While we love the NVIDIA SHIELD TV, the device has suffered multiple issues with recent software updates. Fortunately, we’ve figured out how to fix Netflix on NVIDIA SHIELD with the latest issue.
The NVIDIA SHIELD TV has been one of our favorite streaming devices since it was first released in 2015. It is one of the most potent streaming players and is packed with features. We still use it as a Plex DVR server. However, the device has had a rough year. In February, we reported about the update they released to fix numerous issues after the Shield Experience 9.0 update. That update fixed, among other things, issues with hard drives being connected to the NVIDIA SHIELD.
So when the 9.1 Experience update was released we recommended that people wait a little while to see if any major bugs are discovered. After a couple of weeks, we updated our NVIDIA SHIELD TV and at first, we didn’t notice any issues. Unfortunately, we later discovered that the 9.1 experience broke Netflix, Disney+, and other streaming services.
Obviously, having Netflix broken on NVIDIA SHIELD was an absolute deal-breaker. We tried a few common fixes but none of them worked. Fortunately, we discovered how to fix Netflix on NVIDIA SHIELD.
It seems the folks at NVIDIA need to spend a little more time testing their software updates on devices that have hard drives attached because once again, that was the problem. Restarting the SHIELD, reinstalling apps, and toggling the network connection didn’t fix it. Instead, the fix was to remove the attached USB hard drive.
To safely fix Netflix on NVIDIA SHIELD TV, follow these steps:
- From the home screen of the NVIDIA SHIELD, go to the Settings section by selecting the gear at the top right of the screen.
- Then select Device Preferences.
- Then select Storage.
- Next, select your USB drive under Removable storage. If you also have a micro-SD card installed you can leave that alone.
- Select Eject. This is important as you can damage a hard drive if you disconnect it without first ejecting it.
- Unplug the drive from the USB port on the back of the NVIDIA SHIELD
That’s it! Open Netflix, Disney+, or any other streaming service that was previously broken.
But what if you needed that hard drive? Maybe you are running a Plex server on your NVIDIA SHIELD. Well, we’ve got good news for you! After testing out Netflix and Disney+ we reconnected the hard drive and the streaming services still worked! We also verified that our Plex server was still able to serve content, and that worked fine also.
Hopefully, NVIDIA will release a patch for this issue soon. We’ll keep an eye on their official support forums and let you know when they do.
Let us know if this worked for you or if you needed to take other steps to fix Netflix on your NVIDIA SHIELD TV.
