Solving playback issues

[aczlan]

Got a Roku Express 3930X a while back as a spare, went to set it up today and when I plugged it in, it started intermittently crackling during bootup and while its on.

The video is also off center and loads as 720P.

Once it connects and goes through the video setup it centers itself and switches to 1080P, but the crackling never goes away.

Troubleshooting steps taken:

1. Using a known good HDMI cable/HDMI port on the TV (unplugged the Roku3 that normally lives there and plugged this 3930 one in place of it, works as expected in the Roku3 but has static every few seconds on the 3930).

2. Software updated as soon as it was connected to the internet

3. Tried a factory reset, but no change

4. Checked audio settings, everything is set to auto and it chose stereo (correctly)

5. Tried a different power supply and different USB cable, no change.

Anything else I should try before I give up on it it?

Thanks

Aaron Z

[DBDukes]

---

@aczlan wrote:

... Using a known good HDMI cable/HDMI port on the TV (unplugged the other Roku and plugged this one in place of it, works as expected in the other one). ...

---

What? Clarify what this means. Did you plug the Problem Roku into the Good TV, using the Good HDMI cable (and port) on the Good TV? If so, did the issue follow the Problem Roku?

[aczlan]

I unplugged the working Roku3 from the HDMI cable, plugged in the problematic Roku Express 3930 and it had crackling static every few seconds the whole time it was on (with 3 different USB adapters and 2 USB cables) no matter if it was booting up, sitting on the home screen or playing video.

I plugged the Roku3 back in and the Roku3 worked as expected.

Just tried the problematic 3930 on another TV and it worked perfectly.

So to recap:

TV1 (where I was going to use the 3930): Doesn't work at all (black screen, no audio on startup), TV came from someone who was moving, so it is said to work, but its an older model.

TV2 (normally has a Roku3 on it and has since 2011): When the 3930 is connected the audio has static every few seconds from power on till power off, video is 1/2 a screen off center every time on startup (but is fixed after boot up when it switches from 720P to 1080P). Put the Roku3 back on and the Roku3 works as expected.

TV3 (normally has a Roku Express 3900 on it): Plugged the 3930 in place of the 3900 and it works as expected.

So, there seems to be something about the TV, the HDMI port and/or the HDMI cable on TV2 that doesn't work with the 3930, but the 3930 is functional as it works on TV3.

I guess it will go in the "life's unsolvable mysteries" bin and I won't plan on using the 3930 on TV1 or TV2.

Aaron Z