Roku Tips, Tricks & Tweaks - #1 Adding A MicroSD Card

Hello again, everybody !!


I'd like to start by extending a warm welcome to recent visitors from both Malaysia and Austria who, according to my audience figures, have graced the pages of this blog during the past week. It's good to know that interest in the Roku streaming media player stretches far beyond the shores of this fair island and is not just limited to the USA, Canada & Ireland which, if you recall, are the main regions that the Roku player has been marketed thus far.


Anyway, one of the other bits of information you can glean from the stats on blogger are the most common search terms used by people who come to your blog and, this week, a new search appeared in my list for the first time. Now, if you read my last post...


It's Time To... Choose Your Roku !!


... and you read as far as MY TWO CENTS WORTH, towards the bottom of the post, then you will know that I championed the benefits of adding a MicroSD Card to the Roku XS player. Coincidentally the new search keywords, which I referred to above, were "How To Reformat Micro SD Card Roku" and so I decided to make that the subject for this post.


First and foremost, if you are about to add a MicroSD Card to your Roku player, I suggest you read this  very useful help article, entitled "How Do I Install A MicroSD Card For My Roku 2 Player?", taken from the support centre on the official Roku website.


If you follow those steps, as I did when installing my own MicroSD Card, then you should be able to complete the task without any problems. The one thing which I would emphasize when it comes to 'Step 3', where you insert the MicroSD Card into the slot on the back of your Roku 2, be sure to push the MicroSD Card firmly and push it all the way in (as far as you can) until it clicks into place. The first time I tried, I thought it was fully inserted but, having failed to see the dialog "MicroSD card detected" on my TV screen, I realised something was wrong. Closer examination revealed that the card was still protruding slightly too much so, after another firm push, it stayed securely in place within the card slot and the dialog then appeared on my TV screen as I had expected.


Another piece of advice which I would give to those of you who have yet to invest in a MicroSD Card for your Roku XS is to not go overboard with the size of the card (i.e. the available capacity) because it can be problematic if you opt for too big a memory. Roku, themselves, suggest a 2GB capacity and most people find that 4GB will suffice for their personal needs. I, myself, went for an 8GB MicroSD Card because I knew that, with the number of channels I'd be installing in relation to my posts on this blog, I wanted to have as much expanded memory as was reasonable yet still reliable.


I have read tales of woe from several people who have attempted to install 32GB, 64GB and higher MicroSD Cards which have then failed to format correctly, often stalling at 99% complete, simply because they were not fit for purpose. So, PLEASE HEED THIS ADVICE and choose a lower capacity MicroSD Card (e.g. 2GB, 4GB or 8GB) which have been widely proven to work.


As regards the specific 'Class' of MicroSD Card to go for, I would suggest either 'Class 4' or ''Class 6' for trouble-free operation. Roku, themselves, advocate a minimum of 'Class 2' or upwards. However, I have heard more tales of woe from users attempting to install 'Class 10' MicroSD Cards which, as with the larger capacity cards, proved to be problematic when it came to installing them into a Roku 2 streaming media player. Again, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED and would be strongly advised to stay within the realms of what is already known and proven to work well in these devices.


Now, when it comes to how you actually format the MicroSD Card, you should find that the Roku player takes care of all the necessary formatting for you as soon as the MicroSD Card has been correctly inserted into the MicroSD Card Slot, on the back of the Roku streaming media player. However, should you encounter any problems during the formatting stage, I would first double-check that you are using both a suitable 'Class' of MicroSD Card and 'Size' (i.e. capacity) of MicroSD Card - as outlined in the previous paragraphs of this post. Assuming that you are using a suitable product, then I would try repeating the procedure, as set down in the afore-mentioned Help Article on the official Roku website, entitled: "How Do I Install A MicroSD Card For My Roku 2 Player?" and see if that works. If not, then there may be a problem with the particular MicroSD Card you are using. In which case, I suggest trying another one. Failing that, I recommend checking the Roku Forums or the Roku (UK) Help & Support pages for further assistance.


Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the specific function & use of the MicroSD Card in relation to the operation of the Roku streaming media player. PLEASE REMEMBER:-


1. The MicroSD card slot IS NOT designed for the playback or recording of media (e.g. video, audio or photos) either to or from a MicroSD card that is inserted into it;

2. The expanded memory capacity afforded by the insertion of a MicroSD card into the MicroSD slot is for the storage of Channel Information and Game Data ONLY and, as such, merely serves to improve the speed and functionality of the User Interface (UI) on the Roku player, and;

3. The addition of a MicroSD card is best suited to those Roku owners who either have, or intend to have, installed a large number of channels and/or games onto their Roku player. Anyone who does not use their Roku player for gaming, or who has only a small number of channels actually installed from the large choice of channels available to watch WILL SEE LITTLE OR NO BENEFIT from having a Micro SD card installed.


So, there you have it... pretty much all the info you will need if you intend to install and format a MicroSD card using the corresponding slot on the back of your Roku XS. If anyone has any further questions, in relation to this matter, then please feel free to leave a comment and I will try my best to answer your question(s) or, failing that, to point you in the direction of a support centre or Roku forum where other users may have experienced similar situations as you.


If you happened to be one of the people who came to my blog via a search for "How To Reformat Micro SD Card Roku", then I hope that this post has answered some if not all of your questions on the subject.


Anyway, that's about all I have to say on the matter.


So, until next time...


That's all folks !!