Solving playback issues

[CMcD]

My 4K streaming stick will not power up when I turn on the TV with the Roku  remote.  The TV turns on but the stick doesn’t.  The stick is plugged into the HDMI port and the power adapter is plugged into a fully functioning electrical outlet.  I have to unplug the device and plug it back in every time to get it to work. All of the connections are fully seated.  Thanks 

[RokuMary-F]

Hi @CMcD,

Thanks for your first post in the Roku Community!

We appreciate you reaching us with your Roku device that is having will not powering on and we apologized for any inconvenience this has caused. A few questions here to better understand what you're experiencing:

1. Is there a light showing on your device?
2. For troubleshooting purposes, have you tried connecting those Roku devices to another TV to see if you are experiencing the same issue?
3. Have you tried looking at our Support resources and following the steps to help get power on? What to do if your Roku streaming player will not power on | Official Roku Support
4. Can you please provide the serial number/device ID on your Roku device?

We look forward to hearing from you and looking closely into this issue. Thank you!


Best regards,
Mary

[AvsGunnar]

@CMcD 

"The TV turns on but the stick doesn’t."

The power button and volume buttons on your Roku remote are TV controls only.  They have no effect on the Roku device.

You need to press the Home button on the Roku remote in order to wake up the Roku.

If you want both your Roku and the TV to turn on together, you will need to enable HDMI CEC on your TV and also enable 1-touch play in your Roku settings.  Settings/System/Control other Devices/1-touch play (checkmark to enable).

With the above configured, any button press on your Roku remote (other than power and volume buttons) will power on your TV, switch to the Roku HDMI input, and wake up the device so you will be on the Home Screen.

Remember to press Home to stop streaming/data usage, and then press the Power button to turn off the TV when finished streaming.

[makaiguy]

@CMcD-

One more thing to check:

Starting with Roku operating system version 10.5 a new "Power" item was added in the "Settings > System" menu for some of the newer Roku device models. At this writing they are Streaming Stick 4K/4K+ (3820/3821), Express 4K/4K+ (3940/3941), Roku 4 (4400), and Ultra/Ultra LT (4800/4801). You can check your model and model number via Roku menu path Settings/System/About.

If you have one of these models, the new "Auto power savings" item there will put your Roku device into a low power standby condition after a 20 minute period of inactivity, in which nothing has been streaming and no user interaction has been received. In this state neither its connection to your home network nor its HDMI signal to your TV are active.

Pressing a Roku control key (like the Home button) on your Roku remote (not Power, Volume, or Mute buttons, if your remote has them, as they act on the TV, not the Roku) should bring the Roku out of standby and back to full operation. As you've found, pulling the power for a few seconds to restart the Roku will restore full operation as well.

If you disable "Settings > System > Power > Auto power savings > After 20 minutes of no interaction" it should prevent your Roku from going into standby in the first place. The power savings are very small and for the hassle it causes most users, I don't think it's worth having this feature activated.

For further details, see this Roku information page: https://support.roku.com/article/6306527767575