Note: Once the Battery Update software has been installed, each battery you install in your PowerBook or iBook will be updated automatically.
That, I've seen. But the above quote does raise my eyebrows. Is there firmware in my battery? What does it do? Did it get updated? I don't really see what's going on there.
si your battery has a miniprocessor so to say. it continuosly monitors and calculates your batts levels. that's why you can check it's levels even if the comp is off.
Anyone tried this on a 12" G4 iBook? Since I got mine I've been getting a good 4 hours of battery life and I'd cry and cry and cry if this update went bad and reduced this. Mind you, if battery life went up...
Well, it seems to have boosted my battery life significantly. Used to be, I'd be lucky to get 2 hours even with low-power settings in Energy Saver and my backlight cut to 1/3.
Now, I seem to be getting estimates for nearly that much time on the highest power settings and backlight at full. We'll see, but the percentages aren't dropping nearly as fast as before.
I think it's improved battery life, but it's rather difficult to tell, because my battery life menu bar indicator now never updates (i.e. it'll stay at X% indefinitely). I can get it to update by changing the display from something to another (turn the timer on or off, turn the percentage on or off), and that will refresh it, but it'll never refresh on its own.
it *feels* like my 12" Powerbook DVI now lasts a bit longer.. but I can't tell for sure (I was too lazy to do a complete test before installing the update ). All I know is that ioreg now reports a capacity of 4200 instead of 3900-something, so it looks like ik just recognizes a bigger battery now.
This update killed my battery!!!!!! I just realized this today on the bus. I got 1 hour on my 12" rev a powerbook with everything off. Modem off, Bluetooth, airport, ethernet, off. Screen at brightest, watching a VIDEO_TS folder off my hard drive in DVD Player, I got just over an hour. Used to get much better in Jag. I am assuming it was the Battery Update but I updated from Jag to 10.3.2 at the same time so it's hard to say. Will reinstalling Panther and erasing my disk get rid of the "battery update"?? I'm going to do this and see what happens to my battery time.
Before reinstalling, why not try letting your battery run down all the way (Apple KB article describes how) and then letting the battery charge again from the empty battery? I did this over the weekend, and went from 3 hours to 4.8 hours life. Simpler than reinstalling the OS.
This update killed my battery!!!!!! I just realized this today on the bus. I got 1 hour on my 12" rev a powerbook with everything off. Modem off, Bluetooth, airport, ethernet, off. Screen at brightest, watching a VIDEO_TS folder off my hard drive in DVD Player, I got just over an hour. Used to get much better in Jag. I am assuming it was the Battery Update but I updated from Jag to 10.3.2 at the same time so it's hard to say. Will reinstalling Panther and erasing my disk get rid of the "battery update"?? I'm going to do this and see what happens to my battery time.
What are your symptoms? Does it cut out with some percentage left in the battery or does it just get to 0% faster? I had a problem with my battery that it would just run out of juice despite the battery menu item saying there was 40% left in it. When I plugged in, the meter would read 0% and charging. I took it to Apple and they gave me a new battery. IIRC, we got our powerbooks at about the same time so maybe there was a bad batch of batteries.
Comments
About the Battery Update
The Battery Update enhances the performance of the battery to ensure that full capacity is available for your PowerBook or iBook.
System Requirements
Installation of the Battery Update requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later.
The Battery Update supports the following products:
iBook (Dual USB)
iBook (Late 2001)
iBook (Opaque 16 VRAM)
iBook (32 VRAM)
iBook G4 (12-inch)
PowerBook G4 (12-inch)
PowerBook G4 (12-inch DVI)
PowerBook G4 (15-inch FW 800)
PowerBook G4 (17-inch)
PowerBook G4 (17-inch 1.33GHz)
Note: Once the Battery Update software has been installed, each battery you install in your PowerBook or iBook will be updated automatically.
© Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iBook, and PowerBook are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Originally posted by MCQ
Note: Once the Battery Update software has been installed, each battery you install in your PowerBook or iBook will be updated automatically.
That, I've seen. But the above quote does raise my eyebrows. Is there firmware in my battery? What does it do? Did it get updated? I don't really see what's going on there.
Originally posted by Ebby
Wasn't there a way to reset this battery processor? I may need to because my Pismo battery is dying.
Do you mean (re)calibrating the battery or something else?
Now, I seem to be getting estimates for nearly that much time on the highest power settings and backlight at full. We'll see, but the percentages aren't dropping nearly as fast as before.
Originally posted by Ebby
Wasn't there a way to reset this battery processor? I may need to because my Pismo battery is dying.
Well a dead battery won't be resurreccted by updating it via software. That would be cool, but that is not a fact. anything else?
best
Originally posted by ColorClassicG5
I ... because my battery life menu bar indicator now never updates (i.e. it'll stay at X% indefinitely). ..., but it'll never refresh on its own.
than something gone bad;-)
perhaps you trash some "internet_menue.plist"-file. don't nail me with the name, im not sitting in front of my own machine right now.
best
Originally posted by Aquatic
Will reinstalling Panther and erasing my disk get rid of the "battery update"?? I'm going to do this and see what happens to my battery time.
I think so, because I did a clean install of Panther on my rev b 12incher and the battery update came up again in SW Update.
Originally posted by Aquatic
This update killed my battery!!!!!! I just realized this today on the bus. I got 1 hour on my 12" rev a powerbook with everything off. Modem off, Bluetooth, airport, ethernet, off. Screen at brightest, watching a VIDEO_TS folder off my hard drive in DVD Player, I got just over an hour. Used to get much better in Jag. I am assuming it was the Battery Update but I updated from Jag to 10.3.2 at the same time so it's hard to say. Will reinstalling Panther and erasing my disk get rid of the "battery update"?? I'm going to do this and see what happens to my battery time.
What are your symptoms? Does it cut out with some percentage left in the battery or does it just get to 0% faster? I had a problem with my battery that it would just run out of juice despite the battery menu item saying there was 40% left in it. When I plugged in, the meter would read 0% and charging. I took it to Apple and they gave me a new battery. IIRC, we got our powerbooks at about the same time so maybe there was a bad batch of batteries.