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EnTerr
Roku Guru

"Zombie" channels - how to get rid of them?

Ok, here is a conundrum - turns out it is possible to add a channel that is neither "dead" nor "alive".

It does not show in channel listing, so i cannot start it, hence not "alive".
But i cannot delete its corpse from my player either (since does not show in the lineup :roll:), hence it's not "dead" either.
Somehow it lingers in a netherworld where it is beyond reach but pollutes my account and players. Creepy, i'n't it?

Most recently that happened to me when i as good samaritan tried installing "Monster Box" from here viewtopic.php?f=34&t=86227
(initially i used the random code provided, today you can use "monsterbox" to the same effect)
And so after forcing "update", it told me channel is installed and... nothing, does not show in the listing. In fact, it keeps telling me it is installing every time i force update check. On all my players, naturally. It's been almost a week and no change.

Now, i have accomplished such feat once in my own pvt channel when i was missing something (say the offline icons). Which was easy to fix, since i could upload corrected bundle. But how about when this is beyond my control, like in this case - am i condemned to life with such monstrosity?! That doesn't seem right...
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24 REPLIES 24
RokuShawnS
Channel Surfer

Re: "Zombie" channels - how to get rid of them?

This issue was brought up once before a year or so ago, if I remember correctly (though it was a slightly different problem). I'll check with Engineering tomorrow about it.

C. Shawn Smith

PS: Can you give an example channel or two in addition to Monster Box?
C. Shawn Smith
Community Liaison

------------
The Cosmos is all that is, and all that was, and ever will be. -- Carl Sagan
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TheEndless
Channel Surfer

Re: "Zombie" channels - how to get rid of them?

"RokuShawnS" wrote:
PS: Can you give an example channel or two in addition to Monster Box?

How about screensavers? There's no way to remove those, either. I suspect a solution to one would also provide a solution to the other.
My Channels: http://roku.permanence.com - Twitter: @TheEndlessDev
Instant Watch Browser (NetflixIWB), Aquarium Screensaver (AQUARIUM), Clever Clocks Screensaver (CLEVERCLOCKS), iTunes Podcasts (ITPC), My Channels (MYCHANNELS)
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marcelo_cabral
Roku Guru

Re: "Zombie" channels - how to get rid of them?

This could be caused by the fact some channels has special needs (like USB, or specific firmware version) you can add it as a private, but they will only show to you if you have a device with USB.

The page that adds the channel could alert the user that he does not have any device registered in his account that supports that particular channel
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RokuShawnS
Channel Surfer

Re: "Zombie" channels - how to get rid of them?

"TheEndless" wrote:
"RokuShawnS" wrote:
PS: Can you give an example channel or two in addition to Monster Box?

How about screensavers? There's no way to remove those, either. I suspect a solution to one would also provide a solution to the other.


That was another concern that I think was brought up a year ago. Any particular screensaver you can pin down? (I only have one installed, and that's my own, which has a way to delete it already programmed in :mrgreen: )

The more info I have for engineering, the likelier it will be to change the behavior.

Since you can add channels through the web interface, maybe that can provide a stop-gap measure to delete channels if it's not possible via the Roku, at the very least. I'll see what I can find out tomorrow (er ... this morning ... frakking insomnia :D)

C. Shawn Smith
C. Shawn Smith
Community Liaison

------------
The Cosmos is all that is, and all that was, and ever will be. -- Carl Sagan
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TheEndless
Channel Surfer

Re: "Zombie" channels - how to get rid of them?

"RokuShawnS" wrote:
Any particular screensaver you can pin down?

Every standalone screensaver. Once installed, there's no way to remove them.
EDIT: Nevermind.. didn't realize the Options (*) menu was now available on the screensavers. When did that get added?

"RokuShawnS" wrote:
(I only have one installed, and that's my own, which has a way to delete it already programmed in :mrgreen: )

Care to explain? How are you programmatically deleting a channel/screensaver?
My Channels: http://roku.permanence.com - Twitter: @TheEndlessDev
Instant Watch Browser (NetflixIWB), Aquarium Screensaver (AQUARIUM), Clever Clocks Screensaver (CLEVERCLOCKS), iTunes Podcasts (ITPC), My Channels (MYCHANNELS)
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Basil
Roku Guru

Re: "Zombie" channels - how to get rid of them?

"TheEndless" wrote:
...
"RokuShawnS" wrote:
(I only have one installed, and that's my own, which has a way to delete it already programmed in :mrgreen: )

Care to explain? How are you programmatically deleting a channel/screensaver?

Wasn't he referring to them having a "remove" option built in? Which is now unnecessary because of the Options button being available on screen savers now?
Basil
Longtime Roku user
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TheEndless
Channel Surfer

Re: "Zombie" channels - how to get rid of them?

"Basil" wrote:
"TheEndless" wrote:
...
"RokuShawnS" wrote:
(I only have one installed, and that's my own, which has a way to delete it already programmed in :mrgreen: )

Care to explain? How are you programmatically deleting a channel/screensaver?

Wasn't he referring to them having a "remove" option built in? Which is now unnecessary because of the Options button being available on screen savers now?

It sounds like it, but how would a built-in "remove" option work?
My Channels: http://roku.permanence.com - Twitter: @TheEndlessDev
Instant Watch Browser (NetflixIWB), Aquarium Screensaver (AQUARIUM), Clever Clocks Screensaver (CLEVERCLOCKS), iTunes Podcasts (ITPC), My Channels (MYCHANNELS)
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RokuShawnS
Channel Surfer

Re: "Zombie" channels - how to get rid of them?

"TheEndless" wrote:
"Basil" wrote:
"TheEndless" wrote:
...
"RokuShawnS" wrote:
(I only have one installed, and that's my own, which has a way to delete it already programmed in :mrgreen: )

Care to explain? How are you programmatically deleting a channel/screensaver?

Wasn't he referring to them having a "remove" option built in? Which is now unnecessary because of the Options button being available on screen savers now?

It sounds like it, but how would a built-in "remove" option work?


Sorry. I worded that poorly. When the screensaver was created, it was before a lot of screensavers actually showed up in the channel lineup. We made sure ours was, to avoid it becoming a ghost.

I should remember not to post when I'm battling insomnia :mrgreen:

C. Shawn Smith
C. Shawn Smith
Community Liaison

------------
The Cosmos is all that is, and all that was, and ever will be. -- Carl Sagan
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EnTerr
Roku Guru

Re: "Zombie" channels - how to get rid of them?

So what's the word on the zombies, Roku*?
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