Roku setup

[25th_Floor]

I just bought a Roku today. Never used one before. I didn't get very far, and now I'm stuck with a useless product. I connected the device to my TV through the HDMI port and connected it to a power source. The screen responded immediately and gave me instructions to pair the remote. That part went fine.

The next step was to connect it to my Wi-Fi network. The screen showed me available networks, including my own. I went searching for my Wi-Fi password, and when I came back, my TV screen no longer showed the networks. Instead, it showed a blank screen with "No Video" warning. And now nothing I do will return me to the startup screen or even show me that the Roku is still alive. The Roku remote no longer works, the Roku device is no longer recognized by my TV, either. It just went dead.

I've tried turning off the TV, unplugging and replugging the Roku from the HDMI port, changing the input selections back and forth with my TV's remote, and changing the batteries in the Roku remote. NOTHING WORKS. The whole product is completely dead before I could ever finish setting it up. All because I took too long to enter my Wi-Fi password. 

You should warn customers that if they pause "too long" during the setup process (such as walking into another room to find their Wi-Fi password), the entire Roku product will self-destruct and become completely unusable. The hardware device won't be recognized by your TV, the remote control will go dead, and there is no way to revive them. And there's no tech support, besides this forum? Awful.

[AvsGunnar]

@25th_Floor 

The Roku devices will enter a sleep mode during periods of inactivity.

Pressing the Home button on the Roku remote should have woken it back up.  If not, just unplug it from power. (the USB cable plugs into power, the HDMI cable is simply to carry the video and audio signal).

If you unplug it and plug it back in, hopefully it will reboot and take you back to the setup,  If not, press in and hold the reset button for 30+ seconds and that will factory reset the device and should allow you to start over.

[25th_Floor]

Thank you. I thought I had unplugged it from the power strip, but I had only unplugged the Roku from the TV. Unplugging it from power did reboot it, nothing else worked! Very grateful for your help. Thank you!

[RokuJohnB · Accepted solution]

Hi @25th_Floor,

Thanks for keeping us posted, and welcome to the Roku Community!

We appreciate the troubleshooting steps you have taken so far. No worries; we'll be more than happy to assist you further with this issue that you had with the Roku device since it was not working on your TV. A Roku device might not work on a TV for a few reasons, including incorrect cable connections (HDMI not plugged in properly), a faulty cable, the wrong TV input selected, or a power issue with the Roku. Check the connections, power source, and TV input settings to troubleshoot the issue.

Cable connections:

• Ensure the HDMI cable is firmly plugged into both the Roku and the TV.

• Try a different HDMI cable to see if the current one is faulty.

TV input selection:

• Make sure your TV is set to the correct input where the Roku is connected.

Power source:

• Check if the Roku is properly plugged in and receiving power.
• Try a different power outlet.

We would recommend trying to see if that resolves your issue. Please keep us posted.

Best regards,
John

[Jimmy15]

First time user: Can't complete first setup it gets to the update but nothing after that it just keeps looping over and over again 

[RokuEmmanuel-D]

Welcome, @Jimmy15.

Thanks for sharing it here in the Roku Community!

We understand that you're encountering an unexpected behavior when trying to activate your new Roku device. We're here to provide assistance so you can start streaming in no time.

To troubleshoot this you might try factory resetting your Roku device to restart the activation process. Also, the inability to update during the activation process might be due to a slow internet connection. You might try connecting your Roku to a different internet connection, such as a mobile hotspot, to see if the update problems will be resolved.

Please let us know if this works for you. 

All the best,
Emman

[25th_Floor]

Thanks everyone. I was able to resolve the issue by rebooting the setup process (probably from the advice I got here, thank you) and I've had no issues since.

One word of advice to new users like myself:  if you use different inputs (such as a digital TV antenna, a computer, etc.), after you start your TV (even if you haven't changed the input setting), you might need to press the Home button on your Roku remote. This helps your TV to recognize the Roku device and display the Home Screen. After that, you'll be able to choose whatever app or channel you want to watch.

[RokuJechealR]

Greetings from the Roku Community, @25th_Floor!

Thanks for letting us know about this and for sharing your thoughts. We value your feedback and are happy to know that you sorted out your issue.

Feel free to let us know if you need further assistance. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Happy Streaming! 💜

All the best,
Chel

[Strega2]

Many Rokus have an optional power saving mode that is turned on by default.  If pressing a key to wake up the Roku bugs you, you can turn it off at: Settings -> System -> Power -> Auto power savings

The cost is a tiny bit more energy usage.  (Idle Rokus don’t use much power even without the power savings feature.)