Tiger Battery Problems?

Question

Level 1

5 points

Tiger Battery Problems?

I have a Powerbook G3 (firewire) computer chassis that was upgraded with a 500 mhz G4 processor a year or so ago (not sure on timeline, but it has been in here for a long time with no problems). About a week ago, my hard drive failed so I bought a new one along with Tiger and did a completely clean install of Tiger (or, more accurately, a shop did a clean install of Tiger. I don't know what all else they did, but I got all the software updates since then. Normally, I would have installed the system myself, but I figured if they did it there would be no problems...). Since that time, my battery has not been able to calculate how much time is left. I have tried fully discharging it and recharging it to calibrate it twice now, and that has not worked. In fact, I do not even get the "low battery" notification. At about 4% charge, it simply goes to sleep. I have also tried resetting the PMU. Is there anything else I can do to get it to tell me how much time is left? I have followed most of what is listed in the first few pages of the Knowledge base, but am unsure whether I should be doing what it says for the G3 (firewire) that the battery and related wiring is from, or for the G4 processor it has. Anyway, nothing has worked yet.

I have also tried installing the PowerBook software off the disc that came with the computer way back when, but it will not install (consequently, I don't have any version of Classic so can't run the Battery Reset program, etc etc).

Prior to purchasing Tiger along with the new Hard Drive, I ran Panther and had no problems with the battery. It showed the time remaining fairly accurately. Now, all I can get is "(Calculating....)". Also, the four lights on the side of the battery do not turn on now, even if I push the button. Unfortunately, I do not know if they worked when I ran Panther or not, so I can't say if that is a new 'problem' as well. I know that the battery is a year or two old, but it still gives me enough power to watch a DVD, so about 3 hours with a DVD spinning, so I don't think the battery is dying on me. It just can't show how much time is left. The percentage seems fairly accurate, though.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Posted on Sep 15, 2005 10:02 PM

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Answer 1

jpl

Level 7

28,285 points

Sep 15, 2005 10:35 PM in response to Dylan T Ryan

Dylan,

Welcome to the Discussions!

Since the release of Tiger, Pismo owners are reporting the same issue...always calculating, no remaining time reported, and thus no low battery warning.

I have not read, however, of the battery LEDs not working. This may be part of the above issue, but I would not think so since the LEDs operate independently of the powerbook.

Even if you could install OS9.x and boot to it, Battery Reset 2.0 will not run on the Powerbook FireWire (Pismo), just the Wallstreet and Lombard. You will have to wait for the fix from Apple to correct the battery time issue.

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Answer 2

Dylan T Ryan Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 15, 2005 10:43 PM in response to jpl

Thanks for the response (and the welcome!). I just found the other topic about this (I guess I should read more than the first few messages in the future)...

Mostly, I am glad to hear it is "just" a OS glitch. I was afraid that since I had also gotten a new hard drive, perhaps the non-apple installed part would have caused the problem. At any rate, I can live with percentages until a fix comes out.

As far as the LED's, I can't remember the last time I saw them on (and I have used this as my main computer for the past year), so that could be an existing problem. I just thought it might be related.

Thanks again for such a rapid response!

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Answer 3

Sep 22, 2005 12:28 PM in response to Dylan T Ryan

Thanks Dylan for raising this issue. I have the same mashine as you but with the original processor. My battery indicator counts down to about 20% and then dies. So the battery warning is never activated. It all makes me keep an eye on the indicator by the clock and the power adapter ready.

I tried to run battery reset in OS 9 when I ran OS X.2.8 and that did not work. When I got Tiger (paid for and everything) I reinstalled the whole HD and reinstalling OS 9 did not work at all. Hence, no resetting.

When is the update due from Apple?

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Answer 4

J Galt

Level 1

45 points

Sep 28, 2005 3:12 PM in response to Andreas Borgegård

Yeah-- it is official- -we need an analagous "battery reset" for our Pismos. I did some thorough searching of the downloads, and they even make a similar reset thing for the early iBook G4's which are peers of the Pismos (e.g. firewire and same RAM chips for some). But the iBook reset won't work on the Pismos, of course. I gave my dad my lombard 5 states away, which I used to reset my batteries so they could start to charge and resurrect my old battery. APPLE: WE ARE BEGGING FOR THIS SMALL INSTALLER--PLEASE HEAR OUR CRIES.

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Answer 5

Brie Fly

Level 5

7,925 points

Sep 30, 2005 4:54 PM in response to Dylan T Ryan

Dylan,

Sharing virtually all you've described, I can't help but think the battery itself is getting a little "long in the tooth". I don't think any amount of power manager manipulation will compensate for weak cells.

Go to VersionTracker and download coconutBattery 1.3. It reports things like the total number of battery load cycles your battery has gone through, as well as the battery's capacity status. At over 700 cycles, my battery capacity is down to about 15% of a new battery's capacity (it certainly explains why I'm only getting about 20-30 minutes on a full charge).

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Answer 6

Oct 1, 2005 5:12 AM in response to Dylan T Ryan

After upgrading my Pismo to 10.4 and installing all of the updates, my heretofore gREaT M7318 Battery now stops charging at "21%".

CoconutBattery concurs the undercharge percentage reporting a measly 137 charges on this one year old battery now a mere skeleton of its former condition.

Please help as I don't feel very professional lugging around a motor cycle battery with power inverter to my customers' locations...

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Answer 7

Brie Fly

Level 5

7,925 points

Oct 8, 2005 7:44 PM in response to Rich Renouf

Which side of the year is your "year-old battery" on. It may still be under warranty.

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Answer 8

Nov 17, 2005 2:00 AM in response to Rich Renouf

I also have battery problems on my Pismo after upgrading to Tiger. Maybe after 10.4.3 upgrade. The battery can be charged up to just one led. I've reset the power manager but didn't help. Battery is quite old, but was working nicely (1.5 hours approx) until yesterday. CoconutBatterey says max battery charge is merely 117mAh and can't count battery load cycles (it shows 0).

It may be that the battery is simply dead, but it's a little suspicious that many are having troubles after upgrading to Tiger...

Franco

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Answer 9

Brie Fly

Level 5

7,925 points

Nov 17, 2005 12:32 PM in response to Trifranco

Battery is quite old

No need to look for conspiracy theories -- you've identified the culprit. If you pay attention to CoconutBattery's reports, you'll find that max battery charge is higher one day, and lower the next. Like you, I convinced myself that an hour to an hour and 20 minutes was still adequate service, but now that I've installed a new replacement battery, I've found a whole new freedom. Get a new battery (you can always use the old battery in the right-bay) and you'll wonder why you waited so long.

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