DINOSTRIKE help desk

What the lights mean

Several of our docks let you switch the glow off without stopping the charge: the A100 has a button on top, the 4800 mWh quad charger a touch switch on the front, and the RGB and PRO stations go dark when you hold their touch button for three seconds.

• RedThe pack in that slot is charging.
• GreenThe pack is full, or the slot is on standby.
• Three green flashes at power-onThe 2550 mAh station checking itself: it is working.
• Light off on a kit packThe pack charging inside your controller has finished.

The first charge of a new pack

Packs may arrive partly charged. Put every pack on the dock before the first session and let each slot reach green, so you start with a known full set. After that, the routine is simple: one pack in each controller, its spare on the dock.

If a slot stays red far longer than the charge time on the product page, take the pack out, check that it sits flat in the slot, and try another slot or another USB power source.

Playing while a pack charges

The play and charge kit takes its USB-C cable straight into the pack inside the controller, so you can keep playing from the console while it fills. Xbox Support notes that rechargeable AA cells do not charge in the controller; a kit pack is built for exactly that.

Battery care and safe charging

The U.S. Fire Administration advises using original or certified chargers and cables, charging devices on a solid, flat surface, keeping them out of direct sunlight and not leaving them charging unattended when you can avoid it. If a battery smokes, hisses, swells or is punctured, stop using it at once.

In practice: load the dock after the session, unplug it once the lights turn green, and retire any pack whose case bulges or cracks.

When a pack is worn out

Do not put rechargeable batteries in the trash or the household recycling bin, the EPA says. Tape the terminals with electrical tape or bag each pack on its own, then take them to a battery recycler, a store with a take-back program or your local household hazardous waste collection.

Controllers that take no pack

Xbox Support states that the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, including the Core model, has an internal rechargeable battery and needs neither AA batteries nor a battery pack. None of our packs fit it, and neither do they fit an Xbox 360 pad or third-party controllers. The fit check lists every controller.

A Mac asks about a keyboard

Plug a presenter receiver into a Mac for the first time and the Mac may open Keyboard Setup Assistant, because the receiver presents itself much like a keyboard. Apple describes the assistant as the step where you name the keyboard type, ANSI, JIS or ISO. Pick the type your Mac suggests, close the window, and the remote works.

The keys that matter in a show

Microsoft lists B or the period key for a blank black slide in PowerPoint and W or the comma for a white one, and Google Slides uses the same letters. The black-screen key on our remotes does the same job from across the room, which is handy when you want the room to look at you instead of the screen.

Pointer light safety

The FDA advises never to aim or shine a laser pointer at anyone, notes that a beam aimed into the eye can do more damage than staring at the sun, and asks parents not to buy laser pointers for children. The FAA adds that pointing a laser at an aircraft is a federal crime.

Our remotes carry a red light, or a green one on one option, for projector screens. Point it at the screen, keep it off faces and windows, and keep remotes out of children's toy boxes.