If you use anything other than the original remote to control your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, you may have run into a new annoying message appearing since the most recent software update. The message, seen above, informs you that the Fire TV cannot detect your remote and provides suggestions on how to resolve the issue. The problem is that the message seems to now be appearing when Fire TV owners are controlling their device through HDMI-CEC, an Echo, or a universal remote and have no intention of using the original remote that isn’t being detected.
This message first began appearing on Fire TV Edition televisions last year to help owners pair their remotes properly. Unlike the remotes of Fire TVs, Fire TV Sticks, and Fire TV Cubes, the remotes of Fire TV Edition televisions can actually control many aspects of the TV through IR only, without actually pairing to the TV via Bluetooth. This is so the remote can turn the TV on from a fully off state, since the remote isn’t connected via Bluetooth in that state. The issue is that not all functions of the remote work when unpaired, like voice searches, so this detection message makes sense to ensure users know that their remote isn’t actually paired to the Fire TV Edition television.
Ever since a recent software update, this message has now started appearing on stand-alone Fire TV models as well. It’s unknown if this was intentional or a mistake on Amazon’s part, but Amazon has told me that they “are aware of the reports about this issue and are actively investigating.” If this message was never supposed to be activated on stand-alone Fire TVs, I expect it’ll be fixed pretty quickly.
In the meantime, the only real way to get around this message is to use the original Fire TV remote. There is no setting or option to disable this message if you plan to use some other means of controlling your Fire TV. When the original Fire TV remote sits idle for a long period, it disconnects from the Fire TV to conserve battery. Pushing any button on the remote should be enough to wake it up and dismiss this message.
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I had an issue the other day where my third party BT remote stopped working. Thought the batteries were low, but finally realized it was no longer paired with my FTV for some reason.
Interesting. I actually had the original remote randomly get unpaired on a device yesterday. Maybe there’s a bug regarding that too.
The remote I am using is one of those on ebay, that look and mostly function exactly like the original FTV remotes work. I found recently on a few of my FTVs they have been getting flaky, and then I also had the issue I mentioned above.
We have had 2 original remotes come up with this message last week . But this week it has not appeared.
My remote on my 4k Firestick is 100% original, and it’s come up with this message also.
Me too
I’ve been receiving this error message even with the FireTV remote on my 2nd gen Cube. This seems to occur if I turn on the TV without using the Fire remote itself, but through the power buttons of the receiver and television. Tapping any button on the FireTV remote will dismiss the message.
Same behavior on my four (4) FTV4K Sticks that all use the original Fire TV remotes. I have an Alexa routine that starts up a soundbar, projector and calls the Home Page of the connected Fire TV device. Occasionally, it does not like this and throws up the ‘no remote’ message. One tap of the HOME button and it goes away. But, other devices have the same issue, even when using the Fire TV remote to run them. They all are connected/linked to an Echo speaker for hands-free control and that may be the issue as noted in the article. Hope an ‘update’ in the near future resolves it.
Yeah this is getting REALLY annoying now,
I thought I was the only one getting this
Amazon is getting to almost as big of F up’s as Google now
1st generation Cube. Original remote and a Sideclick. The message seemed to coincide with the update that introduced the new interface. There have been at least 4 minor updates since, but the message persists. Everything continues to function as it should, it’s just a minor irritant.
There’s also a bug where the Fire TV will go to sleep while watching the Twitch app. You have to hit a button on the remote to get the video back. Very annoying
My remote worked although I received the message. The moment you press a button it then says it is connected.
Since the last FireTV 4K update, I have seen this message on 2 of my 4 FireTV 4K devices. I only use the original remote that came with them, so I think this is a new bug in the recent firmware update. I have NO other Amazon Devices, only 4 FireTV 4K sticks running. So this doesn’t appear to be an Amazon Cube or Echo specific problem as I own neither of these. I also own a TCL 8+ FireTV 4K Soundbar, but that has not yet gotten the recent update, so it continues to work just fine with the exception of a functional Soft Mouse software. For some reason, none of the versions of the Mouse APK’s seem to work with this device, but work fine with the real genuine Amazon FireTV 4K and Gen2 devices.
