Pismo pram/battery question

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ericrsa2004 Author

Level 1

0 points

Pismo pram/battery question

Hello.

My Pismo is not charging my fairly new battery. The computer has also been having some sleep/time issues which made think it was the pram. Could the pram be responsible for not recognizing or charging the new battery...or do I have a PMU problem.

The computer is due for a new pram, but I didn't think the pram had much to do with battery charging. Does it?

Thanks.

powerbook g3 pismo, Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Jul 13, 2007 6:55 PM

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Answer 1

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Jul 15, 2007 3:32 PM in response to ericrsa2004

eric:

I don't think the the PRAM battery is responsible. Can you describe your battery charinging issue, what you have done and with that results?

cheers.

cornelius

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Answer 2

ericrsa2004 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 21, 2007 9:07 PM in response to cornelius

My computer will not recognize my battery. There is an "X" over the battery icon in my taskbar (sometimes). Sometimes it will not recognize the battery at all. Also my computer will not sleep and I have to reset the time/date everytime I turn it back on. This all happened suddenly. I know that a dead pram can cause erratic behavior. Could this be a bad power managment unit?
Thanks for any ideas!

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Answer 3

Jul 22, 2007 9:25 AM in response to ericrsa2004

How old is your battery ? Maybe it is simply time to replace it.

You can find out the charge cycles at "system profiler" (click the Apple button, "About this Mac", "More information" button). If it is near or above 300 cycles, a fresh battery could solve your problem.

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Answer 4

jpl

Level 7

28,285 points

Jul 22, 2007 9:41 AM in response to ericrsa2004

eric,

A definitive test for troubleshooting a battery issue is to swap batteries with another Pismo or Lombard, but one may not be available.

Regardless of whether you have a bad battery and/or failed charging circuits, your Pismo should still sleep as long as the power adapter is connected with software and/or a corrupted power manager being the most common issue.

Also, if you are using the power manager reset button on the back panel to restart (or reset the power manager), it will require the reset of time/date.

I would try your troubleshooting in this manner:

1. Keep the power adapter connected at all times plus disconnect ALL peripherals.
2. Pull out the main battery a few inches so it is not engaged.
3. From a shut down state, reset the power manager:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449
4. Start up and reset the time/date.
5. Now test if your Pismo will sleep/wake normally.

You can also test your PRAM battery (the internal rechargeable backup battery), but also read how this battery works vs. a desktop PRAM battery:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=30580

You can then insert the main battery and see if it is recognized. I suspect you have a failing battery •IF• the Pismo will occasionally see and charge the battery.

We can do additional testing based on your results.

Message was edited by: jpl

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