Solving playback issues

[RokuCarly]

Thanks for letting us know, @Infotrack.

Could you tell us more about what is being downloaded on your Roku Media player? If you can send us a photo of it for reference, that would be great. 

We'll be waiting for your response as we'd be eager to find you the best resolution for this.

Best regards,
Carly

[Infotrack]

I have no idea what it was.  I clicked on Settings, then System, then Software Update, then Check Now, and you guys updated something.  It was not a normal channel update.  My software version is still 12.5.0 Build 4178.

All information is the same as before.  Issue ID is 6E-016-501.  GC Version (whatever that is) is 10.5.39.  I do not have a photo of what was downloaded by you guys.  What else do you need?

[RokuJanadeeK]

Hi @Infotrack,

Thanks for sharing this information with us.

We sincerely value your input and rest assured, we'll forward this one for review and further investigation. Once we have information to share regarding this, we'll make sure to update this thread.

Thanks,
Janadee

[Infotrack]

I THINK I MIGHT have figured out what the problem is.  Whenever I used to insert a USB flash drive into the Roku Ultra, there was never any kind of message about accessing the flash drive.  A while ago, after an update by Roku, a message started to appear about allowing channels on the Roku device to have access to the flash drive.  There is an option:  Allow.  Do Not Allow.  I do not want other channels, such as YouTube, Prime Video, Sky News, etc., accessing my flash drive.  There is absolutely NO need for that, so I always click on Do Not Allow.

Unfortunately, I new believe that Roku went farther than need be by not only not allowed all the other channels to have access, but also restricting the Roku Media Player from having access as well.  Makes NO sense to me.  

So the question then arises: if I click "Allow" how many other channels do have access?  And WHY?  I want ONLY the RMP app to have access.  WHY do you even need the Allow or Do Not Allow question to appear?  

[atc98092]

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@Infotrack wrote:

So the question then arises: if I click "Allow" how many other channels do have access?  And WHY?  I want ONLY the RMP app to have access.  WHY do you even need the Allow or Do Not Allow question to appear?  

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In theory, every channel could have access. In reality, none of them have any reason to access your drive (other than RMP and a few other channels designed to play music from an attached drive). There's simply no business case for any of them to care about reading your drive. It takes time and money for a developer to create a channel. Why spend any resources developing such a function if there's no way to monetize the information? There's nothing on your drive that would be of any interest to them or any 3rd party. 

Why did Roku add the disclaimer and the ability to deny access? I'm sure the legal office had a lot to do with it, simply covering their rear end in case something goes bad. But again, there's simply no reason for any developer to take the time to create such functionality. As much as Google wants your personal information to sell, there's nothing on your disc that would be worth the expense for them. Same with any other channel developer. 

[Infotrack]

Dan, thank you for your replay.  But, frankly, I have NO faith whatsoever that idiots will do whatever idiots decide to do no matter how logical or non-sensical it is.  I am old enough to know that idiots are capable of the most ridiculous things.  So, even though programming a channel to access Roku Media Player USB flash drives makes NO sense, somebody will.  Roku needs to make it so if you click on Do Not Allow, that applies to everything except RMP.  OR if you click Allow, that applies to only RMP,  OR some kind of 3rd option.  

[atc98092]

I agree the correct way to implement it would be on a per-channel approval. But Roku doesn't listen to me any more than any other user. 

[renojim]

Not to mention that there's other media players besides RMP that have a legitimate reason to access the USB port.  Roku really needs app permissions like on a phone.

Also, as has already been stated, nothing has changed with regard to USB access.  If it didn't bother you before, it shouldn't bother you now.  I think if some rogue app was accessing USB devices it would have been noticed and reported here by now.

[Infotrack]

I have ALWAYS kept my personal stuff private.  So who says it didn't bother me before??  Anyway, it wasn't an issue because the "Allow" vs "Do Not Allow" question never popped up before a couple months or so ago.  As soon as it started popping up and I would click Do Not Allow, it became an issue. I never click on Allow due to the privacy issue.   Anyway I don't use any other media player app on the Roku Ultra.  There aren't many good options for other media player apps that I have found that are worth while.  The RMP app leaves a LOT to be desired even so.

[DLB26]

Hi. I listen to mp3 files on a USB flash drive using Roku Media Player. I have a Roku Ultra with a USB port. The problem is that I can't just leave the USB stick in the port and have it recognized the next time I start RMP. I have to re-insert it each time to get the player to recognize it. This makes no sense. Any suggestions?