TITAM - Technical issues that affected me

These are hobby / basher grade 4WD cars.  They are a step up from toy-grade cars like the WLToys lineup, built and priced accordingly.   They are not the toughest cars ever but are (reportedly) pretty decent.  Crashing any car from great heights onto concrete is likely to break it - these are no exception. Do note these cars - and especially the 120A models - are rather beyond mere toys, and use extremely powerful motors.  The young, unwary or careless could easily hurt themselves, lose a finger, etc.  Use caution! Basic specs: 1/10 scale, 4WD 515mm long 3S, 4000 mAh battery, T-connector (a.k.a Deans), 15min 3670-2500 kv motor. 80A (80 km/h) or 120A Hobbywing ESC (100 km/h) All-metal gears. Part-metal chassis. Oil-filled dual-rate (progressive) shocks. 17mm wheel hex 135 / 145mm diameter / 75mm wide tires w/foam LED lights   Note: This car is NOT a rebadged Vikar Bison or DHK Zombie. User manual:  RCGroups 1 , RCGroups 2 Transmitter:  1...

 Problem:  After restoring your PIA connection from after it broke using router-based VPN, you do not have full connectivity.   Specifically, none of your smartphone apps or smart home devices work properly. Your router IS connected to the VPN You ARE using the correct encryption, port, and ca.crt combination They DO have a working internet connection They CAN see the internet They DO work outside the VPN But they can't log in to, or access, their respective servers through the VPN: Gmail: Useless "View more" link that does nothing Banking apps: Can't log in Starbucks: Endless "Finding stores" Ecobee:  "Trouble connecting to your device" Honeywell Home: Endless startup Ratuken Kobo: Endless accessing "My Books" Smart Life: Endless startup Lastpass: Password vault is empty Roblox: Endless loading Minecraft: Can't join multiplayer servers Terraria: Can't join other players  Pixel Guns 3D:  No multiplayer available Ecobee thermostat...

Problem: PIA stops connecting.  No changes on your side.  DD-WRT. Error: N VERIFY ERROR: depth=1 error=certificate has expired: C=US ST=OH L=Columbus O=Private Internet Access CN=Private Internet Access CA emailAddress=secure@privateinternetaccess.com 20200818 14:33:13 N TLS_ERROR: BIO read tls_read_plaintext error: error:14090086:lib(20):func(144):reason(134) Solutions: 1.  Your router time setting is wrong.  Try re-setting or selecting another NTP server, just to be sure. 2.  PIA changed something.  Seems they did so recently (August 18, 2020). If (2), your only real solution is to completely re-set up your DD-WRT router using the latest settings.  Instructions are here . Note: -  Specific protocols now need specific ports.  Be sure to get the right port/.crt combination. -  PIA added a line to "Additional Config": pull-filter ignore "auth-token" This line completely borked my ability to connect - DD-WRT wouldn't even try.  Taking...

 Problem:  I want to re-do my landscaping, but want to re-use the existing rock.  The old rock has gotten brown and yellow stains on the bottom - can I clean it? TL;DR:  No, you can't. As far as I can tell, the rock is called "Crystal White".  Mine looks to be about 1" / 25mm size. Over time, it develops brown and/or yellow "staining" on the bottom.  This is likely due to oxidation.   This means taking up and re-laying down the same rock doesn't work, since half the rock will be discolored instead of nice and white.  As this rock is hard to find and potentially expensive, I wanted to re-use the same rock instead of throwing it away. It may seem obvious that you can - or can't.  Some people report success in "cleaning" their rock. I tried the following materials to eliminate the discolorations: Barkeepers Friend (oxalic acid) Stainless Steel cleaner TSP (premixed / ready-to-use) CLR (straight) Palmolive dish detergent Glass cleaner (ammon...

TL;DR: As title.  The Vantec will NOT output 7.1 ANALOG audio from an Nvidia Shield TV / TV Pro using Kodi. It will output 5.1 audio via optical S/PDIF (Toslink).  And it will play most 6.1 and 7.1 video files through that interface.  You will probably even hear sound through your rear surrounds while playing those files, so you may think that you are actually getting 7.1 sound.  But you're NOT, because optical S/PDIF is NOT capable of sending 7.1 audio due to bandwidth limitations on that interface (as everybody should know by now ).  Most likely your receiver is doing some smart sound processing without you even realizing it. My receiver is old, and does NOT handle sound via HDMI.  And I figured if I'm upgrading, why not move from 5.1 optical to 7.1?  So I needed 7.1 ANALOG sound.  The Vantec is supposed to do that by outputting 7.1 sound via four 3.5mm audio jacks.  You use 3.5mm-to-RCA cables to connect these to the analog inpu...