Remotes

[janety]

No, I didn't get it to work... just found the secret menus. Mine wont charge. I contacted Roku Chat Support and had some guy (ugh) finally agree to send me a replacement one. The support was inept - kept asking me irrelevant troubleshooting questions that wasted both our time. I will wait for the remote!

[RowCuckoo]

@janety 

Did that remote ever charge correctly, or it was bad from the start?… or, did it stop charging correctly after a Roku update?

Does the LED on the back of the remote light up when you try charging the remote?

Does the socket on the remote for the power cord look clean (no dust or debris), and does the power cord snap into the socket firmly?

Also, what is the usb end for the charge cord getting plugged into?… an adapter (if adapter, what brand and voltage), usb wall outlet, computer, etc.?

[janety]

1) it worked for a year and then BAM! battery 0% and refused to charge

2) no Roku update

3) other remote works fine

4) the Led lights up when attempting charge and the remote works fine as long as it's plugged in to power

5) the socket is fine

6) the cable charges other peripherals 

These are all basic troubleshooting that I did prior to making a report. Just FYI

[RowCuckoo]

@janety 

Thanks for posting all of those details.

From what you described, the battery is dead, and you really didn’t have the remote for very long. Roku definitely should replace all remotes with this issue.

One thing I came across with Li batteries is that they can get discharged so much that the safety feature on the charger kicks in preventing the battery from taking a charge. These batteries can be revived if charged for a short while when charged in parallel with a good battery. But for safety and because the battery is difficult to access inside the remote, I don’t recommend messing with it. Here is a video that shows dead Li battery revival, so you can see what I’m referring to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbEfhPbqTDE

If I come across an easy fix for the dead battery issue, I’ll let you know.

[Len99]

I was able to get to the "secret menu". For others reading the "fix" by RowCuckoo, you have to start out on the Roku home menu when you start. For others, don't pause for too long between the various steps when accessing the special menu as sometimes accessing special menus has a time-out if you pause for too long between key strokes. I did a dry run and was sure that I understand the order of key presses before I started.

Additionally, I was able to successfully perform the steps that RowCuckoo lists. 

My original issue was that I would press either mute or volume up/down and nothing would happen. Then a little later (30 seconds, sometimes a minute, sometimes longer) I would press the mute/volume keys again and the mute and volume on the remote worked to increase/decrease/mute the TV volume (Samsung TV). As I had ordered two Roku Ultras with voice remote (rechargeable batteries), I switched the remote to work with the other Roku (also connected to a 2nd Samsung TV). The remote still gave me the same intermediate volume/mute issues, which told me that both TVs and both Roku units were fine; it was the remote that was the problem. 

Since I have performed the steps that RowCuckoo outlined the "defective" remote has not experienced the issue since then. I has been about a week. Will update if the remote acts up again. But for now, this seems to have solved the issue. THANKS RowCuckoo!

[lohphat]

This FINALLY WORKED after MONTHS of posting here and Roku playing kick the can instead of solving the problem.

It's clear there's a bug in the updating of remote firmware which leaves it in an unstable state -- instead of acknowledging the issue and causing customers to run around in circles trying things which didn't work, this FINALLY solved the problems for me and my clients who were just about to abandon their entire Roku deployment.

BTW, if you use your smartphone camera, you can use it to "see" if the Infrared LED is firing or not on the remote.  You SHOULD see a bright purple LED when you press the volume/mute/power buttons as those are usually sent via IR instead of CEC -- the power button HAS to use IR to turn on since CEC only works after the TV has power.

When the buttons stop working the LED doesn't light up.

[Len99]

Update to my 1/7/2023 initial post:  The fix I described using regarding the secret menu worked until early March, so about 2 months. One of my two Roku Ultra units has gone back to the volume/mute not working intermittently, and then 30 seconds/1 minute later the volume/mute works again (remote fully charged). The 2nd Roku comes up with the screen saver screen after I turn on the TV with the Roku remote (the remote is fully charged). When I push the Home button on the remote nothing happens. That is, it does NOT take me to the Roku menu screen. That is the screen that shows the various applications (i.e., Sling, Netflix, YouTube, etc.). After pushing a couple of buttons randomly which has no effect, the Roku unit reboots itself. It has done this every time I have started the TV since early March. We use this TV once per evening. Both units were purchased Nov 2022, so fairly new and still under warranty. Both remotes have an internal battery. I will try the secret menu fix and see what happens. Both remotes updated successfully to Update: RemoteFwElk4190.bin. NOTE: When you access the secret menu you have to be initially at the Roku Home screen before starting the key presses that RowCuckoo describes. This is the screen that lists your app choices (i.e., sling, YouTube, Netfliex, or whatever apps you have). Once you start the various button choices RowCuckoo describes keep going until you have done all of the button presses regardless of what the TV screen is showing.

[AERealm]

Thanks, worked for me too! Like someone else said, Roku support should know this information. It would save them a lot of time and money as I'm sure I'm not the only one who, after numerous emails, has convinced them to send me a new remote free of charge.

[kitsuncle]

This thread has wandered into the remote sw update area.  Kudos for your solution!  My experience went this way:

>  random intermittent low battery warnings,

>  Finally, remote acted dead (no tv control, no stream slick control)

>  Took everything to another tv, but used a tv-sourced USB power out.

>  Everything was back to operational again.

>  Threw the (Roku supplied) USB power adapter in the trash and went back to the original tv.

>  Dug up another USB adapter, and its all good.

>  PS...Don't do the suggested Stick reset right away or everything gets

more difficult for you.

[mike234]

Len99,  did you get your remotes working again and if so how?