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Thread: Macbook 3.1 battery issue?

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    Macbook 3.1 battery issue?

    Hi All,

    Yes I have one of these that has been working fine up until a week ago, and a much newer Macbook.

    The 3.1 was used on battery power alone for quite a while one day recently, nothing unusual happened, then plugged into the mains.

    Screen goes black after an ever shorter time. Started doing it after a couple of minutes. now down to 20 secs.

    Everything is still running, just a black screen. I can get it to light up by restarting to see what's going on, then: lights out.

    System report:

    Battery reads 102 cycles (low, but it has been nearly always plugged into mains)

    Condition: Normal

    Charging: No.

    Holding 4559 mAh out of 4600 ish max capacity

    Amperage: 0 mA

    Voltage: 12478 mV

    Is it worth putting a new battery in and seeing if that fixes it, or doing some resets first?

    cheers, DL

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    BradC is online now Super Moderator
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    Quote Originally Posted by 350RRC View Post
    Screen goes black after an ever shorter time. Started doing it after a couple of minutes. now down to 20 secs.
    When it "goes black" can you see what's on the screen with a bright torch? ie, is the thing pooping itself or is the backlight failing?

    If it's on the network, can you remote or ssh into it from another machine and verify if it's still alive?

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    Quote Originally Posted by BradC View Post
    When it "goes black" can you see what's on the screen with a bright torch? ie, is the thing pooping itself or is the backlight failing?

    If it's on the network, can you remote or ssh into it from another machine and verify if it's still alive?
    Thanks Brad,

    It's definitely still alive as I alluded to.

    Goes black, press power off, press S as in sleep option that I obviously can't see on the screen, wait about 5 secs till it audibly takes a nap the press power on. All good for about 15 secs then lights out again.

    thanks, DL

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    Anyone at all out there who has a clue about this problem please?

    DL

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    Quote Originally Posted by 350RRC View Post
    Anyone at all out there who has a clue about this problem please?

    DL
    Do the fans spool up loud?

    I believe I read somewhere that the graphics cards could have issues on these. They aren't very hard to pull apart. The GFX cards can get dirty contacts after time.

    You may find some help here. Grab your model number and check it out.

    MacBook Core 2 Duo - iFixit
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    BradC is online now Super Moderator
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    Quote Originally Posted by BradC View Post
    When it "goes black" can you see what's on the screen with a bright torch? ie, is the thing pooping itself or is the backlight failing?
    You didn't answer this one.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BradC View Post
    You didn't answer this one.
    Sorry, I missed the torch bit.

    Yes, when the screen goes black it can be read with a torch. Machine is definitely running, just with a black screen.

    cheers, DL

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    Quote Originally Posted by 350RRC View Post
    Sorry, I missed the torch bit.

    Yes, when the screen goes black it can be read with a torch. Machine is definitely running, just with a black screen.

    cheers, DL
    So, either the backlight has failed or it's the GFX card. But you say it lights up for a bit, so i'm still going with the GFX card. Either way it's a tear down. They aren't too bad, unlike the later ones.
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    BradC is online now Super Moderator
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    Quote Originally Posted by johntins View Post
    So, either the backlight has failed or it's the GFX card. But you say it lights up for a bit, so i'm still going with the GFX card. Either way it's a tear down. They aren't too bad, unlike the later ones.
    If you can see the image how can you possibly blame the graphics card? The graphics card drives the panel and renders the image. The backlight makes it visible.

    The image is visible so a logical deduction would be the backlight. Next step is find out if it's LED or CCFL. It's unusual for a led to behave like that, but not at all unusual for an aged CCFL or its inverter.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BradC View Post
    If you can see the image how can you possibly blame the graphics card? The graphics card drives the panel and renders the image. The backlight makes it visible.

    The image is visible so a logical deduction would be the backlight. Next step is find out if it's LED or CCFL. It's unusual for a led to behave like that, but not at all unusual for an aged CCFL or its inverter.
    Because it's a well known issue with these devices. Admittedly so is the backlight. I've fixed one or two, including reflows on the logic board. I've never had to replace a display. But whatever. Take it apart. Clean the GFX card contacts as they will need it, do the same thing with the display connectors and see. No point getting into a ****ing contest over it.
    ​JayTee

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