Solving playback issues

[grandpa1]

I upgraded to a new ROKU, about 3 months ago. A couple weeks ago, while watching  a series on Plex, I began having problems on playback. The issue is if I fast forward, back up or skip the credits, the video freezes while the audio continues. The only way I can fix it is if I unplug the power, and plug it back in. That will fix it for a day; but I have to do it again the next day. Any ideas? Thanks, Steve

[RokuLianna]

Hi @grandpa1
Welcome to the Roku Community!

Does the issue only occur on Plex or across other channels installed on your Roku device?

Have you tried removing the affected channel Plex and then re-install again? If not, we suggest starting there. In some cases, removing the affected channel and then re-installing it may help. Restart your device before re-adding the channel back in to ensure the process is successful. We recommend doing this through the Settings menu by navigating to Settings > System > Power (If there is no Power submenu, proceed to the next step.) > System restart.

For detailed instructions, refer to this Support link for more information: How to resolve a channel playback issue | Official Roku Support.

Does this clear up the issue you are seeing? Please keep us posted.


Warm Regards,
Lianna

[RickyZ]

I have this same problem. It started a few days ago. It happens on Disney+, HBO Max, and SFN TV Now.  If you go forward or backward the video freezes but the audio plays. It doesn't happen on Netflix, but Netflix on replay or foward has always been different than the way others work, where it shows thumbnails. 

[ECP01]

I reported this issue earlier on another subject incorrectly.  Basically the issue is as stated, PLEX and another channel - BYUtv freezes.  In the case of the BYUtv channel, the problem went away after deleting the channel and re-installing it rebooting the ROKU Ultra before and after.

With Plex, the problem also went away after following the suggested - delete PLEX,reboot Roku, adding the Plex channel and rebooted again.  As mentioned in my other post, I felt like this was only a band aid to the underling problem.  So after doing the suggested reinstall etc, Plex worked great for two days - doing the same things I had done to create the problem: (while a DVR is in process (the nightly news in our area) I start playing the news and then I fast forward to skip commercials).  Last night I did the same things, but this time a new thing was totally different at the start: The recording in plex  was 10 minutes into the DVR or I had the option to go live.  This is normal!  When I clicked on start at the beginning (which my Roku TV in my bedroom does just fine, the ROKU ULTRA started one whole program earlier at 9:03pm.  So I held down the fast forward key and got to the 10:00 news.  Everything played fine until I got the the first commercial break!  I advanced through the commercial as before and the video froze!  I tried the procedure to hit the home key 5 times and the back key 5 times but it appeared that the Plex channel crashed.  I started the channels again, I clicked on go to the beginning of the recorded news and again it started a full hour before the news on a recording that I was recorded.  I skipped to 10:10pm (this where they have their first commercial break).  It froze again.  This time the hitting the home/back space worked with the following: Model: 4802X - Roku Ultra    Seal Number: X01000180A6A (SODA22480A6A)   Software version 11.0.0 build 4193-C2    Timestamp: 2022-10-06T04:34:O1Z   Please use issue ID 6A-400-594 to report the current issue.

I restart the Plex channel again, following the same results - video freezing - Hit the home key 5 times followed by the back key : Model: 4802X.....   Serial number: ..... Software version: ..... Timestamp: 2022-10-06T04:44:55Z    Please use issue ID 6A-400-604 to report the current issue.

Bottom line, reinstalling the Plex channel and rebooting was just a work around, the problem still exists.  As a note: I went back and tried the same of the BYUtv channel  and it did not freeze on me as it did earlier.

[ECP01]

While Roku personnel figure out what causes the freezing issue(s), I've found that if I reboot the Roku Ultra by just unplugging/plugging-in the power cord (reboot), everything works perfectly.  This tells me that the issue could be a memory leak where the code is not cleaning up properly.  Rebooting forces things to be cleaned up.  I've done this above reboot for the last two nights and using the DVR functions (skipping forward) in Plex work great.

One other side note with my issue of seeing the video freeze when I do a fast forward in a recording that is in the process of being recorded.  If I go back and play the same recording after it has completed, video freezing, when I fast forward, does not occur.  It's only a problem when viewing and doing a fast forward when a show is also in the process of being recorded.

[RickyZ]

Unplugging and plugging does not work for me. And, my video freeze occurs when going backward for fast forwarding watching live TV or playing a DVR recording (SFN TV Now), and on streamed TV (Disney Plus, HBO Max, etc.).

[ECP01]

Here's what I've learned about the ROKU Ultra video freezing - If I reboot the ROKU just before viewing my Plex - DVR ( the local news that is still in the process of being recorded, I can skip forward with no problems.  If I reboot and the watch a couple of programs I've DVD'd (Plex), they work great, but then if I watch my news as mentioned above, It first it starts the DVR about two hours before the schedulted 10:00 News (really strange!)- so I fast forward to 10:00 and then play the news - works ok.  But then if I fast forwarded through the commercials, the video freezes.  So just using the ROKU for other recordings seems to cause internal problems with the ROKU. 

With all said, if I go back and watch the same DVD news recording.  It starts just fine and I can skip forward without any problems.  So looks like the problem is only while the program is being recorded and I want start watching the DVR and want to skip forward.  Looking at all the people complaining about videos freezing with various channels, the ROKU firmware need to address this and not just have people reboot and re-install channels as a suggested work around.

[Jayman151]

Same problem, Express+ 4k, happened on Tubi and HBOmax so far. Really need to debug updates before sending them out. 

[ECP01]

My ROKU Ultra was updated to firmware version 11.5.  I tested it last night as described in my earlier post.  I'm happy to say I had no issues! No more video freezing after doing a fast forward (skip forward).  I skipped forward and backward several times while PLEX was in the process of DVR'ing the News that I was watching - everything worked perfectly!

[RokuMary-F]

Hi @ECP01,

Thanks for the update!

We're glad to know it's working now! Happy Streaming!

If you have any other questions or concerns, please let us know.


Best regards,
Mary