Solving playback issues

[mrdctaylor]

Is anyone else seeing this behavior? It only happens with some apps.  I’m seeing this on my Roku Ultras. I have 3 Ultras and I am seeing it on all of them. This particular Roku is a 4660X.   I just started noticing this in the last couple of days. It just updated to 14.1.4.7709 and it is still doing it.  Essentially, on certain apps it shows "Loading...." for 2-3 seconds before actually launching the app.  It isn't downloading the app and the app doesn't need an update. 

In short, I think it is because it is loading some apps from the MicroSD Card.  I know it uses those cards to offload apps/increase storage.  But on this Roku I use YouTube TV daily and it is doing it every time.  I would think that Rokus would be smart enough to put commonly used apps on the internal memory.  Has this changed?  Or has loading apps from the memory card just gotten slower in a recent update causing this screen to pop up?   I have tested my theory by popping out the memory card.  At that point, it had to actually download YouTube TV.  Then it started loading immediately even when I put the MicroSD card back in.  But sometime over the past week it has started showing the loading screen again (which I assume means it offloaded the app onto the memory card). 

Anyway, these are all just (somewhat educated) guesses on my part.   I'm hoping Roku engineers will see this and fix it.  Thanks!

[JWS9518]

If your device has an external SD card, it is possible that the memory card is going bad.  Depending on the brand of card and wear and tear they get form use, they tend to last about 5 years before getting corrupt and failing.  It might be time to replace the card.

[mrdctaylor]

Thanks for the comment.  I guess it is possible.  But I don't think it likely for this reason: One of my Ultras (a 4670X) and its memory card were purchased a year or two after the others, and they all started displaying this symptom at the same time sometime within the last month or two.  So it seems like an update caused this.  Also worth noting, different apps are affected.  For example, in my living room I get it on YouTubeTV, but in the bedroom I get it on Prime Video.

[JWS9518]

It is possible that there is something quirky going on with the OS and an update, but if you have a spare card that hasn't been used, you could always try that and see if it works.

If you haven't yet, try a system restart or unplug the Roku's for 30 to 60 seconds to clear out the cache completely and see if that helps as well.

[mrdctaylor]

I've definitely tried unplugging/restarting/etc.  And putting if I got a new card to try it will certainly work for a little while, but won't be an immediate test.  Like I said, I popped the card out, the app re-downloaded and then it worked immediately.  I put the card back in and the app continued to load immediately...for a few days.  At some point it went back to (I assume) loading off of the card.  If I can dig up a card I might try it, but it seems like something is going on.  Do you have either of my Roku Ultra models by chance?

[JWS9518]

I have 5 Ultras, but not your specific model.  I have not seen this behavior on my Ultras though, so it could be specific to that model or something going specifically to your setup.  

[JWS9518]

It seems at times that Roku is more focused on adding fancier "features" and more ways to provide ads (which I think makes things more complex and can cause issues) than providing stability for the devices that it supports or that users have out in the wild.

[JWS9518]

Unfortunately, if you have an older device that begins to have issues with the current OS and those "features', it probably means that support is probably getting close to be discontinued for that model, especially if the model is more than 7 or 8 years old.

[mrdctaylor]

Do you have memory cards in your Ultras?

[AvsGunnar]

@mrdctaylor 

I see that behavior on my 4660 occasionally.  I actually think that it may just be a glitch because it even  happens on a few on my most used channels/apps. (ones I use daily).

It just seems to pop up every now and then. (most noticeably around software and build updates).  It happened when I had 50 or so channels/apps installed and still occurs occasionally with my current number of 19.

My experience is that it goes away as quickly as it appears.

I have never used the SD card feature on the device so at least pretty safe to say the SD card is likely not the "primary" culprit.

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The recent Roku OS updates seem to include some focus on memory management so quite possible that the OS may just be displaying a learning behavior or dumped it from memory during an update/patch installed on the device. (similar to how when you first set up a device, each and every app displays that behavior while being initially loaded into memory upon a first run/launch).