ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hiort:I looks as if M5 and A6 are a bit lost with regards to Chromecast....
BS Moment, BS Core, BG 4002, BC 4500, BS1, BL18, BL19, BL8000 + RCV1, A6, M5, M3, A1, P6 (tks Botty), H5, TR1
Hiort: mbolo01: Hiort:I have asked support why the old CC version is kept. Will be good to know as without an upgrade these products can't benefit from the flexibility of adding/removing them from playing session. Back to the screenshot I posted, as HAWK answered, it is the Google Home App / Multimedia button that shows what's currently playing and from where you can control products individually assuming they have a recent CC software. Hopefully this feature will be supported by more and more app or OS. Got the following reply from B&O on my question why Chromecast was not updated and when A6 will receive an update of its firmware: The update would not be with the Chromecast firmware but with the M5 and A6's firmware itself. The two are distinct from one another and updates to the Chromecast firmware are no longer possible.Different generations of devices will have different Chromecast firmware.As the update for the M5 was to its firmware the A6's update is still in development. I looks as if M5 and A6 are a bit lost with regards to Chromecast....
mbolo01: Hiort:I have asked support why the old CC version is kept. Will be good to know as without an upgrade these products can't benefit from the flexibility of adding/removing them from playing session. Back to the screenshot I posted, as HAWK answered, it is the Google Home App / Multimedia button that shows what's currently playing and from where you can control products individually assuming they have a recent CC software. Hopefully this feature will be supported by more and more app or OS.
Hiort:I have asked support why the old CC version is kept.
Will be good to know as without an upgrade these products can't benefit from the flexibility of adding/removing them from playing session.
Back to the screenshot I posted, as HAWK answered, it is the Google Home App / Multimedia button that shows what's currently playing and from where you can control products individually assuming they have a recent CC software.
Hopefully this feature will be supported by more and more app or OS.
Got the following reply from B&O on my question why Chromecast was not updated and when A6 will receive an update of its firmware:
The update would not be with the Chromecast firmware but with the M5 and A6's firmware itself. The two are distinct from one another and updates to the Chromecast firmware are no longer possible.Different generations of devices will have different Chromecast firmware.As the update for the M5 was to its firmware the A6's update is still in development.
I looks as if M5 and A6 are a bit lost with regards to Chromecast....
Thanks, pity to hear, probably that will also be the case for the Essence MK2. Latest firmware there is from 11 December 2020 (v1.24.41627.xxxxxxxxx). The Chromecastr version is 1.28.102057.
As said, happily it is visible in the Google Home app and in apps like Spotify and TuneIN and it is working as it should (Deezer is still buggy, also on all other brands with Chromecast). Also the "radio buttons" to add/delete a speaker on the fly is working, but there it starts to get buggy (if you deselect the Essence on the fly, it is removed from the GH Group you were playing from permantently..........).
So it looks that Chromecast will no longer work for the A6 at all? The technical support department’s reply that an update’s “not possible“ doesn’t make a lot of sense. I wish they had explained it better. It only reaffirms my choice to get a Chromecast audio dongle and plug it in. I grant that the DAC is not as good as the one in the unit, but it’s better than not having it at all. Really frustrating.
I don't believe it's the case that CC will not work. I believe it is the case that newer, advanced CC features like dynamically adjustable groups will not work.
I hope the Chromecast audio dongle works well for you because mine does not. It is the most unreliable of all my CC devices.
Stan
Hiort: The update would not be with the Chromecast firmware but with the M5 and A6's firmware itself. The two are distinct from one another and updates to the Chromecast firmware are no longer possible.
The update would not be with the Chromecast firmware but with the M5 and A6's firmware itself. The two are distinct from one another and updates to the Chromecast firmware are no longer possible.
And yet they are sprinting forward with CC and doing little or nothing with their own NL protocol over which they have total control.
If you look in my signature you'll see that I have 11 different endpoints purchased over the past ~6 years that work with NL, and have support for TuneIn and Deezer. I just got a Level which is a beautiful device but doesn't work with any of the 11 other B&O products, nor does it work with TuneIn Radio or Deezer which are the two services I set up to work with all the other devices. I really love the Level, but I'm struggling as to whether to keep something that doesn't work with anything else I own.
It makes absolutely no sense to me that they are releasing new products that don't work with the other things they've been selling for years. The whole reason I got into B&O (other than the beautiful design) is that their NL system was miles ahead of what anyone else had to offer. New products that won't work with old products gives me no upgrade path. :(
Sources: 2x Beosound Moment • 4x Beosound Essence Mk II Speakers: 3x Beolab 8000 • 2x Beolab 6000 • 2x Beolab 3 • 3x Beolab 2 Integrated: 1x Beosound 2 • 1x Beosound Level • 4x BeoPlay M5 • 1x BeoPlay A6 Control: 16x* Essence Remote • 1x Beoremote Halo
* Yes, really! 🤦♂️
Hi, particularly my M5 keeps bothering me. it’s Running on the latest Firmware 1.24 and out of the blue it suddenly makes trouble.
https://www.directupload.net/file/d/6096/qn46tosy_jpg.htm
any idea why it’s not showing its serial ID and the system tells about failed software update?
Additionally it has been also disappeared from the Google app as chrome cast device.
Really frustrated here...
Br from Germany :)
stampfki:Additionally it has been also disappeared from the Google app as chrome cast device.
Livingroom: BL3, BL11, BV11-46 Kitchen: Beosound 1 GVA, Beocom 2 Bathroom: M3 Homeoffice: M3, Beocom 2 Library: Beosound Emerge, Beocom 6000 Bedroom: M5, Essence remote Travel: Beoplay E8 2.0, Beoplay EQ, Beoplay Earset
So is it said now that we don’t get GC back on our Beosound/Beoplays?
would be quite a joke have spend a fortune and getting cut off services!
