Forum Discussion

Jglte7620's avatar
Jglte7620
Reel Rookie
5 years ago
Solved

Favorites completely gone!

Model: Hisense 58R6+ Serial#: X001008E2VLR Device ID: S02589DE2VLR Operating System: 9.4.0 • build 4192-94 After this last update a week ago, it completely removed my favorites. I cannot even go ...
  • RokuDanny-R's avatar
    RokuDanny-R
    5 years ago

    Hi everyone,

    Thanks for the posts.

    Please be aware that the Auto Favorites feature has been moved to the Recent Channels view. In addition, the All Channels view will no longer be ordered based on the channels in Auto Favorites.

    You will be able to show/hide OTA channels and OTT streaming channels. For more information about how to do this, visit our Support page here: How do I find TV listings using Live TV Channel Guide?

    We look forward to having additional channel management features in the future.


    Thanks,
    Danny

Visitor45763's avatar
Visitor45763
Roku Guru
5 years ago
GolfDotNut wrote: You have ruined my TV!

You probably already saw this: An effective solution is to use home>settings>system>advanced>factory-reset. But, during the initial setup, tell it you don't have internet. It will install a version of software the tv came with,[1] and should work like it used to.

If you watch streaming content too, then buy an inexpensive external streaming box to use on an HDMI port. (I've got one on the way). If you don't like two remotes, look at the URC-7935.

To me that seems like a low-cost way to continue using your tv. Also low-friction (you'll never expose the TV to Roku's untested updates again.).

[1] sksR has said the factory reset leaves them with the same software. It wouldn't hurt to try it. In my case, Favorites are back. Channel-changing is faster (although it always seemed slow. It's just not as slow as 9.4 made it.). Holding the remote button down causes continuous channel changing again. The "captions on mute" feature works again. (Starting last summer, the captions would remain on when un-muted). I haven't noticed any downside. It's all upside (and I find myself wondering how Roku could think 9.4 is acceptable... FOR MONTHS! They're still pushing it out. Customers have been complaining since last summer.).

My home>settings>system>about says it's still 9.4. But, I have to believe that's another example of Roku's lazy/sloppy development, lack of testing, etc. I.e., they forgot to blank that field. What I'm experiencing with my no-internet factory reset is vastly different than 9.4. I'll never go back. I've got a $30 iView 3500 external DTV tuner to use with my other Roku TV. Number keys on the remote for direct access to channels. Its remote comes with buttons to control the tv. I haven't tried that yet. If it doesn't work well enough, I'll get a URC-7880.

sksR's avatar
sksR
Binge Watcher
5 years ago

I agree with most of what you said in the workaround is an improvement. I disagree with your comment that factory reset installs the original software that came with the TV, it leaves the most updated version in control

The Roku software appears to have two modes, one dumb TV mode, the other is called connected in their documentation or activated. When you do a factory reset the current software remains but you are moved from the connected mode to dumb TV mode.

Connected money does not work well with live TV version 9.4, it works fine in 9.2.

When it's actually set you stay in version 9.4 but go to dumb TV mode. That allows you to use favorites and quick channel check however the program guide is slightly different in version 9.4 compared to 9.2.

Another way you can tell that you're still in 9.4 after a factory reset is by activating the Roku account and note that there is no automatic software upgrade.

It is extremely unlikely that the version number displayed is in error because developers need to know what version that they are working on as they test. If the version were wrong in its display they would find that fix it to make their life easier.

I concur with most of your conclusions and as a workaround what you say seems very acceptable. Unfortunately it is not a solution for roku's bad software. My comments only relate to a technical I don't you say in this last (and other) posts

  • Visitor45763's avatar
    Visitor45763
    Roku Guru
    5 years ago
    @sksR wrote:

    When it's actually set you stay in version 9.4 but go to dumb TV mode. That allows you to use favorites and quick channel check however the program guide is slightly different in version 9.4 compared to 9.2.

    I don't know as much about it as you do. All I know is that factory-reset (without internet) seems to return the tv back to what it came with. It looks much more like that than 9.4. The only thing that suggests it's 9.4 is that the version number remains displayed (in the "about" screen). Given everything else we've seen with Roku's sloppy/lazy software development, It seems reasonable to believe that's an oversight on their part. (I.e., there's not a lot of reason to believe they'd "find and fix it" when they don't expect people to even use the tv this way. Smiley Happy They don't care about bugs that affect people using the tv the way it's expected to be used 99.9% of the time. It's hard to imagine they'd have high standards about a leftover(?) version number when it doesn't even matter.).

    @sksR ... it is not a solution for roku's bad software. 

    When one views months (years!) of past customer complaints about bugs (and uninspired feature changes), there's no reason to believe Roku's going to straighten up and fly right. (I would be ecstatic if that happened. But, all signs point to this being a very dysfunctional business/customer relationship. With a long history. And, hoping for something better is delusional.) 

    So, from that perspective, I'd say factory reset (without internet) most definitely is a solution for Roku's increasingly bad software. I'd love to be proven wrong. But, there's no evidence to expect anything different.

    If, as you suggest, the factory-reset (without internet) contains some part of the last update(s), IMO that's a good reason to do it sooner rather than later. Get out while the gettin's good. Smiley Happy The way Roku treats its customers, I firmly expect them to break the "dumb tv" mode too, just to remove that option (keeping us monetized as "impressions" for ad and carriage-fee sharing, selling viewing habits, etc.).

    If the base (non-updated) version of software is being updated, we're just one update away from Roku breaking that too. All the more reason to protect one's tv from Roku making it worse. (I hope it's not that way for the sake of people who will be affected by future Roku updates. My advice to a new Roku TV buyer is to not connect the tv to the internet at all. Stay with what they've got, and distribute the risk across other connected devices. It's just getting worse, not better, after years of customers voicing the obvious.).