on AC. But once powered on like even after 3 sec laps of power button and you can remove the AC power and it will continue to boot and keep on running for hours.
    Weather I hibernate/sleep/shutdown the machine, next time when I want to hit power button it must have AC power attached, if AC power is not attached and I try to hit power button it gives a flick of light and immediately turned off.
    Can some one kindly points me to right direction ? 
    P.S.: My gut feeling is that some setting in BIOS which is checking at boot time if AC is attached or not .... May be some option in BIOS or something. 
    Regards,
    -Syed

    Well i put it in maintainence mode it keep on running whole night. But issue is still there .. "NO power-on on battery" even battery is fully charged and once power-on on AC and then dissconnected, it runs on BATTERY for hours. 
    Any further help ?
    Regards.

  • Head scratcher--new HD, macbook won't boot on battery power

    I needed a larger hard drive because the orig 60gb was getting full. replaced with a seagate 250gb. now, macbook will no longer boot on battery power. works fine if plugged in. if unplugged while running, macbook goes dead. battery is fully charged.
    a puzzlement. any ideas, brain trust?
    ...joe

    What is the model number of the HDD you bought?
    Next, make sure you have the battery in all the way and that the HDD is securely installed. Then try a PRAM and SMC reset by shutting down, unplugging the magsafe, taking out the battery, and holding down the power button for at least five seconds. Next, put everything back and hold down commmand-option-p-r at startup until it chimes twice then let go.
    If none of that works put in the old HDD and see what happens.

  • Qosmio G40-11D not booting on battery

    Hi,
    I buyed recently a Qosmio G40-11D. Everything looks ok but today when I tried to boot the PC without main power connected ... surprise ... NO BOOT. Anybody has an ideea on how to fix this please. Thank you for any hint.
    Andrei

    Hi again,
    I finally made up my mind and called the Toshiba support technicians and the problem has been solved.
    Switch the laptop on and press ESC and then F1 to get into the BIOS.
    On the right hand side of the screen go to AUTO POWER ON = ENABLED.
    An OPTIONS box will appear.
    On the 3rd line see WAKE-UP ON BATTERY = DISABLED, you should set this to ENABLE.
    As i understood it is disabled as a default factory setting.
    My thanks to the support people in UK. They have been very helpful.
    If anyone still has problems booting on battery please contact your country support team.
    Take Care,
    CR

  • 12" Powerbook battery won't charge, fan does not work

    Thank you so much in advance for answering. I recently acquired a 12" powerbook with a broken hard drive. I replaced the hard drive and everything seemed to work fine, except that the fan was always on and the battery would only partially charge(to about 30%) and then would only trickle charge. The battery has 251 charge cycles and holds 82% of original amperage (at least it is supposed to). However, it only charges to about 30% (or about 1200 mAh) and then will only trickle charge from there. After browsing these forums I now think that I may have a bad logic board or DC in. It occurred to me that the fan issue and he battery issue might be linked, can anyone verify this? I am thinking that if the hard drive was broken, this computer could have been abused, heavily dropped, etc. Is there a way to check my logic board or DC in board? It could also be that I merely need a new battery, and the fan issue is unrelated. Help!

    Welcome to Apple Discussions!
    For charging issues, a good place to start is to reset the PMU:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431?viewlocale=en_US
    Did you get the set of discs that originally came with the powerbook? If so, one of them will contain the Apple Hardware Test, and you can run the extended version of it to check for hardware problems.
    The fan always being on might be an indication of processor heavy activity. You can check for this in Activity Monitor (in your Utilities folder in your Applications folder). Be sure to select "All Processes" at the top. Sometimes a process will hang up and hog the CPU, which will make the fan run and is hard on battery life. If the fan is no longer running, are you noticing any particular heat build up?
    I think your powerbook was from 2004, and since this is 2009, the original hard drive would be 5 years old, which is probably at the end of its average lifespan of 3-5 years of useful life. A failed hard drive does not necessarily indicate other abuse.
    After resetting the PMU and checking activity monitor, I think the next step should be to run the extended version of the Apple Hardware test and see if it tells you anything in the form of an error code.
    Good luck!

Maybe you are looking for