I HAVE A PURPLE SCREEN----HELP!!!

[duluthboss]

I'm using the Roku XS in my bedroom.I want to put my Roku HD up there instead, but when I hook up the Roku HD to HDMI on my 32in flatscreen Dynex. I get a purple screen when it plays. I get the menu, audio and everything, just when it plays a movie or check the news it goes purple. What's wrong, anyone know?

One more thing, the Roku XS works fine with audio and video, What's up with that!LOL

Thanks for looking:)

[atheling]

A purple screen while playing media but with all the menus showing okay indicates a failure of the HDMI copy protection handshaking between your TV and the Roku box. It might be the cable, it might be the Roku or it might be the TV.

If unplugging and replugging the cable makes no difference, then power cycle the Roku.

If that makes no difference, then unplug the TV and then plug it back it. (Using the "power switch" on the TV or remote probably does not actually restart the processor that is doing the copy protection negotiation handshaking.)

Worse comes to worse, use the composite output of the Roku. Copy protection on that type of interface is just messing with the timing a little and pretty much all TVs deal with that just fine (as it was designed to only really affect VCRs).

[FX4]

^^What he said. I have read that using a longer HDMI cable (over 4 ft) will sometimes fix this issue.

[chefjonathan]

Re: Cant play any videos, get audio but purple background

I HAVE A SOLUTION! I too have the same issue with both of my Roku 2 boxes, one being a xd and the other an xs. The problems are as follows with a solution:

1. Box is connected to the tv via HDMI. User is able to browse all channel material with video and audio working fine. When you select something to watch, video turns purple but audio remains.

2. Simply press the home button. This will bring you back to the home/channel screen. Since there is no problems browsing this, you should be able to access the Settings Channel. Select it.

3. Select the "Display Type" Option.

4. You most likely have it set to 1080p. Now select 720p, and then switch back and select 1080p again. This somehow refreshes the system and works every time.

It's a pain to have to do this and I think Roku should fix this with a software upgrade. I haven't called it in as an issue yet cause everything I read blames the HDMI cable, which is FALSE. This is a software glitch within the roku, and this is FACT. Again, this is a temporary fix and I have to do it every time I start the roku or else I have to navigate back to the settings to repeat this process. Hope this helps!

[dwanthny]

I haven't called it in as an issue yet cause everything I read blames the HDMI cable, which is FALSE.

If a different HDMI cable fixes the issue then the cable might be a problem.

This is a software glitch within the roku, and this is FACT.

If this was a "fact" everyone running in 1080p would experience this problem. The problem must be a combination of things including something outside of Roku's control.

Again Kudos for the work around I'm sure others will be glad to know one exists.

[chefjonathan]

I haven't called it in as an issue yet cause everything I read blames the HDMI cable, which is FALSE.

If a different HDMI cable fixes the issue then the cable might be a problem.

This is a software glitch within the roku, and this is FACT.

If this was a "fact" everyone running in 1080p would experience this problem. The problem must be a combination of things including something outside of Roku's control.

Again Kudos for the work around I'm sure others will be glad to know one exists.

I have used every HDMI cable imaginable from $4 to $240. I've tested this issue on 4 different tv's. My solution works, but I don't think it's issue with user's HDMI cables. This is a Roku issue. I don't know, maybe I own two duds...perhaps I should return them?

[kosekjm]

Hi all,

I have the exact same issue with my Syntax Olevia TV set. Like others have said I chalk this up to an HDMI handshaking issue. It seems like some TVs are more compliant with HDMI handshakes then others are. I had this same Roku hooked up to an older Samsung 27" HDTV previoulsy and the Roku worked fine. When I moved the Olevia into the bedroom then I would get the purple screen everytime I changed the inputs on the TV. The only way I could get it to reset on my set was to reboot the Roku box. Box is rebooted handshake signal is passed again and the TV and the Roku happily talk to each other (at least until I turned off the TV or switched the input later). It was a bit of a pain. I can move this same Roku XD-S to any of my other TV sets and cycle the inputs, turn the TV off and the Roku works when I cycle back to the HDMI channel. Only when I have it hooked up to this Olevia do I get the purple screen.

I believe this to be a TV issue and not a Roku issue because there was a bit of a fuss a few years ago with other off brand TVs (Westinghouse, Olevia, not sure if Dynex was in there or not) and handshake issues on the PS3 when it first came out. Lots of people on gaming forums complaining that their new TV would not display their PS3 screen and they had to unplug the cable between the two to get it to work. Some sets would display nothing others would complain that HDCP was not enabled between the set and the PS3 and would downgrade the video signal. To my knowledge, HDCP has been added to everything that has an HDMI port to help the motion picture industry protect their content. Some sets when they were manufactured did not completely follow the HDMI specs (as some of those specs were still being fleshed out while the sets were being manufactured). Its frustrating that something that you bought doesn't work right because of standards that Hollywood mandate and other companies cannot follow. Simplified argument, but you get my drift.

