Solving playback issues

[Justin-Gamble]

Hello,

  I recently am experiencing a weird issue with my home theater set up.  Everything was fine for years.  And now, all of a sudden I am getting an issue.

And i have narrowed it down to the Roku Ultra Media Player.

I have an LG 75UT640s 4k Commercial Grade Display.  Feeding this display is a Yahama RX-V383 5.1 surround sound/4K Video Receiver.  The 4 inputs to this receiver are the Roku Ultra, a Sony PS5, a Nintendo Switch and a Sony 4K bluray player.  It is connected to HDMI input 2 on the Display, as that is the ARC input.

Also plugged into the TV is a Chromecast Ultra.  This is only because there weren't enough inputs on the receiver.

I have the TV's audio out set to ARC so I can use the Roku remote and change the volume of the Receiver's Audio, via the TV's IR Control (since you cant program the Roku Remote to control a separate Audio Source).  The only audio i want for the room is the 5.1 surround speakers.

The issue I am having is, when I watch something, after a given amount of time (sometimes a couple of seconds, sometime a couple of minutes), the TV's settings will change the audio output from ARC to TV Speaker/Optical.  And when this happens, i cant control the volume of the system at all (as the Roku remote now controls the volume of the TV speakers).  When I take the TV's remote control and change it back to "ARC", it works again, until it randomly switches back. 

I talked to LG, thinking it was a TV issue.  But when I remove the Roku box from the system, the problem doesn't happen.  I streamed about 4 hours of golf with the PS5 being the media player (and the Roku removed) and the the problem didn't happen.

Is anyone else having a similar issue?  Is it possible that there is a firmware update for the boxes?

I have 4 other Roku Ultra's and all of these boxes cause the same problem.

Please let me know.  Thank you,

[atc98092]

This is puzzling. I have an LG Nano85 that uses ARC to feed the TV audio to a Yamaha RX-V583 AVR. I have an Ultra 4800 and an Nvidia Shield directly connected to the Yamaha, and nothing is directly connected to the TV itself. Everything connects directly to the AVR, including an old DVD changer and a Windows 10 HTPC. The only time I've seen the TV audio change to TV Speaker is if the AVR is powered off. 

My guess (and that's all it is) is there was a firmware update to the TV that doesn't play nice with the Roku OS. Since your TV is a commercial grade TV, it's not designed to use an AVR or use external devices. Since it's happening with all four of your Roku players, that would indicate there's no specific issue with the Roku itself (not a hardware issue). While your Yamaha model is discontinued (as both of mine are), it should still be working correctly with the Roku.

You could try disabling the Roku's One-Touch Play, which disables CEC for the Roku. If it still happens with that turned off, then there's some sort of incompatibility with your particular model of TV. Personally, I wouldn't want to use a TV that's designed for commercial or hotel use, as yours is. They often have some unique settings that might have issues with other connected devices, as they are designed to be used as a standalone display. 

[Justin-Gamble]

The Firmware of the TV causing the issue is a good thought.  I thought the same thing.  But that TV doesnt auto update via the internet.  In fact the only way to update the firmware is via USB, manually (which I did, after this problem started, thinking it may fix the issue).

I am wondering if an update on the Roku box caused the issue.  There isnt a way to roll back the updates on the Roku boxes, is there?

[atc98092]

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@Justin-Gamble wrote:

I am wondering if an update on the Roku box caused the issue.  There isn't a way to roll back the updates on the Roku boxes, is there?

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There's a hidden menu that will on occasion allow rolling back one version of the firmware, but it's not reliable and usually the Roku merely updates itself again and the rollback is no longer available. 

[Justin-Gamble]

Interesting.  How can i get to this menu?  It would be worth checking, just to isolate the problem.  Last night I moved the Roku Ultra from the Yahama Receiver and plugged it directly to input 3 on the LGTV, and the problem continued.

  I then removed the Roku Ultra, and replaced it with an old Roku Express (doesnt have audio control on the remote).  I didnt have issues, until I updated the firmware on the Express.  Then it did the same thing.

I am 95% sure the issue started when Roku updated their firmware.  But rolling it back to test would help solidify that.  I think I am going to need to talk to Support on this one one, if that is the case though.

[atc98092]

Yeah, that does seem to isolate it to a change in the OS.

Roku prefers we don't discuss how to access the hidden menus here in the community, since the functions can change or vanish without notice, and the usage might no longer be what the user is looking for. But it's easy enough to find on the web.

[Justin-Gamble]

ok thanks.  I will take a look. 

I appreciate the help.

[howardted]

I am just reading this string of comments realizing that it's nearly one year later. I have been having exactly the same issue with my Roku Ultra. I did not have it at all with an earlier Roku Ultra model. Any suggested fixes would be appreciated.

[atc98092]

Personally I don't think it has anything to do with the Roku. I think it's a bug in the LG firmware. Mine has done it on occasion, even if I'm not using the Ultra at all. I can be watching TV or my Shield, and I realize the TV speakers are in use, even though my AVR is on. In my opinion, that's something the TV is causing, not any external device.