If it's powering your computer when attached, I'd start to suspect the battery or the charger.
I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.
Spike ,'Sleeper'
Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."
Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!
DCJensen - Jan 15, 2010 6:47:01 pm PST #12343 of 25501
All is well that ends in pizza.
quester - Jan 15, 2010 7:01:18 pm PST #12344 of 25501
Danger is my middle name, only I spell it R. u. t. h. - Tina Belcher.
The battery appears good, I don't know how to check the charger.
NoiseDesign - Jan 15, 2010 7:45:10 pm PST #12345 of 25501
Our wings are not tired
I've had this happen with three batteries in MacBooks. Basically if you leave it plugged in most of the time you aren't allowing the battery to fully cycle and it will eventually fail and stop charging. The good news is that in all of the cases where I've had this happen a trip to the Apple Genius Bar has netted me a new battery at no charge.
Gris - Jan 16, 2010 4:07:57 am PST #12346 of 25501
Hey. New board.
I'm almost certain this is your charger, quester. I had almost the exact same effect happening with my old Macbook Pro charger - really faint green light that kept the computer running, but didn't charge the battery. Another charger would work perfectly.
I was usually able to get mine working by unplugging and replugging it, turning it over and trying the other direction, and moving the wire around a bit - generally futzing with it. Eventually, the light would turn charging orange and all would be well with the world. But it was getting worse. Then I spilled Diet Dr. Pepper on that computer and bought a new one, so I haven't had to worry about it since.
quester - Jan 16, 2010 12:52:01 pm PST #12347 of 25501
Danger is my middle name, only I spell it R. u. t. h. - Tina Belcher.
So Gris, by charger, do you mean the the power cord with the mag plug? Because replacing that would be easier than a battery, I'm thinking.
NoiseDesign - Jan 16, 2010 1:11:53 pm PST #12348 of 25501
Our wings are not tired
Either way take it to an Apple store. In almost every instance that I've had to deal with something like this they've given me a new battery or new power cord gratis. This is even on machines that are long out of Apple Care coverage.
Jessica - Jan 16, 2010 1:16:51 pm PST #12349 of 25501
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
Seconding ND - the Genius Bar employees are empowered to give you free shit if they're in a good mood, and they almost always are.
DCJensen - Jan 16, 2010 3:43:14 pm PST #12350 of 25501
All is well that ends in pizza.
I would be always in a good mood if I worked at a Genius Bar, too...
DCJensen - Jan 16, 2010 3:46:22 pm PST #12351 of 25501
All is well that ends in pizza.
Quester, the charger is actually inside the base of the MacBook, generally it is a built-in AC adapter, and shunts power to both charging and powering the laptop.
tommyrot - Jan 16, 2010 4:20:22 pm PST #12352 of 25501
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
Bah. The sound stopped working on my MacBook Pro. When I press the various volume and mute buttons, there is a small circle with a line through it below the volume bar graph.
Rebooting didn't help. When I plug headphones into it, they work, and when I use the volume controls the little circle with a line through it goes away. But when I unplug the headphones, sound no longer works and that circle with a line through it comes back.
eta: When I go to System Preferences, Digital Out is the only option that shows up under Sound / Output.