How To Unbrick Your Google Chromecast Dongle After A Factory Reset
It took several days, but it looks like Google has figured out how to resolve a recent issue that borked older Chromecast (version 2) and Chromecast Audio streaming dongles, which was preventing them from functioning. An initial fix actually arrived late last week, save for users who had performed a factory reset. Now, however, even those dongles can be restored to their previous glory.
First, a quick recap.
Chromecast Issue Explained
At the beginning of last week, complaints by owners of Google's second generation Chromecast streaming dongle as well as owners of the Chromecast Audio began to pile up. At issue was a bug that had users wondering if Google had suddenly deprecated and intentionally bricked their Chromecast devices. That's because attempts to cast were met with various pop-up error messages.
"Untrusted device. Living Room TV couldn't be verified. This could be caused by outdated device firmwware," one the error messages stated. In other cases, users reported seeing an error message that read, "We couldn't authenticate your Chromecast. Please visit support.com/chromecast for help troubleshooting this issue."
Google was initially silent on the issue, leaving users to fend for themselves. Some of the affected users performed a factory reset, to no avail. To make matters worse, when Google finally did acknowledge the issue, it explicitly stated in bold, red letters, "Do not factory reset your device."
Shortly after, an official fix began to roll out, restoring functionality to affected Chromecast devices that had followed Google's guidance.
"Hey everyone, thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this issue. Here's the latest: We have started to roll out a fix for the problem with Chromecast (2nd gen) and Chromecast Audio devices, which will be completed over the next few days," Google stated at the time.
"Your device must be connected to receive the update. If you performed a factory reset during initial troubleshooting, you may still be experiencing an issue where you cannot re-setup your device. We are working to resolve this as soon as possible. Please continue to check the Community page here for updates and next steps," Google added.
Well, the wait is finally over (or soon will be - see below).
Restore Bricked Chromecast Dongles That Had Already Been Factory Reset
In a fresh update from Google, the company says any device that hadn't been factory reset should be operating as intended by now, following its latest firmware release. For those who did perform a factory reset, Google offered new guidance.
The fix is to update your Google Home app to the latest release (version 3.30.1.6 for Android and 3.30.106 for iOS), and then set up your Chromecast or Chromecast Audio again.
"The app roll out has begun and may take a few days to roll out to everyone. We’ll post a confirmation once the roll out to all users is complete.
We sincerely apologize for this disruption and any inconvenience it may have caused, and we are committed to ensuring all users are back up and running as quickly as possible," Google says.
So there you have it. If you're not seeing an update to your Google Home app, keep checking throughout the week.
