Q: MacBook Pro Battery 'Service Battery' after Snow Upgrade

Ok, Apple won this battle for me. Today I sold my 2007 Macbook Pro which has been giving so much pain because of the "SL KILLING BATTERIES" issue, of course I had to install 10.5 and, surprise, battery seemed to get better like that, but I didnt had the time to do further testing.
I bought one of the new 13 inch Macbook Pro, so I hope I will be enjoying 10 hours of battery life? I will tell you, anyway, I will keep on following this thread and trying to raise my voice with the people having those issues and being ignored by Apple.

Good luck

4000mAh is actually only 71% health with the 5600mAh batteries in these Macs, frontierpsych, not 97%. Is it possible you are quoting the "% charge remaining" figure, rather than the "% health" (obtained by dividing the current full charge capacity by the original full charge capacity and multiplying by 100 to give you a percentage, or by using a third party utility)

You indicated in your earlier post that you more or less recalibrated your battery and this made a substantial difference in your case. Recalibration, as I've said elsewhere in this thread, is worth trying as part of the "service" process, along with an SMC reset, before you give up on the old one.

I'm glad your battery is getting you by for now, but given that a rough approximation of the standard recalibration process "fixed" it for you, and that you don't seem to have any problems now despite continuing to run SL, it is pretty difficult to attribute your problems to the OS!

Cheers

Rod

Took my laptop in today to have the battery inspected.

The EFI Boot on the iPod touch they connected indicated the battery had failed. Three weeks ago, the same test indicated the battery was "okay". They replaced the battery.

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, and relatively new to Apple. I have a MPB as listed below, and seem to be having the same trouble as many people posting here. I have a few questions, likely mentioned somewhere in the 85 pages or so that comprise this post, so be gentle if I ask a duplicate question, or make a duplicate comment...

1st, the details:

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP31.0070.B07
SMC Version (system): 1.16f11
Serial Number (system): W873**X91
Hardware UUID: 00000000-0000-1000-8000-001B63A5865E
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled


Battery Information:

Model Information:
Manufacturer: Sony
Device name: ASMB012
Pack Lot Code: 0003
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 102a
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0303
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 1798
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4877
Health Information:
Cycle count: 51
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 2586
Voltage (mV): 12294

Battery info is after an AC power-up, after the last of several shutdowns. My MBP has taken to shutting down, usually after the battery discharges to roughly 40-50% remaining. If I restart using battery (not AC), it shuts down usually within a minute or two (sometimes with seconds, during bootup)

Using SL, with all updates applied via Apple Update. SL, was a clean install, from a newly purchased disk from the Apple Store. No other major apps installed, except Office for the Mac.

Physically, my battery doesn't seem swelled or damaged in anyway, from visual inspection. I have taken it out or my computer and checked. I have not taken it to an Apple Store, as of yet.

As to using my MBP on battery, therein lies the problem. Since I got my laptop, I've not used it very much other than on AC. This is why it took so long for me to discover the possible "battery problem". I have been able to run on battery till nearly dead (in the red), but not recently. Yesterday was the 1st time I became aware of the trouble, and now, I'm here......

I have not been able to recalibrate my battery, as I'm not able to discharge it completely before my MBP shuts down. As far as I know, I'm doing it the right way, but with no luck.

I have not gone back to Leopard (that came with my system) yet, to see if that would work.

I have been unable to do any battery updates, as SL seems to lack the BatteryUpdate.bundle, as mentioned here prior.

To me anyway, it seems like alot the possible "fixes" discussed in the forum have had mixed results, as near as I can tell. I will be the 1st to admit that I don't know my MBP inside and out like some posting here. I do know PCs inside and out (yikes!), but this has left me baffled.

I SO want my MBP to work completely and totally, as I've tended to gravitate to it more than my PC. It did seem to work fine at 1st, and now this.... It *****....

