Question Macbook Pro not turning on with no battery, and no LED let on power connector.

onepocketkid386

Junior Member
Dec 22, 2019
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I just purchased this very old Macbook Pro. It is a Mid 2010 model, A1278.

The battery was bulging, making the touch pad unusable, so I removed the battery.

After removing the battery, the Macbook will not turn on, and also the LED light on the power connector does not turn Green, like it did before I removed the battery.

I ordered a new battery on ebay, and really hoping that fixes the issue, but I am worried something else might be wrong.

Question is, is it normal for the LED light to remain dark when plugged in, and the Macbook not able to turn on without the battery installed?

Thanks.
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
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Try this.

1) Unplug the power cable
2) Hold down the power button for 10 seconds
3) While still holding the power button down, plug in the power cable. Continue to hold the power button down for another 10 seconds.
4) Release the power button
5) Press the power button as you would normally to turn it on

Does it start up?

Do note that, if it does, the fans will blast at full speed (this won't stop until a new battery is installed) and the machine will significantly throttle itself (probably to half speed with no boost clocks). This is because the charger alone can't provide enough juice to cover the power spikes needed by the CPU in normal operation.
 
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onepocketkid386

Junior Member
Dec 22, 2019
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Try this.

1) Unplug the power cable
2) Hold down the power button for 10 seconds
3) While still holding the power button down, plug in the power cable. Continue to hold the power button down for another 10 seconds.
4) Release the power button
5) Press the power button as you would normally to turn it on

Does it start up?

Do note that, if it does, the fans will blast at full speed (this won't stop until a new battery is installed) and the machine will significantly throttle itself (probably to half speed with no boost clocks). This is because the charger alone can't provide enough juice to cover the power spikes needed by the CPU in normal operation.

Thanks for your reply. I did those steps, and was still unable to power on the Macbook.

Question though. Is it normal for the LED lite on the power plug in to stay dark after being plugged in?

It did turn on when I had the bad battery plugged in, but now it is not turning on (the Green LED light) with the battery removed.

I read that the bulging dead battery is a fire hazard, so I removed it.

I really hope that a new battery will fix the issue.

About the LED light on the power adapter staying dark. Is that normal, or should it still turn on with the battery removed? Thanks for your help.
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,034
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Yeah, it is sometimes hard to get one running without the battery installed.

I haven't worked on a lot of them (not an Apple person myself), but I did look at them on occasion and did have one that wouldn't boot without the battery installed no matter what we tried (and we spent hours trying everything). Turns out on that one the power adapter also wasn't up to spec. The laptop would boot because the battery still had enough juice to boost it off, but the charger alone wasn't producing enough wattage to boot it standalone. Seems like it required an 85 watt adapter, and his was outputting less than that. That one came to me because the battery had swelled to the point where the touch pad stopped working, requiring an emergency "battery-ectomy". It is a wonder it didn't burn his house down.

It has been long enough that I don't remember if the power adapter LED stayed off or not in that case. I think it is a charging LED, though, so if that is the case obviously it won't light up without a battery to charge.

Since you've already ordered the battery, I wouldn't mess with anything else until you receive and install it. As long as you were careful when you removed the battery, chances are that it will work.
 

onepocketkid386

Junior Member
Dec 22, 2019
24
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Yeah, it is sometimes hard to get one running without the battery installed.

I haven't worked on a lot of them (not an Apple person myself), but I did look at them on occasion and did have one that wouldn't boot without the battery installed no matter what we tried (and we spent hours trying everything). Turns out on that one the power adapter also wasn't up to spec. The laptop would boot because the battery still had enough juice to boost it off, but the charger alone wasn't producing enough wattage to boot it standalone. Seems like it required an 85 watt adapter, and his was outputting less than that. That one came to me because the battery had swelled to the point where the touch pad stopped working, requiring an emergency "battery-ectomy". It is a wonder it didn't burn his house down.

It has been long enough that I don't remember if the power adapter LED stayed off or not in that case. I think it is a charging LED, though, so if that is the case obviously it won't light up without a battery to charge.

Since you've already ordered the battery, I wouldn't mess with anything else until you receive and install it. As long as you were careful when you removed the battery, chances are that it will work.

