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When you click 📺 TV App in PC Caster, the app zips up the roku_receiver/ folder (the BrightScript/SceneGraph source of the PC Caster channel) and uploads it to your Roku’s built-in developer web server over your local network. Once installed, the PC Caster channel appears on your Roku Home screen and the app can launch and control it directly via the Roku ECP API — no Roku account, no phone, and no Channel Store involved.
Developer Mode must be enabled on your Roku before you can install the channel. If you haven’t done that yet, see Enable Roku Developer Mode first.

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Install the channel

1

Open the TV App dialog

In PC Caster, click the 📺 TV App button in the toolbar at the top of the device list. The Set up your TV App dialog opens.
2

Enter the Roku IP address

Type your Roku’s local IP address into the Roku IP field.To find it on the TV: go to Settings → Network → About — the IP address is listed there. It will look like 192.168.x.x.If you already selected your Roku in the device list, PC Caster will pre-fill the IP for you.
3

Enter the developer password

Type the developer password you created when enabling Developer Mode into the Dev password field. This is the password that protects the Roku dev web server — it is not your Roku account password.
4

Click Install / Update channel

Click Install / Update channel. PC Caster will:
  1. Build a .zip of the roku_receiver/ channel source.
  2. POST the zip to http://<Roku-IP>/plugin_install using HTTP Digest authentication.
  3. Display a status message in the dialog.
The upload typically completes in a few seconds on a local network.
5

Wait for the confirmation message

When the install succeeds the dialog shows:✓ Channel installed on the Roku.The PC Caster channel now appears on your Roku Home screen. If it doesn’t appear immediately, press Home on your remote to refresh the screen.
6

Set the receiver mode to My TV App (recommended)

In the same dialog, find the When casting to Roku, use: section and make sure My TV App (recommended) is selected. Click Save choice (or it is saved automatically when you install).This tells PC Caster to drive your custom channel rather than the built-in Roku Media Player or a third-party channel.

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Receiver mode options

The TV App dialog lets you choose which receiver PC Caster uses when you click ▶ Cast to TV:
ModeDescription
My TV App (recommended)The custom PC Caster channel you just installed. It receives the proxied .m3u8 URL directly from the app and plays it reliably, including header-locked streams routed through the local proxy.
Roku Media PlayerThe built-in Roku channel (ID 2285/2213). It cannot send custom HTTP headers, so it will fail with a 403 on any stream that requires a Referer. Use only for plain, unprotected URLs.
Castify channelDrives the stock Castify channel (ID 651775) via ECP /input. This is experimental and may not play — keep it as a last resort.

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Under the hood: what sideload() does

PC Caster calls roku_deploy.sideload() to perform the upload. Here is the full function:
roku_deploy.py
def sideload(ip: str, password: str, zip_bytes: bytes | None = None) -> tuple[bool, str]:
    """
    Upload + install the channel to a Developer-Mode Roku.
    Returns (ok, message). 'user' is always 'rokudev'.
    """
    if zip_bytes is None:
        zip_bytes = build_zip()

    url = f"http://{ip}/plugin_install"
    auth = HTTPDigestAuth("rokudev", password)
    files = {"archive": ("channel.zip", zip_bytes, "application/zip")}
    data = {"mysubmit": "Install"}

    try:
        r = requests.post(url, auth=auth, files=files, data=data, timeout=30)
    except Exception as e:
        return False, f"Could not reach the Roku dev server at http://{ip} ({e}). " \
                      "Is Developer Mode enabled and the IP correct?"

    if r.status_code == 401:
        return False, "Dev password rejected (HTTP 401). Check the password you " \
                      "set when enabling Developer Mode."
    if r.status_code != 200:
        return False, f"Sideload failed (HTTP {r.status_code})."
    ...
Key points: the HTTP username is always rokudev (hard-coded by Roku’s developer server spec); the password is what you set during Developer Mode setup; and the endpoint is always http://<ip>/plugin_install — port 80, plain HTTP.
You can click Install / Update channel at any time to push an updated version of the channel to the Roku. The existing channel is replaced in place — no need to uninstall it first.

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Troubleshooting

HTTP 401 — dev password rejected. The password you entered does not match the one you set on the Roku. Re-open the Developer Settings screen on the TV (Home ×3 → Up ×2 → Right → Left → Right → Left → Right) to reset or confirm the password. “Could not reach the Roku dev server” / can’t connect. Either Developer Mode is not fully enabled, the Roku IP is wrong, or the PC and Roku are on different networks. Verify the IP at Settings → Network → About on the TV and confirm both devices are on the same Wi-Fi. “Roku reported an install error.” The SDK license agreement was not accepted during Developer Mode setup. Re-run the Developer Mode key sequence, re-enable Developer Mode, and make sure you accept the agreement before proceeding.

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