PDA

View Full Version : Apple CMOS battery?

thewolfe
06-10-2006, 07:27 PM
Apple CMOS battery?

A friend has an iBook G4. He turned it off and then it wouldn't turn on.

He let it sit for about a half hour and then it did turn on but his time was back to 1986.

Does that sound like the CMOS battery.

If so is that easy to change? Never messed with a laptop CMOS battery.
Budfred
06-10-2006, 08:38 PM
Someone may know your answer, but the best bet would be a site that is called AppleGuide or something like that... :D
PrntRhd
06-10-2006, 10:40 PM
Here are two likely sources:
http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa
http://forums.macnn.com/
thewolfe
06-11-2006, 12:19 AM
Thanks for the posts. I'm going suggest he take it to the "doctor".
saphalline
06-11-2006, 06:14 AM
If so is that easy to change?In an iBook?? :eek: Hahahahaaa!

If you've never done it before, don't try it! I think you're on the right track - take it into a "doctor". It could be as simple as a dead CMOS battery (quite possible for a G4 model) or it could be as complex as a faulty mobo. If it's the latter and it's no longer under warranty (did he buy the extended warranty?) then he'd probably be better off buying a new laptop.
thewolfe
06-11-2006, 12:20 PM
He does have an extended warranty.

Why is it I can't find anything on a CMOS battery for the G4 in the manual or through a Google search?

Is there actually a CMOS battery as there is in desktops?
PrntRhd
06-11-2006, 02:52 PM
It is a computer, you will have either a CMOS battery or a battery contained on top of a chip to save settings. The issue is that we are more familiar with PCs than Macs.
123456
06-11-2006, 03:06 PM
Last time I tried to change a laptop's CMOS battery, I accidently broke the video card... :eek:
saphalline
06-12-2006, 01:51 AM
If I remember correctly, an iBook's CMOS battery is contained inside of a plastic cage. But I could be mixing that up with a PowerBook... I'm just not sure. Like PrntRhd said, we're more about PC's around here.

In any case, it's not going to be in the manual! Apple doesn't make that info readily available because they don't want customers prodding the insides of their systems. They're much more secretive than most other computer manufacturers. It's all BLACK BOX with them.