Fire Stick with Roku issues

[Squishman]

I have a TCL Roku TV and a Fire Stick 4K Max. Browsing apps with Fire Stick, etc works, but not volume or power. It obviously doesn't recognize the TV. FS is updated and equipment control is set to automatic. The TV fw is also updated. I tried powering the FS off, then on. All functions worked on my old Sony TV. Does anyone know how to solve this?

 

[Squishman]

a Google search said to go to FS settings, equip control, change TV. I do not have "change TV" in mine.

 

[lovinthehd]

What, no avr?

 

[Squishman]

What, no avr?

The TV is connected to my AVR, yes.
The issue is solved.... mostly.
I was just on the phone with Amazon support and she was able to help me with that. Now I have all control, except that my TV does not go directly to the FS input (which is HDMI 1). I have to manually do that. Not a huge deal. But she said that is an update they are working on with TCL or Roku TV's.

 

[Squishman]

What, no avr?

Oh. I wanted the FS remote to control TV volume, which yes, controls AVR volume. And same for powering up/down the TV. Works great now.

 

[CMG_ADL]

FYI Amazon's Firestick caused a weird issue with my Onkyo TX-NR7100.

Using the Firestick (connected via HDMI) with the AVR had no issues, however if I chose another HDMI source such as my Xbox or PC it will randomly lose signal and get a "No signal" message.

Removing the Firestick from the AVR solved the issue. It was like the Firestick tries to push an active signal through and disrupts the other HDMI ports.

 

[isolar8001]

Put the Firestick in one of the first three HDMI ports....if you have it in any of the others, you will get the dropouts.
Don't ask me why, but this works on the RZ50 and the Pioneers also. (my Pioneer did the same thing)

 

[CMG_ADL]

Cheers @isolar8001

I'll try that.

I'm just using the Amazon Prime app on the TV for now

 

[isolar8001]

We went around for months on AVS forums trying to figure this out...until someone just plugged a Firestick into one of the first three ports.
Still haven't figured out what the hell the Firestick is doing to cause this though.

 

[CMG_ADL]

We went around for months on AVS forums trying to figure this out...until someone just plugged a Firestick into one of the first three ports.
Still haven't figured out what the hell the Firestick is doing to cause this though.

Yes. I thought my AVR was at fault initially.

It was brand new, and I thought I got a lemon!

Removed the Firestick and the issue was gone.

I reckon the Firestick tries to actively push out a signal command via HDMI-CEC and that's what causes the issue.

 

[Squishman]

Are you guys putting the FS in an AVR hdmi port? I have it in the TV (port 1). If so, I didn't know that that was an option! I don't see a need to change however. Does that change how it operates with the TV - power, volume?

 

[lovinthehd]

I have older Firesticks so maybe a bit different, but always used them in the avrs rather than tvs (but any av gear I prefer to use the avr as a switching center, at least with my tvs). I did recently get HD models of Firestick (my older ones were also not 4K, but slightly older with a slightly different remote, altho both have Alexa I don't like talking to a remote). I don't care for hdmi-cec generally but the newer HD Firesticks do enable power/volume control of my avr using it, and aren't too bad but does seem to cause some issues when changing over to my normal Harmony remotes after using it (and does nothing for my bluray player or other gear connected to my avr aside from the tv). Overall I still prefer a Harmony remote using macros for control of the system generally, but not all my Harmony remotes can control the Firestick outside the ones setup on a Harmony Hub.

 

[Squishman]

I don't like talking to AI either. It's like Hal from 2001. Not for me.

 

[isolar8001]

I use mine in the AVR (just for SmartTube) so the FireStick will control the volume of the system while Im using it.
Plus, I let the AVR do any upscaling to take the load off my set....works really well that way.

 

[lovinthehd]

I use mine in the AVR (just for SmartTube) so the FireStick will control the volume of the system while Im using it.
Plus, I let the AVR do any upscaling to take the load off my set....works really well that way.

Just checked that Smart Tube app info. So no need for premium subscription to youtube? I did use their previous youtube app before there was an official one....

ps Does it allow DD+?

 

[isolar8001]

Just checked that Smart Tube app info. So no need for premium subscription to youtube? I did use their previous youtube app before there was an official one....

ps Does it allow DD+?

No need for Premium...it skips all ads and has a ton of audio/video options. It allows whatever audio format the YouTube vid has...I've seen 5.1 becoming more available and even some Atmos. It does HDR10 and some HLG.
I put a USB ethernet adaptor on my FireStick and get a good solid 400mb connection.

Those "walking around cities" videos like Virtual Japan and others are pretty amazing in HDR.
The FireStick will usually output in DD+ most of the time.
I can't imagine using the regular app ever again. !

 

[Squishman]

No need for Premium...it skips all ads and has a ton of audio/video options. It allows whatever audio format the YouTube vid has...I've seen 5.1 becoming more available and even some Atmos. It does HDR10 and some HLG.
I put a USB ethernet adaptor on my FireStick and get a good solid 400mb connection.

Those "walking around cities" videos like Virtual Japan and others are pretty amazing in HDR.
The FireStick will usually output in DD+ most of the time.
I can't imagine using the regular app ever again. !

Great! I will look into that. Been paying for YT premium for a while now. It'd be great to not send $$ to the evil google machine.

 

[isolar8001]

Great! I will look into that. Been paying for YT premium for a while now. It'd be great to not send $$ to the evil google machine.

They charge 12 bucks a month for no-ads and a lousy music streaming service ?? That's crazy. (never looked at the premium deal till now)
I can download any YouTube vid on my PC with IDM.
I can't stand any music streaming, so they can keep that also.

 

[Squishman]

They charge 12 bucks a month for no-ads and a lousy music streaming service ?? That's crazy. (never looked at the premium deal till now)
I can download any YouTube vid on my PC with IDM.
I can't stand any music streaming, so they can keep that also.

I don't do music streaming. I have several favorite channels so no commercials has been worth the $12 plus tax. Hopefully Smart Tube will be as good or better.

 

[lovinthehd]

They charge 12 bucks a month for no-ads and a lousy music streaming service ?? That's crazy. (never looked at the premium deal till now)
I can download any YouTube vid on my PC with IDM.
I can't stand any music streaming, so they can keep that also.

I do like the music/concerts on youtube, better than I expected they'd be (at least without commercials, they were unusable with commercials). I recently switched to premium and the absence of commercials completely changes the youtube thing. I'll check out the Smart Tube app, thanks!