Solving playback issues

[AdaBeta27]

11/17/24    I have the same issue going on with the two Rokus that members of the household use to watch Fox News, except it stalls with the spinner and says 26%, which, I'm noting here, is *exactly* double 13%.   The mystery deepens... obviously some kind of conspiracy is afoot.    Fox News viewers are now 2x as __cked on this Roku platform, or something?? I know my mother is absolutely furious.   🤣  I don't watch Faux News and could not care less.  But I am house tech support and thus obliged to try to get the problem solved.    I submitted a complaint to Fox and got a reply on Friday asking for more information and equipment specs and app versions.   I answered their email on Saturday but they probably don't work weekends.

[MetalMan55]

I'm having the same issue too, albeit that mine buffers at 33%.  App will work for a while, maybe 30-60 minutes and then seems to freeze when FoxNews goes to commercial.

This has only been happening for me over the last 3-4 weeks.  Worked fine prior to that.

Only change has been moving from cable internet (600Mbps) to fiber (symmetrical 1Gbps)...so, I should have plenty of internet speed.

[MagaBabe]

Here is something I just tried. On the Fox news app, scroll down to system settings. Uncheck AUTOPLAY. No more spinning wheel at 13% ! Mine has been fine for an hour now. The Roku Fox news app has become unusable lately , hope this is a permanent fix.

[MetalMan55]

OK..thanks.

My Autoplay was "Off"...I turned to "ON"...we'll see if this helps.

[MetalMan55]

OK...FoxNews App worked all afternoon with no buffering.  Fingers crossed that this was a permanent fix.

[jenlan13]

I can only get to settings when the app freezes now bc they have removed it from my home page. It just frozen and I went to settings and turned off auto-play. Fingers crossed. It's been working better the past few days...when it freezes it seems to unfreeze itself somehow. I've been sick, so I haven't been vocal. Lol. 

Anyone have suggestions for me when I get rid of Roku? Fox is the #1 priority. 

[MetalMan55]

Well...no love...the app continues to buffer even with Autoplay toggled "off" or "on".

[AdaBeta27]

Mom reports that hers haven't been locking up after I:

• cleared the cache via the hidden menu that you can Google for (clear Roku cache)
• physically unplugged the Rokus from the USB or AC power for at least 1 minute
• plug them back in
• start them back up
• check for OS update
• select the Fox News channel and also Spectrum app and press * key, then check or updates of those individual channels
  
  After that cleaning out, both Roku players have been running Fox News without freezing.   I reported the issue to Fox New team and got a response that they're aware of the problem and hope to have a solution soon.  Clear the cache seems to work a little differently than restarting the Roku, but it's not supposed to from what I understand.  I've found that clearing the cache has seemed to solve a lot of random problems with buffering,

[AdaBeta27]

Get rid of Roku:   Why do you want to do that?  The Fox News issue is a problem from Fox's own developers, not Roku.  Roku is just a platform, and the channels Roku hosts are mainly created and maintained by the individual companies. If you're running some really old Roku, or a Roku TV that's gotten sluggish, just take advantage of Black Friday to buy a newer Roku with more horsepower.  If you've got an old TV, the USB ports on it might not have enough juice to power the newer Rokus with larger processors and that is simply solved by using the AC adapter that ships with it.

[jenlan13]

I will admit my Roku device is old. I honestly do not watch a lot of TV so I do not spend a lot of $ on gadgets. I may take your advice and check out the black Friday deals.