Category Archives: Tech Stuff

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. To use your smartphone as a remote, install the 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 difference 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

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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

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[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.
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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.

Clean-Install Windows on 2020 MateBook X Pro

Installing a clean copy of Windows on the 2020 Huawei MateBook X Pro is more complicated than on previous generations. Follow these steps set up a clean Windows installation of your preferred language and edition. English speakers who are getting your 2020 MateBook from China will need this.

Preparation

  1. Back up any needed files from your current installation. We will be wiping the disk.
  2. If you need Windows in a different language than the one it came with, you must buy your own copy of Windows. If you’re in university, check if your school provides Windows 10 Education (feature-equivalent to Enterprise).
    1. Reason: the OEM license is single-language only.
  3. Use Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool to create a bootable installation USB drive.
    1. Within the install drive, delete \Sources\ei.cfg to enable the prompt to choose a different Windows 10 edition such as Pro or Education. Otherwise, it will default to the current edition (Home).
  4. [1909 only] Copy Intel’s WiFi driver to the USB drive.

Installing Windows

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Disable Power Limits using ThrottleStop

If your CPU frequency is being reduced under load, even at low temperatures (below 90°C), then you probably have power limit throttling. Here’s how to disable those power limits.

Warning: disabling your power limits may cause your computer to run at levels of power beyond its design. Make sure you keep BD ProcHot on. If BD ProcHot kicks in, your VRM is not getting enough cooling and you need to decrease the power limit or improve the VRM cooling.

How do I know I have Power Limit Throttling?

  1. Open ThrottleStop’s “TS Bench” to run a stress test.
  2. Set the Size to 1024M so that it runs longer.
  3. Start the TS Bench.
  4. Open the “Limits” window.
  5. If any PL‘s light up, then you have power limit throttling.

Disabling Power Limits

  1. You need to have ThrottleStop set up. That’s covered in this guide. Make sure you read it before this one.
  2. Open ThrottleStop.
  3. Go to the FIVR menu.


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