Help solve two G4 Powerbooks' battery problems!

December 4, 2005 4:16 PM

Help solve two G4 Powerbooks' battery problems! (One wakes up from sleep and depletes itself to death, one can't estimate time remaining accurately and goes to sleep when battery isn't empty)

Both Powerbooks are running OS X 10.4.

PB#1 is a 15" 1Ghz G4 PB. Battery length is fine; however, the latch is crappy, and so it will sometimes open up when I put it away, and not ever go to sleep. The battery will deplete itself all the way to death, and by death I mean that instead of sleeping before the battery is exhausted, it tries to keep going, and I end up with a completely dead computer that must be plugged in and started back up from scratch, thereby losing any unsaved info I had left open when I put it away.

PB #2 is a 12" Powerbook G4 with very little (256mb) ram. The "time remaining" meter is broken, and by that I mean the computer will say "35 minutes remaining" and then suddenly go to sleep and refuse to wake up until it's plugged in. Ideas?

posted by sdis to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

For PB #1, have you set the "Put this computer to sleep when it is inactive for:" setting on the "Sleep" tab of the Energy Saver preference panel?

for PB#2, have you tried resetting the Power Mangement Unit (PMU)?
posted by jjwiseman at 4:24 PM on December 4, 2005

#1: check out your 'energy saver' system preference tab, and be sure to have the computer sleep with inactivity.

#2:
Apple Battery Updater 1.1

and

How to calibrate your powerbook battery
posted by mmdei at 4:32 PM on December 4, 2005

Response by poster: PB #1 is set to go to sleep with 10 mins of inactivity when using the battery.

PB #2 is a few miles away, but I'll try this stuff
posted by sdis at 4:51 PM on December 4, 2005

I think this article has some ideas on how to get the lid on #1 to close securely - In short, a little more solid of a 'Thump' as you're closing the lid seems to make the latch more reliable.
posted by Orb2069 at 8:11 PM on December 4, 2005