battery shows "X" and is not recognized

A month ago, I inherited a macbook from a friend. He had spilled wine and fried the logic board a couple of years ago.

Prior to repairs, when I plugged the adapter, steady green light would come on - when I pressed the power button, I could hear the hard drive spin, but nothing would happen other than the sleep light come on.

I replaced the logic board - and voila! the computer comes on, no problem - everything works...except, now there is an "X" symbol on the battery - and a check of the system shows no battery is recognized. Unplugging the adapter shuts down the macbook abruptly. The DC has a solid green light.

I've tried the CMS and PRAM resets (as suggested in other posts), but no help.

I read somewhere that leaving a battery in the macbook for an extended period (as my friend did after the liquid damage had occurred) may cause the "X" symbol on the battery.

I've updated battery software with 1.2 AND 1.4. Still does not recognize the battery.

I have not had a chance to swap the battery with another unit - I don't have access to another unit - to see if battery is still good. How else can the battery be tested? Although I don't think the battery is the issue here (before swapping the logic board, I pressed the power meter on the battery and one green dot came on).

Any thoughts? My gut says this is caused by the battery sitting in the unit for a long time - but not sure how to fix. The new logic board (used, but new to me), seems to be working well in every other account. The battery connector, however, is from the old board.

Thanks for all your input.

Armen

Ok. Same problem. Except worse. Please Help. I have a May 2006 Intel Core Duo macbook. Everything works perfect except the battery. Cleaned everything up. Put in a brand new battery connector cable. Tried 3 fully functional batteries showing 5 green lights. Loaded coconutbattery. Shows:

Current Charge: -1 mAh

Maximum Charge: -1 mAh

100%

Current Capacity: -1mAh

Design Capacity: -1mAh

100%

Mac model:Macbook1,1

Age: 63 months

Battery loadcycles:-1

Battery temp:-0.0 C

Battery Power usage: -0.0Watt.

I am running Mac OSX 10.6.8.

Brand new hard drive

Brand new 2gb ram

Everything very clean.

This mac is phenominal!.....except for that little black x where the battery should be.

I went to the apple support pages above. I'm already running newer than OSX 10.4. I installed the battery updater. I reseated the battery many times with three different functioning batteries.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!! I've run out of ideas! I cant take it to apple because I opened it up myself, but I need a professional.

I am not afraid to open it back up, but I need to know what's wrong.

Thank you very much!!!!!