# Mac power supply problem **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-power-supply-problem/271084 "2004-10-25T18:35:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-power-supply-problem/271084/1 "2004-10-25T18:35:25Z")
iBookG4. Basically, it says the battery is fully charged, and where you plug the cord in is glowing orange. But when I pull the cord out it just goes Zzzert and the screen goes black, as though there were no power whatsoever. Any ideas? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-power-supply-problem/271084/2 "2004-10-25T18:43:08Z")
FWIW, now the plug is glowing yellow. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-power-supply-problem/271084/3 "2004-10-25T18:52:20Z")
I’ve got a PowerBook G4, and over the last several months I’ve seen a definate decrease in my battery life - effectively, when it says 36% now, it really means “fixing to shut off”. It’s been getting worse and worse, and it seems like I just need to get a new battery. I tried instructions on the Mac Support page for resetting my, I think, Power Manager? It didn’t work, though. There were several troubleshooting guides for power issues at least for my computer there, however, so you might want to give it a go, or try a new battery. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-power-supply-problem/271084/4 "2004-10-25T18:52:40Z")
Have I done something weird? I just shut it down. Then pulled the plug. The restarted it and it seems fine. If you want to pull the plug you need to shut down first? Because when I pulled the plug the whole thing just went dead. Tell me if I’m abusing the machine… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-power-supply-problem/271084/5 "2004-10-25T19:26:31Z")
Sounds like your power cable connector may be damaged. When there’s a short, it glows orange or red, and when it’s charging, it glows yellow. (Or yellowish-orange.) When it’s working properly and the battery is charged it should glow green. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-power-supply-problem/271084/6 "2004-10-25T20:46:47Z")
OK, now why would this happen? If I pull the plug out at the wall outlet, the comp runs on the battery. But even then–it’s not connected to external juice at all–if I pull the plug out the comp’s socket, it just goes dead. Any explanation?! ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-power-supply-problem/271084/7 "2004-10-25T21:13:07Z")
And it is glowing orange, so I guess something is goofy. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-power-supply-problem/271084/8 "2004-10-25T21:14:20Z")
If it’s under warranty, take it to your Apple store (or call and have it sent in to Apple). Yeah, obvious, but I only say it because I received a brand new G4 PB that would die all of a sudden if I plugged-in or unplugged the Power Adapter while it was on. It’d boot from the battery by itself okay. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-power-supply-problem/271084/9 "2004-10-25T21:22:20Z")
I think there’s something wrong with a switch in the plug. I can pull the plug almost all the way out, so that the LED is not even glowing. But if I pull it out just a little bit more, PSHEWW. Dead. I got it to boot without the plug in awhile ago, but now it won’t. Crap hardware.