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*Official* Roku 2 Media Streamer Thread

170K views 1K replies 185 participants last post by  krisbee 
#1 ·
There has been a bit of buzz in the blogosphere about the upcoming refresh of Roku's media streamer lineup:

Roku 2 Launching with Angry Birds (from Dave Zatz)

Roku 2 - Nearly Upon Us? (from Dave Zatz)


It appears as if the devices are slated to appear in stores on July 24. Let us use this thread to discuss the features of the Roku 2 and share tips and tricks.
 
#577 ·
Oh man I can't even list everything I have found but off the top of my head:

1. Auto discovery does not work for servers.

2. Music media files look like they are playing but no sound.

3. Hulu is not properly supported and is not centered on the screen.


There are several others that escape me at the moment. I'm just not willing to battle through it. I have other apps the accomplish the same functions. The one thing it does that my other apps don't is transcode in HD. Other than that I don't see it's worth the effort to fight through.
 
#578 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by FX4 /forum/post/0


Oh man I can't even list everything I have found but off the top of my head:

1. Auto discovery does not work for servers.

2. Music media files look like they are playing but no sound.

3. Hulu is not properly supported and is not centered on the screen.


There are several others that escape me at the moment. I'm just not willing to battle through it. I have other apps the accomplish the same functions. The one thing it does that my other apps don't is transcode in HD. Other than that I don't see it's worth the effort to fight through.

Plex is invaluable for anyone wanting to watch content on a variety of devices. The fact that Hulu is not properly supported is not a bug. It's not supposed to be played on media players. That's why Hulu + is there. True, XBMC is more reliable for Hulu but that is because of one person and it could go down at any point.


Auto discovery works fine for me. It always has. When they moved to supporting NAS, Linux and Windows for their server there was bound to be some issues surrounding bonjour. Not really their fault.


Music plays just fine for me.


There are no other apps that do what Plex does. Not everyone needs it, but the model they are using is very appealing.


Philip
 
#579 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by dvdchance /forum/post/0



What are some of the issues you are having?


For me Plex runs great on my 2 Roku2 boxes, well it did until Roku did a FW update in Dec. Now I get lots of picture artifacts watching shows, especially SD content.


But aside from that all works great.

The artifact issue is really annoying. Once that is fixed the Roku client will be excellent. There are always some issues with any software. Plex has been really reliable for me and I use it on a lot of different platforms. Nothing else does what it does.


It has two weaknesses in my opinion. Subtitle support and the channels which are a bit hit and miss. Subtitles is really a result of the DLNA type model they use I think. When I run the client on the same system as the server it is much better from that perspective.


Philip
 
#581 ·
Yea, if you read through the comments at the bottom of the link the people working on it admit there are bugs they are working hard to eliminate and that the artifacting problem should be fixed in the next firmware for this new version
 
#583 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by subavision212 /forum/post/21845757


Yea, if you read through the comments at the bottom of the link the people working on it admit there are bugs they are working hard to eliminate and that the artifacting problem should be fixed in the next firmware for this new version

I'm being optimistic they are right, but they felt the most recent 4.3 1057 update would fix the problem too. As we know it didn't.


Perhaps now as an official Roku channel it will be properly addressed.
 
#584 ·
I just installed this update. Can't find any information about what it fixes. Anyone have any information?
 
#585 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by pbarach /forum/post/21903997


I just installed this update. Can't find any information about what it fixes. Anyone have any information?

I just tried to update my Roku 2 XS to the most recent firmware version and it tells me I'm still on the most current version (v4.3 - bld 1057)


Are you sure you're using v4.6? -- if so, possibly the 4.6 update will be available sometime later for me (and others) also!
 
#586 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by gmd024 /forum/post/21904071


I just tried to update my Roku 2 XS to the most recent firmware version and it tells me I'm still on the most current version (v4.3 - bld 1057)


Are you sure you're using v4.6? -- if so, possibly the 4.6 update will be available sometime later for me (and others) also!

