Level 1

0 points

No "Low Battery" warning on new (November 07) MacBook - Kernel Panic

Hello,

I'm not sure is this is the right forum for this, but since the problem occurs during a specific battery state, I'm going to post it here.

I just got one of the new November 07 MacBooks. The machine is great, and screams with the pre-installed Leopard.

First thing I did was plug it in to charge as I started configuring software. Once it was fully charged, I pulled the plug, and began using it on battery. My plan was to calibrate the battery, by running it all the way until it forced a sleep, then shutting down and plugging it in again, as Apple recommends.

Problem is, I never got the "Low Battery" warning, or even the sleep warning. At around 10 minutes of power left, I simply got a kernel panic. A few seconds later, the laptop just switched off.

I plugged in again for a few minutes, then ran it down again to see if I could reproduce the error, and I did get the low battery warning.

The next time the battery ran down, it gave me the kernel panic.

Is this happening to anyone else? Is it a new MacBook problem, or a leopard power management problem? I'm having no other issues at all with the MacBook or Leopard. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

MacBook (November 07), Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Nov 4, 2007 6:57 PM

162 replies

rsmac

Level 1

8 points

Mar 3, 2008 4:47 AM in response to wapdgn

Wow okay..thats explain why I didnt got kernel panic anymore...it just directly shutting down at 0-2%

Mar 4, 2008 1:53 AM in response to wapdgn

Hi,
I just bought a new MacBook (early 2008) and have the same problem here.
I get a warning Battery is low but then the machine will just switch off. Just like someone pulled the power from a desktop. No sleep mode. 😟
I really liked that on my old iBook.

Will a new battery fix the problem?

Thanx
Freddy from Frankfurt, Germany

wapdgn

Level 1

4 points

Mar 4, 2008 3:17 AM in response to Freddy_FRA

I am sorry to tell you that my second battery cycle does it again :

Macbook tried to go on safe sleep ( the screen became black and the led turned on but didn't blink ) and the macbook turned off.

I don't know what to do... Maybe there is a huge stock of batteries which is defective.

I will call Apple Care and see what they'll tell me....

Good luck everybody

markdem Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 4, 2008 4:49 AM in response to markdem

Hello Everyone,

It's obvious there's something wrong here, and with all the complaints, I'm sure Apple's looking into it. But everyone seems to be leaning toward a hardware problem. I really think this might be a software problem. A previous poster mentioned that it could be a problem with Leopard determining the amount of power left during the calibration process. When you use your computer during this period, the power fluctuates based on your activity, and the OS might be having a tough time getting a precise measurement.

I tested this theory by calibrating my battery like this:
1. Charge it up, and leave it on while plugged in for 2 hours (I used it during this time)
2. Shut down all applications, dim the screen, and unplug the power.
3. It drained down all the way, and went into safe sleep as normal.
I'll be doing this again in a day or two (I'm up for calibration again) to confirm it is reproducible.

I think NOT using the computer at all resulted in a steady stream of power, that was "easier" for Leopard to read.

Also, this problem just suddenly came up in new laptops that were shipping with Leopard. The Macbook design didn't change much, but the OS was new in the Santa Rosa (and now Peryn) notebooks.

So, the question is, has anyone installed Tiger in one of these new laptops to confirm this?

Max(IT)

Level 1

81 points

Mar 4, 2008 8:24 AM in response to wapdgn

wapdgn wrote:

I don't know what to do... Maybe there is a huge stock of batteries which is defective.

I will call Apple Care and see what they'll tell me....

Good luck everybody

I don't think the batteries are defective at all ...
I bet on a firmware issue: the MacBook is forced to sleep a little bit too "late" and has not enough power to complete the sleep process.

J-a-x

Level 3

745 points

Mar 4, 2008 8:43 AM in response to Max(IT)

Unfortunately, I doubt that Apple will tell you anything. 😟

My theory is a big stock of bad batteries. What we need to do to confirm that is find 2 Macbooks - one that crashes when the battery runs down, and one that does not.

Then we need to swap the batteries and see if the crash problem follows the battery, or if it really is hardware specific.

