Author Archives: Brad331

Robin Proline Compact Teardown

The Robin Proline Compact doorbell is the only HomeKit doorbell that supports PoE (Power over Ethernet), as of March 2023. Here’s a look inside it.

The motherboard sits on 6 plastic standoffs. Not pictured here are some plastic M3 bolts that fasten the PCB. Beware that one of the black standoffs is longer than the rest despite looking similar.

The camera lens is assembled with the green motherboard. There is a small wire harness that connects the white daughterboard.

Continue reading →

Disable Local Dimming on Samsung QN85A

Caveat: you may need to set the Device Type of your source to “PC” for this to work.

  1. You need a remote with number buttons to bring up the service menu. You can use your smartphone to do that. Install the Samsung SmartThings app and add the TV into it.
  2. Press “🔇 1️⃣  1️⃣  9️⃣  🆗”. The service menu should appear.
  3. Press 1️⃣  2️⃣  3️⃣  4️⃣  to make the advanced menus appear.
  4. Go to “Option” → “Production Option“.
  5. Turn off “PC Mode Dimming Support“.
  6. To exit the Service Menu, turn the TV off and back on.

Thanks to u/will_work_for_vinyl for their slightly different instructions which inspired mine.

Fix Brother Label Printer “The media installed in the machine does not match the one selected in the application”

Problem

When trying to print with your Brother label printer, the Status Monitor warns “The media installed in the machine does not match the one selected in the application”, and the printer flashes a red light near the power button. The printer refuses to print.

For example, this happened on my QL-1110NWB.

Solution

Continue reading →

Fix Bluetooth Mouse Stutter After Idle in Windows

Problem

While using your Bluetooth mouse with your Windows laptop, whenever the mouse has been idle for least a few seconds, moving it again causes the cursor to initially stutter.

The Bluetooth mouse has gone into a sleep mode, and there seems to be a delay in waking it from sleep.

I’ve had this problem on Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6 (with Intel AX201 network card) and Dell XPS 13 9310 (with Killer AX1650, based on Intel AX200). I’m using a Logitech MX Master 3 mouse.

Solution

Continue reading →

4th-gen (2021-) Sienna: Removing 2nd-Row Seats

This article is a collection of information and resources for removing the second-row (middle row) seats on the 4th-generation Toyota Sienna (2021-).

The Situation

2nd-row seats of the previous Sienna generation (2011-2020) were easily removable by pulling a latch. However, the 4th-gen Sienna’s 2nd-row seats are not removable by the user, at least according to Toyota. This is in part because there are now SRS airbags inside the backrests, as seen in this crash test video.

Instead of a quick-release mechanism, the 2nd-row seats are now secured with 4 bolts hidden behind plastic trim pieces. Additionally, the seat airbag connector must be disconnected.

The Procedure

This video shows the process for removing the 2nd-row seats, which involves disconnecting the 12V battery to depower the airbags, prying off seat trim, disconnecting the airbag and seat heater/seatbelt connectors, and removing 4 bolts.

Continue reading →

[Guide] Clean Install Windows 10 on Spectre X360 (No AHCI)

I was trying to install Windows 10 Education on my 2020 Spectre X360 14 (which is preloaded with Windows 10 Home), and I realized there’s a few things to watch out for to make your reinstallation successful — particularly a lack of AHCI mode preventing the installer from seeing the internal SSD. Here’s how you can do it.

These steps are based on the Spectre X360 14 but should also apply to similar HP laptops.
Continue reading →

PSA: XPS 13 9300 / 9310 not compatible with double-sided SSDs

Unfortunately, double-sided SSDs do not fit in the 2020 Dell XPS 13’s (models 9300 and 9310). The M.2 connector is not raised high enough from the motherboard, so there is not enough space for the SSD’s bottom chips.

As of writing this post, all 8TB and 4TB M.2 SSDs, as well as several 2TB models, are double-sided and therefore would not fit in the XPS 13. This includes the Sabrent Rocket series and the Corsair MP510, whose 2TB version is single-sided but 4TB version is double-sided:

Back side of the 4TB Corsair MP510

Fix Motu M2 / M4 Crackling with Equalizer APO

Problem

When you enable Equalizer APO to process the audio input from your Motu M-Series audio interface, the audio crackles or glitches.

Solution

  1. Launch Equalizer APO’s Configurator.exe. You can find it by searching “Configurator” in Start.
  2. Go to the “Capture devices” tab.
  3. Select “In 1-2“, the Motu input device.
  4. Enable “Allow silent buffer modification“.
  5. Close the Configurator and reboot.

Remarks

Equalizer APO is super useful for changing your microphone’s frequency response or applying VST effects to the audio input system-wide. This picture shows my setup for panning my single mic (left channel only) into dual mono, and then gating out background noise, and then volume equalization using a compressor.