I recently got a Duo 280c from eBay, described as including two batteries of which it said: 'one at least appears to hold a reasonable charge'. It did, booting OK after a few days in transit and I used it on battery for at least 20/30 minutes before plugging in the adapter when it seemed to recharge OK. As I don't yet have a Dock (these don't appear very often on the UK eBay) there was little I could do with it, so it was left turned off for about 2 weeks. When I got back from a trip I tried starting up with the adapter plugged in and noticed the battery not charging - at all, even though left plugged in overnight. I tried reconditioning the battery but this just crashed the machine. I then tried the other battery - swapping I think, when asleep, but the Duo would not then wake up. At least, I thought it was asleep - the light was flashing at a very much slower rate, hence the above title, taken from a recent message in this list. What does this indicate? After looking up Usenet archives relating to sleep problems I reset the PRAM about 4 times, then tried fiddling with the sleep catch next to the trackball button in case this had stuck - with no effect. (Couldn't open up the case to look closer as I don't have a torx - hope this does not disqualify me from this list!). Eventually it woke after apparently random reset button/sleep button/power button pressing, and started up normally when tried for the next few days. I tried a battery recondition again and, after about one second this reported that reconditioning had been successful, but the battery still doesn't charge up. In a Startup Items (Disabled) folder was 'PRAM Battery Checker' - I placed this in the Startup folder and once I got a 'PRAM battery has failed' message on restarting, though if it is a rechargable this could be because I swapped batteries without the adapter in when asleep. It has not appeared since. Again, the machine has been off for about a week and when I plugged in the power adapter and pressed the on button I immediately got the '8 dongs of death tune' (sorry don't know the technical name but I assume this is the notification of a hardware problem message) and the green light in the lid lit up. After two presses of the reset button, however, the machine started normally. Any ideas of the cause? The battery appeared OK at first and it seems unlikely it should have failed like this - could a software problem be the cause? I can't test with TechTool or reinstall another system - I only have 7.6.1 and 9.0.4 - until I get a Dock. The power adapter seems to be the correct one - M2693. Thanks, John -- ---------- Duo/2400 List, The friendliest place on the Net! A listserv for users and fans of Mac subportables. FAQ at <http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists/DuoListFAQ.shtml> Be sure to visit Mac2400! <http://www.sineware.com/mac2400> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Need help from a real person? Try. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ---------- Dr. Bott | 10/100 Ethernet for your 2400 is finally here! MPC-100 | <http://www.drbott.com/prod/mpc100.html> NineWire | If they are cool enough to host this list... Digital Solutions | ...you should check them out! http://www.NineWire.com/ Midwest Mac Parts ][ <http://www.midwestmac.com> After-market parts for Macs. ][ 888-356-1104 ][ MacResQ Specials: LaCie SCSI CDR From $99! PowerBook 3400/200 Only $879! Norton AntiVirus 6 Only $19! We Stock PARTS! <http://www.macresq.com>
