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VLC lagging when playing x264 1080p mkv file without installed a Battery

Today, I have discovered & confirmed a phenomenon on Macbook Pro 15' (Lately 2008, MacBookPro4,1) that when the lithium battery is detached and you are playing a x264 1080p MKV movie file on VLC player using Power Adapter's power only. The movie would be lagging/blocking while on playback. My original intend of detaching the battery was to save the battery life when it is fully charged and generating less heat when using the laptop.

I'm here to share this experience if you have been experiencing lagging/blocking on VLC x264 1080p playback on Macbook Pro 15' AND you have detached your battery for routine operation. You better to attach your battery back. Of course, it would dying your battery more rapidly while using it in a fully-charged status with a Power Adapter connected. But it is the only way to get smoothly your playback on x264 1080p movie file.

For the reason of why a battery attached must be required. I don't know. Better somebody to ask Apple. Crap, wasted me for half day troubleshooting!

Macbook Pro (Late 2008, MacBookPro4,1), Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Dec 16, 2009 4:21 AM

Reply
8 replies

Dec 16, 2009 4:48 AM in response to Mac Zero

Mac Zero: *There is never any good reason to operate your MBP with the battery removed.* Doing so does not prolong the life of the battery or the computer, and the computer's clock speed is automatically reduced by half when you do so. That accounts for the lag you are seeing. It is intentional, because when the computer is working extremely hard it may require more power than its AC adapter can provide, and it's designed to draw the additional power it needs from from its battery under those conditions instead of tripping the overload protection in the AC adapter, which would cause the machine to shut down without warning if the battery were missing. Slowing the CPU when the battery is removed reduces its maximum power demand to what the AC adapter can safely provide.

Once the battery is fully charged, charging stops and does not begin again until the charge level drops to 93%. This allows the battery to remain cool most of the time even if the AC adapter is nearly always connected and the battery remains in place. Apple's smart charging algorithm also limits the heating of the battery and the adapter even while it is being charged, by varying the rate of charge throughout the charging cycle.

In short, leave your battery in place at all times. Your MBP will perform better in everything you use it for, you will lose nothing from your battery's useful lifespan, and you will never lose data to a power outage.

Dec 16, 2009 5:50 AM in response to eww

Thank you so much for your clear explanation! You are really R&D level engineer of the Macbook Pro! Unfortunately, my MBP A1175 lithium battery had just died on yesterday which served me only for 14 months. Application - iStat reported that it was 70% healthy only and the battery would not function when it dropped to 40% remaining capacity without a power adapter connected. This was why motivated me to detach the new battery to prolong the battery life when connected with a Power Adapter in a fully charged status (I heard many people on Google said that doing so could prolong the battery lifetime (recharge cycle)). And I was wrong. Your description is right. I noticed that during the battery was absent. The system boot time definitely longer than when a battery is attached. For how much exactly the percentage of performance degraded. I don't know. But certainly it is observable. It is very good here to have the person like you who really tough in understanding the design of the Apple hardware. However, my new battery.... probably gonna die on next 14 months..... Oh no...

Dec 16, 2009 6:53 AM in response to eww

This is the information for my died/old Battery which couldn't work when its capacity dropped to/below 40%.

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Manufacturer: SMP
Device name: ASMB012
Pack Lot Code: 0002
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0110
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0200
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4283
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4283
Health Information:
Cycle count: 159
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 134
Voltage (mV): 12571

Dec 16, 2009 8:05 AM in response to Mac Zero

That's just plain bad advice. Follow it if you like, but I recommend not doing so.

The best available summary of useful advice about the care and maintenance of Apple batteries is here:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1764220

It's more complete than anything that even Apple has published (though there are links in it to Apple's publications on the subject).

Dec 16, 2009 8:10 AM in response to Mac Zero

Those battery statistics suggest that the battery died before its time. You may want to take it to an Apple Store or an Apple service provider to be checked out. Apple says a *properly maintained* MBP battery of that vintage should retain 80% of its original full charge capacity after 300 cycles, and yours hasn't come close. I don't know whether you've maintained it properly (if you've been removing it whenever AC power is connected, you haven't), but you can at least ask Apple to replace it without charge. The worst that can happen is that they'll say no.

Dec 17, 2009 4:37 AM in response to eww

Thanks, your referral document is awesome. I just rang to AppleCare support today to discuss the ex-died-battery for replacement if possible. They said that due to my Macbook Pro is out of warranty (19 months old). So its battery could not be replaced. If this happened within 12 months. They would consider as the defective product because the recharge-cyle is only 160 times.

BTW, my new A1175 battery is onboard today from the Apple Store. The recharge count of course is 1 times only. And AppleCare Support advised that any new Apple lithium battery should be run an total discharge cycle for their first use. I just did today, and wishing it could last longer than the ex-battery! Pray for at least 300 times! (but it is so sad to spend money to buy a new one 😟

VLC lagging when playing x264 1080p mkv file without installed a Battery

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