Discussions

[Duplinskyb]

No matter what channel or subscription we pick we can hear what’s playing but we cannot see it.  We tried resetting and restarting but it isn’t helping.  Nothing is wrong with TV, when we fast forward it shows the frames but when we push play it goes back to a black screen.  What do we do.  It did this once before.   It is a ROKU issue not a connective problem or mechanical. 

[Jocelynkrasner]

Me too!!! So annoying it is impossible to speak with a human being in customer service. I checked every connection and everything is working but when I select a program after it’s finished loading the screen is black but I can hear the audio. Please let me know if you got any help with this! Best,

Frustrated streamer

[RokuDanny-R]

@Duplinskyb @Jocelynkrasner

Thanks for the post.

Is this issue only happening when you are accessing and playing content on a channel? Are you able to see your Home screen?

If you are unable to resolve the issue you are experiencing, please provide us the following information:
-Roku TV brand and model
-serial number
-device ID
-software OS/version
(these can all be found in Settings > System > About)
-does this issue occur on a specific channel? if so, what channel and what version/build is the channel (this can be found be selecting the channel on the Home screen and pressing the * button)
-tracker ID when this issue occurs (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button 5 times, followed by the Back button 5 times)
-steps to reproduce the issue you are seeing

Thanks,
Danny

[Visitor45763]

I'm sorry you're having this trouble. If it were me, I would try clearing the cache (with the tv on):

Hit HOME 5 times.
UP once.
REWIND twice.
FAST FORWARD twice. (Clears cache & tv reboots itself. Be patient. It takes 1-2 minutes for the tv to go black, and come back)

That sounds like it's fixing some different problems. Worth a try.

If that doesn't change anything, assuming you can't see menus, look for the pinhole reset button in the back of the tv. Hold that down for 30 seconds (I'm not clear how that's supposed to be used, or if it's the same for all tvs. Your manual should say how to use it. Like so many things Roku: some people say using it differently, in an almost superstitious way, works when the official way didn't. Like, unplugging the tv, and holding the pinhole button while plugging the tv back in. [On a full moon. I don't know.]).

If the tv goes into setup mode, try telling it you don't have internet (you'll connect later, but don't). That will put you in a basic, seemingly-older version of the software. (The antenna tv is vastly different, like it's older.). You could watch antenna tv for awhile, and see if the tv shows a picture. Or, stream through HDMI. If you don't see the problem, then setup the internet connection (home>settings>internet). It may update immediately, or it will take 1-2 days. (You can go to the system>system-update menu.). If it all goes bad again, you'd know that you were affected by Roku's untested update (like so many others). You could salvage your tv by resetting again, and streaming through HDMI. Streaming sticks are cheap. I'm using a $22 stick.

If the setup doesn't put you back to working tv, I'd say it's a hardware problem. It's easy to blame Roku. They definitely don't care about customers, or how updates break tvs. But, still: hardware does fail. It could be as simple as that. Not a bizarre full-moon problem.

[Jt28godsrose]

Having the same problem.  I have tried everything I can think of. I even did a factory reset. It worked for about 30 minutes and then went back to the same. I can see the home screen and everything else, but when I push play I can hear it but the screen is blank. Seems like there are a lot of people with this problem. It doesn't matter what channel/app I play either. 

If you find anything out that works ease let us know. 

Thanks 

[RokuKariza-D]

Hey @Jt28godsrose

We're sorry to hear about the issue you're experiencing.

Please provide us with the following information for further investigation:

• Roku device model, Serial number, Device ID, Software OS/version (these can all be found in Settings > System > About)
• Does this issue occur on a specific channel? If so, what channel and what version/build is the channel (this can be found by selecting the channel on the Home screen and pressing the * button)
• Tracker ID when this issue occurs (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button 5 times, followed by the Back button 5 times)
• Steps to reproduce the issue you are seeing

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

All the best,
Kariza

[Grisele27]

No luck with resetting the tv or the roku control and can hear whats on the television but am not able to see any picture on the screen we never turn the tv off and today we did turn it off and this **bleep** happened to us. Any more bad luck perhaps!? Lol

[Grisele27]

This is for the roku employee how can we get the serial number and model and all that info you ask for if the screen is completely black and we dont know what is on the screen not really smart to ask these things

[RokuDanny-R]

@Grisele27

Thanks for the follow up.

You can find the serial number/device ID on the Roku device.

Thanks,
Danny