Live TV Pause Bug on Roku Select Series TV
I’ve just done a complete factory reset and that (hopefully) seems to have solved the issue. Fingers crossed it stays that way!
Forum Discussion
Have reformatted thumbnail but still not working. It pauses fine but when I press Play, it hasn't recorded, just jumps back to live TV. Any advice? Thanks in advance.
I have the same issue with a 55 inch Roku Select Series TV (Model 55R4A5R). There are also numerous other posts going back over a year about this exact same issue from owners the Roku Select Series and Roku Plus Series TVs. I also contacted Roku support, and received the same response.
I don't think that they have a clue as to how to fix it - OR - they don't want to admit that the only solution is an expensive one for them.
Same here. The last guy I talked to was so smooth. He gave me the impression that they were really going to take care of it eventually. However, just like you, I have looked over the other posts about this issue, and I think this is a hardware or low-level firmware problem that is baked into the design of the video processing software of the Roku Select and Plus Series TVs.
I have tried several flash drives with no success .Tv still goes to where the video and audio go out of sync.
I'm beginning to think the there is a fault with the hardware or firmware in the Roku TV itself. I have tried several different flash drives myself. Some work better than others but they all do the same thing. They work good for a few minutes but then the audio starts lagging behind the video and they rarely record a full 90 minutes before they reset. Sometimes the screen will freeze. I have a 50" Roku select series 4K UHD TV. The instruction manual states it requires a flash drive of at least 16GB USB2.0 15mbps/15mbps read/write speed for the pause live TV function. It's been my experience is nearly impossible to find a flash drive with a constant 15mbps write speed with a USB2.0 interface. Of the flash drives I've tried the Sony microvault 16GB USB2.0 seems to perform the best. I've contacted Roku customer service but they wasn't much help they want to charge me to talk to a tech to fix a problem with a TV I bought from them. That just don't seem right to me.
I have a 55" Roku Select Series TV (Model 55R4A5R) that has a bug with the Live TV Pause Function for over-the-air antenna TV. With a USB stick installed and configured for this function, the video stutters, the audio looses sync, and/or the buffer gets cleared as it stores data on the USB stick. This issue has not been fixed for over a year as demonstrated by numerous posts on this web site.
I have tried several things to address this issue, including resetting the TV, using four different USB sticks, using different antennas, disconnecting everything from the TV except for the power cord and antenna, and disabling all picture processing and/or advanced networking features. Nothing has worked so far. I have tested this function on an older TCL 4 Series Roku TV with the exact same Roku Software (version 14.1.4 build 7709), and it does not exhibit this problem. The older TV always maxes out the full 90 minutes of buffering time, even with a weak antenna signal. The new TV has never gone more than 45 minutes without a glitch that clears the buffer, and usually fails within five or ten minutes even with a strong antenna signal. I even tried formatting several USB sticks with the older TV, and then used them on the new TV with no success.
I have worked with Roku support on this issue using a chat session (Ticket ID for Reference: 11592770). They could not provide a solution, and are escalating the case to the concerned department. Their Backend team will check and provide an update through email in 2 business days. Unfortunately, several other users on this site have gone through the same process over the past year, and have not met with any type of successful resolution.
Hey StreamerP,
Thank you for posting here in the Roku Community!
We appreciate the troubleshooting steps you have taken so far. Our team is currently investigating this problem.
Your extended understanding and patience are much valued.
Thanks,
The Roku Community TeamAfter waiting three business days for an email response that never came, I called Roku Technical Support. A representative reviewed the issue, and then put me on hold so that I could speak with a supervisor. I waited 30 minutes on the phone and they never returned to the call.
Hey annakarenina,
Thank you for posting here in the Roku Community!
We will be glad to assist you further with your problem with the Live TV pause, which suddenly stopped working. Please try to use a different USB flash drive. Some flash drives might be too slow for live recording. Use at least a 2.0 USB flash drive with 16 GB of memory to avoid recording and playback issues.
Please try doing this and see if that helps.
Cheers,
The Roku Community TeamHi John. The USB is big enough. I now think I know the problem. I reformatted it etc, went through the process TWICE with Roku, everything is fine until suddenly a notice I've never seen before pops up saying something about Allow/Don't Allow something or other to do with the apps on my TV. I've tried both options, but it makes no difference. It's fine until that option message pops up. What else can I do?
The exact same thing has happened to me. TV & USB less than 6 months old. I have reformatted USB and on-screen msg said I was good to go, but nothing has changed. It jumps back to live tv when I press play and sound is out of sync with picture until I change channel.
Do we have a solution yet?
That's exactly what's happening with me. No solution yet.
Hi Anna Karenina
Have received Roku email re making sure system is set properly (to Home Screen in my case already) & disabling screensaver. This has made no difference & I have replied accordingly.
Cheers
kwwells51
Thanks for keeping us posted.
Let's try some troubleshooting steps with this issue.
Some television systems may have a screensaver feature that can affect Live TV Pause.
- Change power on settings: Go to Settings > System > Power and make sure Power on is not set to Live TV or Last used TV input
- Disable screensaver settings: Go to Settings > Theme > Screensaver wait time and select Disable screensaver
For information, you can refer to this support article How to fix Live TV Pause issues on a Roku streaming device
Give this a try and keep us posted on what you find out.
Thanks,
Roku Community Team.Hi Roku Support
I followed your instructions in your last message, as had another poster, and, as with them, it made no difference.
I reformatted the thumb for the 3rd time, put in a code on the screen as before. Everything with Pause was fine until, yet again this message popped up on my screen.
Allow access to external media
The external media that you have connected can be read by apps installed on your Roku device. Please choose to allow or not allow access by installed apps below. To reset this setting please reconnect the external media.
Allow
Do not Allow
I've tried both options but makes no difference. What should I do now?
Thank you in advance.
I’m glad I’m not alone with my glitchy issues. I have tried every suggestion available to stop the issues. Sometimes now, when my tv seems to get glitchy, the audio stops and tries to catch up to the video. If I’m lucky they sync up. Usually, the audio is way off and I have to switch channels to kind of reset the two. When I first reported the issue in November of 2023, I was told the same thing about engineering working in it. It doesn’t seem to repeat as badly in live tv as it once did. At one point it would happen about 15-20 times during a 30 minute period. Lately, it seems closer to 5-6 times. I have a TCL tv also. I don’t have this issue on the TCL with Roku built in, so it’s something with the tv. It also on happens during live tv, not streaming. I’m hoping that there will be some resolution, as it has been nearing 18 months of dealing with this problem.
MyRTV23 I also have a second Roku TV made by TCL (49S405). The Live TV Pause has no issues on the TCL TV using the exact same USB drives.My observations of this issue are the same as what you are currently experiencing. It happens about 5-6 times in a 30 minute period. This video shows a typical example of the glitch.
I did notice that the pause buffer works differently on the TCL TV. When I disconnect the antenna for about 10 seconds and reconnect it, the TCL TV saves the gap with the missing signal in the pause buffer. The Roku Select Series TV does not. On both TVs, the pause buffer gets reset when I disconnect the antenna for over a minute, but does not get reset if I only disconnect it for 10 or 20 seconds. I also noticed that the issue seems to happen more during commercials. However, it can occur at any time with any channel and any screen resolution (1080, 720 or 480).
