Resetting a PB 17" 1GHz Battery that "thinks" it's dead?

Question

I have a PB 17" 1GHz that just turned 3 years old. I have 2 batteries that I purchased with the CPU, and have rotated them through it's life. Neither of the batteries have gone more than about 3 months dormant (with a full charge), but recently, one of them has gone dead. Both batteries have under 40 charge cycles.
The bad battery now shows 0% or sometimes the PB shows that there's no battery at all. cocnutBattery sometimes reports that it has good capacity, but 1 or -1 mAh of charge. When installed, my power cord goes amber for about 20 secs, then back to green, and it won't charge.
Here's the odd thing - a few weeks ago, by putting the battery in and out several times, I was able to get it to charge. I gave it a full charge, then was able to use the PB for a good 2+ hours, almost as if it was in perfect shape, just a little short on time.
So, I did a battery condition as recommended by Apple, by letting it fully discharge (to sleep) overnight. The next morning, it had totally shut down, even though Apple says these batteries can stay in sleep for something like a month after fully discharged. At this point, the battery stopped taking a charge.
I've tried everything... reset the PMU... reset the nvram, popping the batt in and out, etc. For a while, cocnutBattery would show the charge cycles and other info, but now it shows 0 and the capacity and charge is -1 and 1. The PB menu shows that it's charging and at 0% (contantly), but the power cord is green - won't actually stay in a charging state.
Now, because the battery did take a charge recently, unless the Apple-recommended battery condition actually killed it, I know this battery is potentially functional. It seems like it's just locked into a logic state of "dead" and needs to be reset somehow.
I've scoured the new and the boards and can't find any tricks to do this. Does anyone have any suggestions? It's just my luck that I'm now 1 month past my 3-year APP plan, but with such a low cycle count on this battery and the fact that it died after running Apple's recondition procedure, if I can't reset it, I'm going to see if they can help.
Thanks,
-Mark

Answer 1

First, try to reset the phone by holding the sleep and homebutton for about 10sec, until the Apple logo comes back again. You will not lose data by resetting.
If this does not work, try to set it up as new device:
How to back up your data and set up as a new device
If still no luck, get your battery checked by Apple, your battery has one year warranty:
iPhone Owners
Your one-year warranty includes replacement coverage for a defective battery. You can extend your coverage to two years from the date of your iPhone purchase with the AppleCare Protection Plan for iPhone. During the plan’s coverage period, Apple will replace the battery if it drops below 50% of its original capacity. If it is out of warranty, Apple offers a battery replacement for $79, plus $6.95 shipping, subject to local tax. Apple disposes of your battery in an environmentally friendly manner