Roku blues...

[NorthwoodsLife]

So, a couple years ago we ditched the satellite system and bought a Roku. It's been awesome. Saved us over $100 a month or more.

A couple weeks ago, my wife gave me an earful for 15 minutes about saving energy. She woke up before me in the morning and saw that the television was on. All night long, evidently. I took it as well as I could, no matter how many times I told her that I shut it off before I went to bed the night before. But, it's a no-win situation. So, I shut up and took it.

Anyway, a few days ago, I got up in the morning and the TV was on. Again. evidently all night long. But this time my wife was the last one to go to bed the night before. So, I carefully explained to her that she left the TV on all night. She said that there's no way that she would do that. It's a no-win situation. So, I shut up and took it.

Yesterday, we were both going to bed at the same time. I shut off the TV with the Roku remote. The Roku and TV shut off. All good. Then a minute later she shut off our electric fireplace using the fireplace remote. A few seconds later, the Roku turned back on! I was still in the room and so was she. The fireplace remote turned on the Roku and TV! I experimented with it and, yes indeed, the infrared fireplace remote would turn on and off the Roku and TV!

Now, the Roku remote doesn't work at all. I replaced the batteries. I reset the Roku and tried to reconnect the Roku remote. Nothing works.

 

[mcfarmall]

Ha ha! I hate technology!

 

[GSD-Keegan]

Lol. “So I shut up and took it” . Words spoken by many a husband! Unfortunately sometimes I stand my ground, which usually causes me more grief, before I finally succumb, and shut up and take it. Good job. Hope the wife can get that dang Roku remote fixed, along with the tv.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

Lol. “So I shut up and took it” . Words spoken by many a husband! Unfortunately sometimes I stand my ground, which usually causes me more grief, before I finally succumb, and shut up and take it. Good job. Hope the wife can get that dang Roku remote fixed, along with the tv.

I bought a new Roku today, and I'll set it up tomorrow. I do all the tech stuff in our house.

By the way, she never apologized for giving me crap about leaving the TV on. Which we know now, I didn't do. But, ya gotta love 'em.

 

[DaveFromMi]

Did you try to pair the remote with the Roku?

 

[jimh406]

Many tvs have a setting to power on by the attached device. You might try turning that off in the tv menus.

As others have mentioned, you probably want to pair the Roku controller with the base. There are different instructions for each type of controller/Roku. Also, double check to make sure you put the batteries in correctly.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

Did you try to pair the remote with the Roku?

Yes. I rebooted as from the beginning. Still doesn't work.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

Many tvs have a setting to power on by the attached device. You might try turning that off in the tv menus.

As others have mentioned, you probably want to pair the Roku controller with the base. There are different instructions for each type of controller/Roku. Also, double check to make sure you put the batteries in correctly.

The TV was integrated with the Roku. Both would turn on and off with the Roku remote.

Tonight, I removed the old Roku and installed a new head unit and remote. It works. Unfortunately, I bought a downgraded Roku unit (unintentionally) and it doesn't turn the TV on or off. Nor does it allow volume control. So I grabbed the dusty (unused for 2 years) TV dedicated remote, and even after replacing the batteries the TV remote does not work on the TV. TV is a Sony.

Good news is we are back to watching old movies from the 1930' thru 1960's. And Columbo, Twilight Zone, WWII documentaries. And Bogie, Clint, Bette Davis in various characters. And Kubota, Messicks, and farming stuff on YouTube... All thru the Roku. I do love this tech when it works!

Bad news is I have to get out of my chair and adjust the volume or turn the conglomeration on and off.

Ah well. Such is life. Getting old and not so tech savvy has it's downsides.

 

[Biker1mike]

Yikes, good information. My Roku does not have tv controls so we are safe.
I did try pointing it at the fireplace but the wood just sat there !

 

[DustyRusty]

Put a manual switch on the television to turn the power off to it when you go to bed. Many of today's electronics stay partially on and never go off unless you disconnect them. That is how our Charter box works, and it is an energy hog.

 

[jimh406]

So I grabbed the dusty (unused for 2 years) TV dedicated remote, and even after replacing the batteries the TV remote does not work on the TV. TV is a Sony.

Recently, I hit a first time issue with the grandkid's toy. That is, I had normal Duracell batteries go bad. I really couldn't believe they were bad out of the package, but after buying new batteries, it was clear the others were bad. No, the package wasn't brand new, but I didn't feel it was that old. If two different remotes refuse to work, then it could be the batteries.

I don't know how old your tv is, but you can get Roku integrated tvs now. Sure, they are China made TCLs, but they are available. Best Buy has a good price for them. I personally prefer Samsung Smart TVs that are not made in China.

In any case, I'm glad that you are getting your tv/Roku working.

 

[Daren Todd]

On the subject of one remote working for something else.....

Years ago I added a wireless doorbell to the house.

Unboxed it, added batteries, and mounted the button and the dinger.

Shortly after installing it we started getting ghost rings. The door bell would go off and nobody at the door.

We lived on a dead end road with only six houses.

After about 8 months of this, I was talking to my neighbor next door. Somehow we got on the subject of door bells, and he made the comment that his wireless doorbell would go off randomly with nobody at the door. I asked if I could take a look at his door bell since I was having the same issue.

Low and behold we had the same doorbell, threw out the instruction since it was easy enough to figure out and mounted them. What neither one of us did was change the dipswitch settings.

So..... I was getting his doorbell rings and he was getting mine

 

[270sniper]

This happens to my TV all the time and I have comcast. If we go out for the day we have to wait for about 5 minutes to see if the TV turns back on again.