In the "You learn something new every day" category, I discovered that my Roku and TV are at war in some manner. I have a 55" Element Fire TV with a Roku Ultra attached via HDMI cable. Both have worked fine until a few days ago when I couldn't get the TV to turn on via either remote (the Fire TV remote or the Roku remote.) I figured it was a glitch so I unplugged the power strip both are plugged into and the TV came on by itself when I plugged the power strip back in. (The power strip plug is easier to reach than the TV plug which is why I unplugged the power strip.) This was odd because the TV doesn't typically turn on after a power outage, but hey, it was on and that's good. Then I couldn't turn it off with either remote. I had to let it go into screensaver mode and then turn itself off. Annoying but, okay, whatever. I can live with that.
The next day the pattern repeated. I did a reboot of the TV, no change. I figured, "Well, if I have to unplug the TV each day to make it work, I'll just plug a smart plug in between the TV and the power strip." I did and it didn't fix the issue. Okay, so what's going on? If I unplug the power strip, essentially unplugging the TV, the TV comes on, even though it never did before. If I just kill the power to the TV using a smart plug and then turn back on the smart plug the TV doesn't come back on. How does that make sense? It doesn't.
Then I noticed that when I tried to use the Roku remote to turn on the TV, it failed to turn on the Roku also, but if the TV was on it turned on the Roku. What? Hmmm...well the Roku and TV communicate with one another through the HDMI cable and are somewhat on all the time for updates and other stuff. And the Roku turns off and on the TV through a signal sent through the HDMI cable. The Roku and the TV are both plugged into the same power strip. Maybe that's why unplugging the power strip turns on the TV but not the smart plug? Let's try unplugging the Roku HDMI cable and see what happens.
Problem fixed! The TV now turns off and on normally and all is right with the world again. Apparently, a software update by either Roku or Amazon caused the Roku and Fire TV communication to break down and lock both up in the off or on position. So, if you suddenly find your HDTV behaving badly, try unplugging things connected to it via an HDMI cable. It's possible something connected to the TV is the culprit and not the HDTV.
I nearly ordered a replacement TV as this was getting annoying. I saved the $500 I was going to spend on a new HDTV by figuring out the issue. And odds are a new TV might have had the same issue if the problem was in the Roku and I connected it to the new HDTV.
So, if you find your HDTV doing something weird, try unplugging everything plugged into it and see if that solves the issue. It just might. It's not a troubleshooting step you see recommended but with devices talking to one another through HDMI cables, it's just possible one of your devices is stopping your HDTV from working correctly.
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