I have detailed some of my frustration with my new Roku over in Cafe Society, but most of it is rather side information. The short version is that the machine worked fine, but the remote it came with did not work(and it requires its remote).
After talking to customer service(they are sending me a new remote), I tried their “fix”. They said I should reverse the polarity of the batteries, flip them over. I assumed they thought I had them in backwards, so I asked if they meant to put them in the wrong way. They said I should put them in the wrong way.
I did, left them for 1 minute or so, and then flipped them back over. The remote worked just fine.
It works for anywhere from a minute to about 10 minutes, then it stops working again.
I flip the batteries, wait a minute, then flip 'em back and it works again for awhile.
What is up with this?
And yes, I’ve tried multiple batteries and the result is always the same.
Only a temporary fix? I hope the tech support people are ashamed of themselves.
That said, I find myself thinking about a charge building up on something within the remote, and getting drained away when the batteries are reversed. I HOPE they gave you an RMA number which you’ll be using to send for a new remote once the new business week begins. If they did, see what happens if you just leave the batteries out for a half hour. Or if you take a paper clip and short across the battery compartment terminals.
As far as the actual cause for this “fix” working, even temporarily, right now I’m thinking PFM.
I bet either of those ideas would work as well. The ‘fix’ probably just drained some capacitors inside the remote. But customer service isn’t going to ask you to short your electronics, and waiting an hour for the caps to drain on their own can’t be done while you’re still on the phone with them.
She said something about “charging the batteries” but she was in India* and had a very thick accent and I couldn’t understand her. I assume she meant something about the charge building up.
What do you suggest with the paperclip? I’m not sure I follow.
What is an RMA number? She gave me a case # and a authorization # if I have trouble getting the new remote.
RMA = Returned Material (or Merchandise) Authorization (some companies call them RGAs, where the “G” stands for “Goods”). It’s how they keep track of what’s coming back, why, it’s coming back, and what they’re supposed to do about it when it does.
And if the problem is caused by a static charge building up across two points, creating a short circuit with a flexible piece of conductive material such as a paper clip will cause that charge to drain away.
Maybe I missed it but, did you try new batteries. The simple delay of reversing them may be allowing very marginal batteries to recover just enough for a 10" performance. Remotes generally take very little current to operate.
Long Long ago it might have mattered that you put batteries in with the correct polarity. It still does if you expect the device to work. Every current device I have seen is diode protected so that current won’t go the wrong way and damage anything if the batteries are reversed. Why would manufacturers not do that when it costs about 1¢ to diode protect?
You know your remote works. Your batteries don’t have more than 10" worth of power.
Here’s the service representative’s motto:
“Walk a mile in the other person’s shoes. Then you are a mile away and have a free pair of shoes.”
If they aren’t expecting you to return your old remote when you get the new one, you won’t have an RMA. I hope you’re getting the replacement remote for free.
This is almost surely why they asked. It gives you a chance to notice they are backwards and put them in correctly. This lets you say, “hey, that worked!” without having to admit you had them in backwards. I’ve heard that some customer service people are trained to, as a first step, ask the customer to unplug and replug the power cord. Nobody wants to admit they forgot to plug in their computer.
