Gah... calibrating the battery sucks.

[SR71]

I just got my MBA today and want to do a calibration early on so that my battery lasts longer in the long term, so I googled around and found a youtube video that showed a terminal command that ramps up the processor core's, yes, both cores, to 100%, quickly draining the battery, but even still, it takes forever lol. I've got 5 tabs open at the moment in google chrome all playing a 12-minute gameplay trailer for battlefield 3 in 1080P with every single program that is loaded on my MBA running in the background, and browsing the web. My battery meter says it has 1:21 left till it dies, and my fans are a 6452 RPM.

So, do you guys know any other hints that helps battery calibration that much less painful?

Thanks in advance.

Also, here's the link to the youtube video that shows the terminal commands that will ramp up the processor cores to 100% quickly.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfGqBM_AyN0

And if you're wondering, the reason I'm making this post is to help others that are trying to calibrate their batteries and are having trouble doing it quickly, so I made this thread to give others some tips.

 

[msavwah]

 

[SR71]

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1490

If you're wondering what calibrating the battery is, that's a link to what it is, what it does, and how to do it.

 

[zepharus]

Um, call me silly... but perhaps instead of BLASTING it you use it normally until the battery is dead.. then like recharge it.

Just a thought

 

[simsaladimbamba]

The was probably more for the intention you have.
Why not use the MBA normally, as calibrating the battery during the first use does not make it stronger than calibrating on the third day?

This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions: Apple Notebook Battery FAQ

Btw, if the CPU is used to 100/200 % and the display is at its fullest brightness, there is not much you can do to make it discharge quicker, unless you connect an external display and two 2.5" HDDs via USB.

 

[GGJstudios]

So, do you guys know any other hints that helps battery calibration that much less painful?

Calibration doesn't have to be painful at all. Rather than trying to force it to drain quickly, just use it normally. When you see it running low, you can plug in or unplug as needed to make sure it runs out around bedtime. Use Caffeine (link in the FAQ under CALIBRATION) to keep it from going into sleep mode and just let it drain overnight (5+ hours after it powers off). Then plug it in the next morning and recharge. It's really not a pain.

And if you're wondering, the reason I'm making this post is to help others that are trying to calibrate their batteries and are having trouble doing it quickly, so I made this thread to give others some tips.

There are scores of battery threads. If you want tips, read the Apple Notebook Battery FAQ that simsaladimbamba posted. There's really no need to re-create another battery tips thread. That one seems to work for everyone.

 

[SR71]

Um, call me silly... but perhaps instead of BLASTING it you use it normally until the battery is dead.. then like recharge it.

Just a thought

If I did it like that, it'd probably take much much longer, and I've have to waste part of my day waiting the five hours for it to fully discharge, then wait for it to be fully charged again, which would take a long time. =/

I'd much rather use the method that I'm currently using to quickly drain the battery within an hour and a half and then just do the rest of it while I sleep. That way I only have to waste an hour and a half, go to sleep or something (since I'm doing this at night) so that the five hours of it discharging goes by quickly, and then just recharging it in the morning.

 

[SR71]

Calibration doesn't have to be painful at all. Rather than trying to force it to drain quickly, just use it normally. When you see it running low, you can plug in or unplug as needed to make sure it runs out around bedtime. Use Caffeine (link in the FAQ under CALIBRATION) to keep it from going into sleep mode and just let it drain overnight (5+ hours after it powers off). Then plug it in the next morning and recharge. It's really not a pain.

There are scores of battery threads. If you want tips, read the Apple Notebook Battery FAQ that simsaladimbamba posted. There's really no need to re-create another battery tips thread. That one seems to work for everyone.

I was not aware of Caffeine. I only meant to make this thread to give others some tips. It was not my intention to make another pointless thread, so I'm sorry if this thread came off as such.

I do want to thank you for your tip to use Caffeine as that should help me quite a bit, so thank you.

 

[GGJstudios]

I was not aware of Caffeine. I only meant to make this thread to give others some tips. It was not my intention to make another pointless thread, so I'm sorry if this thread came off as such.

I do want to thank you for your tip to use Caffeine as that should help me quite a bit, so thank you.

I didn't mean it was a pointless thread. I meant that there's already a "battery tips" post that most people refer to. As a resource for answering battery questions, that one covers just about everything that most people ask about. I've updated it over time, as needed, to make sure it covers all the most discussed topics.

