Solving playback issues

[McGuit]

My wife has severe insomnia. She needs to have something running in the background to help lull her to sleep.

For a long time, we have used the ROKU media player attached to a hard drive to allow her to listen to movies or music while she connects her headphones to the remote. For a long time, she has turned of the non-ROKU TV, the media player would just chug along and play through the night. Not any more.

Now if we turn off the TV, the media player will stop. Yes, I have made sure that the bandwidth player is turned off, and set all the options telling the media player to continue to play. Since the last media player update, we can not let her continue to listen to music or movies and sleep while I can have the screen turned off so I can sleep.

Final point. If she has the TV turned on, the media player will not turn of the Roku Ultra device connected via hard drive. It will move from file to file without problem. Turn off the TV and it stops completely. Thoughts? Is there someone at ROKU that specializes with Roku Media Player that might be able to help? Does anyone have a viable suggestion?

Thank you all for your time.

[renojim]

To the best of my knowledge RMP hasn't been updated in some time, so I don't think that's it.  It would probably do the same thing using any channel/app.  Does your Roku device have a "power saving" option under Settings->System->Power?  Try disabling it if it does.  You might also want to try disabling the screensaver.

[atc98092]

No, RMP hasn't had an update in close to two years now. I'm wondering if the CEC control in the TV is passing back to the Roku that it's powering down, so the Roku is also going to sleep. Try turning off 1-touch play in the "control other devices" menu, and you might need to disable CEC in the TV as well. Without knowing what TV you have, I can't tell you how they have CEC labeled. 

[McGuit]

Thank you. Really appreciate your suggestion. I will try that and report back.

For more info, I have a Sony Bravia TV.

[McGuit]

Hello, the solution offered did not work. First, I have a Sony Bravia TV that is 10 years old, (Purchased in 2003) so 1080p max resolution.

Next, when I went in the settings, CEC was already turned off.

I also made sure that I did not have "control other devices" checked and made sure it was off. Bandwidth saver is also off. If we leave the TV turned on, the ROKU (deluxe) will continue to play from one song or TV show into the other with no problem.

I also tried it outside of ROKU media player and started a Hulu stream. Turned off the TV and the same thing happened. Within 3 mins, the playback just stopped.

I know it is hard trying to help with a solution when you can not even see the setup, but there you go. It was working fine 2 weeks ago and now it is not. She could sleep all night while the headphones were attached to the controller.

Now, not.

Any other suggestions would truly be appreciated as I want her to be able to sleep through the night without the TV being on as the lights from the TV just keep me awake.

Thank you all again as the customer service folks at ROKU have not been helpful at all.

[atc98092]

Well shucks. I don't know if you have this option, but in my Samsung menu there is a setting to turn the display off, but leaves the TV "on". If you have that available that might do what you want. 

[Strega]

I have often setup a radio stream on Tune In on my Roku and turned the TV off.  Just to make sure that still works, I started an Amazon Prime show (I don’t have Hulu) and 20 minutes after turning the TV off, the audio is still playing through the AVR.

This is on OS 11.5 on a model 3941. 

[AvsGunnar]

@McGuit 

Have you tried using the Sony remote to turn the TV off instead of the Roku remote?

I noticed when using my Roku remote on Ultra 4660 with wired headphones that turning off my Mitsubishi TV with Roku remote I can hear a temporary disconnect (static noise) and then the audio came back and continued normally .  When I used my TV's native remote, there was no static noise or temporary disconnect of audio when using the Power button.

Also, building off @atc98092 suggestion of turning the TV display off, some Sony models have a "Pic Off" button on the lower right of their remotes. (this will turn off the display only - dark screen).

Could be that the issue you are having is not really a device, or device setting issue, but a remote issue.

Could also try to see if using the Roku mobile app and the private listening feature gives you different results as well.  Instead of plugging headphones into the remote, you would plug headphones into your phone (if capable), or pairing wireless earbuds to your phone/mobile device.  The official Roku mobile app is available in the Play/Apple Stores.

[McGuit]

Thank you so much for the suggestion. We are using the Sony Remote to turn off the TV as I did not want the ROKU remote to be the center of why we are losing Media Player in the night when the TV is off. Also did not see a "picture off" setting on the remote. That might be because the TV is 10 years old.

Really appreciate your help. But, I will continue to look for a solution. If necessary, I will purchase a new TV so my lady can rest at night. Before I go that final step, I will continue to look for a solution.

[McGuit]

Unfortunately, we don't have that option on the TV. Might be because it is too old. But, I really appreciate the suggestion. Will continue to look for a solution.