Thanks. I am just worried that something else might be wrong, because it is a 10 year old MacBook, and the youtube videos that I have seen shows that the LED light on the power cord did turn green without the battery installed, and they were able to power on the MacBook. The Mac adapter that I have for it is for an older MacBook (maybe 2007 or 2008), but it is a 45 watt power adapter, which is the same wattage that the 2010 model requires, and it was booting up when the dead battery was installed and it was turning Green. It just no longer turns Green, or comes on at all, now that there is no battery installed. I will just have to wait a few days and see if this new battery fixes the issue. I am kicking myself for buying such an old MacBook, lol. I just think they look really cool, and I got it for super cheap. Thought maybe I could just run Lubuntu Linux on it.
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
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If it is a 45 watt charger, that is a charger for a 2008-2011 MacBook Air, not for a 2010 Macbook Pro. The Air and Pro use two different wattage power chargers. The Air charger only outputs 45 watts, while the correct MacBook Pro charger outputs either 60 watts (13 inch Macbook Pro) or 85 watts (15 inch Macbook Pro).

1582982396856.png


A 45 watt charger is capable of charging the battery (albeit slowly) but is not capable of booting a MacBook Pro on its own.

What was probably happening before is that the battery (although damaged) wasn't completely dead and was still providing just enough juice together with the charger to boot the machine. I'll bet if you had left it running for a while plugged into the wall it would have either severely throttled down or just outright shut off once the battery went completely dead.

As far as what to do with it, it is Intel hardware so you could also just install and use Windows 10 on it full time (either via Boot Camp or using a much harder Windows 10-only UEFI install) and get a completely functional laptop that runs current Windows software.
 
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onepocketkid386

Junior Member
Dec 22, 2019
24
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If it is a 45 watt charger, that is a charger for a 2008-2011 MacBook Air, not for a 2010 Macbook Pro. The Air and Pro use two different wattage power chargers. The Air charger only outputs 45 watts, while the correct MacBook Pro charger outputs either 60 watts (13 inch Macbook Pro) or 85 watts (15 inch Macbook Pro).

View attachment 17633


A 45 watt charger is capable of charging the battery (albeit slowly) but is not capable of booting a MacBook Pro on its own.

What was probably happening before is that the battery (although damaged) wasn't completely dead and was still providing just enough juice together with the charger to boot the machine. I'll bet if you had left it running for a while plugged into the wall it would have either severely throttled down or just outright shut off once the battery went completely dead.

As far as what to do with it, it is Intel hardware so you could also just install and use Windows 10 on it full time (either via Boot Camp or using a much harder Windows 10-only UEFI install) and get a completely functional laptop that runs current Windows software.

Okay, thank you very much for your help. So, I need a 60 Watt Macbook charger for the 2010 Macbook Pro, and that is why I am not able to power it on using this older 45 Watt charger (it is the same T style one that you posted pics of). Thanks for your help. Just found the one I need (can only afford to buy Generic).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/60W-AC-Ada...101667?hash=item48d5973463:g:NfAAAOSw1UpdxRhG
 
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Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
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Okay, thank you very much for your help. So, I need a 60 Watt Macbook charger for the 2010 Macbook Pro, and that is why I am not able to power it on using this older 45 Watt charger (it is the same T style one that you posted pics of). Thanks for your help. Just found the one I need (can only afford to buy Generic).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/60W-AC-Ada...101667?hash=item48d5973463:g:NfAAAOSw1UpdxRhG

Like I said, I'm not an Apple person myself so I'm not as familiar with the hardware as an Apple fan might be. However, that info was straight from Apple's support pages. The Macbook Air is the only 45 watt-output charger shown there. If it is working with your model, it has to be one with an identical plug. I mentioned both the 60 and 85 watt chargers as you never said what size Macbook Pro you have.

