Submit Hint Search The Forums LinksStatsPollsHeadlinesRSS
14,000 hints and counting!

Check for a dead battery in a Mac's remote control Other Hardware
I was having some trouble with my Mac's infrared remote, and I thought maybe its battery had died -- but I wasn't sure how to test that.

After some thought, I came up with a quick way to test the battery. Just open Photo Booth and point your remote at the camera (make sure the end of the remote is visible in the onscreen image), then press any button on the remote (volume up or down, for instance). If you see a bright light emitting from the remote in the Photo Booth window, you know the remote's working OK and has battery juice.

[robg adds: I tried this with my MacBook Pro, and it indeed works quite well -- the infrared light is picked up by the camera, and shows up very brightly in the Photo Booth window. Obviously, you could use any app that lets you see the camera's input in real time, not just Photo Booth.]
    •    
  • Currently 2.71 / 5
  You rated: 5 / 5 (7 votes cast)
 
[13,026 views]  

Check for a dead battery in a Mac's remote control | 6 comments | Create New Account
Click here to return to the 'Check for a dead battery in a Mac's remote control' hint
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Check for a dead battery in a Mac's remote control
Authored by: b00le on Aug 30, '07 08:42:00AM

The system tells you when the remote battery is getting low -- it puts up a picture of the remote and its battery compartment -- it took a while to realise what it wanted but replacing the battery made it much more responsive.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Check for a dead battery in a Mac's remote control
Authored by: evanrose on Aug 30, '07 12:17:03PM

"After some thought," you just "came up with" this? Give your sources their due!

---
--
evanrose.com



[ Reply to This | # ]
Check for a dead battery in a Mac's remote control
Authored by: ghay on Aug 30, '07 01:44:46PM

Apple themselves are most likely the source, I was an apple tech when the remotes came out and this was the recommended procedure to tell customers.



[ Reply to This | # ]
You know, people CAN think of things without reading them on the internet
Authored by: wal9001 on Aug 31, '07 09:02:28AM

Umm, what? It's not like it's hard to think of this. The fact that many video cameras pick up IR is pretty common knowledge. I could have told you that when I was 10. Testing the same thing with a webcam isn't really a huge leap of reasoning. I also came up with this myself when my remote stopped working, though it's not from a dead battery. Mine's a weirder problem; it only works when held fairly level. When it's at an angle or upside down it stops signaling. I should probably get it replaced.

Anyhow, your reply makes you look like the "OMG THIS PICTURE IS T3H PHOTOSHOPPD!" people. Not everything on the internet is faked or plagiarized.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Check for a dead battery in a Mac's remote control
Authored by: Auricchio on Aug 30, '07 03:24:08PM

Very cool. It works with other remotes too, since it "sees" the IR.

---
EMOJO: mojo no longer workin'



[ Reply to This | # ]
Use any digicam
Authored by: mag on Aug 31, '07 05:01:47PM

You can actually use almost any digital camera to test for the presence of infrared in the same way.



[ Reply to This | # ]