I guess this means I need a new battery?

[michaelsanford]

My iBook G4's battery died after about 2 minutes "fully charged", and when I plugged it back in and rebooted, this is my new battery icon.

Battery's already on the way from FastMac, though it was a little insanely pricey.

[Giaguara]

What's the cycle count for that battery? I would guess that system profiler fails to see it too...
Have you done the usual recalibration, resetting PRAM, PMU etc?

[michaelsanford]

Thanks for the reply. How shameful, I had no idea that you could reset the PMU.

I've done so, and now my iBook is communicating with the battery, but it refuses to charge it (menuitem reports "Battery is not charging"). If I leave my iBook unplugged for more than 10 seconds, my clock resets

Here's what System Profiler has to say

 Charge Information:
  Charge remaining (mAh):	435
  Charging:	No
  Full charge capacity (mAh):	581
  Health Information:
  Cycle count:	179
  Battery Installed:	Yes
  Amperage (mA):	0
  Voltage (mV):	16839

[michaelsanford]

PS In the last 10 seconds since I made the above post, my battery has ceased to communicate and I'm back to the above menuitem icon.

[Giaguara]

The cycle count does not seem abnormally high yet. But if it was the battery that originally shipped with it, it may also be the time...
Was this battery ever recalibrated during use? If after PMU + PRAM resets and then recharging it for hours it would still not show more life, then it may be out of luck. Will any of the lights on the battery show if pressed?

[michaelsanford]

(Grr, not getting email notifications.)

I know, the cycle count isn't high at all, but it is indeed the factory battery. After the PMU reset it does not charge, and no lights light on the battery. I think it's just finally dead.

Hopefully the new one from FastMac will arrive tomorrow

Thanks for the helpful tips, especially regarding the PMU reset!