Solving playback issues

[Swelldance]

I have 6 Roku devices - 3 TVs and 3 plug-ins (1 Roku 3, and 2 4K+).  This is about the plug-ins.  About 6 months ago whenever I turn on a TV, the ROKU menu doesn't appear unless I hit the Home button.  TVs are an Insignia and 2 Samsungs.  I have tried the suggestions about resets (system, network and factory) with no luck.  I tried doing all of them at once, 1-a-day - same results.  Also made sure they are plugged in to a wall socket for power.

Any other thoughts on this?  Thanks for your help.

[RokuTakashi]

Hi @Swelldance,

Greetings and welcome to the Roku Community!

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, and we would like to know more about this issue. Is this happening to all of your Roku streaming devices? Also, when turning on your Roku, what do you see on your screen?

We look forward to your response.

All the best.
Kash

[AvsGunnar]

@Swelldance 

Pressing the Home button is usually required to "wake" the device.  If you have 1-touch Play enabled under the Roku settings, (Settings/System/Control other Devices), then any button press on the remote, other than the TV controls (power, volumes, mute) should also wake the device and likely turn on your TV via HDMI CEC.

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With the Roku 4k+ devices (not sure if you mean Express 4k+ or Streaming Stick 4k+), you can also try disabling Power Savings. (Settings/System/Power/Auto-Power Savings/20-min inactivity).

The Roku 3 should not have this Power Savings feature.

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The procedure of pressing the Home button (unless using 1 touch-play) is the expected behavior.  Perhaps you used to have the Bandwidth Saver and Screensavers disabled and the devices just kept streaming in the background whenever you turned off your TV using the Power button?

The Power button has no effect on the Roku device, only on the connected TV.  (Power button on a Roku TV will stop streaming and power off, but not on a streaming device connected to a TV via HDMI).

[Swelldance]

Only the 3 plugins (Roku 3 and Express 4k+).  The built in TV (TCL) version starts fine.

When I turn on Roku, it comes up blank – no picture or sound.

Thanks!

[Swelldance]

Hi Everyone:

I am bringing this up because it didn’t use to work this way.  When I turned on my TV, the Roku menu always appeared.  No buttons pressed.

I have Express 4k+.  But this happens with 3 different TVs and 3 different Roku devices.

Not sure about the “Savers”.  Was this something Roku changed six months ago?

Thanks!

[AvsGunnar]

@Swelldance 

How did you normally "turn on" your Roku devices?

[Swelldance]

Hello:

For the Roku 3 (since there is no power button), when I turn on the TV (with its own remote) Roku menu use to pop up (not the ROKU letters that come up when you do a reset).

For the Express 4k+ I use the power button on the Roku remote.  That turns the TV on, and the Roku menu use to pop up (like the Roku 3).

Thanks!

[makaiguy · Accepted solution]

Some of the newer Roku streaming device models have a "Power" item added in the "Settings > System" menu. At this writing they are Streaming Stick 4K/4K+ (3820/3821), Express 4K/4K+ (3940/3941), Roku 4 (4400), and Ultra/Ultra LT (4800/4801). You can check your model and model number via Roku menu path Settings/System/About.

If your Roku has an "Auto power savings" item under Settings/System/Power, this will put your Roku device into a low power standby condition after a 20 minute period of inactivity, in which nothing has been streaming and no user interaction has been received, such as when your TV is off. In this state neither its connection to your home network nor its HDMI signal to your TV are active.

Pressing a Roku control key (like the Home button) on your Roku remote (not Power, Volume, or Mute buttons, if your remote has them, as they act on the TV, not the Roku) should bring the Roku out of standby and back to full operation. Pulling the power for a few seconds to restart the Roku will restore full operation as well.

If you disable "Settings > System > Power > Auto power savings > After 20 minutes of no interaction" this should prevent your Roku from going into standby in the first place. The power savings are very small and for the hassle it causes most users, I don't think it's worth having this feature activated.

For further details, see this Roku information page: https://support.roku.com/article/6306527767575

[Swelldance]

Thanks for this information.

Turning the auto power off does allow Roku to stay awake when the TV is turned off.  However, when I turn the TV back on, I get the ROKU screen saver not the menu. Still got to hit an extra button.

I've had my ROKU 3 for almost 10 years.  Up until 6 months ago, whenever I turned the TV on, I got the ROKU menu without having to hit another button. The Express 4k were the same way when I first installed them.

Thanks for the feedback! 

[AvsGunnar · Accepted solution]

@Swelldance 

Try disabling your Screensaver and see if you now start up on the menu.

(Settings/Theme/Screensavers/Screensaver Wait Time/Disable)