Hardware

Ed has bought three AV receivers over the last five years, and all three have died in less than two years. Leo says that adding a surge suppressor that does power conditioning and an uninterruptable power supply will guard against "dirty power" and power spikes that can happen after a power outage. It's not normal for AV receivers, or any tech, to die too quickly and consistently. So it points to something other than the device itself. Leo also recommends not putting them in a sealed cabinet, which can cause overheating. You can also look for a line conditioner.

Peter bought an M1 Mac, but he's having an issue with it. He tried to update from Apple, but it won't update, and now he can't recreate his account after reinstalling macOS.  Leo says that many people are having this issue, and the fix requires a device firmware update, or DFU, that requires a second Mac, which isn't very helpful. Here's now - https://9to5mac.com/2020/12/31/how-to-restore-m1-macs-reinstall-macos/.

George has an Epson printer, but he tried to update the firmware, and now Windows won't recognize it. Leo says you can access the recovery mode by hooking the printer up to your computer via USB. But it may require repair by Epson. Contact Epson and see if they can help you. From the chatroom, there's a discussion on REDDIT about how a recent firmware update can brick your Epson Printer. Read it here.