Solving playback issues

[Námreh]

ISSUE REPORT TRACKER: 93-493-493

Last Thursday (7 December, 2023), my #RokuPremiere was playing just fine. Then from Friday until today (FOUR DAYS), this player would stop playing after about 2-5 minutes and return to the Home Screen. It doesn't matter which app I am playing. I was in contact with Roku Support trying the following troubleshooting methods with no success:

1) Home > Settings > Network > Bandwidth Saver > Switch it off

2) Home > Settings > System > Advanced System Settings > Network Connection Reset

3) Home > Settings > Network > Setup Connection > Wireless > Select your Network and Enter the Password for your Internet

4) Home > Settings > System > System/Software Update > Check Now

5) Home > Settings > System > System Restart/Power > System Restart

The night prior to contacting Roku Support, I had already checked my internet connection, reset my Wi-Fi router and modem, reconnected my player to my network, and still no success.

Last night, I tried switching from HDMI1 to HDMI2 on my TV, and that still didn't work. I removed all apps and re-added them (as suggested in another conversation), and that still didn't work. Before realizing that the Roku Players have no cache to clear, I even tried that suggestion which is nothing more than a hard reset.

This has to be an internal issue at Roku, because the last update occurred on 28 October, 2023 at 11:39 a.m. (Software version 12.5.0 Build: 4178). Unlike some of the other customers I've seen, I'm not going to continue paying for a service that I cannot enjoy! I called Roku Support to check on my ticket yesterday, and all I was told is that it had been escalated and that I would hear back within 24 hours. Well, it's been over 22 hours, and still nothing!

To be honest, I don't think Roku has a fix for this issue; and the issues that seemed to have been fixed were either random and/or self-correcting. One would think that they could at least send communication to its customers acknowledging this issue and reassuring them that they're at least TRYING to fix this issue!

[Námreh]

U P D A T E

Upon contacting Roku Support (a second time) to check on my existing ticket, the associate FINALLY stated that the issue of customers' Roku Players returning to Home Screen is affecting several customers and that their engineers are working on a fix to this problem. Once again, I was told that someone would contact me either via phone or email (which never occurred when first told this). So, I'll be willing to wait a few more days since I'm not due for being charged for December, 2023 yet.

Meanwhile, I have set up another brand player (not Roku) in the HDMI2 port of my TV. I've already loaded some of the apps that I watched on Roku. So, my transition will be virtually seamless now.

[epluribusmodem]

Still going on? Mine is with the Roku Premiere+, multiple apps. For fun I tried using an old Roku Express, after many software updates, same behavior. Read on another thread the best way to fix this is buy a Chromecast. I'll give it some time and start looking for alternatives. My devices are old... But this is not a good look for Roku!

[Námreh]

Thank you for your reply! I just plugged my Roku Premiere back in and re-added the YouTube app in order to play a video saved in my Watch Later list. So far, it's been playing for almost 20 minutes without stopping and returning to the Home Screen.

I can only assume at this point that Roku's engineers have fixed the issue. It's no surprise that I STILL have not heard back from Roku Support to update me on this issue. Maybe it could be due to the mass number of customers affected by this same issue. However, they could've STILL released some form of mass communication out to customers.

I will still call to check the status of my ticket. Then I'm going to tell them that they could've done WAY better in communicating with customers.

I'm going to keep a close eye on this as I add other apps back in. I have until next Friday to decide is I want to cancel if this problem returns.

[epluribusmodem]

Still going on for me, and seems to have gotten worse. Tried taking batteries from my remote and eliminated mesh WiFi, to no avail. Also was able to stream the same thing on my phone side by side and Roku drops out to the main screen within 5 mins each time.

At this point I don't think waiting for an unknown amount of time or taking a risk buying an new device from this company, ordered the Google Chromecast with Google TV (4K) for $37.98 next day delivery and we'll see how that goes!