Tag: Troubleshooting

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Solved

Solved: Apple Wallet Card Activation on a New iPhone

When I set up my new iPhone 17 Pro I ran into a frustrating problem: I couldn’t activate some of my credit and banking cards in Apple Wallet. Since this might happen to others, here’s how I diagnosed the issue and worked around it.

Setup Context

  • Transferred settings (including Apple Wallet) from my iPhone 14 Pro
  • Cards from CIBC and Wealthsimple
  • Used SMS (not voice) as the second factor for verification

The Problem

After transfer, my cards appeared in Apple Wallet but still needed to be re-verified. Each time I tried SMS verification, the text code arrived and auto-filled into the Wallet app — but the “Next” button was greyed out.

On some attempts, the button turned blue, but tapping it did nothing. Result: I couldn’t verify or use my cards.

The Workaround

The fix was surprisingly simple: don’t rely on auto-fill.

  1. Request the SMS code as usual.
  2. Open the Messages app, copy the code manually, and paste it into Wallet.
  3. This time the “Next” button turned blue and worked, letting me add the cards.

Likely Cause

Based on testing, there may be a bug in iOS 26.0 where auto-filled SMS codes don’t properly trigger the Apple Wallet verification step. Until Apple fixes it, copying the code manually may help you get around the issue.

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Solved

Solved: HDCP Error After Updating Apple TV 4K to TVOS 18.4.1

I recently updated my Apple TV 4K to tvOS 18.4.1. After this, I received HDCP errors when trying to view content from steaming services (e.g., Disney , Amazon Prime, Crave).

These post outlines how I solved this problem.

Background and Context

I am using a TCL 55R635-CA, to which I have connected the Apple TV 4K and a Sonos Arc (with an attached Sonos Sub Mini).

When I updated my Apple TV 4K to tvOS 18.4.1, I received a prompt on my TCL 55R635-CA that I had to rename the Sonos Arc that is plugged into the TCL’s eARC HDMI port. I didn’t think anything of it and selected a new icon, but otherwise made no changes to the configuration of the TCL audio settings. I had never received this kind of prompt, before, when updated the Apple TV 4K.

YouTube content played without any errors. However, when I tried to steam content over Disney , Amazon Prime, or Crave I received HDCP errors. The error messages indicated that I might be trying to copy protected content (I was not doing this). Solutions proposed were to reseat HDMI cables to ensure a good connection, test different HDMI inputs to confirm they all worked, or replace the HDMI cable in case it had become damaged.

Failed Solutions

  1. I tried to reseat HDMI cables. This did not resolve the error messages I was receiving.
  2. I rebooted the Apple TV. This did not resolve the error messages I was receiving.
  3. I reset the Apple TV back to factory settings, and reinstalled streaming services. This did not resolve the error messages I was receiving.
  4. I pulled the plug — to fully depower — the Apple TV. This did not resolve the error messages I was receiving.
  5. I pressed the power button on the TCL remote, to turn off the television, and turned off the Apple TV. This did not resolve the error messages I was receiving.

Solution to Apple TV 4K HDCP Errors

My Apple TV 4K and Sonos Arc are plugged into a TCL 55R635-CA. When you turn off the television using the remote you do not actually turn off the television and, instead, just put the television into standby mode.

To resolve my HDCP errors when using my Apple TV 4K, I pulled the power plug for the television. I left the TCL 55R635-CA fully depowered for approximately 3 minutes. I then plugged the TV back in and turned it on.

Once the television turned back on, and switched over to the Apple TV 4K input, the errors had been resolved. The problem, the whole time, was with the TCL television and fully depowering the television resolve the HDCP errors.

Categories
Solved

Solved: Set A Default Email Address in Apple Contacts

I figured out how to set a default email address for a contact in Apple Contacts, where the contact has multiple email addresses associated with them.

The Problem

Apple support claims that Siri is capable of learning which email address to use when someone you are contacting has multiple email addresses associated with them in your contact book. In my experience this is hit and miss. The result is that you need to check, each time, to ensure that an email is being sent to the correct email address.

The Solution

For the contact in question you must ensure that the email you want to most regularly contact them is the first email in the list of emails. Thus, if you had a set of emails ordered as such:

  • example1@email.me
  • example2@email.me
  • example3@email.me

and wanted ‘example 3@email.me’ to be the default email that you send message to, you would:

  1. Open Contacts and the individual’s card, and then click ‘Edit’
  2. Copy the email that you want to remove as the current default (e.g., example1@email.me)
  3. Create a new email record by clicking the field beside ‘Other’ at the bottom of the list and paste the email address you copied at 2
  4. In the top email field (i.e., example1@email.me) replace it with the preferred default email (e.g. example3@email.me)
  5. Delete the now-duplicated example3@email.me
  6. Click ‘done’

At the conclusion of this reordering, your email order list would appear as:

  • example3@email.me
  • example2@email.me
  • example1@email.me

The result of the reordering is that you should, by default, now send email to the contact’s example3@email.me. I hope this helps anyone else who’s running into this problem!

Categories
Solved

Solved: Connected Meross Smartplug to Eero 6 Pro

I helped set up some Meross smartplugs that were being used to automate home functions. What follows is how I was ultimately able to connect them to an Eero 6 Pro router.

The Problem

When opening the Home application on an iPhone or iPad, and scanning the QR code that was on the smartplug, I received errors that the process could not be completed. I tried resetting the phone, letting the Apple iOS devices linger for up to 5 minutes to complete the connection, and resetting the home hub to see if that would help. In no case were these measures successful.

The Solution

I connected the smartplugs to the Eero 6 Pro network (and Apple Home app) by modifying some of the router’s settings as well as not using the QR code to set up the device.

Specifically I:

  1. Opened the Eero app and temporarily disabled the 5Ghz radio and turned off the WPA3 experimental feature.
  2. Activated airplane mode on the iOS device I was using to connect the Meross plugs to the Home app.
  3. Performed a hard reset on the Meross plugs (this involved holding the power button for 15 seconds. I heard a ‘click’ sound when it reset). I checked to ensure that that the LEDs were blinking between amber and green colours.
  4. Reconnected the iOS device to the Eero 6 Pro router. This ensured that it would establish a 2.4Ghz connection.
  5. Opened the Home app on the iOS device. I then selected ‘Add Accessory’ and, then, the ‘More options…’ link.
  6. In the new options, I saw one that read as a smart plug, and another that had Meross in its name. I choose the one with Meross and then entered in the 8 digit code above the QR code on the smartplug when prompted. I did not connect using the QR code/camera.

The Meross smartplug subsequently connected to the network. As a note, I had to wait up to 30 seconds before it finished its setup.

Meross Smartplug Firmware Update

With the Meross smartplugs connected to the network I updated their firmware. To do so, I:

  1. Downloaded the Meross app and create an account.
  2. Linked the plugs to the account by tapping the ‘ ’ icon in the Home panel in the Meross app, granted the application permission to scan your local network, and then added the switches.
  3. Once they were added, I navigated to the ‘Account’ panel and selected ‘Firmware update’ under ‘System’. I then followed the on-screen instructions to update the plugs.

By the conclusion of this I managed to join the Meross smartplugs to the Eero 6 Pro network, as well as updated their firmware. Hope that this helps to solve any problems you’re encountering with them!

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Aside

2021.2.16

Ran into a weird iPhone 11 Pro issue today. When I took it off it’s charger this morning it registered as draining down the battery at a rate of around 1% every couple of minutes and couldn’t detect all the AirPlay 2 devices in my home. After rebooting the phone I went from 78% to 94% battery and could connect to everything around me. So utterly random!