Solving playback issues

[andyross]

Roku may be using codecs and other forms of compression that your ancient Roku 3 is having problems with. As noted, it is basically 10 years old. That is ancient in the world of streaming and it's amazing Roku still supports it, and that is probably due to having similar hardware to newer models. My guess is that Roku will drop support when the next OS update comes out.

Personally, I would strongly recommend the Express 4K+ as a replacement. It's relatively cheap, and unless you need wired Ethernet, it's much faster and fully supported. It also has much more built-in memory, so no need for an SD card.

[atc98092]

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@andyross wrote:

Personally, I would strongly recommend the Express 4K+ as a replacement. It's relatively cheap, and unless you need wired Ethernet, it's much faster and fully supported. It also has much more built-in memory, so no need for an SD card.

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And if wired Ethernet is mandatory, the Express 4K+ supports an USB Ethernet adapter. See this support page for details of the supported devices. 

[Dj1269]

Could it be just Comcast users? I have long thought it might be my provider. Anoyone else using Comcast having this issue?

[atc98092]

Comcast is my Internet provider, and I have no issues watching YouTube on any device. 

But YouTube is one of the first apps/channels that starts giving problems with older devices. Google programs the channel to use as much processing power is available on newer devices, so older devices are the first that can't keep up. YouTube was the first channel on my old Roku 2 XS that became usable, about 3 years after I got it. That was about 4 years after the 2 XS was released. YouTube is actually doing better than that now, with the channel generally still working adequately on Roku devices released in 2015. But it still seems to be the first one to give problems on older devices. 

[Steve_K1 · Accepted solution]

I made two changes at about the same time - yes, terrible for pinning down which fixed the problem - but one of them seems to have worked.

1) Bought a new router. Old one was about 10 years old. Rock solid, but I can see not as good. Newspaper pages, for example, load much faster on my laptop now.

2) Bought a new Roku, upgrading from Roku 3 to Roku Express 4K+.

It's been weeks now without YouTube hanging up. Life is good.

[RokuAustin]

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@Burnspot wrote:

Hi Mary,

Sure, here you go:

• Model: 4200X - Roku 3
• Serial Number: 1GJ37C158098
• Software: 12.0.0 - Build 4184-04

The only channel I've seen this problem on is the normal YouTube channel (not the TV version). I also use Netflix and Prime, but really never use them all that much (never had a problem with them).

I'd love to provide a tracker ID; however, Roku almost always locks up when it occurs and is unresponsive for a few minutes before rebooting itself.

I'd say that, over the last year, the YouTube channel's had a few instances where some videos would start with a gray screen, with chirps of audio, and, after some time, eventually start. Any UI manipulation (doing a Like or viewing comments) would cause the video to stutter and chirp.

That behavior has greatly magnified over the past few weeks, to the point where now, more and more videos start with either a black or gray screen and lock Roku up after around 20-30 seconds. Sometimes, I can back out and go back to the video browser, but it's really hit or miss...it mostly just locks it up now. I'll see about getting a tracker the next time it happens, if it doesn't lock.

As for reproducing the issue, it's pretty easy...I select a video and cross my fingers; I have a 50/50 shot that the video starts or I get a black screen and crash.

Thanks...

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I realize your post is from the beginning of the summer, @Burnspot, but wanted to mention you very likely have loyalty upgrade offers that are available to you when you log in to http://my.roku.com or http://my.roku.com/offers. If not, shoot me a PM. We appreciate your support over the last 10 years. 🥳 

[jontalk]

@RokuMary-FWhile am not experiencing this exact problem, I think it important to state that the YT app has had exiting issues with OS12 from the start. I can't imagine how any problems would be tied to the ISP which in this case is Comcast. That said, dependent upon the length of time content is viewed, periodically the the screen goes black when exit is pressed causing the user to press the Home button. I've mentioned this numerous times in the past, but the problem still remains. I use a high speed wired connection and never know when it will happen. Its my opinion that the app loses the handshake with YT servers when a user watches the channel for more than 15 minutes. Regardless it needs to be reported to Google.