Not able to mirror windows 10 laptop to TCL 55inch - stopped working- SOLVED

Issue: no longer able to mirror windows 10 to my 55inch tcl. It worked before and now the progress bar at the bottom gets stuck in limbo and never completes.

Lets face it, this issue can drive one mad as we spend countless hours trying to trouble shoot and eliminate possible issues.

First let me list what the issue was not to help others.

It was not:

1) a recent Roku tcl software update nor build version

2) a windows KB update or install

3) a new windows 10 build version

My windows 10 laptop crashed and blue screened, and so I downloaded the newest version onto a USB drive 16gb storage capacity Date 11/6/2020 from Microsoft.com using the USB creation tool.

After successfully installing windows 10 home onto my laptop, below are the following things to check for and do, that resolved my issue. I myself am in IT Networking, and I spent about two months trying to resolve this. Frustrating indeed!

Date: Nov 6 2020 win10 home version 20h2
TCL roku model 55 inch tv 55s421 roku c125x

Previously, when mirroring worked- the process was I would

#1 ensure both the laptop is connected to the network and the roku tv is connected to the same network
#2 on the laptop click on settings
#3 click on display
#4 scroll down and click on 'connect to wireless display'
#5 a few seconds later the TCL would show up on the menu on the right hand side,
#6 if necessary on the roku tv appears 'always allow, allow, or deny'
#7 or it bypasses this step if you already selected always allow
#8 the roku tv displays a purple bar across the bottom of the screen that loads from left to right while the laptop displays a message 'connecting'
#9 after about 10 seconds to 15 seconds, it successfully connects and both the laptop screen is on, and its also displaying on the roku

Now, after re-installing windows 10 home, the steps below are what I had to do solve the issue. I was using the same laptop as before and TV which screen mirroring had worked on before.

#1 after windows installs, there is no wireless display apapter.
#2 click on settings
#3 enter 'add optional feature'
#4 wireless display, install it
#5 if it is not installed when you click on display you will not see the option to connect to a wireless display
#6 after installing it, when i clicked on wireless display it would connect to the roku, i would press always allow, and then it would show the black status bar at the top showing 'connected' , however on the roku the progress bar would get stuck.
#7 also, the status bar at the top looked different than before, it had additional options like 'watching video, game, etc' and on the right menu is showed 'projection option'
#8 this is NOT how it should appear, and I could not figure out how to resolve this.

Things I already had checked and verified previously by going into device manager below:

1) miracast driver was up to date
2) bluetooth adapters, i had like five of them, and all were updated
3) monitors - general PnP monitor driver was up to date

I wasted alot of time, believing it was a combination of too many bluetooth drivers, and network adapters. I have like 8 WAN miniports, 1 realtek wireless lan 802.11n, 1 microsoft wi fi direct virtual, 1 bluetooth device personal area network, it was none of these.

Here are the basic steps to verify:

1) go to settings, devices, bluetooth, make sure it is on
2)if the tcl roku device is listed under wireless devices, click on it and confirm you would like to remove it.
3) go to settings, system, then click on 'shared experiences', turn on 'nearby sharing' everyone nearby, and turn on 'share across devices' my devices only
4) go to multi tasking and turn it on, and make sure all three selection are selected
5) this may not make a difference, but i am unsure, merely giving you an exact duplication of what i did
6) under projection, selection is available every where
7) **important** go to settings, privacy, scroll down toward the bottom, click on 'other devices' and turn on beacons. 8) now go to device manager, click at view at the top and select 'show hidden devices'
9) click on 'monitors' and you may see many listed, one may be blue and others not blue, it doesnt matter, right click on each one and select uninstall until none are left remaining.
10) click on miracast display devices, and do the same thing, right click and select uninstall each item that is listed
11) if you fail to click on 'view' at the top menu of device manager and select 'show hidden devices' you will not see miracast or the entire list of previously installed generic pnp monitors which all need to be removed
12) after removing all of them under miracast display, and generic pnp monitors, go settings and open the control panel
13) we are going to add a device the good ole fashion way, i have had more success this way
14) once you get the control panel open, please ensure on the top right under view- select - CATEGORY
15)click on the word 'hardwre and sound', and click on 'add a device' under DEVICE AND PRINTERS at the top
16) the laptop will begin to search for nearby devices, and you may see the TCL ROKU listed more than once, it will be listed as a TCL ROKU TV, also as a 'entertainment device', maybe you'll see ur desktop, select TCL ROKU (television)
17) once you do this, and click next, you should see a message that asks you to wait a moment while windows adds the necessary components needed.
18) after this is done, if it auto try to connect you i cannot remember, however if it does not. Go to settings, display, click on connect to wireless display adapter, click on TCL ROKU, and this should solve your issue. If it still gets stuck at the bottom, you missed an option, or step, and trust me, it is easy to do.

May this guide make you mirroring dreams come true. Oh and one more thing, for IT tech like myself, who suddenly forget the most basic options... mirroring is an added convienence which is nice because it is wireless.. do NOT forget if you have an HDMI port on your laptop, all you have to do is connnect an hdmi cable from the laptop to an HDMI port on the TCL ROKU and this is also a way to mirror, just buy at 12 or 16ft cord and forget about all the hours of troubleshooting. But there is nothing like RESOLVING the issue. Amen, and God bless.

Final tip: upon reinstalling windows ome of the first steps is to connect to a network, i always select SKIP THIS STEP AND DO LATER. This allows the user to customize his windows 10 options and features before Windows automatically add a ton of updates and other things.

As soon as windows is ready. Go to settings, and find the windows update options and click on PAUSE. The guide above solved the issue without what microsoft recommends on their site: which is to ensure you have all the recent kb and updates. No THANK YOU. Resolved without it!