IN THIS CHAPTER

Updating and resetting your Fire TV device

Troubleshooting Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues

Solving device problems

Fixing playback woes

Fire TV devices such as the Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick 4K, and Fire TV Cube are extremely simple, Spartan even, when viewed from the outside. They’re devoid of moving parts; the Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick 4K have but a single port for the power supply; and the Fire TV Cube has just a few ports in the back. But don’t let that Zen-inducing outer shell fool you — inside every Fire TV device is a complex and sophisticated array of electronics. The good news is that these intricate innards enable Fire TV to perform its streaming magic; the bad news is that, when it comes to electronic devices, “complex and sophisticated” almost always leads to some kind of trouble. That’s just a fact of modern life, although it doesn’t guarantee that your Fire TV device will one day bite the digital dust. In fact, that’s very unlikely because Fire TV devices are known to be remarkably robust and nearly error-free.

Did you notice that hedge-word nearly in that last sentence? Alas, yes, sometimes even Fire TV devices behave strangely. In this chapter, I fill you in on ten of the most common problems related to Fire TV software and hardware, and show you how to solve every one of them.

Troubleshooting General Problems

Before getting to the specific problems and their solutions, I want to take you through a few very basic troubleshooting steps. Many problems, particularly problems related to your Fire TV device, can be solved by doing the following three things (each of which I explain in more detail in the sections that follow):

• Restart your Fire TV device.
• Update your Fire TV device’s system software.
• Reset your Fire TV device to its factory default settings.

Try restarting your Fire TV device to see if it solves your problem. If not, move on to updating the software and see if that helps. If there’s still no joy, only then should you try resetting your Fire TV device to its factory default settings.

You Can’t Connect to Your Wi-Fi Network

Wireless networking adds a whole new set of potential snags to your troubleshooting chores because of problems such as interference and device ranges. Here’s a list of a few troubleshooting items that you should check to solve any wireless connectivity problems you’re having with your Fire TV device:

• Restart your devices. Reset your hardware by performing the following tasks, in order:
  1. Turn off your modem.
  2. Turn off your Wi-Fi router.
  3. After a few seconds, turn the modem back on and wait until the modem reconnects to the Internet, which may take a few minutes.

  4. Turn on your Wi-Fi router.

     Many Wi-Fi devices these days are all-in-one gadgets that combine both a Wi-Fi router and a modem for Internet access. If that’s what you have, instead of performing Steps 1 through 4, you can just turn off the Wi-Fi device, wait a bit, turn the device back on, and then wait for the device to connect to your Internet service provider (ISP).

  5. Restart Fire TV as I describe earlier in the “Restarting your Fire TV device” section.

• Look for interference. Devices such as baby monitors and cordless phones that use the 2.4 GHz radio frequency (RF) band can wreak havoc with wireless signals. Try either moving or turning off such devices if they’re near your Fire TV device or Wi-Fi device.

  Keep your Fire TV device and Wi-Fi router well away from microwave ovens, which can jam wireless signals.

  Many wireless routers enable you to set up a separate Wi-Fi network on the 5 GHz RF band, which isn’t used by most household gadgets, so it has less interference. Check your router manual to see if it supports 5 GHz networks.

• Check your password. Make sure you’re using the correct password to access your Wi-Fi network.
• Check your range. Your Fire TV device may be too far away from the Wi-Fi router. You usually can’t get much farther than about 230 feet away from most modern Wi-Fi devices before the signal begins to degrade (that range drops to about 115 feet for older Wi-Fi devices). Either move the Fire TV device closer to the Wi-Fi router or, if it has one, turn on the router’s range booster. You could also install a wireless range extender.
• Check your password. Make sure you’re using the correct password to access your Wi-Fi network.
• Update the wireless router firmware. The wireless router firmware is the internal program that the router uses to perform its various chores. Wireless router manufacturers frequently update their firmware to fix bugs, so you should see if an updated version of the firmware is available. See your device documentation to find out how this works.
• Update and optionally reset your Fire TV device. Make sure your Fire TV device is up to date (see “Checking your Fire TV for software updates,” earlier in this chapter) and, if you still can’t connect to Wi-Fi, reset your Fire TV device (see “Resetting your Fire TV device,” earlier).
• Reset the Wi-Fi device. As a last resort, reset the Wi-Fi router to its default factory settings (see the device documentation to find out how to do this). Note that if you do this, you need to set up your network again from scratch.

