Power Problems

[ajmint]

For a few months, the MagSafe power adapter that came with my Mid 2008 white MacBook had only been working when I straightened the cable and made sure that it was not at an angle to my computer; later on, it intermitted from working altogether a few times, until it totally stopped working (my laptop happened to have 0% battery when it did, leaving a DVD stuck inside my slot-loading drive). I promptly ordered a new one from eBay; it arrived within a week, and worked perfectly; the battery charged again.

 

However, on Saturday, even while I had my new adapter plugged in, my computer suddenly powered off; I assumed that it was a one-off fault or something similar; when I powered it back up, and logged in, the menu bar informed me that my battery had 0% charge. I continued using it, assuming that the adapter would charge the battery up. However, less than a few minutes later, the computer shut off again. I checked my power cable; the LED on the end of the adapter showed green (shouldn't it have been orange, since I had no charge?); I tried several different sockets, to no avail. I then booted my computer back up, and in the time I had before it blacked out again, I noticed that, instead of telling me the remaining time left on the battery, the top of the menu presented when clicking on the battery icon in the menu bar read

 

Battery is not charging

 

Power Source: Power Adapter

 

and that the actual menu bar icon displayed the plug icon (plugged in) instead of the lightning bolt icon (battery charging). After some Internet research, I figured that there was something wrong with my battery (which also came with my MacBook), even though the bottom green light still flashed when I pressed the button.

 

So, naturally, I shelled out £45 for a replacement battery, this time from a seller on Amazon.co.uk (namely Laptop-Accessories4u); this arrived within a few days. I tried the new battery in my MacBook, but there was no difference; it still refused to charge.

 

Since the battery came with 40% charge, I now have around 20% to work with, but I have no idea how to get my Mac to charge the battery again. I have tried reseting my PRAM and SMC, but nothing I have tried yet has worked.

 

Does anybody have any idea what may have caused this, and how to fix it?

 

[i know that I have posted this on several different forums, but I am really desperate; I haven't been able to use my Mac for two weeks. ]

[Marclh]

Remove the battery and only have it plugged in. Does it still power off?