Perhaps, most troubling is that, although my MBP is about 2 years old, it has VERY LITTLE use on it. It has been in storage (due to life circumstances), inside, well protected, yada yada.... A handful of times would accurately describe the use it has had (perhaps 15-20 times?) I realize that this may have nothing to do with the problem. I mention it only as a bit of infor to add.

I do know that batteries "like" to be used, as opposed to just sitting around. It is possible that using AC mostly could have contributed to its ongoing demise.

I have never had AppleCare. It was purchased locally, at an Apple Store, not a third party, or even online. Never been dropped or bashed.

My computer is about as new as it can be for a 2 year old computer.

Any further ideas or updates. Has anyone had honest, verifiable success with this, or am I doomed to buy a new battery (which ALSO doesnt seen to guarantee success....)

Are there any aftermarket venders that have dealt with the battery problem?

How about anything encouraging from APPLE???

Thanks for listening.....

<Edited by Host>

Hi pdxappleguy
It's very likely that your battery is actually OK, if this turns out to be a Snow Leopard bug. But as for the moment nobody knows that for sure, my suggestion is to revert to Mac OS 10.5 temporarily or wait for a fix from Apple. Please don't hurry to buy a new battery, you're probably going to waste your money.

Hi pdxappleguy,

While on the face of it your battery's full capacity" reading seems OK, the fact that you haven't been able to calibrate it, and that it is quite old by the standards of these batteries and has had very little use over this time , suggests that the actual readings it gives are probably very inaccurate.

The symptoms you report are typical of a battery that has developed high internal resistance and is therefore unable to deliver power adequately when placed under stress when the charge level is not high. My suspicion is that the battery is simply shot, but you could try a couple of other things before taking it in for testing or simply replacing it.

First of all , if you haven't already done so, try resetting the SMC. You will find the instructions for this at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964 .

Once you have done this try re-calibrating it again (using the instructions given at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490 with one exception). This time, instead of continuing to use the computer normally while discharging the battery, try leaving it awake, but with all programs closed, once it has reached the sort of point where you have been seeing it "shut down" unexpectedly. This should reduce the possibility of sudden power demands causing it to shut down without warning and may allow the normal calibration process to complete. Even if it does shut down still complete the process of charging it up fully etc before using it on battery again. Then see if the figures given in System profiler with respect to full capacity have changed.

You may have to repeat this process a couple of times before the battery is properly calibrated, and even then , if internal resistances are sufficiently high, it may not be possible, however. If this is the case, then you definitely need a new battery. (the OS you use when doing this won't make any difference at all).

Your battery is one of few which still has the old 102a firmware on it. As you say, you will have to be booted from a Leopard OS hard drive to run the battery Updates 1.3 (and 1.2 if necessary). You could do this most easily by simply installing Leopard on an external drive, booting from that, applying the update, and then rebooting from the external to allow the battery firmware updater to run. Once you reboot from the internal SL drive you still won't have the "batteryupdate.bundle' file in your SystemConfiguration folder, but the firmware on the battery, as shown by System Profiler, should now show as having been updated to version 0110. This is all that matters. I wouldn't be all that hopeful that it is going to make a great deal of difference with a battery of this age, but it may be worth a try. If this is successful, then try recalibrating again.

One way of testing whether a battery is "on the way out" is simply to run it under maximum processor stress and see whether it is able to cope with the load. An easy way to do this is to use Marcel Bresink's free SystemLoad. With the computer on battery power, and no other programs running, start up SystemLoad, set it to maximum processor power, and see how long it last before the computer shuts down.

With a good battery it should still run through the normal preliminary low battery power warnings etc before it does so, but with an older one like yours, especially if badly calibrated, it won't. You can still get an idea of how badly the battery has deteriorated by seeing what percentage of charge it gets to before shutting down though. The higher the percentage of full charge that it shuts down at, the worse the internal resistance in the battery is. (You can run this under either Snow Leopard or leopard. the result will be the same.)