Anyway what I did to fix my issue was use the Composite cable that came with my new Roku 2 box and plug that into the Component out on the XD-S. Hey the XD-S doesn't know that the end connectors aren't the right color right? Anyway I had to cycle the connectors around a few times until the video and color worked out right, but I now have my XD-S working fine through Component on my Olevia and have not had a purple screen in a few weeks now. I can cycle the TV inputs anyway that I want and the box is always there and online. Now is this something you want to do? No idea. My XD-S and Olevia are both well out of warranty so figure if I blew anything up (Wouldn't be the first time) it'd be all on my head. Guarantee you this is something Roku would suggest against, but being that the box is mine figured why not try it. Off hand I do not remember what final combination worked for me (Not home this week to look either), but it wasn't that hard to figure out. You do get some awful funky colors when the cords are plugged into the wrong port though (Like my wife commented she always wondered how the Predator would see Netflix and we think we know now).

Hope this helps.

[chefjonathan]

THIS IS NOT AN HDMI or TELEVISION ISSUE. It is a Roku Issue. If there are compatibility issues with certain televisions and hdmi cables, Roku should imform the buyer of this incompatibility. I don't know, I think a product like this should have gone through these tests prior to hitting the market. Have you seen a Playstation 3 that is not compatible with your Samsung TV? How about a dvd or blu ray player that does not work with your tv?

[RokuShawnS]

THIS IS NOT AN HDMI or TELEVISION ISSUE. It is a Roku Issue. If there are compatibility issues with certain televisions and hdmi cables, Roku should imform the buyer of this incompatibility. I don't know, I think a product like this should have gone through these tests prior to hitting the market. Have you seen a Playstation 3 that is not compatible with your Samsung TV? How about a dvd or blu ray player that does not work with your tv?

Actually, we do. And any time an issue like this crops up, we like to have the make and model number of the television so that we can do testing and try to find a work-around.

But no, it's not necessarily a Roku issue. Roku follows the HDMI standard, but some TV's don't. That's when this handshake issue generally happens. It can also be a Roku issue, if something in our software wasn't caught in time during testing.

C. Shawn Smith

[kosekjm]

Have you seen a Playstation 3 that is not compatible with your Samsung TV?

No but like I said there was a group of incompatible low cost TVs when the PS3 first came out. One of my coworkers even had a Sony TV that would not work through HDMI with his PS3. He would connect it to the PS3 and only get a no signal message. Sony eventually issued a firware fix for the TV (Not the Playstation) that fixed that issue. The release notes for that FW specifically called out HDMI improvements for the TV set. Not sure what brand he had but it was one of the Bravia LCD sets. He still has issues to this day on his Sony XRB rear projection 60 inch TV. He cannot use the PS3 on HDMI input 2. The other inputs work fine and other HDMI devices work fine in input 2 for him, just not the PS3. Search on PS3 westinghouse HDMI issues and you'll see some of what I mentioned.

All I know is that I can take this very same ROKU box (My Roku XD-S) and hook it to any TV or computer monitor in the house through HDMI and the Roku works flawlessly on everything except the Olevia set. I used this set for a while with my PS3 and I got horrible video artifacting and odd colors on some games with this combination. Used the same TV with the PS3 component hookup (which eliminates the HDCP handhake) and no issues. When I moved the PS3 to the Samsung (And now a new LG plasma) I have no issues with the same games that I had problems with on the Olevia. I have also had many issues with my Panasonic Blu-Ray player hooked up to this set. It takes anout 10 minutes before the TV will display an image. If I cycle this set from the HDMI input to something else and back to HDMI I get to wait another 10 minues for the video to re-sync again. While it is syncing I get an message on the screen saying that no signal is detected.

Remember that when HDMI came out one of the big requirements was the HDCP encryption layer. Not all companines followed the spec as closely as they should have. Some companies did go back and issue fixes for their sets, but some never did or don't even exist anymore (Like Olevia).

Now I do not have any issues with my new Roku 2 XS on this set, so maybe Roku changed the HDMI chip in the Roku 2 box or maybe they updated their FW a bit. I don't know I don't work for them. All I know is that the Roku XD-S and the Olevia (Olevia 532H for that matter) are not happy talking to one another. And I'm quite happy to blame the horribleness that is HDMI and HDCP that has been foisted on the consumer by Hollywood as the main culprit.

[SpringHollow]

I had the same problem using the Roku with my TV. I tried a longer 6' cable and it did not work. Other HDMI ports also did not work. Having just purchased an automatic HDMI switc Atlonah, AT-HAD-V31 HDMI Automatic Switch - HDMI, I tried it and the Roku has now worked for over a week. Previously, it would often get that purple screen after being in screen saver mode and play was hit.

[Gilgamesh]

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[RokuShawnS]

From the Forum rules:
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=38665

When creating a topic, please perform a search or glance over the first two pages before posting the topic, as it may have been covered already. In general, if a thread is more than six months old, it will be best for our moderators if you generate a new thread, to prevent confusion.

I like your embiggens and emboldens. You just needed more emtalicizes and 's

Thread locked for the above reasons.

C. Shawn Smith