Solving playback issues

[larryk4311]

Hi All...

Was wondering if anyone else has experienced this and possible solutions:  Video stops playing...just freezes during the last few minutes of show ending; audio continues fine.  I'm watching the 'Favorite Sitcoms' channel and the 2 shows that immediately come to mind are 'Hogan's Heroes' and 'Gomer Pyle'....either show...any episode.   What started as a minor inconvenience has developed into a huge annoyance.  Should I be contacting Favorite Sitcoms, and is that even possible?  Many advance thanks for all suggestions.  Larry

[makaiguy]

When problems are confined to a particular channel, it may be that the channel did not install correctly, has received a faulty update, or has subsequently gotten corrupted. A reinstall of the channel to get its latest version may fix the problem, so give it a try. Remove/reinstall procedure:

1. Highlight channel on home screen.
2. Press * key and choose Remove channel option.
3. IMPORTANT- DON'T SKIP:
   Restart the Roku to clear its memory via Settings > System > System restart. (On a Roku TV, this is Settings > System > Power > System restart.)
4. Reinstall the channel. Note it will be added to the END of the channel grid.
5. If channel requires a login, you may need to log in anew.

Let us know how you make out.

[larryk4311 · Accepted solution]

Hi makaiguy and thank you so much for your help.  Everything was going smooth and I was following your instructions to the letter.  Got to the end and was ready to reinstall the channel....and it was gone!  Looked everywhere,  but the Favorite Sitcoms channel was MIA.  Dagnabit!  Wish I had more knowledge where all these channels come from anyway, how the content is gathered, how they make any money without paid commercials, etc.   Anyway, thanks again.

[makaiguy]

The channel owners create their own Roku channel apps, provide them to Roku, and maintain them. The only channels controlled by Roku are their own The Roku Channel, the Roku Media Player, and several Roku-specific information channels. For everything else Roku just provides the platform on which they run.

I can't find Favorite Sitcoms, either.  It's developer may have withdrawn it.  Or sometimes channels are removed when discovered to be showing material for which they had not obtained the rights.

[larryk4311]

Yet once again, my thanks.  I promise this will be my final reply, but I have to take advantage of a knowledgeable person while I have him:  These 'Channel owners' you referred to....Where and how do they get their content (shows, movies etc.) and why would they just give it to Roku without any form of compensation?  There certainly doesn't appear to be any shortage of these 'Channel owners'.  I really appreciate your patience; I would like to think others may have been helped by my questions also.  

[SwiftTransient]

I’ve been having this same problem of video freezing about 20-30 seconds into a movie and the audio continuing, this was the Roku channel. I’ve uninstalled the channel and completed the full restart sequence, then reinstalled the channel. This procedure has been done several times. It affects certain movies and not others.

[RokuDanny-R]

@SwiftTransient

Thanks for the post. 

Does this playback issue occur on a specific title or does it happen on all content that you try to stream on The Roku Channel?

With more detailed information, we will be able to assist you further.

Thanks,
Danny

[SwiftTransient]

Thank you for responding.

It happens with specific movies on the Roku channel. Since the first time I tried to watch them the problem has remained. Other movies play without this issue. The ones I was having the most trouble with were in the anime section.

[Marksw]

I had the same issue where video froze and audio kept playing. I noticed it in the Spectrum channel using a new Roku Express 4K+. I tried uninstalling-restarting-reinstalling to no avail. I found a setting under settings-system-power-auto power savings and unchecked the option for “After 20 minutes of no interaction“. I no longer seem to have the issue with the videos freezing.

[Marksw]

Update: I am still getting this behavior on my Roku on the Spectrum app. I always noticed that it seemed to freeze on commercials which seemed odd. It froze several times on CNBC and FBN when a commercial was on and there was a static promo on the screen with a lot of white background. Audio keeps going, but video is frozen, even the scrolling stick ticker at the bottom. Changing the channel and back unfreezes the video