When something does not work, Lumen·TV usually says what in one sentence. This page lists those sentences, exactly as the app writes them, each as a heading: search the page for the words on your screen. If there is no message, start at step 1.
Messages about a playlist that will not load are on their own page, and messages about the TV guide on the guide’s.
Step 1 — Close the app properly
Android keeps an app in memory after you press Home, so a bad state can survive leaving it.
- In Lumen·TV: Settings → Quit Lumen·TV, then open it again.
- If that does not help, stop it from the system settings. The names vary a little from one maker to another:
- Android TV: Settings → Apps → Lumen·TV → Force stop.
- Google TV: Settings → Apps → See all apps → Lumen·TV → Force stop.
- Fire TV: Settings → Applications → Manage Installed Applications → Lumen·TV → Force stop.
Open it again. If the problem is gone, it was a passing state. If not, continue.
Step 2 — Check the network
Open the TV’s network settings and check that it is connected. Then, on a phone on the same network, open
https://api.lumentv.app/health — it should answer {"ok":true,…}. That is our licence server.
If the phone gets through and the television cannot reach anything, restart the router, then the television. If it is on Wi-Fi far from the router, see Your network.
When it will not start
Lumen·TV could not start
The screen at launch with Try again and Close, one sentence saying why, and a reference after If it keeps happening, email support@lumentv.app and quote:. The sentence is one of these:
It could not reach its licence server.
It could not reach its licence server. Check the television’s network connection, then try again. The television
could not reach api.lumentv.app at all. Do step 2, then press Try again. A VPN that
blocks it is covered in Your network.
The licence server refused this television’s request.
The licence server refused this television’s request. If the television’s clock is wrong, correcting it usually fixes this. Every request the app sends is stamped with the time and refused when the stamp is minutes off. In the TV’s own settings, under Date & time, turn on the automatic (network) time, then Try again.
The licence server answered with an error.
The licence server answered with an error. Nothing is wrong with this television or its network — try again in a moment. Our server is having a moment. Try again in a few minutes; if it lasts, write to us.
It could not finish starting.
It could not finish starting. Try again, and quote the reference below if it keeps happening. A failure with no more precise sentence. Try again; if it comes back, e-mail us the reference on the screen.
Something stopped it before it finished starting. Try again.
The start was interrupted with nothing to say why — usually the app being left while it started. Try again.
It closes by itself
| Sub-symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Within seconds of opening | Not known in general. | Check the device has free storage (its own settings, under Storage), then reinstall from the download page over the old copy: your playlists and settings stay. Tell us the model. |
| After a long time playing | Not known yet: long sessions have not been measured across many devices. | Open it again as a workaround, and tell us the model and roughly how long it ran — that report is what finds the cause. |
When the TV is locked
A licence belongs to your account, not to a device: each device takes one of its seats. Reinstalling Lumen·TV, or clearing its data, does not make it a new device — it comes back with the same identity and the same seat. A factory reset does make it a new one. The prices and what each licence covers are on the main site.
Your trial has ended
The paywall after the free trial. Pick a licence and keep watching. Scan the code with your phone: you pay there, and the television unlocks by itself within seconds. Already own a licence? Scan the same code and sign in with the account you paid from.
“Already paid? Refresh license”
The button on the paywall that asks our server again. What it can answer:
- Licence found. Close and reopen Lumen·TV to clear the trial notice. It worked; close the app and open it again.
- Still on the trial: no licence covers this TV. Paid? Add it with the button above. The payment went through, but this device is not on the licence yet — scan the code and sign in with the account you paid from, and it takes a seat.
- The server answered: … An unexpected answer. Wait half a minute and press it again; if it stays, write to us with what it says.
- Lumen·TV could not reach its licence server. Check the television’s network connection, then try again. The question did not get through — see step 2.
If it is still locked half a minute after paying, write to us with the e-mail address you paid from.
This television is not on your licence
Shown in Settings → License. The account has a licence and this device does not hold a seat on it — a device bought or reset since, for example.
- There is a free seat. Scan the code to put this set on it. Scan, sign in, and it takes the free seat.
- Every seat is in use. Scan the code to move one over. The same page lets you give up another device’s seat. Moving a seat is free, needs no e-mail to us, and has no limit on how often. Old devices can also be taken off from your account page.
This television was taken off its licence
The account holder took it off their licence. They can put it back from their account page, or scan the code to use a licence of your own.
Your license is no longer active
Contact support if this is unexpected — otherwise, re-activate below. The licence this device used is no longer valid. If you did not cancel or ask for a refund, write to us.
This subscription has lapsed
Renew it on your phone and this television comes straight back. A monthly licence that has not been renewed — often a card that expired. Renew it from your account page.
This licence has been withdrawn
Nothing you did — get in touch and we will sort it out. Write to us with the e-mail address on the account.
“Running on the cached entitlement”
Shown under Current status in Settings → License when the app has no fresh answer from our server about this device and is going by what it last stored. A licence it has already checked keeps working for up to 48 hours without the server, so a short outage does not stop the picture. Press Check now — Renewed or moved a seat? This asks the server again. — once the network is back.
When a channel stops
The player says whose fault it is when a stream stops for good, and offers what can help: Try again, Next channel on a live channel or Next episode in a series, and Back.
The stream stopped
With The provider is not answering for this one. and Nothing is wrong with your connection or this television.: the provider’s server refused or did not answer for this stream. Most often the channel is down at the provider, or your subscription’s connections are all in use (below). Try the channel later, or Next channel. If every channel does this, check the subscription with your provider.
