Wi-Fi & connectivity

[saxmo90]

About a month ago, I set up a new 4K streaming stick for my parents, and it's been working perfectly for the last month. However, two days ago, my dad called me to say that a "white box" was coming up to say check your source or not connected or something like that. My dad isn't the most savvy, but my take was that the Roku just needed to be re-connected to the wifi network. (Not sure why, but these things happen sometimes.)

When I got him on FaceTime to walk him through how to do that the next day, there was a new issue: he could turn the Roku on with the remote, but was unable to use any keys besides the volume keys, so we couldn't scroll down to settings or even open an app. He said this wasn't what was happening before, and that before he was able to open apps, they just didn't work due to not being connected. In sum: the Roku still says "Not Connected" in the top right corner, and the power, home, and volume buttons work on the remote, but the arrow and app keys do not. We've tried: unplugging the Roku stick from the TV and from the wall; unplugging the TV, and taking the batteries out of the remote and putting them back in. Any other ideas besides buying a new one?

[renojim]

I'd say the first thing to try is new batteries or to charge the remote if it's rechargeable.  If that doesn't work, he probably needs to re-pair the remote.  Tell him to unplug the power from the stick and find the pairing button on the back of the remote or inside the battery compartment and press and hold it until the light starts flashing (about 5 seconds).  Once the light starts flashing reconnect the power to the stick.

The TV control buttons (power, volume, mute) are completely independent of the other buttons and it's possible for them to work while the other buttons don't.