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StevenCee
Roku Guru

NOTHING IS PLAYING, BLACK SCREEN, OR SPINNING 99% or 25%!

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What is going on with Roku?? It's now happening pretty much every day, it'll work for a while, but then I can't play trailers, movies, even any of the live Roku channels, nor will Netflix or Prime Video work!  I keep getting the buffering circles, and it will either show 99%, or go one by one, only to stop at 25%, and then nothing!

And I've asked by now about 25 times for someone from Roku to tell me if there's some way we can clear the cache. Sometimes I can do a system reset, wait till everything opens again, and it may work, for a while. But tonight, even doing that doesn't help, nothing will play! I get the menus, and everything looks ok, until I try to play a show or trailer, then nothing.

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RokuJechealR
Community Moderator
Community Moderator

Re: NOTHING IS PLAYING, BLACK SCREEN, OR SPINNING 99% or 25%!

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Thanks for keeping us posted, @StevenCee,

We're sorry to hear that you are still experiencing the same issue. Since you're already trying steps to fix the issue with your Roku TV, let's try to re-do the process of resetting by performing a hard reset.

To do this, kindly follow the instructions below:

  • Locating the Reset button is either tactile or a pinhole design on the back of your TV near the antenna, HDMI, and audio connections.

  • Using a straightened paperclip (or similar), press and hold the reset button for at least 20 - 30 seconds.

Note: After a moment, your TV will restart. Follow the instructions stated on the screen.

Please keep us posted on what you find out.

All the best,
Chel

Jecheal R.
Roku Community Moderator

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RokuJechealR
Community Moderator
Community Moderator

Re: NOTHING IS PLAYING, BLACK SCREEN, OR SPINNING 99% or 25%!

Jump to solution

Hi @StevenCee,

Greetings from the Roku Community!

We appreciate you for sharing your experience with trouble accessing channels on your Roku device and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

We'd like to take action on this, but we need more details. Refer to these questions to better identify the issue you're experiencing.

  • When did you notice the issue start?
  • What is your device's OS version?
  • Are you encountering any error codes or messages?
  • Are there any changes in the setup or settings of your Roku device or your network provider that might cause the problem?
  • Who's your ISP is? (Internet service provider)
  • Have you tried removing the affected channel, restarting your Roku player, and adding the channel back? (Note: After removing a channel, the best practice is to clear the Roku's memory by restarting it before reinstalling it).

We will be better equipped to provide further assistance by providing additional details.

All the best,
Chel

Jecheal R.
Roku Community Moderator
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StevenCee
Roku Guru

Re: NOTHING IS PLAYING, BLACK SCREEN, OR SPINNING 99% or 25%!

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@RokuJechealR 

This began at least a month ago, maybe two, but has gotten worse and worse, to where it happens pretty much every day now.  Once I watch one or two shows, or see a couple trailers, they just stop playing! Even the Roku Live channels don't work, nothing works, but usually will once I do a system restart.  But invariably, once it restarts, I can't find the movie I was just trying to play, and am so frustrated I don't remember what it was.

This happens primarily on my TCL 55" Roku TV
No error codes or messages, other than the spinning circle with 25% or 99%

No changes in settings & Roku is the network provider, unless you mean my Wifi provider, but no change there. My TV was updated to the most recent Roku OS (13. something) on Aug. 6th.
My ISP is Spectrum
It's not just one channel but ALL of them, and just yesterday was the first time even the OTA channels weren't working, too.
I shouldn't have to be restarting the Roku TV a couple times every day, just to watch shows...

And what makes it more aggravating is that it often happens very late at night, when I don't really feel like having to be troubleshooting and restarting, just to watch something.

StevenCee
Roku Guru

Re: NOTHING IS PLAYING, BLACK SCREEN, OR SPINNING 99% or 25%!

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STILL HAPPENING!!  This is so very frustrating, why must I keep having to do system resets all the time, just to watch something?  And is there any way to clear the system cache, or not?

RokuJechealR
Community Moderator
Community Moderator

Re: NOTHING IS PLAYING, BLACK SCREEN, OR SPINNING 99% or 25%!

Jump to solution

Thanks for keeping us posted, @StevenCee,

We're sorry to hear that you are still experiencing the same issue. Since you're already trying steps to fix the issue with your Roku TV, let's try to re-do the process of resetting by performing a hard reset.

To do this, kindly follow the instructions below:

  • Locating the Reset button is either tactile or a pinhole design on the back of your TV near the antenna, HDMI, and audio connections.

  • Using a straightened paperclip (or similar), press and hold the reset button for at least 20 - 30 seconds.

Note: After a moment, your TV will restart. Follow the instructions stated on the screen.

Please keep us posted on what you find out.

All the best,
Chel

Jecheal R.
Roku Community Moderator
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StevenCee
Roku Guru

Re: NOTHING IS PLAYING, BLACK SCREEN, OR SPINNING 99% or 25%!

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@RokuJechealR Hi, Will resetting the TV be similar to a full reset of the Roku app, meaning I will have to start all over, signing up & downloading all my apps, and then manually reconfiguring all my Favorites as well?

RokuJechealR
Community Moderator
Community Moderator

Re: NOTHING IS PLAYING, BLACK SCREEN, OR SPINNING 99% or 25%!

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We appreciate your response, @StevenCee.

A factory reset clears most data from your Roku device and restores it to a factory default configuration. Specifically, the process will:

  • Erase your personal preferences.
  • Unlink your device from your Roku account.
  • Reset all settings and return your device to a state ready for initial setup.

Please keep us posted on how it works for you.

All the best,
Chel

Jecheal R.
Roku Community Moderator
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StevenCee
Roku Guru

Re: NOTHING IS PLAYING, BLACK SCREEN, OR SPINNING 99% or 25%!

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@RokuJechealR 
I don't want to do a factory reset, as that would involve re-doing everything, from downloading apps, to selecting favorite channels, and all other settings, only to find that this may not fix the issues I'm trying to resolve. For now, I'll just do system re-starts when it constantly buffers, although there's no reason for it to do that, as my Wifi connection is a fast one.

And for about the 20th time, can someone let me know if there's a way we can clear the Roku's cache?

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