 

[SR71]

I didn't mean it was a pointless thread. I meant that there's already a "battery tips" post that most people refer to. As a resource for answering battery questions, that one covers just about everything that most people ask about. I've updated it over time, as needed, to make sure it covers all the most discussed topics.

Okay, I will refer to the other thread then. This one can be closed I guess.

 

[FX4568]

Hey its okay, because of this thread I found the battery post.
It helps once in a while to have questions that are too common to be asked, but i can bet this will help more than people manually searching through it.
Never be afraid to ask simple questions

 

[Cheffy Dave]

Calibration doesn't have to be painful at all. Rather than trying to force it to drain quickly, just use it normally. When you see it running low, you can plug in or unplug as needed to make sure it runs out around bedtime. Use Caffeine (link in the FAQ under CALIBRATION) to keep it from going into sleep mode and just let it drain overnight (5+ hours after it powers off). Then plug it in the next morning and recharge. It's really not a pain.

There are scores of battery threads. If you want tips, read the Apple Notebook Battery FAQ that simsaladimbamba posted. There's really no need to re-create another battery tips thread. That one seems to work for everyone.

The voice of moderation

 

[klaze]

Hey, when your mac runs out of battery, does it go to sleep or does it just shut off? thanks!

 

[GGJstudios]

The voice of moderation

There's nothing in my post that suggests moderation of any kind. Informing someone about the existence of an existing resource before they attempt to re-create it is not moderating.

Hey, when your mac runs out of battery, does it go to sleep or does it just shut off? thanks!

If you use Caffeine, it will not go into sleep mode, but will shut down, instead. That makes the calibration process faster.

 

[RealScience]

Hey, when your mac runs out of battery, does it go to sleep or does it just shut off? thanks!

From the Apple battery calibration article referenced earlier in the thread:

When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The battery actually keeps back a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, with the safe sleep function introduced in the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) computers, the computer's memory contents have been saved to the hard drive. When power is restored, the computer returns itself to its pre-sleep state using the safe sleep image on the hard drive.

 

[SR71]

If you use Caffeine, it will not go into sleep mode, but will shut down, instead. That makes the calibration process faster.

Wait, so does that mean when I have Caffeine running, I don't have to waste 5 hours waiting for the battery to kill itself in sleep mode like it says on that Apple Calibration instructions thing?

If so, then thats amazing! That just saved me 5 hours then lol.

Ya see, if I never made this thread I never would have found Caffeine, and neither would have a couple of other forum members, and I wouldn't have known to use Caffeine to kill the battery faster than Apple's method of just waiting 5 hours and waiting for the battery to kill itself lol.

Ah, I love these forums and it's members.

 

[GGJstudios]

Wait, so does that mean when I have Caffeine running, I don't have to waste 5 hours waiting for the battery to kill itself in sleep mode like it says on that Apple Calibration instructions thing?

If so, then thats amazing! That just saved me 5 hours then lol.

The 5 hours referred to in the calibration instructions refers to the time you should leave your Mac unplugged after the battery drains and it powers off or enters sleep.

The idea of using Caffeine is to override your Energy Saver settings so your Mac doesn't enter sleep mode, even when the battery gets low. While it still takes time to drain the battery, it's faster than if your Mac was in sleep mode, which only uses about 1% of battery power for every hour of sleep.

 

[SR71]

The 5 hours referred to in the calibration instructions refers to the time you should leave your Mac unplugged after the battery drains and it powers off or enters sleep.

The idea of using Caffeine is to override your Energy Saver settings so your Mac doesn't enter sleep mode, even when the battery gets low. While it still takes time to drain the battery, it's faster than if your Mac was in sleep mode, which only uses about 1% of battery power for every hour of sleep.

I'm still a bit confused by your post. So, by me using Caffeine, I do need to wait 5 hours or so for the battery to fully drain? Or am I incorrect?

Also, do I really need to leave the MBA unplugged for 5 hours. Like is it absolutely necessary? If I don't do it, will my MBA not be calibrated? Thanks for the answers, by the way.

 

[GGJstudios]

I'm still a bit confused by your post. So, by me using Caffeine, I do need to wait 5 hours or so for the battery to fully drain? Or am I incorrect?