You’re Having Trouble Streaming Media

Streaming media on Fire TV works well most of the time, but problems can arise, particularly the following:

• The media never starts.
• The media takes a long time to start.
• The media plays intermittently.
• The media stops playing and never resumes.

It’s maddening, for sure, but most of the time you can fix the problem. I say “most of the time” because there are a couple of situations where media streaming just doesn’t work well:

• When you have a slow Internet connection speed: Media files are usually quite large, so for these files to play properly you need a reasonably fast Internet connection. Amazon recommends at least a half a megabit per second (0.5 Mbps), but realistically you should probably have a connection that offers at least 8 Mbps download speeds for HD content (see Chapter 10 for more detail on this).
• When you have an intermittent Internet connection: If you live in an area with spotty Internet service, that now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t Internet connection makes streaming media impossible.

What if you have a zippy Internet connection and strong service all the time? First, congratulations! Second, there are a few things you can try to get media streaming to work better (or at all). Try these troubleshooting ideas in the following order:

• Restart your Wi-Fi router and Fire TV device using the steps I outline in the preceding section.
• If you have other devices accessing your Wi-Fi network, shut down any devices you’re not using.
• Move your Fire TV device closer to your Wi-Fi router. Your Fire TV device must be within 230 feet of the router (115 feet for older routers), but the closer the two devices, the stronger the Wi-Fi signal.
• Make sure your Wi-Fi router isn’t situated near devices that can cause interference, such as microwave ovens and baby monitors.
• Make sure your Fire TV device isn’t close to a wall or a metal object.
• If your Fire TV device is sitting on a low shelf or even on the floor, move it to a higher location.
• If your Fire TV device is inside a cabinet or similar enclosure, take it out.
• If you’re having streaming problems with a particular app, run through the following steps to clear the app’s application data:

An app’s data includes your app account info and any settings you’ve configured for the app. If you clear the app’s data, it means you have to enter your login info all over again and reconfigure your settings, so be sure you want to perform this operation before proceeding.

1. On your Fire TV device, choose Settings ⇒   Applications ⇒   Manage Installed Applications.
2. Choose the app you’re having trouble with.
3. Shut down the app by choosing the Force Stop command, shown in Figure 11-3.
4. Clear the app’s data by choosing Clear Data ⇒   Clear Data command.

The Fire TV Mobile App Can’t Pair with Your Fire TV Device

After you have your Fire TV device set up, the Fire TV mobile app will automatically locate and pair with the device. This enables you to use the app as a remote control for the Fire TV device (and, if you have Fire TV Recast, it also enables you to use the app to watch and record over-the-air TV programs). It’s all very convenient, but that convenience goes out the window if the Fire TV mobile app can’t locate or pair with your Fire TV device. If that happens, optionally curse your rotten luck and the try these troubleshooting techniques:

• Make sure your Fire TV device and the device that’s running the Fire TV mobile app are connected to the same network.
• Check to see if another device on your network is currently mirroring the display of your Fire TV device (I show you how to mirror Fire TV to another device in Chapter 6). If your Fire TV device is currently being mirrored, the Fire TV mobile app won’t be able to pair with the Fire TV device, so you need to first stop the mirroring.
• Restart Fire TV as I describe earlier in the “Restarting your Fire TV device” section.
• Restart the device on which the Fire TV mobile app is installed.
• Disconnect a Bluetooth device or Fire TV remote (including any device running the Fire TV mobile app) from your Fire TV device. Fire TV supports up to seven connected devices, so if you’re already at that limit, your Fire TV mobile app won’t be able to pair with the Fire TV device.
• (Advanced) Log in to your wireless router and search the advanced settings for Multicast support. If you see an option for toggling Multicast, make sure that setting is On. (See your wireless router manual to learn how to log in and access the router’s settings.)
• (Advanced) Log in to your wireless router and check to see if a static IP address has been assigned to your Fire TV device. If so, configure the router to assign an address to the Fire TV device automatically. (Again, see your router manual to learn how to work with IP addresses.)

