JP1 Remotes

Since June Roku has sent out an update to all brands of roku TV's that caused volume keys on Directv white remote to stop controlling the Roku TV's. The power and mute still work, but not up and down volume. This update most of made the TV's more sensitive to IR commands it accepts, and along with the extra command ALL white directv remotes add to each volume press, the combination of the two makes volume keys not work.

I know its the extra command that's the culprit, because when they do codesearch by volume and find a working code, the volume keys work, but stop when locked in. This extra signal is missing during code searches. I thought having them do the following would turn off this extra signal making volume now work, but didn't help:

1. tv
2. press and hold MUTE & SELECT for two blinks, release
3. enter 9 6 3
4. press CH DOWN

Anyone here own roku tv, have you any troubles with other universal remotes?

I documented some troubles I've been having with my universal remote and Roku toward the bottom of this page. You may have seen my posts, Edmund.

https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewt ... 013#p134013

I've been fiddling and experimenting since mid-July. I've raised a case with TCL (my brand of Roku TV) and they have not been very responsive so far.

Here is a summary of where I am:

My troubles have involved powering my TCL Roku TV on and off since the Roku 8.1 update
I use a power toggle to power on my TV and a discrete to turn it off. There is no working discrete for power on to my knowledge. One has been reported here, but it does not work on my TV
The power toggle works in a macro if the TV is the first device turned on. It sometimes fails to turn on if the TV commands are placed further down in the macro
Discrete power off does not always work if the TV input is set to HDMI1, which is where my Dish VIP 622 receiver is plugged in. This is partially overcome if I power off the Dish receiver before powering off the TV
Discrete power off always works if the TV is set to any other input

A couple other non-remote observations since the Roku update:

Powering off the TV seems to take much longer now than it used to take, probably 2-3 seconds
When power off fails, the TV goes black and looks like it is turning off, but there is no "powering off" message and the TV comes back on in HDMI1 input mode
I have my TV set to turn on in HDMI1 mode; i.e., any time it gets a power on command, it sets the input to HDMI1
When the TV comes on, there is picture and sound, then it goes dark, then it comes back on.

Right now, I have a working power on macro for all my devices. In my power off macro, I power off my Dish receiver before I power off the TV and that works most of the time. I'll probably change that macro to switch the TV input to something other than HDMI1 before I send the power toggle. Then I'll fix my wife's remote <smiles>.

I have no idea what's behind all this, but Lurker posted some helpful observations in the other thread.

Edited to correct typo. It's power on that doesn't have a discrete for my TV. There is a working discrete for power off. Sorry for any confusion.

I have an Insignia Roku TV and use my 15-1994 to control it. I don't know how to tell what Roku version I have but I can see that it was last updated in July 2018. I don't have any problems using my remote.

Does the TV have some setting for auto power-on or selection if it sees something on an HDMI port? That might affect how it handles power commands.

andyross wrote:Does the TV have some setting for auto power-on or selection if it sees something on an HDMI port? That might affect how it handles power commands.

Not that I know of. If I turn off all my components, including the TV, and then turn on only the Satellite receiver and audio receiver, the TV does not automatically come on. (My satellite receiver is plugged into my audio receiver, which is plugged into HDMI1 on the TV.)

When I go to Settings > System > Power on the TV, I have the following settings available (and values selected)

Power on (Satellite TV) (Satellite TV is the label I've attached to HDMI1)
Auto Power Savings
Reduce power after 15 minutes (checked)
Turn TV off after 4 hours (checked)
Standby LED (On) LED on front of TV on if it's in stand-by
Fast TV start (Disabled) Quickly start TV from stand-by
System restart (TV off and on)

There's nothing in the release notes for Roku 8.1 about an HDMI port (mine only fails to turn off when HDMI1 is selected). (For the record, my problems started with the 8.1 upgrade.)

TCL has still not replied to my ticket, and I've given them the same information I've reported here.

My difficulties only occur when I issue commands from a macro. I've worked around them by shifting the TV to "Antenna" mode before turning it off. That has worked reliably for a week or so now.

Thanks for any help.

The only other thing I can think of is that Power on setting for an input. Does it have something like 'last used input'?

Also, have you checked the Roku forums at http://forums.roku.com/

andyross wrote:The only other thing I can think of is that Power on setting for an input. Does it have something like 'last used input'?

Also, have you checked the Roku forums at http://forums.roku.com/

The TV does have a "Last used TV input" setting for power on. I have not selected that, I have selected "Satellite TV" (HDMI1).

I had not thought of checking the Roku forums. I spent a few minutes over there just now and noticed there is something about "HDMI handshaking" that's new and sounds potentially problematic, but I don't know enough, really, to tell.

I couldn't find any posts, in my quick search, about power on/off issues with universal remotes and macros. I'll post a message over there and see what happens.

Thanks again for your help.

I was thinking that forcing it to HDMI1 on power up could be causing it to have issues figuring out what to do on power on or even off. It may even just cause a bit of a slowdown that makes it miss a code or two.

andyross wrote:I was thinking that forcing it to HDMI1 on power up could be causing it to have issues figuring out what to do on power on or even off. It may even just cause a bit of a slowdown that makes it miss a code or two.

I'll try switching that option to "last known input" and see if it helps. I believe my receiver will power up on its last known input by default as well. I tried to do this once before by switching to HDMI1 before I powered off, so that when it did come on, it would come on to HDMI1, but that left me unable to turn the TV off. (I have to avoid forcing my wife to press extra buttons on the remote <smiles>.)

Another thing I've noticed is that if I run the power-on macro within a couple minutes of turning the TV off, there is no lag; i.e., the picture and sound comes on immediately, whereas if I leave the TV off for awhile and run the power-on macro, the picture and sound comes on, immediately goes off, and then comes back on. This could be due to the phenomenon you mention; i.e., it defaults to powering on in "last TV input" mode and then "switches" to HDMI1.

It's perhaps worth noting that none of these phenomena occurred until 8.1.

It could also be the power-down/fast start option. I have an older Sony TV, and with Fast start disabled, it goes into a full power-down after about 5-10 minutes.

andyross wrote:It could also be the power-down/fast start option. I have an older Sony TV, and with Fast start disabled, it goes into a full power-down after about 5-10 minutes.

I think my next step is going to be to enable fast TV start. This option was added, I think, in version 8.0 and had no impact on my macros. Perhaps something changed in 8.1 that causes this option to have an impact.

So far, nothing on my post in the Roku forums. This must be an uncommon issue.

Thanks again for your help.