Looooong Post Ahead
So I've bought a Roku Streambar around November 20, 2020, and I also have those random crashes/reboots.
I have tested many things since then. The crashes/reboots can occur at any time between four to six hours when being only used as a soundbar (optical plugged on PS4). However, when this happens, it will repeat itself about every 45 minutes afterward.
As for the apps, the problem seems more frequent on Netflix, mostly on 4K content (I remember watching Bigmouth with my son and it crashed /rebooted at least once every episode, sometimes twice). As for Prime Video, I got about 1 to 3 crashes for an episode of The Boys.
The other apps I use seem to be more stable but they dont stream over 1080 (HiDive, Funimation, CrunchyRoll). Yeah geeky familly. These apps only seem to crash when they are running 90 min or so.
So far, the best way I have found to have the bar run for a longer period of time is to unplug it for a little while. Lately, I only plug it before using it.
That resumes it for now I think!!
As for my testing:
At first I tought the problems might have been caused by a language issue in the bar's OS (it was set in French [Quebec here]). I thus switched it to English.
Didn't see any improvement
I thought that it could be a router issue so I checked my router's log and saw no disconnection nor anything weird. Still, just to be sure, I put the Roku on DMZ so nothing would interfere.
Didn't see any improvement
I've shut down non-essential options such as the ability to close the TV with the Roku's remote and other thingies like that... No improvement
I thought that there could have been some compatibility issues since my TV dates of 2016, so I've plugged the Roku in a standard HDMI instead of the ARC one... No improvement
As for the Playstation 4, since I was going through the TV and then to the ARC to the bar, I had no choice to change (after the previous tests/changes). It didn't fix it either, so I've put it directly through the optical from the PS4 to the bar... No improvement
When only acting as a soundbar, it ends up crashing at the same rate as when we use the bar to watch videos.... so no improvement
On Christmas Eve, I did a few tests, like letting the bar run for a while at some point. Crash reports were impossible to obtain, it caused the bar to re-crash too fast for it to be reported… This lasted a few days (actually making the report was making it crash). After that, I've simply unplugged it until mid-January since there was a patch… Still no improvement
I replugged the bar about two days ago since there was another patch. I tested the bar by letting it stream CBC Montreal's channel. It stayed up about three hours before crashing. It crashed again 42 minutes after.
So far, I'm hoping for some kind of patch or something. I mostly believe that there is a memory leak somewhere, unless the issue is physical. I don't have any sign of that whatsoever. There are no visual artifacts on screeen, sound issues or evident overheating...
It just suddently freezes the picture, then sound keeps on playing for 5 to 20 seconds, then it reboots.
TV is a Samsung : UN40KU6270
The router is a : Netgear R7000 nighthawk
-Roku device mode : 9102CA Roku Streambar
-serial number : YL001K092120
-device ID : 2C1081092120
-software OS/version : 9.4.6 Build 4013-95
timestamp : 2021-01-24T06:09:01Z
-tracker ID : 20-033-489
I was playing PS4 so only audio was transmitted through the soundbar at that moment via optical.
I've been patient enough on my side to try and set it, but the issues obiviously do not come from my side. From now on, I'll send you these reports on a more regular basis.
Thank you.