With The player could not say why.: the stream stopped with no reason the app could read. Try again; if one channel does it repeatedly, try it on another device to see whether the stream itself is at fault.
This television is offline
It cannot reach anything until the connection is back. The device lost its network. Do step 2; Try again once it is back. There is no help code on this screen: a device with no network could not open it.
This one will not play here
The stream is in a form this television cannot decode. — Trying again would reach this screen again. The device’s decoder refused the stream. When a stream will not play explains what can and cannot change that.
There is no stream here
Nothing playable could be found at this address. The playlist entry is not a stream — what that means and what to do.
Reconnecting 1 of 3
Not an error yet: the app is reopening a stream that dropped, three times at most. See what the player does by itself.
This channel could not be opened.
The line in the live preview when a channel would not start there. Open it full screen: the player then says which of the cases above it is.
Your subscription’s connections
Most subscriptions allow a number of streams at the same time — usually one, two or five — and refuse the next one. Another television, a phone, each tile of multi-view and each recording on another channel all use one. When a channel stops as soon as something else starts, stop the other one, or ask your provider about a plan with more connections.
Some channels fail, others play
| Sub-symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Specific channels, others fine | That channel’s address is dead or moved. | Your provider has to fix it. Refresh in Settings → Playlists reads the list again in case they already have. |
| Every channel from one provider | The provider, the subscription, or its connection limit. | Check the subscription has not run out and that nothing else is using its connections. |
| Every channel, every provider | The network. | Try another app on the same device. If it works, check the provider’s status. |
For a picture that stutters rather than stops, see Buffering and the buffering checklist.
When a recording fails
Recordings are scheduled from the guide (hold OK on a programme) on Android TV and Google TV, and listed in Settings → Recordings with what became of each.
| What the recording says | What it means |
|---|---|
| Your playlist had no free connection at the time. | Something else was using the subscription’s connections when it was due. |
| The provider refused the stream. | The provider would not send that channel at that time. |
| Lumen·TV was not open when it was due. | The app could not start in time — see allow alarms, below. |
| That channel is no longer in your playlist. | The provider removed or renamed it since you scheduled it. |
| No drive was attached when it started. · The drive was removed while it was recording. | The storage it was to be written to was not there. |
| The drive ran out of space. · The recording could not be written. | The storage filled up or refused the file. |
To start recordings on time, allow Lumen·TV to set alarms.
Shown in Settings → Recordings when Android has not given the app permission to wake on time. Press Allow alarms and allow it in the screen that opens; without it, a recording can start late or be missed.
“That would need N connections at once and your playlist allows …”
When scheduling: the new recording overlaps another one, and together they would use more connections than your playlist allows. Cancel one, or record the other programme instead. The schedule is full. Cancel one first. means the schedule already holds the most it can; That programme has no usable times. means the guide gives that programme no start or end the app can use.
When an update will not install
Updates are offered in Settings → About for a copy installed from lumentv.app: Install the update downloads it, checks it, and asks before installing.
- To install it, allow Lumen·TV to install apps in the system settings, then come back here. Press Allow installs, allow Lumen·TV in the screen that opens, come back and press the button again.
- The download did not finish. Nothing was installed. The connection dropped. Try again.
- The file did not match the published update and was deleted. Nothing was installed. The file that arrived was not the one we published, so it was thrown away. Try again; if it happens twice, install over the old copy from the download page, which prints the file’s SHA-256.
- The installation was cancelled or refused. Nothing has changed. Android’s own install screen was closed or said no. Press the button again and confirm.
When the PIN is refused
Wrong PIN is a PIN that does not match. Too many wrong PINs. Try again in N s. — from the fifth wrong PIN in a row the pad waits before the next try, and the wait doubles each time a wrong one follows. Typing during the wait is not counted against you; the right PIN clears it.
The remote does not do what I expect
| Sub-symptom | What to do |
|---|---|
| The remote has no channel up and down keys (many Fire TV and Google TV remotes) | On a live channel with nothing open over it, ↑ and ↓ change channel. ← opens the channel list over the picture, → quick settings. |
| OK does not pause a live channel | On a live channel, OK opens the controls; pause is their first button. A film or an episode pauses on OK. |
| The remote has no colour keys | Quick settings (→ on a live channel) hold most of what they do, each where it applies: Audio, Subtitles, Picture, Multi-view, Guide and Previous channel. |
| Number keys do nothing in a menu | Numbers change channel while one is playing full screen, not in the browse screens. |
| Sound out of step with the picture after a pause | Change channel and come back. Some MPEG-TS streams carry broken timestamps. |
Before you write to us
If nothing above worked, we need:
- What Lumen·TV says about itself: Settings → About shows the version, the support code, the model and the Android version. A photo of that screen is enough.
- What you did — the exact sequence of steps.
- What happened — the message on screen, word for word, or a photo of it, with the reference if it shows one.
E-mail it to support@lumentv.app. A person answers, in English or in French, as fast as we can.
What we cannot help with
- Where to get a playlist. Lumen·TV includes no channels and sells, recommends or ranks no provider. Use a provider that holds the rights to what it sends; we do not help set up one that does not.
- Modified or rooted devices, and builds of Lumen·TV that did not come from lumentv.app.
- “Why does a channel play at a friend’s house and not at mine?” — different streams, different devices, different subscriptions. Steps 1 and 2 are still the place to start.