The amount of time it takes to drain the battery will vary, depending on the battery and the load you put on it. It may be 2 hours for some users or 6 hours for others. But regardless of the time it takes to drain the battery, after it has drained and powered off or sleeps, you should leave it unplugged for at least 5 hours before you plug it in and recharge it.

I
Also, do I really need to leave the MBA unplugged for 5 hours. Like is it absolutely necessary? If I don't do it, will my MBA not be calibrated? Thanks for the answers, by the way.

You can't calibrate without draining the battery and leaving it drained for 5+ hours. Read the calibration instructions in the Battery FAQ that was posted. The instructions are really quite clear.

 

[SR71]

The amount of time it takes to drain the battery will vary, depending on the battery and the load you put on it. It may be 2 hours for some users or 6 hours for others. But regardless of the time it takes to drain the battery, after it has drained and powered off or sleeps, you should leave it unplugged for at least 5 hours before you plug it in and recharge it.

You can't calibrate without draining the battery and leaving it drained for 5+ hours. Read the calibration instructions in the Battery FAQ that was posted. The instructions are really quite clear.

While using Caffeine does it decrease the amount of time that I'd need to keep the MBA drained for?

 

[GGJstudios]

While using Caffeine does it decrease the amount of time that I'd need to keep the MBA drained for?

No. It only prevents sleep mode. But once the battery is drained, you need to leave it unplugged for 5+ hours, or it's not properly calibrated.

 

[SR71]

No. It only prevents sleep mode. But once the battery is drained, you need to leave it unplugged for 5+ hours, or it's not properly calibrated.

Oh, okay. See that was what was confusing me. I knew that when the battery in macbook air got to low that it would save the MBA's current state and then put the macbook air into a deep sleep type mode, but I was confused because I thought that Caffeine bypassed this low power state and instead would continue letting the Macbook Air's battery run down thus actually running down the battery to fully empty so that I wouldn't have to wait the 5 hours for it to fully drain the battery. I typed that on my phone and I hope there are no typos and that that made sense lol.

 

[jhatz]

Oh, okay. See that was what was confusing me. I knew that when the battery in macbook air got to low that it would save the MBA's current state and then put the macbook air into a deep sleep type mode, but I was confused because I thought that Caffeine bypassed this low power state and instead would continue letting the Macbook Air's battery run down thus actually running down the battery to fully empty so that I wouldn't have to wait the 5 hours for it to fully drain the battery. I typed that on my phone and I hope there are no typos and that that made sense lol.

Essentially the battery should be unplugged for 5 hours after the battery has been completely drained. Therefore, caffeine prevents the computer from going into sleep mode. When the computer is put into sleep mode the battery is not fully drained yet. Once in sleep mode it takes a lot longer for the battery to officially be drained to 0% because it's essentially in an idle mode. So in essence to officially calibrate the battery WITHOUT caffeine would take longer then 5 hours. WITH caffeine the computer ignores the automatic sleep function and continues at normal processing speeds until the battery literally reaches 0%. From 0% the battery requires 5 hours with the power cord plugged in to successfully reach a true calibration.

I hope that's clear enough.

 

[SR71]

Essentially the battery should be unplugged for 5 hours after the battery has been completely drained. Therefore, caffeine prevents the computer from going into sleep mode. When the computer is put into sleep mode the battery is not fully drained yet. Once in sleep mode it takes a lot longer for the battery to officially be drained to 0% because it's essentially in an idle mode. So in essence to officially calibrate the battery WITHOUT caffeine would take longer then 5 hours. WITH caffeine the computer ignores the automatic sleep function and continues at normal processing speeds until the battery literally reaches 0%. From 0% the battery requires 5 hours with the power cord plugged in to successfully reach a true calibration.

I hope that's clear enough.

I see, I see. So pretty much what Caffeine does would be the same as me going into the "Energy Saver" settings in "System Preferences" and changing the sleep time to never and the display sleep time to never, correct?

 

[GGJstudios]

I see, I see. So pretty much what Caffeine does would be the same as me going into the "Energy Saver" settings in "System Preferences" and changing the sleep time to never and the display sleep time to never, correct?

Correct. It's just much simpler to leave your Energy Settings the way you prefer them and temporarily override them with a single click on the Caffeine icon on the Menu Bar.