Macbook A1181 - Battery not recognised

Question

Level 1

8 points

Macbook A1181 - Battery not recognised

Hello,

I bought this Macbook recently and the guy I was buying it from, told me that battery has finished its lifespan. It shows a black "X" symbol on the top bar.

If I disconnected the MagSafe Adapter from the computer it would immediately turn off (sleep light wouldn't even light up). I ordered a new replacement battery (not original) and replaced the old one. It shows 3 green lights - I just got it delivered yesterday. The Macbook won't turn on the battery itself, but when I connect the AC Adapter it turns on just fine. Now removing the MagSafe adapter when the computer is booting, it doesn't turn off and it runs from the battery, but the black "X" symbol is still there. I tried to reset the SMC controller and PRAM, but it didn't do anything at all. When the computer is off and I plug the charger, the LED light is orange, so I believe it should be charging and that stay for a bit, but when the computer is on and I remove the charger and plug it back in, the LED is green.

I left it over the night to charge, to see if there will be more lights on the battery, but sadly no.

I would be really grateful, if somebody would help me out with this.

Specs:
Macbook A1181 Late 2007

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2Ghz

2 GB of ram

Intel X3100 Graphics card

120GB HDD

Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5

iMac, Mac OS X (10.3.x)

Posted on Feb 4, 2017 3:57 AM

Reply

Answer 1

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Feb 4, 2017 12:05 PM in response to MukaPL

Post this from System Information>Power.

Make certain that the charger is connected.

Perhaps there may be a clue:

Also run an Apple Hardware Test:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201257

Note that an error free AHT is not conclusive.

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 2

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Feb 4, 2017 6:07 AM in response to MukaPL

You have done every thing that I would suggest and I do not have a definitive answer for you. A speculative possibility is that the third party battery that you purchased id not up to par. Unfortunately there are many such batteries for sale as these forums will attest to but this is only a guess.

I would try to reset the SMC a couple more times and if no success, take the Mac to an Apple store for a FREE evaluation.

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 3

MukaPL Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 4, 2017 10:58 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Ok, but I'm not sure if Apple will do any tests for me as this is vintage Macbook.

Maybe in the US, they would help me somehow, but in Poland, things are getting more complicated as not many people here are using mac computers.

Besides, I changed the battery connector (in both cases it's the energy star one, so I didn't made a mistake buying a replacement). When I changed it, the difference is that when I plug the charger, the LED on the MagSafe adapter is orange and on the battery the first light light up and the second start to flash two times and then lights dim. When I disconnect the charger and press the button on battery it shows two lights (They aren't blinking), so this gave me an idea that Macbook is somehow charging, but the power is after a moment cut off.

Maybe the MagSafe board is an issue?

This is my second replacement battery, the first one was already dead when I bought it, so the effect was the same as with the original one. I think it would charge for like 5 minutes and then stopped as I believe that's what is happening with this one, but it still holds a bit of charge.

The AC is also a replacement, but I tested with original AC and there is no difference, so I don't think AC is faulty.

Nevertheless, I'm going to buy MagSafe board to see what happens and post a results here.

I'm waiting for a reply, maybe you or somebody else have got any idea what has to be done with this thing.

Cheers

Reply

Answer 4

Feb 4, 2017 1:23 PM in response to MukaPL

Anker or OWC batteries are the only ones equal to oem apple batteries. Any cheap ones bought on eBay or amazon are not worth it. They will either not work right from the start or quickly give you problems not lone after you have them.

Reply

Answer 5

MukaPL Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 4, 2017 3:17 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

I did the extended AHT and actually it gave me one error:
4SNS/1/40000000: TBOT.

This may be related to some kind of sensor I believe.

Tomorow I'll post screen from System Information.

I checked it, but there's no info about any installed batteries or anything.

It only shows "System Power Settings" and "Hardware Configuration"

Once on the original battery it showed some more, but I don't recall what it was.

Reply

Answer 6

MukaPL Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 5, 2017 5:13 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

There isn't any information about AC Adapter or battery information in the System Information, at least in my case.

I'm gonna, send back this replacement battery and buy an genuine one.

I disassembled the top case of this Macbook and then I disconnected once again the battery connector.

I saw that there is a small black dot between pin contacts. It looks weird but I don't think it's burned or anything like that. I cleaned it and put it back together, but there no difference (I'm gonna send a photo of this dot later).

Maybe the logic board is the problem, I have no idea what to think about this Mac.

Cheers

Reply