Think of a situation in your leisure time: you are willing to have a nostalgic revisit to your photos and videos from your collection on the USB drive on the big screen, but the Hisense TV is not recognising the USB drive. What would you do in this situation? Here’s the answer to it.
Sometimes, the Hisense TV can’t automatically recognize the USB drive, unlike the usual. So, pick up the remote control and click on the INPUT button. Select the source of your Hisense TV as USB and try to access the USB drive. If it doesn’t work, you can restart the Hisense TV and power cycle it to eradicate the temporary bugs preventing the USB drive’s functioning on your Hisense TV.
If the essential efforts don’t work out, you should be involved in a serious troubleshooting process after analyzing the exact reason for the issue.
Hisense TV Not Recognising USB – Possible Reasons & Remedies
- Dust in Hisense TV USB Port
- Issues in USB Drive/USB Port
- Unformatted USB Drive
- USB Port Incompatible with USB Drive
- Cache Accumulated on Hisense TV
- Outdated Firmware
- Inefficient Power Distribution to USB Drive
- Absence of Media Player
Dust in Hisense TV USB Port
If it has been long since you cleaned your Hisense TV, unexpected problems, like USB unrecognition, will occur because the USB port should be stacked with dust particles. Even some tiny objects might be trapped within it. If you clear it up, you can make the Hisense TV recognize the USB drive and access it.
Solution: Clean the Hisense TV USB Port
First, ensure the perfect cleaning of your TV, and start by dusting the external unit and screen using a microfiber cloth. So, turn off the Hisense TV, get to its backside, and reach the USB port. Wipe the outer layer and inside till your finger’s reach. Then, take a torch light and light it up inside the USB port. Carefully notice whether a paper or any similar tiny object is obstructing it. Even there could be the presence of a spider web.
If you notice any of these, take a compressed electric air duster and blow it into the USB port. Get it from the Amazon website if you don’t have it. After ensuring the USB port is thoroughly clean, turn on the Hisense TV. Connect the USB drive or mouse/keyboard, and it will surely recognize it.
Issues in USB Drive/USB Port
If your Hisense TV can’t recognise the USB drive, even though its USB port is clean, then there should be impairments. It could be in the TV’s USB port or in the USB drive that you’re trying to use. So, check that at the start to save time spent on unnecessary troubleshooting and sort out the issue in a timely manner.
Solution: Repair the USB Port/USB Drive
Repair USB Drive:
If you suspect your USB drive to be problematic, connect it to a computer and see if it is working. Inspect it from top to bottom and look for a crack or breakage, especially in the pins. If you find anything, then it can’t be used with the Hisense TV. If only the pen drive has important data, take it to a nearby electronics/mobile repair center. Explain your issue and ask them to get the USB drive repaired for you. If the USB drive can’t be repaired, then get a new one from the Amazon website and copy your required data. If you connect this damage-free brand-new pen drive, your Hisense TV will be recognising it for sure.
Repair USB Port:
If at all you notice any bent pins, or debris in the exterior of the USB port, probably while cleaning it, you should immediately take the Hisense TV to a nearby authorized service station. Otherwise, contact the Hisense TV customer support and report your issue so that they’ll take your TV for repair themselves.
Hisense Customer Support Contact Details:
- Email address: [email protected]
- Contact number: +1 (888) 935-8880
- Contact form link: www.hisense-usa.com/contact
Follow up regularly and know what the compensation and time the repair work takes. If valid, claim a warranty for your Hisense TV and save on your expenditure. After repair, your Hisense TV USB port not working issue will be fixed, and the TV can recognize the USB drive.
Unformatted USB Drive
Most users are actually unaware of this factor. There are specific formats in USB drives, just like connection types, and you can’t connect and access any USB drive with your Hisense TV straightaway. The Hisense TV USB port supports only a selected format of USB drives. Thus, any USB drive that has to be used with a Hisense TV should be formatted in the required format. If you haven’t done that, you might tend to face such issues.
Solution: Format USB Drive
NTFS, FAT32, and FAT are the USB formats Hisense TV supports. So, connect the particular USB drive to a Windows, Mac, or Linux PC and format it to any of the mentioned formats. After formatting, connect to Hisense TV, and it will automatically recognize the USB drive. Click here to learn how to format a USB drive to Hisense TV-compatible format.
USB Port Incompatible with USB Drive
The USB drive also has some requirements for functioning with a Hisense TV. USB drives are available in different versions, namely, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1. Likewise, a USB port is provided on Hisense TV to accommodate the USB drives of selected versions. There is a chance that your USB drive is of a more advanced version than the USB port available on the TV, and that’s why the TV can’t recognize it.
Solution: Check USB Drive-Port Compatibility
First, find the version of your USB drive by looking at the printing/sticker in its body or referring to its user manual or package. Then, go near your Hisense TV USB port and check its maximum compatibility limit by observing the sticker/printing nearby or straight to its position. If the USB drive is beyond the TV’s hard drive compatibility, you cannot access an alternate USB drive. For example, if your USB drive is version 3.0 but the USB port’s capacity is 2.0, they are incompatible.
Cache Accumulated on Hisense TV
If the above scenarios don’t suit you, your Hisense TV should be overloaded with cache data. Though it is useful for access and not a serious factor, it can bring up issues, like making the Hisense TV get stuck in USB mode or become incompatible to a connected USB drive when it exceeds limit or gets corrupted.
Solution: Clear Hisense TV Cache
Clearing the cache on your Hisense TV can make the USB drive recognizable to the device. So, go to your Hisense TV Settings menu and access the Storage option. Then, click on the Clear Cache option.
Hisense Roku TV users can use the following remote shortcut to delete cache files: Click the Home button 5 times → Up button 1 time → Rewind button 2 times → Fast forward button 2 times. After you flush out the cache data, perform a restart and get relieved from the issue.
Outdated Firmware
If cache deletion also didn’t help you, something should be off in the software aspect of your Hisense TV. The firmware may be outdated because you failed to install the latest software file when it was available. Because of this, the old software has attracted problematic agents, corrupted its bugs, and caused you to end up with this issue.
Solution: Update Hisense TV
To get rid of Hisense TV not recognising USB issues by handling the old software, updating it is the only way. From the Settings menu, select System Update or Install Update. Now, the Hisense TV will upgrade its version if a new software file is available. Once you restart and make the USB connection once again, the TV will surely recognize it.
Inefficient Power Distribution to USB Drive
Sometimes, there might be some problems with the power supply between the USB port and the connected USB drive. Either it will be high or insufficient, but both occurrences can bring up issues. This is a rare scenario, yet a possible one.
Solution: Use a USB Hub
The best way to deal with power distribution on your Hisense TV’s USB port and drive is using a USB Hub. Get the best-performing one from the Amazon website and connect it to your Hisense TV USB port. Then, affix the USB drive to the respective port of the USB hub. At this point, the Hisense TV will recognize the USB connection.
Absence of Media Player
I’m sure almost every Hisense TV user is unaware of this factor. But this one also requires your attention. Some Hisense TVs that were launched quite a few years back won’t have a File Manager app or Media Player by default, unlike the latest models. The fact is that these TVs can only recognize USBs when you install such apps. Maybe you also do not have these mandatory apps by now.
Solution: Install Media Player
Access your Hisense TV app list and see if you have File Manager or any media player. If not, then enter the app store and download apps like VLC or Plex on Hisense TV. After this, connect your USB drive and watch the Hisense TV recognize it.
FAQ
If you can’t make the TV recognize the USB drive after troubleshooting practices and they both don’t have physical impairments, reset the Hisense TV as a try.