I do not use any aftermarket remotes. I have been getting the message on my multiple Fire TV Stick 4K with original remote devices.
It does it with the FTV remote as well, not just 3rd party.
Ya, can’t wait till they fix this! Happens when I use a Flex to fire up something on 4K firetv using voice control, never handling the remote. I assume the remote is asleep and the code expects it to be there when youtube tv is running. PITA I shocked they haven’t fixed this by now. I think we are in trouble if they can break something so simple in the code, and of course they didn’t have a test case for this or it would not of happened in the first place.
Same issue here with my Fire TV Stick 4K and the original remote that came with it. It all started with the Interface Redesign update a couple of weeks ago (v 6.2.8.0 if I remember correctly). And while the message is annoying, it luckily doesn’t come up while watching something. It only happens when leaving the Fire TV homescreen idle for a couple of minutes (between 5 to 10) and without moving the remote.
Not for me, it pops up when I am watching CNBC via youtube tv on my 4k stick. I think the message fires up after a certain time period of turning the fire tv on and no remote control communication. The remote is sleeping and the code expected it to not be in a sleep state, it expects a connection.
Apparently, the remote-disconnect symptom is but one part of a much larger problem with the latest firmware update. The Amazon support forum is replete with reports (including my own) of spontaneous shutdowns, freezing, blank screens, and failures to wake up. Obviously, Amazon needed to vet this one a bit more before releasing it in the wild.
You know, I’ve been getting spontaneous shutdowns of the youtube app, is that what you/others are seeing? I figured it was just youtube video server problmes.
Yes, that’s part of the issue. In fact, when I opened YouTube today, everything just froze up, requiring yet another power-off restart of my Cube.
This recent firmware is a real mess.
So if Amazon corrects the issue will our tv automatically be corrected??
I’m not sure where the programmers are and where the test team/s are but they really need to get their act together. Is it just me or is software getting more buggy than in the past?
Russ, yes I agree. And so many of the apps just plain suck too. So buggy. We have been trying to use the Bravo app the past 3 months. I just gave up on it. It is just too buggy. Even the CBS, or now new Paramount app is buggy. It doesn’t remember which episode you were watching or where in time line of that episode. Just garbage.
I am constantly getting this on my Cubes running original fireTV remotes. I’ve pulled the plug on my Cubes until this is fixed. That Amazon hasn’t fixed this is absurd.
I don’t have this problem on any of my firestick 4k’s running the old interface. Yet the second I factory reset and got forced to update to the new interface this started showing with both the factory remote and a 3rd party bluetooth remote. This is a big problem and I hope it’s fixed soon because it’s by far making me angry. This is a new firestick.
I think it’s time for me to get a mecool km2 and forget amazon’s junk
My home button and Alexa buttons have stopped working on my fire stick remote. Changed batteries, paired a second remote, unpaired the original remote, no fixes. This is so damn annoying!
I use alexa to chat in twitch channels, and I also like the speed of zipping from one app to the next. Now I’m stuck watching one channel. This just happened today, please tell me there is a fix?
Same here. I’m so pissed off I cant stand it. Is there a way we can get rid of the last update?
Just bought and set up a new Fire TV. Interface and remote are so unstable, my WIFE is telling me to return it.
Trust me, that means Amazon has a BIG issue (when even SHE notices, and isn’t willing to suffer through it.)
I am so glad to find this discussion. We are having this issue constantly on our 3 Toshiba Fire TVs. Has it resolved for y’all? Did you find a fix? Thanks
Nope, not resolved yet. I have it occur on AFTV 4K Sticks
Still on mine for months. I was going to buy one of these tvs for someone and I won’t now die to this problem. I have cable and have no need for the remote but now I have to have right beside me to click this stupid message off. So frustrating! Fix this Amazon!
Same issue on my insignia fire tv. Reset remote, nope. Did the Factory reset annoyingly removed all my apps and that didn’t help. Still no fix
Yes. It started right after the update to the interface. I reported it to Amazon and was told engineers were aware. That was right at the start of the problem. Yet, here we are 9/11/21 and it’s still occurring. Have dealt with it several times today/tonight.
