Solving playback issues

[33sarge]

I have the same issue. Upon exiting Youtube and ONLY Youtube, 50% of the time the screen goes black and will only return to normal if you hit the home button OR wait for anywhere from 3-5 minutes. It started as the first guy said and with every update, it might get better or get worse. Just updated last night (7/6/23) and upon exiting after watching for an hour, it went black screen. You'd think Youtube could fix this issue.

[RokuJohnB]

Hi @33sarge,

Thanks for posting in the Roku Community!

We understand that you're having a problem with your YouTube channel. We're happy to help. Please follow these steps:

• Remove the channel: Highlight the channel tile on your home screen and press the Star button to open the options menu. Select Remove channel and confirm.
• Restart your Roku device: Restart the device from the settings menu. Go to Settings > System > System Restart > Restart.
• Re-install the channel: Scroll down to search, put the channel's name or app, highlight the channel, and select Add the channel.

Let us know if this works for you!

All the best,

John

[iFrog]

Hi John, even doing a factory reset doesn't completely fix the issue.  I have two channels that still have the black screen problem on exit. (when using my usual way of exiting channels.)

These include:
YouTube
TBN

YouTube usually exits correctly now with only an occasional hang requiring an additional press of the home button to finish the exit.

TBN crashes all the time on exit to a black screen unless I bypass their prompt on exit by directly hitting the home button, or using voice control to close the channel.

I have reported this issue to TBN, and to Roku a few times, with no signs of resolve of the issues other than to use the workarounds mentioned.  Other than these issues, my Roku Ultra model 4802 with OS 12 build 4184 seems to be working as expected.

[RokuAnjelie]

Hi @iFrog,

Thank you for keeping us updated! 

We want to gather more information about the issue you're running into. Can you please give us more details regarding the problem you're having so we can further assist you:

• Roku device model, serial number, device ID, and software OS/version (these can all be found in Settings > System > About)
• Tracker ID when this issue occurs (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button five times, followed by the Back button five times, and provide us with this ID)
• Steps to reproduce the issue you are seeing
• Please provide a video clip that shows the issue occurring.

Once we have this information, we can do further investigation. We can look forward to your response.
Thanks,
Anjelie

[iFrog]

---

@RokuAnjelie wrote:

Hi @iFrog,

Thank you for keeping us updated! 

We want to gather more information about the issue you're running into. Can you please give us more details regarding the problem you're having so we can further assist you:

• Roku device model, serial number, device ID, and software OS/version (these can all be found in Settings > System > About)
• Tracker ID when this issue occurs (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button five times, followed by the Back button five times, and provide us with this ID)
• Steps to reproduce the issue you are seeing
• Please provide a video clip that shows the issue occurring.

Once we have this information, we can do further investigation. We can look forward to your response.
Thanks,
Anjelie

---

I already provided  most of the info you have asked for in my previous post.

Roku Ultra model 4802RW

OS version 12.0.0 build 4184

Serial NO: X01000GNCNY7

Device ID: S0DC22DNCNY7

As far as a Video, I provided an unlisted Video on YouTube to TBN support as well.  I will link this video here: https://youtu.be/qp8usBRxlw0

youTube does the same thing occasionally as TBN does in this video, but it's not consistent with YouTube as in, I can predict it's going to happen with TBN every time, but YouTube, I can't.

The ID for this crash of TBN is: Y7-289-269

[RokuJechealR]

Hi @iFrog,

Thanks for the response!

Please be advised that we have passed along your information to the appropriate Roku team to investigate further. Once more information is available, we will be sure to update this Community thread. We appreciate your patience and understanding in the meantime.

Let us know if there's anything else we can further assist you with aside from this.

Warm regards,

Chel

[iFrog]

---

@RokuJechealR wrote:

Hi @iFrog,

Thanks for the response!

Please be advised that we have passed along your information to the appropriate Roku team to investigate further. Once more information is available, we will be sure to update this Community thread. We appreciate your patience and understanding in the meantime.

Let us know if there's anything else we can further assist you with aside from this.

Warm regards,

Chel

---

You're welcome.  I just wanted to also add that while I have generally liked the Roku platform, and it was my first streamer after my first Blu-ray player, before getting into Apple TV, and Android TV, my only true problem-free Roku experience was with the Roku 3.  After that, I've always had some sort of problems from large to small, and even though it may have been fixed from time to time, something else always came back.  So, after these OS 12 issues, I'm really considering dropping Roku as a platform if these things don't get sorted out in a reasonable time frame.  Compared to my other devices, and the state of streaming, Roku really doesn't offer me anything above any of my other devices at this point.  I've just kept it around because as a whole it's been a good platform.

However, if it's not going to be stable and dependable for me at this point, I have no reason to continue to use it, when I have better options that work for me.  With this said though, I still want to see these issues resolved, and the whole Roku platform be maintained better and overall be more stable especially for people like me who have more custom setups and may use apps and content that aren't maybe in the mainstream use.

[QuePasa]

Still happening for me, now July 23.  Stopped using Roku and just use apps directly on Samsung TV.  Do not know how up to date the Samsung app versions are but so far they work fine.

[33sarge]

I have to admit, I'm also getting disgusted with Roku. Way TOO many channels either do not work or are having issues with - such as this issue with Youtube. We also do not have any problems with our LG or Samsung TV app's for Youtube, only BOTH Roku's our family has.

What bothers me the most is it seems that NONE of the channel owners even bother to look at their own channels to see that there are issues. If it was just one or two, out of a hundred, that would be one thing, but I presently have issues on 5 channels that I have been watching for years that no longer work, go black screen upon exiting or open and then close within a few seconds.

And if you're not a member of facebook, good luck getting through to any of them to ask what is going on. Also am tired of the feedback here to remove, reboot, reinstall the app's. We KNOW about that, and it DOES NOT WORK.

[iFrog]

---

@33sarge wrote:

I have to admit, I'm also getting disgusted with Roku. Way TOO many channels either do not work or are having issues with - such as this issue with Youtube. We also do not have any problems with our LG or Samsung TV app's for Youtube, only BOTH Roku's our family has.

What bothers me the most is it seems that NONE of the channel owners even bother to look at their own channels to see that there are issues. If it was just one or two, out of a hundred, that would be one thing, but I presently have issues on 5 channels that I have been watching for years that no longer work, go black screen upon exiting or open and then close within a few seconds.

And if you're not a member of facebook, good luck getting through to any of them to ask what is going on. Also am tired of the feedback here to remove, reboot, reinstall the app's. We KNOW about that, and it DOES NOT WORK.

---

For now, I have factory reset my Roku and put it away with my unused devices.  Have also disassociated it with my account.  For the time being, I'm looking to stay between Apple TV, and Android TV / Google TV.  They aren't perfect, but they are dependable, and they are also good options for smart home integration for those of us who want more than just a basic streaming platform.

I started out with Roku when first diving into streaming.  It's been a great platform.  Things have changed though, and my needs / requirements, and use case have just started to demand differently.  When Roku cleans up their platform, I'll be happy to start using it again, and when they decide to do more with it than just the basics as well.