Channels & viewing

[Qntgeek]

Thanks, Expert Dan. This would all be great to point at Vudu, if Vudu wasn’t literally doing the exact thing in reverse with my open ticket with them.

As you astutely pointed out a programmer somewhere missed something causing some devices with some apps to fail in certain circumstances, whether Roku or Vudu. As a programmer, you can’t control the platform you develop for, and if Roku isn’t forthcoming with bug traces, then Vudu is guessi g blindly at what’s happening too. If Roku would provide a debug mode, with logging and tracing enabled I’d figure it out myself, but Roku and Vudu have decided to not provide tools to their customers and route us here to beg for help so we can be told it’s not their problem and try to blame my internet connection, the vudu app, or have me uninstall, reboot and reinstall for the 20th time hoping that’ll fix it.

It’s lazy, cheap, outsourced “support” that doesn’t have anything to do with actual customer satisfaction, it’s just big companies playing a numbers game that “most people work most the time” and that’ll be good enough.

Disappointing to say the least.

[Qntgeek]

Jaharra, you know as well as I do that there is no setting within Vudu to block content in this way. To entertain you, I went through all Vudu settings. Guess what, there is not setting to block a roku from streaming purchased content.

This is not limited to free content.

please escalate my issue.

thanks

[captainpikachu]

Hello, I'm having the EXACT same issue as Qntgeek.  Everything described is erroring for me the same with purchased or free content, trailers play without issue.  All other devices on my home network can play purchased Vudu/Fandango content without issue.  Would love to get this resolved so I can view my library again on the Roku.  Here's the info gathered from my system when it errors:

Model: 4660X Roku Ultra
Serial: YJ00F5630648
Device ID: CK381F630348
Sofware version: 12.5.5 build 4174-46
Error: Unable to continue playback, an unexpected error has occurred.
GC version: 11.4.29
Timestamp 2024-05-04T06:36:30Z
Issue ID: 48-178-956

[RokuJharra-Q]

Thanks for keeping in touch and providing the additional information, @captainpikachu @Qntgeek!

We want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to help you out. Could you please let us know if you've encountered any error messages? Also, have you tried reaching out to Vudu Support yet?

With more detailed information, we will be able to assist you further.

Thanks,
Jharra

[Qntgeek]

Yes, the error as mentioned earlier in this thread is “Error - Unable to continue playback, an unexpected error has occurred.”

Yes, I’ve opened a ticket with Vudu and they said it’s Roku’s fault since it works on every other device I have except the Roku.

Is there a way to get detailed debug information? I’ll troubleshoot the problem myself if I can actually see what’s happening (or not) instead of just getting an “unknown error” message

[atc98092]

That’s a copout from Vudu. The problem is the Vudu app on your Roku, and they are responsible for the app functionality. It doesn’t matter if it’s working on other devices, because it’s a completely different app on those devices. 

[Qntgeek]

Thanks again, Expert Dan. Your bolstering of Roku’s position of lack of responsibility is super helpful in resolving the problem that I, and apparently many others, face. If you could use your Expert status to go convince Vudu to fix their issue that’d be great. If not, maybe use your Expert status to help Roku provide enough details in errors or debug logs to demonstrate it’s actually Vudu’s fault.

I’m guessing your Expert status won’t help me with either of those to actually resolve this issue and neither will telling me to go bother Vudu more than I already said I am.

[atc98092]

You may believe if you like that I'm simply defending Roku here. But the point is, The app on a Roku device is completely different from an app from the same provider on a different platform, so it's immaterial if it works on other devices. It's written in a completely different programming language, so other than looking about the same, it has nothing in common with the app on different platforms. Vudu has to fix their app if it's not working correctly on a Roku, as they have sole control over the programming of the app. 

If I was encountering the same issue, I would absolutely be contacting Vudu with my concerns. But as it is, I'm playing a movie on the Vudu app on my Ultra 4800 right now without a problem. It took longer than I expected to load the movie, but it did play, and it's playing still. I can't contact them about a problem I don't have, as I can't provide any detail they would need.

[Qntgeek · Accepted solution]

I figured it out after getting a tcpdump off the AP my roku was connected to.

dns failed for rokuproxy.vudu.com when trying to stream

it turns out that ubiquiti uses cleanbrowsing dns in the background and that was not clear in the configuration.

I contacted cleanbrowsing and they are recategorizing rokuproxy.vudu.com out of the vpn category, but I can also successfully stream now when I use traditional dns now that I found where ubiquiti is hiding the setting.

sorry for the swirl.

[captainpikachu]

Interesting!  I intentionally use cleanbrowsing.org DNS filtering on my home router but never tried to stream without it.  I always figured that since PCs, laptops, tablets, phones, and Nest Hubs could all stream from Vudu on my home network, the DNS filtering wasn't the problem.  Thank you for your response.  Case closed, lock the thread!