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Mike-E
Streaming Star

TCL 50s535 Roku tv. Missing OTA guide for a particular station. It never had it, how to add?

This OTA station below and all sub-channels do NOT have guide service. ALL the rest of my local channels do. How can I get it added? It's never been there since I bought the tv 3 months ago.

Thanks!

WFFC-LD MIDLAND, MI 17.1  Azteca America    17.2  True Crime Network    17.3  Quest    17.4  Shop LC    17.5  BUZZR    17.6  Cheddar

20 REPLIES 20

Re: TCL 55S423 Having Same IssueRe: Onn won't find OTA channels

TCL model 32S321 32" having same problem. Search for channels. None found. stuck. Any gnews would be great gnews.

Visitor45763
Roku Guru

Re: TCL 55S423 Having Same IssueRe: Onn won't find OTA channels

@MichaelJLucasWV , Try home>settings>system>advanced>factory-reset. But, during the initial setup, tell it you'll connect to internet later. This seems to use an older version of the software. (Antenna-tv has favorites again. Continuous channel changing works again.).

You could try scanning for channels from this lighterweight and seemingly different version of the software. Then go to home>settings>network to create your network connection.

I did this with both of my regrettable Roku tvs, but didn't connect to the network. I like the antenna tv interface better this way (but, there's no guide. I never used Roku's guide. I always used zap2it or titantv, et. al. So, I didn't even notice the absense of a guide. No problem for me.). The real benefit of network-less factory reset for me was protecting my tvs from Roku's untested software updates. They're breaking tvs without regard for the customer. There's other threads about it. Roku kept pushing a buggy update out even though breakages were being reported.

Like having the more usable antenna tv interface this way. (I stream through an inexpensive Firestick Lite. I use a Sofabaton F2 remote to control it & tv. The buttons are very limited. Just enough to do it. I posted my key mapping here.). But, honestly, the more I see if how Roku disregards its customers, I think disconnecting from the network is the smart thing to do if you wouldn't be happy with a broken tv due to a software update.

But, you could try the network-less reset, see if you can scan for channels. Then enable the network. You don't have to "cut the cord" with Roku. Just something to think about.

"People are often amazed at how much we’ve done with the number of engineers we’ve got." (Roku CEO Anthony Wood, Austin Statesman, Oct 4, 2019). "Amazed" is one way of putting it.
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Summersea4
Reel Rookie

Antenna local channels

We have had local channels with our antenna for 6 years. Today I did a channel search to see if anything new had been added and lost all of my local channels. I’ve unplugged the tv, checked the cords and have done numerous searches to find the antenna channels. Any thoughts?

RokuDanny-R
Retired Moderator

Re: Antenna local channels

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the posts.

This may be related to an issue that we resolved last week. In order to verify, please restart your Roku TV and check the channel guide again.

A system restart can be performed by navigating to Settings > System > Power > System Restart.

Please keep us posted what you find out.


Thanks,
Danny

Danny R.
Roku Community Moderator
lynda2006
Streaming Star

Re: TCL 50s535 Roku tv. Missing OTA guide for a particular station. It never had it, how to add?

Interesting post.  My OTA channels have always displayed without issue.

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Summersea4
Reel Rookie

Re: Antenna local channels

Hi Danny,

Thank you for the suggestion. I tried the restart and did another channel scan but still nothing. 

Mike-E
Streaming Star

Re: Antenna local channels

Danny, this didn't work for me on my channel 17, which info is in my first post above. Interestingly, I also have a TCL Roku 43s421 in the basement, and that one HAS guide data on all channels of this mux, except for Cheddar.

So, it's only my TCL 50s535 that's completely missing guide data only on this WFFC-LD mux. Other channels have data as normal.

What provider does Roku use to get OTA guide data? Do you know?

lynda2006
Streaming Star

Re: Antenna local channels

Is there a way to make the channel guide more interactive. Presently there are only two options available, "All channels" or "Recent channels".  It is very tedious to switch between the two.  You must arrow over to the first column that lists the channels, press the * button, arrow to the selection, press enter.  It is complicated and too many steps.

 

It would be great if there was a another option of favorite channels.  The OTA users would typically use Titan TV or similar channel guide which offered a very customizable channel guide.  Or at least a way to designate a show as a favorite.

Visitor45763
Roku Guru

Re: Antenna local channels


@Mike-E wrote: I also have a TCL Roku 43s421 in the basement... So, it's only my TCL 50s535 that's completely missing guide data only on this WFFC-LD mux. Other channels have data as normal.

What software version do they have? Go to home>settings>system>about. It will tell you. (system>update will tell you when they were last updated).

I bet there's a difference in versions, and your working tv will be worse soon (when it gets "updated"). I could be wrong. What other explanations are there? It has to be the software. But, you never know. There were TCL tv owners complaining that the unwanted "recently viewed" wasn't populated with antenna-tv channels. Regrettably, I have two TCL tvs which did. We all had the same version. 

Stuff like that (and perhaps this, if your tvs have the same version) make a person wonder how bad the software really is. Is it written that badly that minor hardware variations would cause the software to be unable to scan for channels, or have guide data. It sounds like there's a lack of abstraction between software and hardware which makes Roku's software fragile/brittle.

"People are often amazed at how much we’ve done with the number of engineers we’ve got." (Roku CEO Anthony Wood, Austin Statesman, Oct 4, 2019). "Amazed" is one way of putting it.
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