Another of Bresink's programs, "Hardware Monitor", can also be useful for checking battery condition. Amongst many other things it will provide you with a reading of the comparative voltage of cells within the battery. If you find that one cell is reading at a very different level from others as the battery discharges you can be sure the cell is faulty and the battery needs replacing. You can also chart changes in battery behaviour, charge levels, power demands, temps, and CPU usage and the like against each other over time, making it easier to work out what is going on in a situation like yours. Hardware Monitor isn't free (and the trial version disables this capability from memory) but it is certainly the best of the general purpose "monitoring" applications for use with recent Macs.

As far as third party batteries go, look at the ones from Newer technology, or, perhaps, "True Power", though neither really seem to offer any better longevity than the Apple ones for most users from what I can see.

Finally, of course, the easy way to see whether your battery needs replacing is to simply take it to an Apple AASP or Store where they will run a very quick "stress test" on it for you. If you don't "trust" Apple for such purposes (as some people here say they don't), then just take it to an independent battery expert, who should be able to do the same for you without too much trouble too.

Cheers

Rod

I got the same problem after installing SL... I am thinking of getting a PC since I do not trust Apple anymore for not fixing their buggy software. It's been almost a year of SL's release and the still haven't come up with a solution. APPLE: STOP IGNORING THIS PROBLEM AND STOP DENYING IT! I WILL NOT BUY A NEW BATTERY OR ANY OF YOUR PRODUCTS UNTIL YOU FIX THE BATTERY PROBLEM.

Hi, I bought a new battery about 4 months ago and I'm running SL and have gotten over 3 hours on battery only and have not received the "Service Battery" message on this new one. I must agree with Rod, that it is not a software issue, sorry to pop so many bubbles. Pete

went back to Leopard, (clean install) and ran a stress test on the battery and it died after about 70 %

less than before, with SL

I really dont want to buy a new battery..

If I do, do the new ones actually fare any better, or am I wasting my money??

Recomendations?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

Hi pdxappleguy,
Have you tried calibrating the battery or resetting the SMC since you installed Leopard? I would suggest running Leopard for a couple of days and if the problem persists then it's really time for a new battery.

My MBP is from mid-2007, running SL since March. May only be used on average 3 hours a day.

Never noticed a major battery problem till last night. Battery status 96% & plugged in a fully charged iPod to Sync and my MBP just went dead.

Slight panic, wouldn't turn back so plugged into mains. Turned on fine & battery status was 0%. Reset SMC and charged fully.

Had a look in System Profiler:

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 186
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 186
Health Information:
Cycle count: 95
Condition: Check Battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 119
Voltage (mV): 12612

May hold off buying a new battery for a while and just use off mains!

Your battery is almost completely dead, VU Edit-1, as anyone who looks at your figures can see.

The only thing you can do to rectify the problem is get a new one. No OS issue is involved in its failure and waiting to replace it will gain you nothing. It is simply "bad".


Rod

You simply need a new battery pdxappleguy.

The OS really isn't the issue here.

Will a new battery fare any better?

Judging by the posts I've been looking at here for the last few years (and regardless of whether Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard is involved) and my own experiences , if you look after the battery well you (gentle regular use, and calibration every month or two) you will probably get 18 months to 2 years use out of it, whatever OS you use, though some people have earlier failures and a few people get significantly longer use.

Would you be wasting your money? How much value is having a reliable battery to you? How much does it matter to you / how much would it cost you if running on a defective battery causes major data loss? Is the "value" of such things greater than the cost of a battery over a couple of years? Only you can really work out the comparative value of such things.

Cheers

Rod

Cheers Rod. Thought that till saw this topic. Wasn't expecting the battery to go so soon, esp. down to lack of use and when it is used normally powered from the mains.

These batteries are lucky to last two years at the best of times, I'm afraid, VU.

Lack of use / running off the power adaptor all the time actually does them more harm than good, I'm afraid. You should aim for a cycle or two each week.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1764220 and (to a lesser extent) http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html provide useful information on getting the most out of your battery.

Despite some of the claims made for them, however, not many make it beyond a couple of years, regardless of the cycle count or OS in use.

Cheers

Rod