I have a very interesting problem with my Powerbook G4 800Mhz and am hoping for some insights.
About a week ago, my Powerbook battery stopped charging completely, and showed 0% in the tool bar. Since the battery was about 2 years old, I thought it was time for a change, so I bought a brand new high capacity battery from OWC.
After being in the notebook, the battery refuses to charge. It's not even warm... However, the notebook acknowledges that it "sees" a battery. The AC adapter glows orange, which indicates to me that it seems to think it is charging the battery, but the battery will not charge.
I removed the bottom pan of the Powerbook and used a volt meter to test the battery pins on the bottom of the logic board (there are six pins). One of the pins is ground, the others read as follows: 15.2V, 5V, 3.3V, 3.3V, and 0V. I have no idea what the pins are for, but I believe the 15.2V is coming from the battery. The one pin that shows 0V has me concerned, but that might be just a signal pin of some type.
Does anyone know what the 6 pins are that lead to the battery? I believe this to be a hardware problem, as I'm running 10.3 (no updates) from a fresh install.
Also, what would be the likely culprit here? The charger works, the battery is new, and when the computer is off, the battery still doesn't charge. Could the DC-in board be suspect?
I have a very interesting problem with my Powerbook G4 800Mhz and am hoping for some insights.
About a week ago, my Powerbook battery stopped charging completely, and showed 0% in the tool bar. Since the battery was about 2 years old, I thought it was time for a change, so I bought a brand new high capacity battery from OWC.
After being in the notebook, the battery refuses to charge. It's not even warm... However, the notebook acknowledges that it "sees" a battery. The AC adapter glows orange, which indicates to me that it seems to think it is charging the battery, but the battery will not charge.
I removed the bottom pan of the Powerbook and used a volt meter to test the battery pins on the bottom of the logic board (there are six pins). One of the pins is ground, the others read as follows: 15.2V, 5V, 3.3V, 3.3V, and 0V. I have no idea what the pins are for, but I believe the 15.2V is coming from the battery. The one pin that shows 0V has me concerned, but that might be just a signal pin of some type.
Does anyone know what the 6 pins are that lead to the battery? I believe this to be a hardware problem, as I'm running 10.3 (no updates) from a fresh install.
Also, what would be the likely culprit here? The charger works, the battery is new, and when the computer is off, the battery still doesn't charge. Could the DC-in board be suspect?
boisy@redacted.invalid wrote:
I have a very interesting problem with my Powerbook G4 800Mhz and am hoping for some insights.
About a week ago, my Powerbook battery stopped charging completely, and showed 0% in the tool bar. Since the battery was about 2 years old, I thought it was time for a change, so I bought a brand new high capacity battery from OWC.
After being in the notebook, the battery refuses to charge. It's not even warm... However, the notebook acknowledges that it "sees" a battery. The AC adapter glows orange, which indicates to me that it seems to think it is charging the battery, but the battery will not charge.
I removed the bottom pan of the Powerbook and used a volt meter to test the battery pins on the bottom of the logic board (there are six pins). One of the pins is ground, the others read as follows: 15.2V, 5V, 3.3V, 3.3V, and 0V. I have no idea what the pins are for, but I believe the 15.2V is coming from the battery. The one pin that shows 0V has me concerned, but that might be just a signal pin of some type.
Does anyone know what the 6 pins are that lead to the battery? I believe this to be a hardware problem, as I'm running 10.3 (no updates) from a fresh install.
Also, what would be the likely culprit here? The charger works, the battery is new, and when the computer is off, the battery still doesn't charge. Could the DC-in board be suspect?
First I'd try to find another powerbook that uses the same battery and try both the old and the new in it.
HTH
boisy@redacted.invalid wrote:
Also, what would be the likely culprit here? The charger works, the battery is new, and when the computer is off, the battery still doesn't charge. Could the DC-in board be suspect?
I don't know the 800 so well but I fear the charging logic is located on the logic board. From what you tell us,
About a week ago, my Powerbook battery stopped charging completely, and showed 0% in the tool bar
I believe that this logic is not working any more. Otherwise your first battery should had to become weak slowly. If it stopped charging suddenly, I think the battery is still good.
Florian