Features, settings & updates

[RichM023]

Why does my ULTRA white light always remain on?  Is the unit ALWAYS drawing full power?

[renojim · Accepted solution]

Roku devices don't turn off, so yes, it's always drawing power, but it's minimal when it's idle (and pretty low when it's not).  The power button on the remote is strictly for the TV.  Depending on the Roku model there may be a "power saving" setting under Settings->System->Power.  My testing shows this saves no more than a Watt or two and can cause more problems than it's worth.

The light should go off when either the screensaver activates or power saving mode kicks in, but it's become less and less reliable as an indication of anything with each Roku update.  You'll find plenty of threads on the issue.

[Chasityrose]

Go to settings >system > advanced system settings > LED> Off

[CR444]

I thought maybe the setting... Settings--> System--> Power--> Auto power savings may have something to do with the white LED light staying on after the TV is shut off, because this is a relatively new setting and I never had the problem with an older Roku Ultra.  It seems counterintuitive, but I went ahead and unchecked "After 20 minutes of no interaction" in the Auto power savings.  I thought there may be a conflict where the device would actually stay awake in order to perform this check.  Well, sure enough it worked for me.  By unchecking this, the white LED light on my two newer Roku Ultra models turn off when I turn off the associated TV, and stay off until I turn the TV back on. 

I hope this is the solution others are looking for.

[SammyWoo]

Issue ONE is status light behavior and TWO does it save power?

I have 4802x, firmware 12.5.0 just updated 2 days ago.

Turning off Power Saving solves problem ONE for me.  Now am curious about power consumption.

I tried all combinations of Power Saving/Screen Saver and all of them, the 4802 sux 4 watts of power CONSTANTLY, now and then it jumps to 5 watts.  For comparison purposes my 1st Gen ATV4K sips 0.3 watts at sleep. Using a Kill-A-Watt for measurement.

So I don't know whether to let the 4802 draw 4 watts 24x7 or, my rack has a smart power strip, I can plug in the 4802 to follow my Receiver's power up, that solves BOTH of the issues, it just a tad un-elegant to cycle power like that although the 4802 boots fast enough. 

[Superglide]

Your counterintuitive suggestion by unchecking the 20 minutes power saving option does work perfectly. I just bought a Roku Ultra LT last week and everything works fine until I noticed the power led turning back on and stayed on after turned off the tv and Roku device. It was somewhat annoying. But Kudos to you for sharing the info. I am now happier with the Roku Ultra LT now.

[Emissary35]

I always unplug my Rokus from the power strip when I am done using them and turn off my TV. This makes the white light go off. There should be an option to actually turn the Roku off manually when you are done using it just like turning off your TV and anything else connected to it. When you plug in your Roku it "boots up" to the home screen. So there should also be a "shut down sequence" as well.

[CR444]

Actually, when you turn off your TV, there is still power going to it if it remains plugged in.  It remains in a low power state.  The only way to completely remove power from your TV is to unplug it.  The same goes for Roku devices.  The power state for the Roku device is extremely low when it is plugged in but not active, just like your TV.  The initial question on this thread asked if there was a solution to get the white LED light to go off on the new version of the Ultra and Ultra LT so it is not disturbing if it is in a bedroom and people not wanting to have that white light glowing at night.  Naturally, if one just unplugs it, the white light will go off because there is no power going to the Roku, but that is not something most people want to do after each use.  Also, it has to reboot each time you plug it in again (that is the purpose of keeping it plugged in a low power state.... so it does not have to reboot each time).  With this said, I posted the solution regarding the white light in a earlier post on this thread (without having to unplug it), which has seemed to work out for others.

[Emissary35]

"Actually, when you turn off your TV, there is still power going to it if it remains plugged in.  It remains in a low power state.  The only way to completely remove power from your TV is to unplug it."

That is not always true for all TVs. On my Hisense 65" 4K TV when I turn it off I have two options. I can press the power button once and the screen shuts off but the TV is still on in a standby mode. If I press the power button again the screen comes back on quickly.

However if I hold down the power button for three seconds it gives me a prompt asking if I want to "shut down" the TV. This option in fact does completely shut the TV off as unplugging it would, because next time I turn the TV on it does the boot up sequence which takes about 30 seconds. Roku could easily design a similar feature for those people who want to shut down their Roku as soon as they are done with it without having to unplug it from the power strip.

And let's be real, it takes about 20 to 25 seconds for most of these Rokus to boot up and get you on the home screen so you are not being inconvenienced at all to boot up each time you use your Roku player. Unless your attention span is so short you can't handle waiting that short amount of time!

[MrDoh]

You can automate unplugging your Roku when you turn off your TV. Use one of those green, power-saving power strips. Make your TV the primary device, and the Roku a secondary. That’ll turn off the power to the Roku when the TV gets far enough into its “off” state. Works for me.

Yes, you do need to wait through the Roku reboot when you turn on your TV, But the reboot time on the new Roku’s is a lot shorter than it used to be.