SMC reset not working (solved)

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Level 1

5 points

SMC reset not working (solved)

Just to share an experience:

- I had a lot of trouble with my MacBook Air5,2 from 2012 getting it to actually recognize an SMC-reset. After shutting down, pushing buttons shift, ctrl, alt and power button would result in the MacBook Air starting up directly after letting those buttons loose.

- Other keyboard-commands at startup (like safe mode (Shift)) did not work either

- Initially, I was not able to reset the NVRAM (previously known as PRAM) by Cmd, option, P, R, since I had a firmware password installed, that I forgot

- Just after I was able to remove the firmware password, I was able to zap the NVRAM

- After that the SMC-reset procedure did work again as expected, and all other keyboard-commands at startup (like safe mode (Shift)) did also.

My conclusion:

- SMC reset might not work, because the keyboard-communication is somehow structurally hindered at startup. Zapping the NVRAM may solve this.

Best

Bram

iMac 21" and MacBook 13", Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Oct 9, 2015 1:22 AM

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Answer 1

Bram Bos Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 29, 2015 3:52 PM in response to Bram Bos

As a follow-up to my previous post: my MacBook Air 13" from Medio 2012 went back to having the issue that it shut down immediately after removing the power adapter. The SMC-reset did not remedy this.

As a last resort I screwed open the back of the MacBook, unplugged the battery, left it for a minute, and replugged the batteries. After closing the back again, the problem was solved.

Thus: an SMC-reset with the keyboard on a MacBook with a non-replacable battery might not work fully, physically disconnecting the battery will do.

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