Troubleshooting Tip: How to revive a seemingly dead or not charging battery on your MacBook

Most of us have encountered this seemingly frustrating scenario when our MacBook doesn't power on and you see the dreaded black (blank) screen,  no light showing the battery charging and with no sign of life. 

Problem:
My MacBook4.1 13" (config below) was not powering up, no matter what I did - even unhooked the battery pack and re-installed it; pressed the power button down for a few seconds - no response to my CPR efforts to revive it. The battery light was not flickering and the MB seemed absolutely dead.

Model Name: MacBook

  Model Identifier: MacBook4,1

  Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

  Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz

  Number Of Processors: 1

  Total Number Of Cores: 2

  L2 Cache: 3 MB

  Memory: 2 GB

  Bus Speed: 800 MHz

  Boot ROM Version: MB41.00C1.B00

  SMC Version (system): 1.31f1

  Serial Number (system): W8835GKA0P1

  Hardware UUID: CB8F4037-B5E2-5341-9382-F8326C082B30

  Sudden Motion Sensor:

  State: Enabled

Solution:  

Apple Support team recommends the following couple options: resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Apple Portables (MacBooks with a battery that you can remove) http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964 ; and secondly, check if your MagSafe adapter is working or not http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1713.  

I tried both these options and still my ever reliable MacBook didn't purr back to life as I have expected it to all these years. 

Finally what worked for me was this magic keys formula: Press the Left side SHIFT-CONTROL-OPTION-POWER Buttons at the same time and then release them at once.  This basically resets the SMC and solves the battery issue. Knock Wood! Lo and Behold! My MacBook came alive, with the battery icon showing it's finally charging again, and my iOS project showing the emulator as I had left it on my last test run. Kudos to the Apple Support Forums! 

Twitter: @deccandude