Roku Device Features, Settings & Updates

[usbnutz]

I have 2 usb 3.0 SSD's (Sandisk Extreme 2 TB and Samsung 1 TB). I have tried everything to get these to work properly with the USB port and Roku Media Player. 

I have tried hfs+ and NTFS on both drives (wish there was exFat too). I do not get a "not enough power" warning, so it does not seem to be that.

Oddly, I tried loading just 3 video files with both drive formats and they did work recognize and play the files. But when I load the hundreds of video files I have, it will not recognize any. It's almost as if the Ultra can't handle a large folder or file volume.

Pulling my hair out. 

Any suggestions? (I've already read the support article many times)

[renojim]

I don't use any USB device for media, but one thought that occurs to me is that it may take it a while to index/scan a large number of files.  Does it appear that it's accessing the disk?  If you wait a while does anything happen?  Can you try organizing your media into folders while trying to keep the number of files in each folder to a manageable amount?

Others that use USB drives could probably offer better advice.

[usbnutz]

Yes, I've done all of those things.

[dathead2]

I have 2019 Ultra (forget what 4xxx model that translates to) and a USB drive (Hitachi 8TB) that has literally many thousand media objects and it loads very quickly (sadly using DLNA via windows 10 or Netgear router does not work well for me). 

i have only used USB sticks (vs my main actual drive) with about twenty files. 

suggestions:

have you tried a drive versus a stick ? 

are you running 9.4 RokuOS (mine worked fine on 9.2 but is even faster on 9.4 since RMP bundled with it MUCH improved!)

[dathead2]

Oh nuts I just realized you said USB SSD not just USB stick.   I see no reason shouldn’t work fine other than still would make sure you have latest software. 

also it could be possible that a few of your files are somehow choking it up.  Have you ever tried incrementally adding them in batches?

[usbnutz]

I think I have the latest software.

Which drive format are you using?

[dathead2]

I use NTFS because it is light years faster than FAT on large 8TB drive.  I have used FAT and NTFS for 20 movies on several 64GB sticks and no problem. 

I would check for 9.4 OS just for grins cuz the RMP is much better as I mentioned. 

[dathead2]

Still no luck?  There’s an interesting thread about trying diff usb cables or even just a short extender (unrelated: I  actually use a six inch one on my tv and in my car to alleviate the USB port from having too many plug ins/pull outs)

[usbnutz]

I had to download and pay for Paragon software to be able to format to NTFS on my Mac. Once the drive was formatted to NTFS, the Ultra was able to show the files. 

In other words, until it's fixed, Roku should remove HFS+ from the supported drive formats listed here: https://support.roku.com/article/208754908

It would be great if Roku could support HFS+ or APFS, as there are a lot of Mac Roku users out there.

@RokuDanny-R 

[BMW102974]

I'm having the same troubles on my Hisense Roku TV. I just used the drive 2 months ago without any troubles. Drive reads fine on my laptop as well, since I just checked it. When plugging my media drive in and going to the Media Player, I get the:

"To play or view content from a USB storage device, connect your device to the USB port on your TV.

Drive formats supported- FAT16/32, NTFS, HFS+, EXT2/3"

I've used this media drive countless times on this very TV, yet it will no longer read it. The drive light is on, so there is power going to it. This has become my last straw with ROKU and the issues that keep compounding. I will be researching and getting a better smart TV in the near future.