Remotes

[blownawayin5]

I have a Roku XD and a "simple" remote, and a "voice remote".  I've tried ALL the pairing suggestions on the Roku troubleshooting website, but nothing works for EITHER remote.  Ideally would like to get the voice remote paired, but the green light blinks, but the pairing screen never comes up.  It's a new(to me) Roku so when you plug it in, the initial setup/language screen comes up but you can't do anything.  I even tried the Roku app on my phone, but it doesn't 'see' the XD.  Brand new batteries...  Any ideas/help??  

thanks!!

[Tivoburkee]

Sorry but the voice remote will never work with the xd. Which only works with IR and Bluetooth remotes. So it doesn't work with current wifi-direct voice remotes. 

[blownawayin5]

How about the "simple" remote?  I've tried everything I can find to get that one to pair as well, but no luck with that one either.  

[makaiguy]

@blownawayin5-

The Roku XD is an obsolete first generation Roku, initially released in 2010  It has no support for pairing a wifi remote.  It cannot be upgraded with Roku operating system software beyond version 3.1, and Roku support for it has been discontinued.  (The current Roku version in wide use is 11.5, with the roll out of 12.0 just beginning.)  Few if any channel apps can be run on it because most require features and capabilities added to later models.

The XD identifier was later re-used with the Roku 2 XD, released in July 2011.  If this is what you have, it can't be updated beyond Roku 9.1.  Roku discontinued support for it with the release of Roku 9.2 in December 2019.  That 8 year run is pretty good for modern electronics.  There are channels that will still run on the 2 XD but some newer popular ones require a more up to date model.

My recommendation would be to not bother messing with either one of these models (especially the XD) but buy a current one.  Not only will it come with a compatible remote and run ALL current channels for at least a few years to come, but the improvement in speed and response time is phenomenal.  I would recommend getting one of the models capable of running 4K (i.e. anything other than the current bottom of the line Roku Express) even if you don't have a 4K set, both as a means of future-proofing but to also get support for the 5 GHz wifi band, faster processor, and more channel memory.

But if you want TRY to get your current XD or 2 XD working:

Infrared (IR) remotes, like the current "Simple Remote" all use the same set of IR commands that Roku has used since the beginning.  They work without pairing - just point them at the front of the Roku, and in fact can't be paired.  Be sure you have the batteries inserted in the correct orientation.  But if the old Roku itself isn't working, there's not much you can do about it.