Here we are NOVEMBER and it’s still happening. Where did you go report it? I’d like to give them one more report to hopefully further encourage them to deal with it.
I get this message while using the original Toshiba remote on my Fire TV. I recently suffered an update to the TV that completely changed the user interface so it is more difficult to operate. The TV is disconnected from the WiFi to prevent further damage. I am done with smart TVs. I will use a dumb TV and a Roku.
Found this post while trying to find a solution. It’s now November 2021 and I’m STILL having this happen now and have been since around the time this post was published back in April. They still have not fixed the problem. I’ve had the TV for several years and until this year this wasn’t a problem. I do use a different multi-device remote so that I can control other devices and don’t need to use the Fire TV remote, so lately this happens almost every time I turn on the TV, usually after 2 or 3 minutes, and I have to go press a button to get the message to go away. Very annoying, and I wish they would fix it because it’s not so much a matter of using the Fire TV remote “instead” of this other remote, it would be using it IN ADDITION TO the other one so currently I have no choice but to keep 2 remotes right there all the time.
I’ve gotten my new Fire TV Stick 4K Max last Friday and much to my surprise, this bug is still present. It got never fixed on my Fire TV Stick 4K, so I was really hoping that it would no longer be present on my new 4K Max. Well, it’s still there, but pressing OK on the Remote makes the message disappear immediately. Repairing my remote didn’t help. I’m using hte official Amazon remote that came with the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Same goes for my old Fire TV Stick 4K, which is now retired.
My original remote does this all the time on both my firesticks. I filled the microphone on both with hot glue. I have a suspicion Amazon randomly listens and if it hears nothing throws the remote error message that is essentially bypassed for a time by then hitting any button on the remote
Quick tip- turning tv on/off a few times with no fire remotes will release it- but, Yes, very annoying, and also far from new, my insigna fire tv has been doing this for yrs. Friggin stupid and annoying. I get the message, but it could easily be a small, 30 second, corner pop up instead of a total TV black out.
Horrible bug. Renders the “start last input used” function useless. I was so hoping to swap out the horribly slow insignia fire TV 2020 interface for the Firestick Max. Is there any insignia or Amazon tech-support to talk to you about this?
I think I found a solution that works for me. I reset my insignia TV to factory defaults and did not set up Wi-Fi or set up an Amazon account. I went into settings and changed to “power on last input.” After a reboot, it works perfectly, going straight to HDMI one and not pinging the remote. I am using it as a mule to run my much faster fire stick max.
After MONTHS of searching for a solution with zero luck, I believe this solved my issue! Thank you! I don’t use any of the Amazon features so I don’t need the tv itself connected to wifi or Amazon account because all that is through my Chromecast with Google TV and Xbox. So far no annoying popup after trying it a couple times today. Thank you again!
My 2 months old 4K Max stick has done this twice with it’s remote. And it’s also lost it’s ability to adjust the volume for my tv.
My stick also keeps runnnig out of the local storage. I have less than 10 streaming apps installed. All set to DENY local storage. I don’t know what to do about this. Happens about once very 2 weeks.
Yep..this is a most annoying issue – a very amateurish mistake on the programmers.. I use my PS on this TV and never need the remote..Plus it is not dismissible with the controller only the remote….
Programming grade: F
June 2022 I’m using the original remote on my FS and it still pops up, even though I just used the remote to turn on the the tele and choose Amazon prime. If it’s an old bug it’s still not been fixed and there was an update not long back.
This “helpful” message comes up *while”* I am USING the remote! I have to press a button for the message to leave, so If I could not find the remote the message would stay forever. WTF?
Short answer, try a PE59CV remote instead?
I recently bought a 4k Firestick (E9L29Y) that came with a P4C6EN remote. I was testing a solution to set this up as digital signage (XOGO.io), and when I gave it the power-loss test, to see how it would come back up on its own, I too got the dreaded “can’t find your remote” screen and it wouldn’t go away until I hit a button on the remote. Not cool for digital signage setups of course. But, my home one didn’t do it, so I swapped the unit with my home one. It too was a E9L29Y unit but I had it paired with a PE59CV remote instead. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the original that came with it. I might try to buy the PE59CV separate for future installs if all goes well.