Channels & viewing

[Bam-Bam]

The community has had several threads going regarding the constant crashing of many different channels on many different Rokus and RokuTVs.  The latest thread was "Are you being returned to Home screen after selecting a channel?" which @RokuDanny-R closed out saying that it was fixed.

Of course, I knew it wasn't fixed, but thought I'd give Roku a chance...  I started a channel and it crashed after 30 seconds, taking me right back to the home screen.  Started a different channel.... and it also crashed after a short time.

It looks like Roku is just going to ignore all of us that have been complaining for several months about this problem and declare it magically fixed.

[DBDukes]

Couple of things going on here, and I'll summarize briefly. Users running Roku 9.4 were reporting issues with apps crashing. (Yeah, Roku calls them "channels." They're apps. I'm calling them apps.) Netlfix and YouTube appeared to be most reported, although Plex was also mentioned. There were others, but those are the highlights. This continued into Roku OS 10.0.

Recently, Roku said the original issue reported on the thread (hard to find because of the merging of threads) was resolved.

While the original issue was resolved, many others added to the thread in the meantime. Not all of those issues seem to be resolved, including @Bam-Bam who reported often on apps crashing, and sometimes the device itself crashing. So, yes, the original issue was fixed, but others reporting on the same thread, including @Bam-Bam -- who has actually been quite patient -- still have similar issues.

The bad news for @Bam-Bam and others is that a new thread, which is proper and has been done, means a new sharing of data that was shared on the old thread. That's unfortunate, but necessary. So, with that preface...

@Bam-Bam 

List your Roku device model number (4800 Ultra, right?) and the OS you're running (last you mentioned was 10.0, and you're probably running a later version) to include the build number.

I'm gonna go ahead and ask the following things. This applies to since your last OS update, okay? Don't count doing it on older OS versions.

1) Remove a troublesome app, 2) reboot the Roku , then 3) reinstall the app. All three steps in that order.

If you've done that since your last OS update, then I'm going to suggest something I rarely ever suggest: a full factory reset on the Ultra. If you do that, use the on-screen menu to do a factory reset. Alternately, if you press the reset button, you must do it for no less than 30 seconds. Many only hold it until the screen changes, which is insufficient; you must hold it for 30 seconds.

If you haven't tried those steps since the last OS update, try them. If you have, explicitly state so.

Perhaps @RokuDanny-R can offer some help on this issue, since it's a little different than the original on the other post.

[Bam-Bam]

Thanks for the reply @DBDukes.  Yea, I've done all the same troubleshooting steps multiple times, including removing / adding channels and even resetting the device and spending a lot of time adding everything back and reconfiguring it.  I did all this before and after it upgraded to 10, but I don't think I tried it yet again after 10.5.

Tonight, I tried watching YouTube and the entire Roku rebooted.  (As I've mentioned before, it's not just YouTube - it's several other apps/channels as well.  I just mainly use YouTube, Netflix and Plex as my main apps/channels.)  Thankfully, my LG tv also has the same apps and I seldom have to rely on the Roku.

Model: 4800X - Roku Ultra

Software Version: 10.5.0 - Build 4208-C2

[DBDukes]

@Bam-Bam 

Perhaps @RokuDanny-R @RokuKariza-D or @RokuMary-F can offer some guidance. If you've done all of the steps (keep in mind the order of "1) remove app, 2) reboot device, 3) reinstall app" is critical) then they may require additional information to help determine what's going on. You've been reporting on that device for quite some time, but they may be able to help.

[RokuDanny-R]

@Bam-Bam

Thanks for the post.

We would be more than happy to look into this issue for you. Can you please provide us the following information:
-Roku device model, serial number, device ID, and software OS/version (these can all be found in Settings > System > About)
-does this issue occur on a specific channel? if so, what channel and what version/build is the channel (this can be found be selecting the channel on the Home screen and pressing the * button)
-tracker ID when this issue occurs (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button 5 times, followed by the Back button 5 times)
-steps to reproduce the issue you are seeing

Once we have this information, we will be able to pass it along to the appropriate Roku team to investigate further.

Thanks,
Danny

[Bam-Bam]

I have went ahead and, once again, removed the channel, rebooted, added the channel back, rebooted again, launched the channel and started a video.  After a few minutes... CRASH.  The first time, it crashed the entire Roku and I had to go unplug it and plug it back in to get it back.  (This doesn't happen as much as the channel crashing and taking me back to the home screen, but it's not uncommon.  Sometimes the crash brings an immediate automatic reboot, sometimes it takes a few minutes and sometimes, it takes a full unplugging the power and plugging it back in to get it to restart.)

Just as an FYI, I've already provided all of this information multiple times before (including many Tracker IDs) in the almost one year that I've had the device and I was merged into the Re: Channels continue to crash - Roku Community thread.  But... here it is yet again...   I really wish support would review it before asking for the same information multiple times.  While I understand the need for specific info to help with troubleshooting, asking for it multiple times only slows down the process and upsets the customers.

• Roku device model: 4800X - Roku Ultra
• Serial number: X010000ANF5A
• Device ID: S02A208ANF5A
• Software OS/version: 10.5.0 - build 4208-C2
• Tracker ID: 5A-026-030 (latest crash)

My main channel apps are: Plex, YouTube and Netflix - all of them have crashed so often that I've now moved to using the same apps on my LG TV and they don't have the crashing problem.  I have also used other channel apps for the Roku every once in a while and they crash.  So far, the ONLY channel that I know that hasn't crashed is the Roku Channel.  Hmmmm..... I wonder why?

It doesn't matter if it's SD, HD or 4K content.

[RokuDanny-R]

@Bam-Bam

Thanks for following up and providing us with your information.

I have passed along your concerns and information to the appropriate Roku team to investigate further. Once more information is available, I'll be sure to update this thread.

Thanks,
Danny

[Bam-Bam]

I waited a week and tried again.  Crash and I didn't wait for it to come back.  Tried it yesterday with same results.  I swapped over to the LG TV and watched the show.  When I returned to the Roku, it had finally rebooted, but I couldn't get to the issue report tracker.  I tried again today and another crash.  I decided to unplug it and bring it back up.  Issue ID: 5A-038-845.  Tried to continue watching and crashed again.  Issue id: 5A-038-897.

[Bam-Bam]

Yet another crash

Issue ID: 5A-044-690

[Bam-Bam]

And another one

Issue ID: 5A-045-695