You might hold off until you get and install your battery. The existing charger will charge the battery (slowly), so you can at least see whether it will boot before throwing more good money after bad. If it does work, though, I would make it a priority to replace the charger with one having the correct wattage output.
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
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If it’s a 13” MacBook Pro, then yes get the 60W. 15-17” you need the 85W adapter. Honestly although the 85W adapter is significantly larger, I’d pick it up especially if you’re going to be leaving the charger mostly in one place.
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,034
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If you have removed the battery, you can still run the MacBook by connecting it to an AC outlet with the included AC power adapter.
Unplug the power adapter, Ethernet cable and any other cables from the MacBook. Wait 10 minutes if you have been using the MacBook to allow it to cool off.
Plug one end of the power adapter into the power adapter port on the MacBook and plug the other end of the power adapter into an AC outlet. Turn the MacBook back over and put it on a table.
Press the power button and hold it for up to one second, until you hear the startup tone, to turn the MacBook back on.

That only works if you have the right AC charger for a Macbook Pro, which he didn't. The one he had was for a Macbook Air, which doesn't produce enough juice to run a Macbook Pro without a functional battery installed.
 

onepocketkid386

Junior Member
Dec 22, 2019
24
2
16
That only works if you have the right AC charger for a Macbook Pro, which he didn't. The one he had was for a Macbook Air, which doesn't produce enough juice to run a Macbook Pro without a functional battery installed.

Yeah, the AC Adapter was the issue. Once I received the 60 watt AC Adapter in the mail, and plugged it in, the Green light came right on. I did not try it with no battery installed, because I had already received my new battery in the mail several days before that.

The 45 watt ac adapter did not charge the new battery, even with the Macbook Pro turned off.

Anyways, everything worked perfect after installing a new battery, and plugging in the new 60 watt ac adapter.

Installed a new SSD, and used Internet Recovery to install MacOS High Sierra.

Thanks for your help.
 

onepocketkid386

Junior Member
Dec 22, 2019
24
2
16
That only works if you have the right AC charger for a Macbook Pro, which he didn't. The one he had was for a Macbook Air, which doesn't produce enough juice to run a Macbook Pro without a functional battery installed.

Yeah, the AC Adapter was the issue. Once I received the 60 watt AC Adapter in the mail, and plugged it in, the Green light came right on. I did not try it with no battery installed, because I had already received my new battery in the mail several days before that.

The 45 watt ac adapter did not charge the new battery, even with the Macbook Pro turned off.

Anyways, everything worked perfect after installing a new battery, and plugging in the new 60 watt ac adapter.

Installed a new SSD, and used Internet Recovery to install MacOS High Sierra.

The 10 year old MacBook runs surprisingly well with the new SSD, and only 4GB of ram installed.

Thanks for your help.
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,034
748
136
Anytime, glad it worked.

If you can't live with the MacOS upgrade limits on the laptop (and don't want to trust 3rd party hacks to get newer OSes installed), you can google search on how to get Win10 to install in Boot Camp to have an otherwise perfectly productive laptop.

Or, go with Linux (though not having done it, I don't know how difficult it might be to find usable Linux drivers for some of the hardware).
 
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onepocketkid386

Junior Member
Dec 22, 2019
24
2
16
Anytime, glad it worked.

If you can't live with the MacOS upgrade limits on the laptop (and don't want to trust 3rd party hacks to get newer OSes installed), you can google search on how to get Win10 to install in Boot Camp to have an otherwise perfectly productive laptop.

Or, go with Linux (though not having done it, I don't know how difficult it might be to find usable Linux drivers for some of the hardware).

Thanks. I like Linux. Lubuntu runs really fast on old laptops. I read that the fan is very noisy with Linux on Macbooks though. Anyways, I have grown to really enjoy MacOS. I understand that MacOS High Sierra is now 2 releases older then the newest Catalina release though.
 

dushvader

Junior Member
Jun 3, 2014
8
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66
I'm facing this same issue with a mid 2015 Macbook Pro 15 inch retina

The original battery had bulged up due to which i removed the battery and ordered a new one. Due to the Covid issue haven't got the new battery yet.
When i connect the magsafe adapter it glows green for few seconds and then turns orange.

Since the laptop was idle i installed new thermal paste, and then powered it on and strangely it booted up just fine (with the magsafe adapter glowing orange). The performance was smooth without any restarts. Instead of putting to sleep i shut down the laptop and since then haven't been able to login. I mention login because the system boots up fine, when i enter the user account password (OS X Catalina), the slider reaches about 40% and then restarts.