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TICKET ARCHIVE -> ibook g4 sudden shutdown when unplugged

stagegurl - Nov 3, 2007 - 1:26 pm

several months ago when my ibook g4 was just over a year old it began suddenly going to a blank screen when the battery was fully charged and the computer was unplugged. Sometimes i would hold down the power button and the computer would come back from seemingly having fallen asleep. other times i would have to plug the computer in and hold down the power button for it to come back. to do this it would make this whirring fan sound before going from a black to a gray screen and then finally re-starting up from the beginning. a box would then appear telling me that my date and time were set wrong and that this could cause some functions to behave erratically. this despite my having frequently changed the date and time zone back to my own and locking the settings. the computer keeps switching the date back to 1969. and now when i put a dvd into the computer it just spits it back out and won't play it. long story short...i am beginning to hate my mac. what's the point of a laptop if you have to leave it plugged in for it to work. apple tech support has done nothing to help me and has refused to admit that the g4's have a problem despite my having read about tons of people having these exact same problems after a year. i read something about how in denmark this consumer group proved that there was a faulty part attached to the battery coming loose and that they were suing apple. do u know how i can fix this. please help!

DeltaMac - Nov 3, 2007 - 1:43 pm

Your battery may simply be depleted. Batteries eventually wear out, and just won't hold a charge anymore. Apple uses a one-hour reference. If you get around one hour of battery-only life or longer, then the battery can reasonably be called 'good'. That may not be as good as you want it, but it's just a reference point for Apple. If you get less than that, Apple will call that battery failed. If you are still within the original one-year warranty (AppleCare extended warranty doesn't always provide coverage for batteries that are over one year old), then you should be able to get a replacement battery under warranty.
Your iBook is out of warranty, and you should purchase a replacement battery for your iBook.
If you have already tried a new battery, and the battery life is still bad, then you have other hardware problems. The internal power port (where the power adapter plugs in) sometimes fails, and you get power, but the battery won't charge properly.
There are other possible failures, and a good Apple tech can tell you what may be needed.
If your main battery is dead, then you lose the time & date. No iBook has a backup battery to keep the settings if the main battery is removed, or goes dead for any reason. It doesn't matter if you lock the settings, as that only prevents you from changing time, but you still lose the settings if you remove the battery.
Let me know if this info helps you...
- Dale

TechSupport - Nov 8, 2007 - 3:50 pm

We apologize for not being able to resolve the issue you asked of us. It is the absolute worst case scenario for us to do this. In our review of why this happens, it generally is related to either the particular issue being addressed or frequently, incomplete or incorrect information provided. We hope by moving your request to the public forums that you will be able to get a solution without leaving you empty handed.

Your ticket has been closed with our support team. Your request has just been posted to Mac OS X System & Mac Software and is available for your viewing at:

http://macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=296304

Again, thank you for using Macosx.com. We hope you will consider using us again in the future.

stagegurl - Nov 8, 2007 - 3:51 pm

here is the thing.
the battery is fully charged.
at least that is what it says in the up right corner of my machine. i am concerned that it is the logic board. and why has my dvd player suddenly not working? i put a dvd in the machine and it just spits it back out even when i manually open the dvd player. what gives? i don't have applecare. am i going to have to go to tek serve and shell out 800 bucks for them to fix this thing? please help! i tried to respond to the earlier email but the link didn't work thus i am re-opening my question. please help!

stagegurl - Nov 9, 2007 - 4:51 pm

here is the thing.
the battery is fully charged.
at least that is what it says in the up right corner of my machine. i am concerned that it is the logic board. and why has my dvd player suddenly not working? i put a dvd in the machine and it just spits it back out even when i manually open the dvd player. what gives? i don't have applecare. am i going to have to go to tek serve and shell out 800 bucks for them to fix this thing? please help! i tried to respond to the earlier email but the link didn't work thus i am re-opening my question. please help!

Cheryl - Nov 11, 2007 - 6:20 am

Frances,

Try resetting the battery. Shut down the iBook. Remove the battery from the iBook. Wait ten minutes, then plug it back in.

Have you installed Battery Update?
[ur]http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/batteryupdate.html[/url]

If this does not work, then Dale is correct and you need a new battery. This is especially true if you are using the original battery that came with the iBook.
Batteries last about 3 years before it can not take a correct charge.

Cheryl