Features, settings & updates

[3boyfathet]

@RokuDanny-R,  Roku has all the data it needs.  Other than perhaps asking folks to send in their devices for Roku to test to get to the root cause of the issue.   The 3800X and 3900X devices both break if they haven't been regularly updated or the user factory resets their devices.  The problem is quite simple and is reproducible by many users.  I'm happy to send my device in to Roku so that your engineers can use it for testing a solution to repair all the devices that Roku has made inoperable due to issues with your software updating process.  Roku's response to this issue has been underwhelming.  The folks monitoring your forums ask the same questions that fail to lead to resolution.  Then your support people ask similar questions that also fail to lead to a resolution.  What folks want is a solution.  The two troubleshooting steps that have been suggested 1) try another wifi network, and 2) reset the device, have both consistently failed to address the issue.  It would be great if you or another Roku employee could escalate this issue beyond first tier support to engineering who might actually be able to solve the issue.

[jniezgoski]

Same issue, a working device prior to Factory Reset for security purposes. Device stuck on check for update. Roku provides no solution, they literally bricked their own device and say it's not their problem. What a horrible company. I have multiple devices totaling thousands in $ with their name and I refuse to consider their products anymore after dealing with their horrible support.

[RokuMary-F]

Hi @jniezgoski,

Welcome to the Roku Community!

We appreciate your feedback and we’re sorry you're having trouble with your Roku device which is currently stuck in a software update.

We are currently aware and our engineering team has been investigating this issue closely.

In the meantime, please help us with the required details below so we can send additional information for the investigation to our engineering team, and once more information is available I'll be sure to let the Community know:

• Roku device model, serial number, device ID, and 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, and provide us with this ID)
• steps to reproduce the issue you are seeing

Thanks again for posting. We're hoping to get everything sorted out soon and appreciate you bearing with us in the meantime.


Best regards,
Mary

[jniezgoski]

Model Number

3800RW

Software Version

9.2.0:4131

Device ID

CU388C323680

Serial number

YF00CW323680

[jniezgoski]

Connects up via Wireless fine, did hot spot nothing works. Device was 100% functional until Factory Reset and tried to update. You no longer support older devices to update or reset and forcing them to buy new products on perfectly working devices. This is horrible business practice.

[jniezgoski]

Please use issue ID: 80-185-337 to report the current issue.

[RokuMary-F]

Hi @jniezgoski,

Thanks for providing all the information we requested and we're sorry for the inconvenience.

Rest assured that we have sent all your information and concerns to our Roku team. We'll get back to you once an update is available I'll be sure to let the Community know.

We're hoping to get everything sorted out soon and appreciate you bearing with us in the meantime.


Best regards,
Mary

[jniezgoski]

Why can't I manually update the device or the same firmware it was prior to Factory reset?

[RokuMary-F]

Hi @jniezgoski,

Thanks for following up.

At this time, I have no update to provide but our Roku team has continued investigating the issue and is hoping to have a further resolution soon. Rest assured once more information is available we'll send the update once we have it.

We sincerely appreciate your patience and we are working on ways to resolve the issue as soon as possible.


Best regards,
Mary

[StuckOnSWupdate]

@jniezgoski Here's what I think happened: First of all factory reset is factory reset... it replaces the code on the device with the image that was installed at the factory, presumably wiping everything else out. The problem is somewhere along the line, likely for security reasons, they had to change the protocol on their servers that handle the software updates. (I use the term "protocol" loosely here.) Newer software versions know how to communicate using this new protocol, but the software version(s) that shipped on these devices do not. The change was staged over some period of time; for some period they were pushing out new versions that handled the new protocol before making the change on the servers to disable the old protocol. As long as devices were being continually updated they will work just find in this scheme. The problem arises when you have a device that has an older version of the code from before the point where they added support for the new protocol, such as the version that shipped on our devices from the factory. Basically a factory reset is guaranteed to brick the device, since it demands to be updated at setup time.

They probably knew this was an exposure but had to deal with the security risk and had no choice. They probably figured devices which were not in use wouldn't get used again. Maybe they didn't think users who received "passed along" devices woudn't do a factory reset. Or they just had no better options.

We're probably out of luck; assuming they can't re-enable the old protocol on the servers the only way to fix this now would be to re-flash the device with a newer level of code, probably through USB, if that's even technically feasible. Roku probably has a limit how much they want to invest in fixing the problem for out-of-warranty users on a $29 device.