“Uh, while your here, can you take a look at our Roku? It’s not working. The screensaver comes on for a split second, then the screen goes blank”
That was my dad.
Next it was my wife… “The Roku screen keeps going blank when I fast-forward, can you fix it?”
So I go to Roku’s community forum to ask about a fix… and what do I find?
Eight pages of posts complaining about blank screens.
Posts about people stuck on blue screens.
Posts about Roku not waking up after sleep mode.
And lots of posts with users complaining about the most recent software update and asking that their Roku be rolled back to the previous software version.
The solution?
When I chatted with Roku support about my dad’s Roku, they had me use the TV remote, go to the TV menu, then select ‘picture mode’, and change the mode to a different one. Any different mode would do. I could even revolve all the way around to the same mode I had been using. It just seems the process of changing it is what works.
Others on the forum also mention this as a solution for the specific problem that involves the screen appearing for just a second and then going blank.
However, every time the TV is restarted, that process has to be repeated to get the Roku screen to display.
In my dad’s case, the TV is an Insignia brand. Many of the complaints on the forum mention Insignia TVs, but it’s not the only brand mentioned.
Complicating the issue, not every user is reporting the exact same problem. There seems to be variations on the problem, like my wife getting a blank screen when fast-forwarding and reversing her recorded shows.
The solution, or work-around, in her case is to go forward and backwards a bunch of times and eventually it will work.
Consumer Press contacted Roku for an official comment about the problems and information was promised, but nothing has been received by the agreed upon time. If we hear from Roku, we’ll provide an update.
There is an active Community Manager on the Roku forum that identifies himself as RokuTannerD. He often states something along the lines of “I have passed the information along to the team and they are actively investigating this issue.”
Are you experiencing similar problems with your Roku?
Let us know in the comment section below, and be sure to share this post with your friends, family and followers. If they are having problems with their Roku, they’ll be glad to know they aren’t the only ones!