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#1 2008-05-23 2:27 pm
- onceinawhile
- Member
- Registered: 2006-06-15
- Posts: 53
Battery just shows "X"
I've heard of this being a problem among MacBooks a long time ago, but it just now hit me.
-I have two MB batteries. Both, when in, only show a black 'X' in the top right corner of my screen. When the AC adapter is released, the computer shuts down.
-This problem only started when I JUST picked it up from getting Apple repairs for another problem.
-I have downloaded the Battery Update 1.2 and taken out/replaced the batteries several times to no avail.
Now what?
Last edited by onceinawhile (2008-05-23 2:28 pm)
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#2 2008-05-23 2:37 pm
- dvpierce
- Negusa Negest
- Moderator
- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 16800
Re: Battery just shows "X"
When the batteries get run down too completely, they lose the ability to hold a charge. It's a common MacBook problem.
It probably started after that because they left the machine in sleep mode, unplugged it, and set it on a shelf while it waited for you to come pick it up.
Apple "fixes" it by replacing the battery.
Batteries are only covered for the first year of the three year AppleCare warranty, if you have that. Otherwise, they're like $130.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#3 2008-05-23 2:50 pm
- onceinawhile
- Member
- Registered: 2006-06-15
- Posts: 53
Re: Battery just shows "X"
I have AppleCare and the batteries are only covered for the first year?
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#4 2008-05-23 3:00 pm
- sturner
- Royal High Poobah
- Moderator
- From: Carrollton, TX USA
- Registered: 2000-01-31
- Posts: 9863
Re: Battery just shows "X"
Batteries are a consumable item.
"There were places in the world commemorating those times when wizards hadn't been quite as clever [as to refrain from doing magic when you knew how easy it was], and on many of them the grass would never grow again." Terry Prachett
There are 3 types of people, those who can count and those who can't.
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#5 2008-05-23 3:04 pm
- onceinawhile
- Member
- Registered: 2006-06-15
- Posts: 53
Re: Battery just shows "X"
First of all, if this was a common problem, why would an official Mac tech shop keep my computer in sleep mode for so long?
Second of all, is it really the battery that's broken if I tried another battery I own, and it didn't work either? It's also showing an "X."
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#6 2008-05-23 3:17 pm
- onceinawhile
- Member
- Registered: 2006-06-15
- Posts: 53
Re: Battery just shows "X"
I just called AppleCare and I believe they're sending me a new battery. They must have made an exception or something. I told them I have two batteries that both aren't working. 
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#7 2008-05-23 3:24 pm
- sturner
- Royal High Poobah
- Moderator
- From: Carrollton, TX USA
- Registered: 2000-01-31
- Posts: 9863
Re: Battery just shows "X"
Idiots are everywhere.
The other battery could have met its shelflife.
"There were places in the world commemorating those times when wizards hadn't been quite as clever [as to refrain from doing magic when you knew how easy it was], and on many of them the grass would never grow again." Terry Prachett
There are 3 types of people, those who can count and those who can't.
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#8 2008-05-24 9:35 am
- dvpierce
- Negusa Negest
- Moderator
- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 16800
Re: Battery just shows "X"
onceinawhile wrote:
First of all, if this was a common problem, why would an official Mac tech shop keep my computer in sleep mode for so long?
They forgot.
Second of all, is it really the battery that's broken if I tried another battery I own, and it didn't work either? It's also showing an "X."
Could be your computer. Wouldn't you prefer it was the battery? That's more likely anyway.
And yeah, batteries are a consumable.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#9 2008-05-28 5:50 pm
- onceinawhile
- Member
- Registered: 2006-06-15
- Posts: 53
Re: Battery just shows "X"
I just got the replacement battery. Put it in when my MB was off, turned it back on with the AC power, and it still says "X."
Shutting off and turning my MB back on didn't fix it.
Last edited by onceinawhile (2008-05-28 7:16 pm)
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