July 5, 2025

Hisense 65QD6N 2024 TV Setup

 Hisense 65QD6N is a 65" 4K QLED Smart Google TV.

There were a few setup complications.

1) Remote control cover

The remote back piece has a down arrow; and yes the entire back cover is one piece and hard to open.

Try to use finger nail to poke into the IR spot so the cover will slide down a bit so easer to slide open.

2) Apple TV 4K

Plugged in to HDMI 1 initially and black screen.  

Changed cable and switched to HDMI 3 (eARC/ARC) still didn't work.

But after a few more plug/unplug and power ON/OFF, eventually Apple TV 4K showed video configuration option and suddenly all workings.

Then changing back to the previous cable and HDMI 1 worked.

(Second time having some difficulty when switching Apple TV to a different TV.  Maybe the problem is Apple TV and not TV itself.)

3) Vizio Soundbar with optical cable connection

Setup > Sound > Digital Audio Output is greyed out but the soundbar audio level light is ON and based off TV level, yet the entire soundbar system is not work.

Changing the sequence to turn on TV or soundbar first didn't help.

To enable soundbar, Setup > All Settings > Display & Sound > Audio Output, then switch from TV Speaker to OPTICAL (S/PDIF) then the soundbar will be working.  And Setup > Sound > Digital Audio Output with additional options are enabled.

Unfortunately, there can be only 1 audio output so need to go into the menu to make the switch if not using the soundbar all the times.

4) Ethernet

If using RJ-45, it would be good to turn off WIFI and "Scanning always available" option.

5) Device Power Off

Setup > All Settings > Channels & Inputs > External Inputs, there are options:

Device auto power off
TV auto power on
TV auto power off

Some devices might still power on when turning on the TV., pressing YouTube button to turn on TV as a workaround.


February 2, 2025

AeroGarden Harvest Elite Slim Notes

Light length
15.5 hrs Flowesrs
16.0 hrs Veggies
16.5 hrs Salads
17.0 hrs Herbs

Light height
4 ~ 6" over the plants

Water
Rinse and Reilly water bowl monthly

October 27, 2024

The shared Google Calendar is not visible in the iOS Calendar app

When another user shared a Google Calendar, it is not visible in the iOS Calendar app. Upon checking the Google Calendar web UI, the shared calendar is listed under 'Other Calendars' and not 'My Calendars'.

The visibility of the shared Google Calendar in the iOS Calendar app depends on whether it is categorized under 'My Calendars' or 'Other Calendars'.

The visibility of the shared Google Calendar in the iOS Calendar app depends on whether it is categorized under 'My Calendars' or 'Other Calendars.' When sharing the calendar, choose 'Make changes and manage sharing' to include it under 'My Calendars' for the specific user. If you choose 'Make changes to events,' it will be listed under 'Other Calendars'.

(MS Copilot assisted)

June 1, 2024

Windows 11 Setup without Network

To setup Windows 10 or Windows 11 without network logon:

1) at networking screen, press Shift + F10, 

2) at command line, then type OOBE\BYPASSNRO

3) reboot and network screen should have additional option no Internet.

January 28, 2023

Factorio Shortcuts

Keyboard/Mouose Shortcuts

  • Dispaly
    • Alt -- Toggle container item icon
  • Control
    • Ctrl + Left click -- Quick pick and drop items to slot
    • Ctrl + Right click -- Pickup items
    • Q -- Cancel item holding
    • Z -- (Pickup items and hold on hand) drop one item at a time to building
  • Building
    • Right click -- Pickup building
    • R -- Rotate


October 11, 2020

Ubuntu 20.04 Change Default Login Screen to Primary Monitor

With a multi-monitor Ubuntu setup, Login screen may not display on the primary monitor as defined under Settings > Screen Display.

In order to make the necessary change in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, make sure ~/.config/monitors.xml file exists.  If not, go to Settings > Screen Display, make some dummy changes then change back to the desire settings.  For example, adjusting one of screen orientation.  This action would generate montors.xml file.

In the console, execute the following command.

sudo cp ~/.config/monitors.xml /var/lib/gdm3/.config/

This would copy the file into gdm3 configuration folder.

Restart the machine and login screen would display on the primary monitor.


September 27, 2020

Ubuntu Chinese Input Method

Chinese input is non-existence out-of-box from Ubuntu (and up to 20.04 so far). More work is required to setup Chinese input support. While there are multiple variances out there, Chinese Intelligent Pinyin works best for me.

To install Chinese Intelligent Pinyin, search "ibus-libpinyin" online. Basically, update ibus then install ibus-pibpinyin.

sudo apt-get install -y ibus-libpinyin

Perform a reboot. Note, there is a way to refresh without a reboot but reboot is easier.

Then go to Settings > Language and Region, under Input Sources, click + then Other. Select "Chinese (Intelligent Pinyin)" from the list. Note, it is not "Chinese" in the list as it basically does nothing.

June 7, 2020

Switch Languages for iOS External Bluetooth Keyboard

Use the following steps to change languages with physical keyboard on iOS:

For Logitech K480, press the Language Switch key (F12).
For other Bluetooth keyboard, press Ctrl + Space.

Other notes:
For some messaging apps, press Command + Enter to send the message.

June 4, 2020

Microsoft All-in-One Media Keyboard Notes

The keyboard has new Fn keys enabled by default and missing a few physical keys compared to a regular keyboard.  The following note on how to access the missing keys.

Home key: Fn + Left arrow
End key: Fn + Right arrow
Page Up: Fn + Up arrow
Page Down: Fn + Down arrow
F1 ~ F12: Fn + selected key
Fn Lock Mode: Fn + Capital Lock
(Fn Lock does not affect Home/End keys)

March 16, 2020

FAT32 Format for Size Over 32GB

FAT32 can search up to 32GB.  In order to format a disk larger than 32GB, it would be exFAT format.

Windows does not have a default utility to perform this task.  Instead, search for guiformat.exe online.  Ridgecrop Consultants Ltd has a good alternative.