Two Macbook problems

CidonaBoy

I've just been given a macbook that belonged to a family member, and been told "its not working, you are good with computers (PC's!) fix it". Having no idea how to do so, I reckoned I would take my chances here.

This macbook to my knowledge has spent most of its time plugged in, very rarely having to rely on the battery for a power source, a few minutes at most. It has for a while, been giving inaccurate readings about how charged the battery is (Running out of power while it claimed 40% battery life remained), however it has now stopped charging altogether, instantly going into standby the moment the power lead is disconnected. is this a case of inaccurate readings about how much life is really, or is the battery pretty much screwed? Even now, its giving completely off the wall readings, claiming 2% battery life one minute, 66% the next.

I reckoned my first step to fixing this would be try to update all the software on the computer, on the off-chance that it could be a firmware issue, only to find I don't have the password for the keychain. They claim that they have used the same password in everything (It works for the "Login" keychain) but every time I try to use it for any other keychain "Microsoft_Intermediate_Certificates" , "FileVaultMaster", "System", "X509Anchors" and "System" (A second one) it simply says my password is incorrect. Is there any way of finding that master password again, or should I be phoning apple?

Thanks for all your help, forgive my newbiness with the machine, I only ever use it to play WoW, and if this should have been in the "Stupid Technology Forum" I apologise.

TrippyDK

Whenever my battery begins to act like that, it usually means the battery is fried. If you take it to a genius bar at an apple store, and it is still under warranty, they'll replace it then and there.

And about the second question, google up how to set up a root account through the Terminal and/or safe mode. Then you can create a new account and give it admin rights, and/or reset the master password

useless4

Drain the battery all the way down to empty , take the battery out and hold the on/off button for thirty seconds and put the battery back in. let it charge all the way up and see if that resets the battery some.

That is a common recommended apple fix.

Willscott

On your second question, you shouldn't need the password to the keychains you mentioned. Those are all system keychains, and aren't things you need to mess with. As long as you have the password to the account you should be fine, you ought to be able to ignore the other keychains without problem.

CidonaBoy

Willscott wrote: »

On your second question, you shouldn't need the password to the keychains you mentioned. Those are all system keychains, and aren't things you need to mess with. As long as you have the password to the account you should be fine, you ought to be able to ignore the other keychains without problem.

Maybe you are right, as I said I don't use this laptop much... its the password that the laptop asks for whenever I try to install anything. I only guessed it was something to do with Keychain...

Thanks for the input given so far, ye have been great help.

Silvertree

If you are trying to install software, and the password they gave you doesn't work, just reset it using the install disk.

1. First insert the disk and restart the machine holding down the “C” key on your keyboard.
2. Select the appropriate language from the list.
3. At the Welcome screen, click on the Utilities menu from the drop down bar and select Reset Password Utility.
4. In the top window, select your hard drive from the list of drives.
5. From the drop down menu, select the appropriate user.
6. Type the new password and confirm it.
7. Create a password hint if desired.
8. Click on Save.
9. Click OK on the keychain screen.
10. Close the Reset Password Utility and restart the machine.

Divebommah

re: the battery, I recently had this problem -- after only four months of owning my Mac, the battery health was quite poor. I frequently run the battery to the ground and recharge from scratch too.

Called Apple, they sent over a replacement two days later. Still under warranty, since I sprang for the three year.

kevbot

Your batteries are probably dead. There are a few things you should never do to a lithium-ion battery (the type used in most notebooks)... one of these is running it right dead (called deep-discharge), the other is keeping it constantly at full charge. Both of these conditions can either destroy the battery very quickly (deep discharge) or cause it to be unable to maintain a charge (constant charging). This sort of situation can also be caused by the way a battery pack is put together... the old Thinkpad 600 series batteries were wired improperly in series; batteries in the center of the series would be discharged and recharged far more often that those on either side, causing the battery to suddenly fail when it seemed to have a fair bit of charge left.

About the only thing you can do, as mentioned, is replace the batteries. If you aren't going to be using the batteries at all it's probably a better idea to not install them, although leaving a lithium battery in storage can also damage it, albeit less than keeping it constantly charged.