2 Powerbook g4 17in Battery issues(HELP!!!)

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mcosmi@gmail.com - 13 Apr 2007 17:54 GMT

I have inherited a couple year old g4, and i got it with 2 batteries.
I assume on is the original and the second purchased later. First i
noticed that one(the original i presume) had problems. It would be
charged to 100% and i would start working off battery power and it
would drain normally to around 50% and without warning the laptop
would sleep. When i would plug it in and bring it back up, i would
see that the battery was on 0% and i would start charging it back up
and this happens every time.

After seeing this, i assumed the 2nd battery was purchased because of
this problem, so i just always used the 'newer' one. I had no
problems until about a week ago when i charged it up fully and when i
tried to power the laptop up on the road it wouldnt respond. i found
a plug and booted it up to find that my date was reset to 1969 and
that while plugged in my battery is stuck on 44%. It wont charge up
and the second i pull the plug the g4 dies and when i plug in and boot
the date and time have once again revertted to 1969.

This really sucks because now i have 2 batteries that are messed up
and i dont really wanna spend the 150bucks for a new battery unless i
absolutely have to. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the
hell i should/could do about these issues?

Any help would be MUCH APPRECIATED!!

Mike
mcosmi@gmail.com

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John Johnson - 13 Apr 2007 23:40 GMT

> I have inherited a couple year old g4, and i got it with 2 batteries.
> I assume on is the original and the second purchased later. First i
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> Mike
> mcosmi@gmail.com

To be quite honest, it sound like you need to spend the money on a new
battery. There's discussion on methods for recalibrating batteries in
the archives of this group; IIRC, Peter Renzland posted detailed
instructions on a few occasions. You could try that procedure and see if
it helps, but I'd just buy a battery and move on. I've had good luck
with NewerTech's battery in my AlBook, fwiw.

Signature

Later,
John

johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu

'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

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Verne Arase - 22 Apr 2007 01:55 GMT

> To be quite honest, it sound like you need to spend the money on a new
> battery. There's discussion on methods for recalibrating batteries in
> the archives of this group; IIRC, Peter Renzland posted detailed
> instructions on a few occasions. You could try that procedure and see if
> it helps, but I'd just buy a battery and move on. I've had good luck
> with NewerTech's battery in my AlBook, fwiw.

My NewerTech battery (from OWC) is working now ... after getting two duds
which didn't fit in my AlBook 17.

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John Johnson - 22 Apr 2007 03:57 GMT

> > To be quite honest, it sound like you need to spend the money on a new
> > battery. There's discussion on methods for recalibrating batteries in
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> My NewerTech battery (from OWC) is working now ... after getting two duds
> which didn't fit in my AlBook 17.

Ouch! Sorry to hear about that, but at least the battery works (knocks
on wood).

Signature

Later,
John

johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu

'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

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Fred McKenzie - 14 Apr 2007 01:19 GMT

> This really sucks because now i have 2 batteries that are messed up
> and i dont really wanna spend the 150bucks for a new battery unless i
> absolutely have to. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the
> hell i should/could do about these issues?

Mike-

My 17" PB is probably about the same age as yours. I've had no problems
with it, but once had to reset the Power Management Unit (PMU). It is
possible you have two good batteries.

From http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

For the 17-inch 1.67GHz PowerBook G4:

1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Disconnect the AC Adapter and remove the computer's battery.
3. Press and hold down the power button for 5 seconds and then release
the button.
4. Reconnect the battery and AC Adapter.
5. Press the Power button to restart the computer.

If that is not your model, check the Apple document for others. The
original 17-inch, the 1.33GHz and 1.5GHZ models are in a different group.

Fred

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Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / April 2007

2 Powerbook g4 17in Battery issues(HELP!!!)