My iBook only charges its battery when the unit is turned on.
Is this normal?
Seems fairly stupid.

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It is for sure not normal.

Probably the cable is just broken causing false information.

Geit

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OK, at least I now know this isn't some weird Apple design issue.
But I don't understand why it charges fine when its on.

The battery is new and I've cycled it completely a few times (which seems to have increased it usable charge).
But I'm not sure I trust the Chinese power supply.

The mantra: try resetting the PMU :)

jacadcaps,
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Oh please tell me there isn't one of those damned things on a iBook.
PMU issues have always plagued my PowerMacs.

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My first ever Mac computer was one of the very last Titanium G4 PowerBook models, the 1GHz version, and it died 3 times over 5 or 6 years that I used it. The first two failures were due to the DC board that the charging connector plugs into, which I replaced myself both times, to get it working again. Maybe your iBook has a similar problem?

That would not surprise me David.
Right now, I'm satisfied that it does charge.
So I'll leave it alone unless things get more complicated.

The apparent fragility of this iBook makes me worry about buying a key for it.

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I would go get yourself a G4 PowerBook instead, so you can have the more compact CardBus wireless NIC, plus more speed and a generally better built laptop computer than the iBook. I understand that the G4 iBook is priced really low, so it is attractive as an alternative, but I have had really good luck with both of my G4 PowerBooks for the past 2 years, and highly recommend them to anyone wanting a portable MorphOS system.