Roku legacy products

[MrGee]

Had a lightening strike near the house.  Took out my AV receiver, but new Samsung TV ok.  Roku 2 XS has front light responding to commands from remote, but not being recognized by Samsung TV.  light on front of Roku 2 XS also continuously flashes twice at 2 second intervals when power is applied.  Is my Roku fried.  I really love it because I send Pandora to my AV receiver so I have music on my Great Room speakers through HDMI and then audio to my AV receiver to the rest of the house and outside through the AV Zone 2 inputs.  Unfortunately, Roku doesn't make another product with HDMI and 3.5mm audio output jacks.  Oh, and BTW I hooked it up to an Ethernet jack and still no Roku screen.

[makaiguy]

@MrGee-

Yeah, your Roku 2 XS (released in 2011 and ancient by electronic gadget standards) could be fried.

Or maybe its the HDMI port on your TV that got fried.  Does it have another HDMI port you can try?  Another TV you can try?  A new HDMI cable?

True, current Roku devices do not have separate audio output ports.  But there are HDMI extractors you can purchase that will pass through the video via HDMI and also separate out the audio and provide it via separate audio jacks, thus allowing you to keep using your Roku 2 XS -- once you've determined whether it still works or not.

But why spend money to extend the use of an obsolete Roku?  Roku quit supporting the 2 XS two years ago and hasn't updated its software since Roku version 9.1 -- 9.2, 9.4, and 10.0 have been released since then.   Some newer channels won't even run on it, or in some few cases may only run outdated channel versions that lack features.   Any of the current models will run rings around it for speed of response and capabilities.  The Roku Express 4K+ currently is on sale at many retailers for about 30 bucks.

[remaker]

One thing to try is a different power supply. Sounds like it may be crashing and rebooting over and over again. The IR receiver is independent of the CPU and may blink even if the device is in a boot loop.

You should be able to get a working Roku 2 XS dirt cheap on eBay. Even more so if you accept one with a missing remote.

[MrGee]

Thanks. You’re probably right. I’ll pick up a new Roku and see how I can configure the output to two separate inputs. 

[MrGee]

Thanks.  I’ll test the power supply and see if that’s the issue. If I can find a used Xs I’ll pick one up, or pop for a new one.