Remotes

[CasLyn817]

Hi everyone, I’m hoping you know how to help me..

Device is displaying “not charged” while inserted directly into my TV. It will start up shortly after ... sometimes.

My remote is a monthly bill now. So far spent $50 in batteries, replacing them once a week.

My son and I watch a movie a night. Not frequent TV users. It would be nice if this could work when we need it. Our old Roku never failed us.

Is anyone having these issues as well? Is there something that you thought of that maybe I haven’t to fix it?

#help #cantaffordthis 

[yawitz]

That's an explanation, but not a solution. It's at minimum an implementation flaw if it does that often enough to cause the battery drain. Perhaps the remote should also not try to connect as often, and/or "sleep" after a set period of time (until a button press), or something similar. Whatever the solution, the current behavior continues to present a problem for many (perhaps most) users.

[dontcallmeshirl]

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@RokuMary-F wrote:

Hi everyone,

Thank you for letting us know about the remote battery drain issue you are experiencing.

Our engineering team has been investigating this issue closely, however, we would like to request your assistance to further identify the cause of the problem.

If the USB Cable from your Streaming Stick is currently connected to the USB port on your TV, we would like to request that you connect the USB cable directly to a wall outlet or power strip via the USB power adapter that was included with your device. This will help us in diagnosing the issue further. Once you have connected your USB cable connected to the Streaming Stick to a wall outlet or power strip, we would like to ask that you perform the below steps:

1.    Remove the batteries from your remote that is experiencing this issue

2.    Restart your Roku Streaming Stick by unplugging the device from the USB power connection for 10 seconds before plugging it back in

3.    After the Roku Home Screen appears again, reinsert the batteries and continue usage as normal

4.    Let us know if you continue to see the issue and if so, the frequency at which it occurs

Thanks,

Mary

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My remote does not have an issue when plugged into a non switched outlet, it has an issue when the USB is plugged into the TV and when its on a switched outlet. 

Its long since been established that the roku being shutoff is whats causing the remote to drain. As people have already pointed out, you could replicate this with 1 person in a lab in less than a day. Clearly you already know this is the issue since your techs keep suggesting powering the device with and outlet instead of the USB on the TV.

The draw for MANY of us is not having a power cord dangling off our TV. Instead of stalling out pretending to troubleshoot this...how about we move onto the part where you guys push a firmware update to put the remote to sleep? Or timeout...or figure out an ir solution?

You've had years at this point to sort this...and while the mods on this forum are great about PM'ing folks and are attentive, clearly the issue isn't going to be resolved by talking about it here. So whats the next step for those of us that have purchased your products over the years? Flood support with tickets on it? Leave reviews on the websites that we purchased this product from warning other unsuspecting purchasers?

[MooseLips]

I am beginning to think that Roku really messed up and used a wifi chip in certain remotes that cannot enter sleep mode. Otherwise this should be a stupid easy fix as many have pointed out. Posting in these forums have done nothing and if you mention anything about class action lawsuits the posts often get deleted. I have had that happen on the Roku subreddit. 

So, Roku has ignored me enough at this point that I have reached out to several tech blogs with links to these threads and also on reddit. Roku continues to sell faulty hardware to paying customers. This is indeed grounds for legal action. So far I have heard back from one major tech site that is going to look into it and hopefully do a story. I highly suggest others start contacting tech sites and any media outlets that cover the tech segment. That's the only way this ever gets fixed. Roku knows the problem and they know the answer. But for some reason they don't want it to go public which means it's a hardware problem and probably no way to fix it without a redesign of some kind.

Hopefully a few people can read this before it gets deleted. But I will screenshot it to prove my point.

[lee82901]

My enhanced Roku stick remote drains batteries very quickley

Model = 3810X - Roku Streaming Stick+

SERIAL = YHOOW795604

Voice Remote

RC399

[Fantus]

Same here. Remote dead in a couple of days. Is it possible the problem is that if you unplug the roku then the remote will continually try to pair thus draining the batteries? My Roku is plugged into a USB port on the TV. When the TV is turned off the USB port power is turned off as well. My guess is the Roku remote tries continually to repair which drains the batteries.

This is absurd if this is the case. You are forcing me to leave a product always on in order to keep the remote batteries from dying??? That's going to be super bad PR with regard to power drain. There's no need for that. Other consoles/products remember the remote pairing without issue. 

Can you confirm this is the problem? If not then the remote definitely broken.

[SRQtech]

@MooseLips 

I have also contacted several tech sites and investigative reporters. Many have expressed interest in conducting their own tests, publishing the results, and contacting Roku for comment. I encourage others posting here to do the same so Roku will get the message that something needs to be done about this problem.

[renojim]

Look through the Remotes & Accessories section of this "community".  Lots and lots of reports.  I stopped reading those posts long ago.  I don't believe there's any remedy other than a new remote, but, like I said, I haven't been keeping up with the subject.

[phoenixbeth]

I'm going to try what's suggested by the moderator, because I'm at my wit's end with the Roku remote in our primary bedroom draining the batteries so quickly.

I suppose that if the stick is plugged into the TV for power, but the TV isn't on all day, the stick is likely to lose its charge - which would lead to the remote draining its batteries searching for the streaming stick.

I just climbed around my wall mounted TV and managed to plug the Roku stick into a wall outlet for power. We'll see if this helps!

[Golf1965]

I think you will find that it helps tremendously...It did for me. Id still like Roku to find a solution though as we all should be able to use the TV usb port and turn the Roku off without affecting remote battery life.