Roku/Hulu Live TV has generally been good (with some outages), but the last few days turning on my Roku and going to Hulu there has been no sound. Finally discovered TV sound is fine, only unplugging the Roku Express for a full 10 seconds seems to get the sound working again. Is there a ‘Hulu over Roku’ issue going on, or is my Express beginning to fail, or what is going on?
Thanks, I will give this a try at home later today!
I am experiencing the same issue with sling.
I will try this troubleshoot option as well.
OK, I called Hulu Technical Support and walked through several steps with them, which I will relay. I'll bet Roku may feel a little differently about some of this, and it's a bit long (advance apologies), but here goes...
Bandwidth We first discussed bandwidth (I have 50/50, so should be not problem). 4K needs 16 Mbps per tech. They said lowest end of the Roku devices only supports 5-8 Mbps. I have an Express, which on the Roku site supports "HD" but not 4K or HDR, for which you need a Roku Premier. No worries, I have a 1080p HD screen, but not 4K. (Still get a great picture, so no complaints.)
Tested the connection and bandwidth under Roku, System, Network and all checked out fine, it saw 41 Mbps download. Didn't have an upload speed. If the Express can detec5 41 Mbps, don't know if the 5-8 mbps is all it can actually handle - or not. Cannot dispute one way or another - no documentation on that at the Roku site I could find. (Maybe a 'super user' knows...)
Fully Exit Applications Next, if applications on Roku are not exited properly, they can stay in device memory, slowing down the device - potentially contributing to instability. On my Roku remote, they suggested *always* exiting the application by pressing the 'back arrow' at the top (on my Roku remote, to the left of the Home (house shape) button) until prompted to exit the application. We have just been pushing the Home button to find/switch apps, not knowing that left the application in memory. [From my own tech experience, incorrectly exiting an application can contribute to instability.]
Delete and Reinstall Hulu As suggested by makaiguy above, we deleted the Hulu app and reinstalled it, just to ensure a 'clean' version of the Hulu application was installed. Yes, we recycled the Express between uninstalling and installing the new version of Hulu. (From Roku Home screen, highlight app, press * and select delete, OK. Recycle the Roku (Settings, System, System Restart...). )The tech handled the Roku login for me with the screen code provided, so I didn't have to do the painful login on the remote...) Next, just pressed the Hulu button on the Roku remote, and was prompted to add Hulu back - used the 'on screen' instructions to move it where I wanted it on the applications list (at the top left).
Device Age This is the part Roku may not agree with. When discussing the age of our Roku Express, about 2 1/2 years, they said they have seen some number of devices (particularly the low-end ones - which ours is) begin to fail in the 2+ years time frame. I'll see how mine behaves with the new information and steps above. 2+ years seems on the low end to me - I would think 3-5 ought to be more the rule, with most lasting even longer if not used 24x7. We watch <4 hrs a day - not heavy use.
So, too long a story a little shorter, the sound is working just fine, again. We will see if this continues for the near-term, since the sound going away happened 4 or 5 times in the last three days. *Assume* the sound is solved if I don't come back and post an update.
Thanks very much for relaying all that. I had not heard the bit about exiting via the Back button before. [In best Arte Johnson voice] Verrrry interesting.
I am having the same issue. if you go into settings, system, reset, the sound comes back up on my Roku. Will try removing Hulu channel and rebooting then reinstalling channel.
A belated update... after continuing to fuss with the Express for another month and more, spotted a Roku sale for $20 off on the Ultra and just did it. Zero problems since installing. The final analysis for me is Hulu was right about the Express - after a few years, they get flaky. Planned obsolescence? Don’t know that, but it worked for me to upgrade, so a definite possibility. The Ultra is definitely quick and nice!