Yes, definitely. I just ran the update this afternoon (Roku 2 XS) and got updated from 4.3 bld 1057 to 4.6 (don't have the bld right now--TV is off).
 
#587 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by pbarach /forum/post/21904324


Yes, definitely. I just ran the update this afternoon (Roku 2 XS) and got updated from 4.3 bld 1057 to 4.6 (don't have the bld right now--TV is off).

OK - I just did another software update check, and there's still no new update - it's telling me 4.3 is still the most current -- I'll keep checking periodically
 
#589 ·
The 4.3 update is only a month old (you can see its release notes here in the Roku forums); I'd be surprised to see any major functional upgrades in 4.6. 4.3 was big for me, inasmuch as it made the 5.1 sound and closed caption settings persistent; once you turn them on explicitly they'll be on forever for titles which have them, until you turn them off (I assume--haven't tried it). I always want those on when they're available and it drove me nuts having to remember to turn them on every time (particularly 5.1 sound, which is the default for the other devices I have which can play 5.1 sound, my PS3 and BD player).
 
#591 ·
If you haven't automatically received the 4.6 update yet, and trying to force an update still tells you are on the latest firmware even though you aren't, just be patient. Roku usually rolls out their major updates slowly to begin with, limiting it to 10-20,000 users to start.
 
#592 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by dvdchance /forum/post/21905218


I know the 4.3 update was supposed to fix HLS format issues, such as problems with channels like Plex, but it didn't.


Maybe this update will finally correct this (fingers crossed)

Well I came over here to read about the the 4.6 reports, but since this was posted, I feel like I have to respond. I was the one that started the "pixelation issue will be fixed in 4.3" talk, but it was really just me hypothesizing about an HLS bug I saw reported on the roku forums. Roku never specifically promised that the plex pixleation bug would be fixed in 4.3 and (as far as I know) none of the Plex guys knew for sure either. I think since I am a contributor to the project, too many people took my theory and ran with it. There were HLS bugs address in 4.3, but it turns out that those bugs were not what was causing the issues in Plex.


As for 4.6, it seems strange that Roku would skip so many version numbers to jump from 4.3 to 4.6.
 
#596 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by hps70w /forum/post/21914613


I don't see any official release notes posted on the Roku forums yet, but I have read in a few tech blogs the 4.6 FW is primarily a French language localization release for Canada.

http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2012-04/...nch-canadians/

I've been watching/checking for the 4.6 release on my Rokus for about 4 days now since 1st hearing about it, and of course it hasn't shown up yet


I would think the Roku forum Mods or someone from Roku would comment on this matter to help alleviate any confusion that's been caused so far
 
#597 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by FX4 /forum/post/21912650


It's really not that uncommon. The skipped numbers could have been beta or internal releases. I wouldn't worry about that too much.

It is pretty unusual for Roku. I don't think they have skipped a "dot" version number for firmware in a while (excluding the 3.x to 4.x jump for Roku 2s). They usually just increment the build # for internal or beta releases.
 
#599 ·
4.6 release notes have been posted in the Roku forums.

http://forums.roku.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=49013

Quote:
Roku software 4.6 contains the following fixes/improvements:


Improved overall system navigation performance by up to 50 percent

Improved overall stability

Fixed an issue that could prevent some channels from launching properly

Fixed an issue that could cause delays when launching the Netflix channel

Fixed an issue that could cause some channels to fail to appear on home screen

Improved the start of playback experience in the BBC iPlayer channel (UK only)

Improved playback experience when switching between HD and SD quality streams in the BBC iPlayer channel (UK only)

Added French language support for users in all countries


The software update will be pushed automatically to all Roku 2 and Roku LT players over the next 48 hours. If you can't wait, select Settings > Software update > Check now from your Roku player.
 
#600 ·
Not available to me yet.
 
#601 ·
I just checked mine and nothing here either. If they increased navigation by 50% that will be a big improvement. I thought it was already quick.
 
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