Can bad PRAM (CMOS) battery be "guilty" for MBP not recovering from sleep?

I have MBP 4.1 (last with removable battery) and it wont recover from sleep... i tried reseting SMC but no effect (three months ago SMC reset worked well for me). I tried removing/inserting RAM, HDD, CMOS Battery but nothing can make my MBP recover from sleep 😟. Does anyone have expirience similar to mine? Solutions? Suggestions?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Feb 24, 2014 11:58 AM

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3 replies

Feb 24, 2014 12:59 PM in response to babac87

I would not expect a dead PRAM battery to casue that. If it did, zapping the PRAM would restore function until the computer was again deprived of all power--wall and main battery.


Can the computer run at all? If you can get it to wake up, that is a different set of issues than one that will not wake up at all.


If it won't wake up at all: Remember that the MacBook Pro 4,1 had the dreaded "Nvidea curse." The Geforce 8600M GT video chipset was prone to failure due to improper manufacturing by Nvidea. Apple had a repair program to fix this at no cost to you but it expired in Dec 2012. Mine waited until June 2013 to die. It's still dead.


The only cure for the "Curse" is a new logic board. An Apple service provider may still have the hardware tester that positively identifies if the video chipset has failed.


If you can get the computer running: there was a sleep issue with mine (3,1 but same logic board architecture) but it went away when I upgraded from 10.5 to 10.6. Still, worth checking if you get the comptuer running. Open Network preferences and select Wi-Fi. When that screen comes up, click the Advanced button--it should come up with the WiFi tab active; if not, make is so.


Now delete any wireless networks you don't use on at least a weekly basis. My old MBP refused to wake from sleep and required a restart. A check of the system log showed the computer was trying to a connect to the wifi network at a lodge I'd stayed in a month before and 50 miles away. Deleting that "remembered network" cured the problem

Feb 25, 2014 10:32 AM in response to Allan Jones

Thank you Allan for your reply.


I bought this MBP 4-5 months ago (ofc used). I needed MBP that could run latest OS X. Less than 10 days i bought it, it wouldn't recover from sleep. I contacted guy i bought it from, sent him back for repair, and when he got the MBP he said it wasn't anything bad with it, and sent it back to me. I recived it and it was working properly... for about two months... i started researching and found about SMC reset, which helped (not the hold 5 sec power without battery, but the ctrl+opt+shift+pwr). Every now and than it went (maybe once a month) to that sleep and SMC reset would help until now. I power it on and there is no graphics, just see led light glowing and hear the fans.


I didn't know about that 8600GT "curse". I wouldn't have bought it if I knew...


It's hard to "let it go" coz it was a nice laptop (served a purpose). Bought him SSD and ordered new battery from USA (I'm in Europe). Now it won't work and battery is on it's way here (oh the irony).


Again, thanks for replying and helping. I would ask you one more thing if you don't mind. Now (unfortunately) I must buy again used MBP but this time unibody. Q is: Do you know was there any twitches with any unibody model similar to this one? Any bug of malfunction that is a big "no no" for buying any certain model?

Feb 25, 2014 11:18 AM in response to babac87

Sorry to hear of your woes. I know it can be gut-wrenching.

Do you know was there any twitches with any unibody model similar to this one?


The one that gets the most talk here lately is the 15-inch Mid 2010:


https://support.apple.com/kb/TS4088


I recall some issues with Late 2008 models but dont remember the details.


One that seems to have rock-solid reliability based on reports here is the Mid-2012 13-inch non-Retina. That's what replaced my "cursed" 2007 model when it died. I bought mine last June directly from apple as a refurbished unit for US$1000. I am very happy with it. It is, as we say "out west," a real workhorse.

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Can bad PRAM (CMOS) battery be "guilty" for MBP not recovering from sleep?

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