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MBP A1278 won't turn on, battery is not charging

Hello, I got a bad shape A1278 MBP!

I’ve managed to replace the keyboard, backlight, and the fan. I also installed an SSD and put a High Sierra on it. Everything was working fine except the replacement keyboard’s spacebar wasn’t working.

The OS said the battery is not charging. As far i know this is the original battery (like 10 years old) and it’s pretty much dead. Then I made a huge mistake, I let the battery drain down while the Mac was in sleep, and now it won’t turn on. The MagSafe LED is Green and the first battery checker LED flashes rapidly on check.

The system won’t turn on neither with or without the battery plugged in. Even though I’ve already ordered a new battery, I’d think the computer should work without battery.

Do you guys have any idea what could it be if it’s not the battery?

Thank you in advance!

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Ouch! the logic board likely has an issue within the charging logic.

There are some static sensitive components on the logic board (MOSFET’s) and these are part of the charging logic. The fact the MagSafe chargers LED is green and the battery checker is telling you the battery is fully discharged, is one of the symptoms. As the charger is not charging the battery.

When you get your new battery you’ll want to install this app CoconutBattery so you can monitor whats happing. Best to do this before you plug in the charger. Take a snapshot of the apps main window. Now plug in the charger, give it a moment the ‘Power adapter’ line should now say ‘Connected’ and depending on the batteries charge state the line just above will show ‘Charging With’ or ‘Battery Usage’ and a value in Watts. Around 90% is the point these change and the MagSafe charger LED will reflect this change from Amber to Green. If the battery never gets into charge state the logic board needs repairs.

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Actually after further investigation the situation seems like the SMC controller blocks the device from starting up.

I’ve managed to boot up with disconnected battery and using the SMC bypass method, but like this the fan is running at full speed, and the backlight leds are also disabled. Hopefully after installing the new battery and performing an SMC reset everything will be fine. Thank you for your reply though, i will definetly check on CoconutBattery!

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Janos M will be eternally grateful.
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