Forum Discussion

FJB2020's avatar
FJB2020
Streaming Star
2 years ago

Remote Voice Feature Error keeps popping up: "Sorry, unable to receive audio from your remote...."

It isn't the problem.Mine was brand new and did the same thing.They sent another remote even thought I told them it was not the remote.The same thing still is driving me crazy and they do not help at...
remotes
ThisIsAUsername's avatar
ThisIsAUsername
Reel Rookie
2 years ago

I have a TCL Roku TV and decided to upgrade to the Roku Voice Remote.

After taking it out of the box and pairing it, all of the buttons work except for the microphone button. When I press and hold the microphone button and say something into the microphone hole, the Roku TV shows an error message:

"Sorry, unable to receive audio from your remote. If this continues, try pairing your remote again."

 

WHAT HAVE I TRIED:

  • Pairing the Voice Remote again (more info below)
  • Rebooting both the TV and the remote, trying to pair again
  • Taking the batteries out of the old remote, trying to pair again
  • Network connection test
  • Network connection reset (on the TV)
  • Resetting TV audio/picture settings
  • Made sure the TV is connected to Wi-Fi via 5 GHz
  • Unplugging the nearby Google Home Mini speaker
  • Deleting all Roku devices from Google Home + unlinking Roku account

(After each of these steps, I tried pairing again)

 

HERE'S MORE HELPFUL INFO

  • When I tried to pair the remote again, I see it's already paired and trying to add a new remote results in no remote being found, even though the remote seems to think that it found the TV (based on the blinking green light)
  • After every troubleshooting step, I tried pairing the remote again. Always the same result: "Voice Remote" stays in the remotes list, and the TV never "finds" the remote that it's already connected to.
  • No matter what I do, BOTH remotes continue to work. But the mic button on the voice remote always causes that error message.
  • The remote that came with the TV does NOT appear on the Remotes screen (I don't think it ever did)
  • The Voice Remote seems like it paired in a messed up way... On the About screen in Remote Settings, it says the Battery level is Unknown, and the Firmware version is Unknown.
  • I saw this Reddit post allegedly from a Roku developer, sounds like that's what's happening... but no matter what I do, I can't seem to get the Roku Voice Remote to actually un-pair with the Roku TV and re-pair in the correct way!

 

MODEL NUMBERS, ETC

Roku TV

  • TCL model: 50S425
  • Hardware ID: 7130X
  • Software version: 12.5.5 build 4174-30
  • TCL logo at bottom center of TV screen frame
  • Roku TV logo at bottom right of TV screen frame
  • The compatibility check on the store page said this remote would work with my device

Roku Voice Remote

  • SKU# RCA1R
  • Model: RC918
  • Name: Voice Remote
  • Firmware version: Unknown [it actually says that]
  • It's the battery one, not the rechargeable one
  • Microphone hole to the left of the power button
  • No sync button

 

I've spent hours and hours troubleshooting this, reading support pages, troubleshooting pages, community posts, and Reddit posts... I really hope we can find a solution, and others with this same issue in the future can find this page to resolve it easier than we did.

RokuJanadeeK's avatar
RokuJanadeeK
Retired Moderator
2 years ago

Hi ThisIsAUsername,

We're delighted to have you here in the Roku Community.

We understand that you're having issues with your Roku voice remote. We appreciate the precise information you have provided in describing this issue, as well as the steps you have taken in an attempt to fix it.

Please be advised that our team is currently aware of the issue and is undergoing an in-depth investigation regarding it. That being said, would you be so kind as to provide us with the following information?

  • Roku device or TV model, serial number, device ID, and software OS/version (these can all be found in Settings > System > About).
  • Tracker ID when this issue occurs (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button five times, followed by the Back button five times, and provide us with this ID).
  • Photo of the error message you've been receiving.

Once a few more pieces of information have been gathered, we will be able to pass them along to the appropriate support team to investigate further. We look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,
Janadee

  • ThisIsAUsername's avatar
    ThisIsAUsername
    Reel Rookie
    2 years ago

    Woah, my separate topic got moved into this thread as a post.

     

    I think I shared all that info already aside from Tracker ID, (for the image, check out that Reddit link - my error looked exactly the same as the image on their post), and normally instead of saying this, I would just re-post that info for convenience, but guess what:

    IT FIXED ITSELF! 🎉🎉🎉

    After a few days of using the new remote even though the mic button didn't work, like just using it for the normal buttons (cuz the new remote feels a little better than the old one), I decided to give the mic button a try again for no reason while I was in the YouTube app... and it freakin worked!!! Then I tried it on the Roku Home screen, and it works there too!

     

    I checked in the about page and all the info there is the same, no new software update, the TV hasn't even been restarted - the Uptime says it's been on since then (I think I have the setting enabled for fast start or whatever it's called that keeps the TV "on" even when the screen is off)

     

    ...Woohoo!!

     

    So for others who may be looking at this in the future: Maybe try using it for a week, just as a normal non-voice remote, and then, try to use the mic button inside an app.. Worked for me!