Forum Discussion

RichM023's avatar
RichM023
Newbie
3 years ago
Solved

Roku Ultra white light always stays on?

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

  • renojim's avatar
    renojim
    3 years ago

    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.

  • MarkOB's avatar
    MarkOB
    2 years ago

    Confirmed this works - uncheck the power saving feature and the white LED in the front of the unit will go off after a short pause when the TV is powered off.

     

     

  • MarkOB's avatar
    MarkOB
    2 years ago

    Hey Jeff you can skip the tape, I also just bought two newer Roku Ultra LTs and though there isn't a specific LED setting (I'd checked thoroughly), the trick of unchecking the 20 minute power saving feature did in fact cause the LED to go out after powering off the TV (and a brief pause).

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  • CR444's avatar
    CR444
    Channel Surfer
    2 years ago

    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.

    • MarkOB's avatar
      MarkOB
      Newbie
      2 years ago

      Confirmed this works - uncheck the power saving feature and the white LED in the front of the unit will go off after a short pause when the TV is powered off.

       

       

    • Superglide's avatar
      Superglide
      Newbie
      2 years ago

      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's avatar
        Emissary35
        Roku Guru
        2 years ago

        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.

  • renojim's avatar
    renojim
    Community Streaming Expert
    3 years ago

    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.

  • SandyUT's avatar
    SandyUT
    Channel Surfer
    2 years ago

    Roku,

    I have read many posts on this issue.  I responded in one, but you never commented back.

    The indicator light stays on full blast 24/7 and while viewing.  As if the unit never goes to sleep.  It very annoying to have a bright white light under the TV while streaming.  I have had Roku’s for decades and this is the first one with this terrible feature.  

    No one likes it.  Can this be fixed?  Will this be fixed?  What is the deal?

    • SandyUT's avatar
      SandyUT
      Channel Surfer
      2 years ago

      Roku doesnt seem to care.  But this community does.  This is **bleep**.

      returning all 3 new Roku Ultra with the HORRIBLE BRIGHT light that never turns off.  The old ones are so much more pleasant.

      Who in the world thought a blazing LED light was a good idea???   Fire them.

      • RokuJanadeeK's avatar
        RokuJanadeeK
        Retired Moderator
        2 years ago

        Hi SandyUT,

        We understand your sentiments.

        Could you give the provided troubleshooting steps above a shot? It seems to work for other users; we hope this will resolve the issue.

        Kindly keep us posted!

        All the best,
        Janadee

  • SammyWoo's avatar
    SammyWoo
    Channel Surfer
    2 years ago

    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.