I am in Koh Phi Phi, and it’s gorgeous here. This area of Thailand is where the film The Beach was filmed, so last night I downloaded a copy to my laptop and watched it before bed.
When I woke up, I opened my laptop up and realized it was dead. So I grabbed my charger (which I had used yesterday to charge it) and plugged it in, waiting of course for the little green light to turn on, but it never did. I spent about ten minutes wiggling it and rechecking connections only to finally admit it wasn’t working.
I then grabbed my little camera charger and plugged it in, and sure enough, it worked fine. So right now I’m laptopless.
This is one of those scenarios I’ve always been secretly afraid of. The cost of a new laptop in Buenos Aires is at least twice the cost of one back home. So I assumed if my laptop were ever stolen while there I would probably have to get on a plane a buy one somewhere else.
On Koh Phi Phi, there are no computer stores, so I don’t have many options now. I’ve already booked an early morning ferry tomorrow to take me to Phuket. While there are no official Apple stores there (or anywhere in Thailabd) there are stores that sell Apple products and are authorized resellers.
Ideally the problem is just the charger. If that’s the case I can verify it really quick and simply buy a new one. If it’s not the charger, I’m not sure what I’ll have to do. It’s a new laptop so undoubtedly I can get it fixed under warranty, but I have no idea how that process would work here. I may end up having to buy another laptop in the meantime, one I can simply sell again when I get to Auckland.
But until then, there’s not a lot I can do about it. While I can answer the odd email from my phone or iPad, coding is obviously out of the question. But hopefully tomorrow I’ll be on my way to resolving the issue, whatever it is.
Try resetting the SMC. Via the Apple’s support page:
Note: Portable computers that have a battery you should not remove on your own include MacBook Pro (Early 2009) and later, all models of MacBook Air, and MacBook (Late 2009).
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
3. On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
4. Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
5. Press the power button to turn on the computer.
Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC.
I had something similar happen to me on my MacBook Pro and after I did the above, the green light came back on my charger and charged the battery. Might save you a few bucks!
My laptop is dead and the charger isn’t charging it (no light comes on). So I unfortunately can’t reset anything.
Ouch.. that sucks 🙁
Hopefully it is just the charger. I have some weird issues with my MBA when it’s sleeping, but I think it has to do something with Parallels running and Windows crashing.
I had this recently and it was my charger so I hope that’s the case for you. My laptop showed no signs of life – don’t know if I fried the charger in a foreign outlet or if it was faulty to begin with. Got a replacement from London Drugs & was good to go. Hopefully you can test that where you are & replace.
If you’re really stuck, perhaps it’s possible for Apple to courier a new adapter to you at the nearest UPS/ FedEx depot?