Depending on how old you are, you may have experienced the rush of typing in the proper button combination to defeat a rival boxer in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, eliminate an enemy in Mortal Kombat, or land an insane trick in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Those unknown button combinations were frequently written down on pieces of paper that were shared from family to family and friend to friend to help people defeat the toughestvideo gamesor just see a mystery unravel before your eyes. Similarly, some of your electronic devices these days have secrets that you don’t even realize.
YourRokuis one of them. Roku makes one of the most popular streaming devices on the market, as it turns any regular TV into asmart TVand the Roku operating system has an interface that is easy to navigate. But just like any operating system, there are some behind-the-scenes features that only a certain few people know how to access.
This is mostly because, for the most part, the average user doesn’t need to see these features because the device is working properly. But in the event that your Roku is not working properly or you want to know more about the diagnostics of your device, there are secret screens that Roku has to help users get the most out of their device. Here is how to reveal the four secret screens that a Roku has, in the event that you’re having an issue with your streaming device.
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Soft reset your Roku
Don’t just unplug it
If your Roku is acting up and it’s glitching or delaying, the logical first fix is to unplug it and plug it back in. But this secret screen is an incredibly helpful tool if you aren’t able to reach the plug for your Roku or you have a Roku TV and the operating system is built into your television. Rather than unplugging it or going to the Settings menu and searching for the System restart menu, you can try typing in a combination of buttons on your Roku remote to soft reset it.
When you soft reset your Roku, it doesn’t get rid of your settings, delete any of your apps, or change your Roku in any way. It basically restarts it like you would if you restarted your laptop. This can potentially help fix any issues that are happening with your Roku.
You’ll notice your screen following the commands until the final fast-forward command goes through. Then, it will delay for a few seconds before fading to black. After a while, the Roku screen with the word Roku will appear and each letter of the word will jump up and down. Following that, the OS will reload and bring you back to your Home screen.
The sequence goes: Home, Home, Home, Home, Home, Up, Rewind, Rewind, Fast-Forward, Fast-Forward.
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See all the channels
Understand more about the channels
If you want to learn more about the channels that you have downloaded or the ones that are included on your Roku when you first install it, you can check out the Channel info secret screen. This provides you with the version of the channel’s app that you have installed and the build of the app itself.
This will populate the screen pictured above and you may scroll down through all of your channels.
The sequence goes: Home, Home, Home, Up, Up, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left.
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Factory reset
Update your software too
There is a way to factory reset your Roku from the Settings menu. But it won’t populate all of the information that you may need to know about the operating system itself onto one screen. you may get the original Secret Screen (which actually says those words at the top) by typing another specific button combo on the remote.
This will populate the Secret Screen that will give you information that includes Version, Build Date, Rescue Version, Active partition, S/N, Device ID, channel store server, Software update server, Ethernet MAC, Wireless MAC, IP Address, Uptime, Power Lifetime, and UID/GID.
When you access this page, you may either Factory reset your device (for which you’ll have to type in a pin number to authorize it), cycle the channel store server or the software update server, update the software, or cancel and leave the screen. This gives you the option to check for software updates in case your Roku missed the previous one automatically.
The sequence goes: Home, Home, Home, Home, Home, Home, Fast Forward, Fast Forward, Fast Forward, Rewind, Rewind.
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Wireless secret screen
This is for speed tests
To gain access to the diagnostics on why your Roku might be running slowly, you can run a speed test. This is useful for any Roku that may be older as it will allow you to see just what speed your Roku is running at.
It will open the Wireless secret screen. This provides you with a swath of information regarding your Roku and it will allow you to utilize the Resets feature, the Logging feature, the AP Speed Test, and to Cancel out of the menu. The Wireless logging menu gives you the opportunity to enable detailed logging of Hang info as well as PHY logging. You can reset the driver, chip, or both from the Resets menu. Clicking the AP Speed Test button brings you to its own Secret Screen which lets you run a speed test.
The sequence goes: Home, Home, Home, Home, Home, Up, Down, Up, Down, Up.
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