Anyways, I agree with you that it could possibly be a huge stock of bad batteries. Somebody just needs to confirm it.

One strange note: After using my replacement battery for almost a month, and doing 4-5 power cycles (calibrations) with no crashes, the battery capacity seems to actually be greater than when I first got it. It used to be 5375 mAh and now it is 5381 mAh. I expected the capacity to decrease with use (I am at 25 cycles now). Weird huh?

Max(IT)

Level 1

81 points

Mar 4, 2008 9:18 AM in response to J-a-x

J-a-x wrote:
Unfortunately, I doubt that Apple will tell you anything. 😟

My theory is a big stock of bad batteries. What we need to do to confirm that is find 2 Macbooks - one that crashes when the battery runs down, and one that does not.

Then we need to swap the batteries and see if the crash problem follows the battery, or if it really is hardware specific.

Anyways, I agree with you that it could possibly be a huge stock of bad batteries. Somebody just needs to confirm it.

One strange note: After using my replacement battery for almost a month, and doing 4-5 power cycles (calibrations) with no crashes, the battery capacity seems to actually be greater than when I first got it. It used to be 5375 mAh and now it is 5381 mAh. I expected the capacity to decrease with use (I am at 25 cycles now). Weird huh?

a lot of people are experiencing the issue with the new battery also, so it can't be battery-related.
A bad battery stock through two Macbook generations (Santa Rosa and Penryn) ??? Very unlikely ...

J-a-x

Level 3

745 points

Mar 4, 2008 9:27 AM in response to Max(IT)

Then how is it possible that a battery swap solved the problem for me?

Mar 4, 2008 9:59 AM in response to JohnBradshaw

Just heard back from AppleCare...it's been sent to engineering and they are investigating it. No news yet except that he believes it's a software issue.

wapdgn

Level 1

4 points

Mar 4, 2008 10:58 AM in response to markdem

Hello guys (and girls),

Here's what I concluded from what I read and what I experienced :

- I don't think that Leopard or even MacOS is the problem because I experienced THE issue with my first macbook under Tiger then recently with my new macbook under Windos XP.
- I don't think it is an hardware-only (battery or motherboard) problem because I didn't notice this problem at all with my first macbook (late 2006) until november 2007... When it appeared suddenly...
- Then It seems that some people solved the problem by swapping battery with a brand new one.

So, my conclusion would be:
It may be a battery firmware problem which makes some batteries (with minor defaults which were invisible before this firmware update) having this strange behaviour.

What do you think ?

Max(IT)

Level 1

81 points

Mar 4, 2008 11:40 AM in response to wapdgn

wapdgn wrote:
So, my conclusion would be:
It may be a battery firmware problem which makes some batteries (with minor defaults which were invisible before this firmware update) having this strange behaviour.

What do you think ?

maybe 😉

Mar 4, 2008 11:56 AM in response to markdem

Quick clarification question - Santa Rosa=2.2GHz? Peryn=2.4GHz?

Thanks.

rsmac

Level 1

8 points

Mar 4, 2008 1:36 PM in response to J-a-x

Hai Jack,

Could you please check whats your batteryupdater version? is it 1.2 or 1.3?

it at:
/System/Library/SystemConfiguration/BatteryUpdater.bundle

Thx...

wapdgn

Level 1

4 points

Mar 5, 2008 2:28 PM in response to Max(IT)

Hello everybody,

I don't (yet) have THE solution for our problem but there's a workaround which will help us to sleep a little bit better or simply no more be afraid to lose everything you were doing when you are about to reach 0%.

SO, you can download SmartSleep to set at which percent you macbook is gonna go to sleep, hibernate, etc...

http://www.jinx.de/SmartSleep.html

Tell me what do you think of smartsleep !

thx you and bye bye

wapdgn

Level 1

4 points

Mar 5, 2008 2:55 PM in response to wapdgn

I am sorry but I make a correction of what I wrote above because I am not sure that it works as I said....

SO I add a BIG MAYBE to my previous message !

SORRY everybody

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No "Low Battery" warning on new (November 07) MacBook - Kernel Panic