Roku Ultra froze

[REWahoo]

I've been using a Roku Ultra streaming device for a little over a year with few minor issues until last evening. We had just finished streaming a program on Hulu and I was returning back to the Hulu menu to select another program when the device froze. The remote would do nothing, not even change the volume or turn the TV off.

I unplugged the power from the Roku but when powered back up it was still frozen on the same hulu screen. I finally had to press the reset button and do a from-the-ground-up restart of the device. That was real PITA since I had to log back into our Prime, Hulu, Acorn and Philo accounts, but the reset did the trick.

I'm hoping this was a fluke due to a stray gamma ray or some such and not the preview of problems to come. Anyone else have similar Roku issues?

 

[Qs Laptop]

I've been using a Roku Ultra streaming device for a little over a year with few minor issues until last evening. We had just finished streaming a program on Hulu and I was returning back to the Hulu menu to select another program when the device froze. The remote would do nothing, not even change the volume or turn the TV off.

I unplugged the power from the Roku but when powered back up it was still frozen on the same hulu screen. I finally had to press the reset button and do a from-the-ground-up restart of the device. That was real PITA since I had to log back into our Prime, Hulu, Acorn and Philo accounts.

I'm hoping this was a fluke due to a stray gamma ray or some such and not the preview of problems to come. Anyone else have similar Roku issues?

Have you checked the status of the batteries in the remote?

 

[REWahoo]

Have you checked the status of the batteries in the remote?

Yes, failed to mention it - first thing I checked.

 

[target2019]

A device like that should reset if you leave it unpowered for some period of time.

I've had freezes with Roku from time to time. Usually it reboots by itself.

One time I used this incantation:

From Remote
If the Roku is frozen, you can try to reset using the remote control by pressing the following buttons:

• Home 5 times
• Up 1 time
• Rewind 2 times
• Fast Forward 2 times

 

[rpguy4]

Wifi issue ? Was your internet ok in the house or do you have another Roku that you can test with just to confirm its not a Wifi/Internet issue ?

 

[Lsbcal]

Have you considered Alpha particles?

 

[Scrapr]

I had some freeze up issues with a couple of older Roku devices. Like >5 years old. The device would get really warm. I would unplug it & let it cool off. Then plug back in and it was good for a while. I solved it by buying new devices. Your Ultra is new enough that this should not be an issue. But maybe check it to see if it's warm?

 

[REWahoo]

Wifi issue ? Was your internet ok in the house or do you have another Roku that you can test with just to confirm its not a Wifi/Internet issue ?

Not a WiFi issue. The Roku on the TV in another room worked fine.

 

[REWahoo]

I had some freeze up issues with a couple of older Roku devices. Like >5 years old. The device would get really warm. I would unplug it & let it cool off. Then plug back in and it was good for a while. I solved it by buying new devices. Your Ultra is new enough that this should not be an issue. But maybe check it to see if it's warm?

Device is only a year old. It was slightly warm.

 

[MichaelB]

Anyone else have similar Roku issues?

<raise hand>

This shounds like issues I’ve had in the past, more than once. Never determined what the cause was, reboots usually work for me. Factory reset a couple of times. Only once have we had an unresolved issue that led to needing a new unit.

Roku devices update their SW all the time. My WAG is a bad download / update leads to the freeze, and the reboot / reset fixes it.

 

[RonBoyd]

I have had this issue a couple times. I don't remember exactly what I did to resolve it but suspected it was more a communication error between the remote and the unit rather than a problem with the unit itself. I never did have to reset the system, however.

Perhaps this Bing search will help: https://www.bing.com/search?q=roku+...95e2c477192ed3a6b01f30d5c&FORM=ANAB01&PC=NMTS

 

[harley]

I've got a 2 or 3 yo Roku device, and we got into that situation once. Reboot didn't work, reset didn't make any difference except making me have to sign onto everything again.

After wasting some serious time on Google I saw a suggestion to unplug the Roku, then unplug the TV, wait a bit (30 secs?), then plug in the devices again (I don't remember if the order was important or not). IMO there was no reason that should work, but it did. YMM definitely V.

 

[target2019]

Something occurred to me. I recall seeing a reset of Roku while microwave was just started. Roku is connected to 5 GHz channel of router no more than 2 yards away. But the router has a 2.6 GHz channel that is also active. This was a month or so ago.

 

[REWahoo]

Thanks for all your responses/suggestions. If it happens again I now have a few other things to try before resorting to the factory reset option.

 

[Harrald]

It's possible that Roku pushed a firmware update that froze the device. I had a 1st gen Roku that bricked after they pushed one.

 

[Cobra9777]

We have 3 older Fire TV boxes. In 4 years, I have never done a factory reset. But it's not unusual for one to freeze up, probably a couple times per year on each device.

First thing I do is test to see if the device itself froze or if the remote lost connectivity. The TV remote also controls the Fire TV box. So if the box is responding to the TV remote, I know the Fire TV remote needs a reboot (remove/reinsert batteries) or a new set of batteries.

If the box itself is not responding, then a restart usually fixes the problem. With Fire TV, you can restart the software by simultaneously holding down the play/pause and select buttons on the remote for 5 seconds. There's also a restart option under settings that does the same thing.

If that doesn't work (rare), then a hard reboot always does the trick. I disconnect power for 15-20 seconds and then everything is fine. Factory reset seems like an extreme option.

 

[REWahoo]

Factory reset seems like an extreme option.

Not if nothing else works.

OP here. My Roku has behaved itself perfectly since I started this thread last weekend, so it appears it was (I hope) an oddball, one-off, rare, highly unusual glitch.

 

[Cobra9777]

Not if nothing else works...

I would have been on the phone with Roku support long before the nuclear option.

Maybe it's not a big deal for you to re-enter a few login credentials. In my case, there are 7 or 8 logins with long, complex passwords, around 20-30 apps to reinstall, lots of custom settings, and links to other hardware like the AVR, Wyze cam, and Alexa that would have to be reconfigured.

Maybe that explains my attitude about factory resets.