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Macbook Pro PRAM issue?

post #1 of 2
11/1/12 at 4:44am
Thread Starter 

Hello all,

 

I have a MBP 5,1 (late 2008) and over the last few days it is giving me serious grief.  First the battery went pear shaped (second time this has happened) and because of the shape the trackpad would no longer work.  Okay I ordered a new battery.  Now there are several other things which have gone wrong.  I am currently using mains power with no battery installed.

 

1.  Audio  Two days ago the sound out of both speakers was distorted.  I could fix that by plugging some external speakers however today they also produce distorted sound.  Doesn't matter what type of file is playing.

 

2.  The on board trackpad has a mind of it's own.  It is very touchy (?)  sometimes it will work sometimes it won't particularly when clicking.  I adjusted the trackpad so at least it would click but not always.

 

3.  Bluetooth mouse (Logitech, yes I checked the batteries and they are okay) will no longer connect although the Magic Trackpad is fine. Well the magic trackpad connects but clicking is a problem, same as the onboard trackpad.  

 

4.  Time was out by 30 minutes today

 

Is this a PRAM battery issue?  If it is how can I find out what battery to buy (I can't find out from my searching the net) and can I install it myself or does it need to go a Mac shop?  I have reset PRAM and SMC but no difference.

 

If it's not a PRAM battery issue what is the likely problem?

 

I have repaired permissions etc via Onyx

 

TIA

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post #2 of 2
11/8/12 at 12:31am

The Macbook Pro (A1286) doesn't have a PRAM battery in it.  I think, having removed the main battery/ with it dead, you may have inadvertantly lost all settings for things like the bluetooth mouse.  You'll need to go into preferences pane to reconnect that.

 

The trackpad has probably been damaged by the battery swelling up and putting pressure on it.  You could have it replaced or use an external one.  However, it may be worth rebuilding preferences as this may inadvertantly fix the issue (Software glitch when battery no longer held charge & macbook didn't shut down properly?).  Similarly, audio may be down to the amp's settings or down to the pmu (SMC), which you've re-set.  However, preferences for that would have been lost.

 

In effect, go into Disk utilities and repair disk permissions, then go into Prefs Pane and reset the things that are cuasing you issues.

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