Your Fire TV Screen Is Blank

If your Fire TV Edition Smart TV or the TV to which you’ve connected your Fire TV device shows a blank screen, here are a few things to check out:

• Make sure the TV is plugged in and turned on.
• Make sure the TV is set to the correct input:
  • For a TV with a Fire TV device attached, switch to whatever input the Fire TV device is connected to.
  • For a Fire TV Edition Smart TV, make sure the TV is using the Fire TV input (press the Home button on the Fire TV remote to display the Fire TV Home screen).
• For a Fire TV device connected to the TV via HDMI, disconnect and then reconnect the device.
• If your Fire TV device is connected to your TV with an HDMI cable or HDMI hub, try replacing the cable and/or the hub.
• On the Fire TV remote, press and hold both the Up button on the navigation ring and the Rewind button for about ten seconds. Fire TV begins running through the available resolutions for the TV and displays each resolution for ten seconds. If you see the text for a particular resolution, as shown in Figure 11-4, choose Use Current Resolution.
• If you have a second-generation Fire TV Cube (which supports 4K), make sure you’re using a high-speed HDMI cable.

You Don’t Hear Audio During Playback

If the video portion of a stream appears just fine, but you don’t hear the audio portion, then some troubleshooting is in order. Here are a few techniques to run through:

1. Check that the TV audio isn’t either muted or set extremely low.
2. If your TV is connected to a receiver or similar audio output device, make sure the device is turned on and correctly connected to your TV.

3. If you’re playing sound through your TV’s speaker, make sure the speakers are turned on in the TV’s settings.

   For a Fire TV Edition Smart TV, choose Settings ⇒   Display & Sounds ⇒   Sound Settings, and then set the TV Speakers setting to On.

4. For a Fire TV device connected to the TV via HDMI, disconnect and then reconnect the device.
5. If your Fire TV device is connected to your TV with an HDMI cable or HDMI hub, try replacing the cable and/or the hub.
6. For a Fire TV Stick or Cube, try turning off Dolby Digital Plus Output. Choose Settings ⇒   Display & Sounds ⇒   Audio ⇒   Dolby Digital Output, and then choose Dolby Digital Plus Off.

You’re Having Trouble Connecting a Bluetooth Device

Fire TV devices support a wireless technology called Bluetooth, which enables you to make wireless connections to other Bluetooth-friendly devices, such as headsets, speakers, and smartphones. This section provides you with a few common Bluetooth troubleshooting techniques.

Your Fire TV Device Is Unresponsive

Perhaps the most teeth-gnashingly frustrating problem you can encounter in technology is when a device — particularly one you paid good money for — just stops working. The device appears to be on, but tapping it, shoving it, gesticulating at it, and yelling at it are all ineffective at making the device respond.

If that happens to your Fire TV device, try the following troubleshooting steps, in order:

1. Wait a few minutes.

   Sometimes devices just freeze up temporarily and then right themselves after a short break.

2. Check your Wi-Fi network to make sure it’s working properly and that your device is connected.

   See “You Can’t Connect to Your Wi-Fi Network,” earlier in this chapter.

3. Restart the device.

   See the “Restarting your Fire TV” section, earlier in this chapter.

4. Check to see if your device is using the most up-to-date system software.

   See “Checking your Fire TV device for software updates,” earlier in this chapter.

5. Reset your device.

   See the “Resetting your Fire TV” section, earlier in this chapter.

You Changed Your Wi-Fi Network Password

Your Fire TV device needs access to your Internet-connected Wi-Fi network to do its thing. When you first set up your Fire TV device, getting the device on your network by entering your network password is one of the first chores. That usually works flawlessly, but what happens if down the road you change your network password? In that case, you need to reconnect to your network by following these steps:

1. Choose Settings ⇒   Network.

   You see a list of available networks, with your network at the top of the list.

2. Highlight your network.

3. On the Fire TV remote, press Menu to run the Forget This Network command.

   Fire TV asks you to confirm that you want to forget the network.

4. Press the Select button on the remote.

   The Fire TV device disconnects from the network and returns you to the list of available networks.

5. Choose your network.

6. Enter your new network password and then choose Connect.

   Fire TV reconnects you to your network.

A Fire TV App Doesn’t Work Properly

If a Fire TV app won’t start, freezes, or runs erratically, here are some troubleshooting suggestions you can try to resolve the problem:

• Restart Fire TV (see the “Restarting your Fire TV device” section, earlier in this chapter).
• Force the app to quit by choosing Settings ⇒   Applications ⇒   Manage Installed Applications ⇒   Force Stop.
• Clear the app’s cache (an area of memory that the app uses to store oft-used data) by choosing Settings ⇒   Applications ⇒   Manage Installed Applications ⇒   Clear Cache.
• Clear the app’s data by choosing Settings ⇒   Applications ⇒   Manage Installed Applications ⇒   Clear Data.
• Uninstall the app by choosing Settings ⇒   Applications ⇒   Manage Installed Applications ⇒   Uninstall, and then reinstall the app.