Roku says it’s investigating reports of speaker systems getting stuck after update

Roku says it is investigating fresh reports that some speaker setups are getting knocked offline or stuck after a recent update, following a burst of complaints from users in the past couple of days.

In one r/Roku thread, a Roku soundbar user shared a picture of their TV showing the update screen telling them to keep the device plugged in. They claim it was frozen on that screen with no progress. It did not recover even after unplugging it or trying a factory reset.

In another thread, a user said their ONN Roku soundbar and surround speakers disconnected from a Roku 75-inch TV within the last 24 to 48 hours, while the soundbar showed a steady orange light.

Roku’s verified support account replied that it is aware of the issue, is looking into it, and wants affected users to send over a device ID or serial number. So it looks like the company is currently trying to pin down the issue to prepare a fix.

The OP in the second thread also confirmed a recent update had gone out, according to the company’s support team. However, no one has yet confirmed receiving it. In the replies, other users said they were seeing similar trouble with wireless speakers, subs, and soundbars, with at least one person saying the soundbar still looked “bricked” while other pieces of the setup partly reconnected.

Someone else also took to X to complain about it.

There is still a lot that is unclear. Roku has not publicly said how widespread the issue is, what firmware version may be involved, or whether a fix is already in testing.

Even so, this lands at a rough moment for the company. A separate proposed class action, covered by CNET, accuses Roku and TCL of pushing defective TV software updates that allegedly left some sets severely degraded or unusable, though that case is about TVs, not speaker systems.

Roku told CNET those lawsuit claims are “meritless.”

For now, the speaker complaints look like a distinct issue, but not an easy one to dismiss. We’ll keep an eye out for any further developments and will update the article accordingly.

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