Smartcast not working on my Vizio TV

If your Vizio TV says “Smartcast is starting, please wait” or “Smartcast TV is not available”, then this problem is not so rare. This functionality fails all the time. But it’s good that there is a simple method for troubleshooting such problems. Many people have tried it and were satisfied.

Failure of Vizio Smartcast

If the soundbar does not start, you need to turn the receiving unit on and off. To do this, you need to perform a series of actions:

find “Menu” on the remote control;
scroll down to “System”;
select “Reset and Administration”;
stop at the “Soft food cycle”;
click “Yes” in the pop-up window.

The home appliance will turn off and reboot, after which the Smartcast will work normally.

This soundbar is a built-in Vizio app platform that runs on all of their TV devices. Amazon Firestick, Chromecast or SmartCast are very similar. It provides the ability to access a wide variety of streaming applications, which include Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, etc. The user installs them directly on the Vizio equipment through this system.

If he has a smart speaker, then with Amazon Alexa or Google Home, a person is able to control the TV receiver with his voice.

Turn Vizio off and on

If Smartcast does not start, then you should first try turning the TV on and off. It is worth suggesting a couple of excellent ways. The simplest of them is the reception with “Soft Power Cycle”:

On the remote control of the receiving device, press the “Menu” button.
Select “System”.
Stop at “Reset and Administration”.
Set “Soft power cycle”.

Sometimes these steps lead nowhere. Then you need to apply another, more stringent option. Turn off the household appliance using the power button on the side or rear wall, and then unplug it from the socket.

Then you need to hold the button for half a minute, after which you need to reconnect the device to electricity. It is necessary to use the button again for the specified period and wait for the “Smartcast” symbol to appear. You need to make sure everything is working properly.

When the equipment is disconnected from the network while holding down the power button, this method allows you to eliminate the residual power accumulated by the TV receiver.

Reset Vizio to factory settings

Sometimes you have to start all over again, returning the TV settings to the original ones, corresponding to the day it was purchased.

Please note that these steps will erase all device settings and return it to factory settings. If the user is not afraid of such changes, then he needs to take a number of steps to restore the settings of the Vizio home appliance:

on the remote control you need to select the item “Menu”;
find “System”.
open “Reset and Administration”.
stop at “Reset TV to factory settings”.

The device will automatically carry out the entire process. After about two minutes, it will restart.

Turning off and on the router or modem

If a factory reset was performed and the Vizio Smartcast still did not start, then you should try to contact the router and modem. More often than not, these steps become the easiest method to troubleshoot your soundbar.

On the router, you need to hold down the power button until it flashes. Then the device will turn off. Now it’s time to run it again. It is also necessary to disconnect the equipment from the network for one minute. After that, you will have to wait a while until the connection with the router is restored. When its indicators turn green, you need to put the Smartcast back into action.

Firmware update

From time to time, Vizio releases new versions of TV software. Most often they are installed automatically, but in some cases this does not happen for some reason. Therefore, it is completely possible that Smartcast uses old data and should be updated.

To search for them, you need to turn on the TV and press “Menu” on the remote control. Then you need to scroll down and select “System”, and in it – “Check for updates”.

The device will search for the latest updates. If they are, then he will install them himself. At the end, you need to turn it off, and then turn it on again.

Vizio technical support

If all of the troubleshooting steps for the Vizio Smartcast have already been completed and nothing has changed, you should contact your TV service provider. There are specialists who know the company’s products well, so they are able to solve a lot of issues.

Warranty period

The search for a warranty contract is the last attempt to deal with a difficult problem. If the Vizio Smartcast still does not start, then you need to make sure that the hardware warranty is still valid.

It is worth describing your difficulties to an employee of the company and he will determine whether contractual obligations apply to them. If so, they will repair the appliance or provide a new one.