So Ive been having issues since mid-January and have only been following the reddit forums for updates, glad I found more people with this issue. Strange thing is that, it hasn't ever been fixed for me? Some people say they can see their M5 on spotify but I still cannot. In fact, when I open the app to check the chromecast version, there is nothing in that field?? It used to say 1.28.102057... but now its empty. Chromecast still doesnt work for me and Im wondering if other peoples M5 has been fixed or if its just me? Ive factory reset like 20 times at least and also router reset. Please tell me if anyone has found a fix.
This is a screenshot of what I see.https://imgur.com/a/TmIUJqg
Have you ever tried to delete the M5 or another problematic device in the Google Home app? In other words, remove it completely from "this home"?Delete the Google Home app's cache or reinstall and after restarting the router and mobile device add the M5, or whatever, in the Google Home app again from scratch. Helped with me with a Naim Mu-so Qb 2 that suddenly started having problems. I don't know if it was the Naim or the Google Home app though, because both are totally buggy. Anyway, although the Mu-so was correctly connected to the network, it suddenly started to get crazy. Connected to my Roon network and via Roon it was playable. But with Chromecast it showed up as connected to the network no longer. But then I found out that it was connected to my other network, via guest access, which I only use for other tasks and for which the Mu-so had no credentials at all?! I could well imagine that is a bug in the Google Home app. Anyway, it might be worth to give it a try and check your networks: That your devices are not ghosting around in another or even your neighbors network via guest access and therefore are discoverable no more.
It’s really a pain with this company! You buy a product which is advertised as Chromecast capable and out of a sudden you loose that. Because of an Google update???
so next one is probably Spotify and their own NL system they almost buried. So I’m having now equipment lying around which is just nicely looking trash...
stampfki: It’s really a pain with this company! You buy a product which is advertised as Chromecast capable and out of a sudden you loose that. Because of an Google update??? so next one is probably Spotify and their own NL system they almost buried. So I’m having now equipment lying around which is just nicely looking trash..
so next one is probably Spotify and their own NL system they almost buried. So I’m having now equipment lying around which is just nicely looking trash..
Not only for B&o a problem. But a reason the more for B&o to enhance their own multiroom (CC or Airplay should work aside with B&o multiroom).
Note: I do not say you're B&o devices can not use CC anymore in the future.
Hiort reported: "Got the following reply from B&O on my question why Chromecast was not updated and when A6 will receive an update of its firmware:
The update would not be with the Chromecast firmware but with the M5 and A6's firmware itself. The two are distinct from one another and updates to the Chromecast firmware are no longer possible."
He didn't got an answer whether this would be the end of CC completely on both devices, to me it reads, there may be a way around (for the time).
My read on this is Google changed something on their backend which is causing these problems. My BS2 (mk1) went from working, to not working, to working again with no software changes on the BS2. Therefore, all that B&O can do is 1) lean on their "partner" (Google) to fix their stuff and 2) keep NL alive.
The Level has a path to address the longer term obsolescence that we will eventually see across our products, but for older products there is only so much that can be done. Actively developed software tends to grow and will eventually require hardware upgrades to support newer releases. It sounds like this is already the case for the A6.
As far as CC goes, given their investment in GVA, they can't drop it as GVA and CC go hand in hand. However, that doesn't mean older products will not be left behind.
My older products now still work (2x Essence Mk2, BS2 mk1), but they don't work with the new CC features like joining a currently playing group. Then again, this feature didn't exist when I bought these products so am I really losing anything?
I can't say I'm happy about this, but this is the current reality of "smart" products. Hopefully these CC problems are enough to motivate B&O to continue supporting NL.
Indeed the good news is that "normal" Google/Chromecast use is still working (at least for me). The new functionality for adding / removing speakers on the fly is "unpredictable" (sometimes it works, but sometimes after this, the speaker is removed from a Google Group all together.....), but ok, as long as the "old" GC version can still be used by GC and in GC groups, it is not that bad.
Of course it would be better not to fully integrate all these third party features, but modulize it. Either externally (like with the Essence and the Core) or internally. So when after a few years, new tech is there, and a module can not be upgraded by software alone anymore, just replace this module and off you go (like upgrading from Essence MK1 to MK2 and later to the Core, and if the Core is EOL, the Core MK2 or any other new module).
Don't know if internally B&O also works with these kind of modules that can "easily" be upgraded?
I spoke too soon. My "older" devices stopped working again today. Same "authentication server unreachable" error as before.
Same here; BS2 w/o GVA, Essence MKII, M5 disappeared from GH app.
BTW: are the products with GVA working? Have those been updated to Chromecast >1.28?
Stan:I spoke too soon. My "older" devices stopped working again today. Same "authentication server unreachable" error as before.
Best regards - Dyssegaard
Living room: Beovision Eclipse 55, Beolab 3 / R1 (back), Beolab 2 / R1 (sub), AppleTV 4K. Bedroom: Beovision 11-40, AppleTV 4. Home office: Beoplay M5. Kitchen: Beoplay M5. Travel: Beoplay H8, Beoplay A1. NAS: WD My Cloud Home / Plex DLNA Server.
My M3, Eclipse gen 1, bs1 gva and Chromecast audio work. My bs2 mk1 and essence mk2 do not. My older products have 1.28.* and my working products have 1.44.*. The CCA has 1.42.*
Very strange.........my Essence MK2 (GC v1.28) was working around 17:00 (CET), did not notice any problem, but now it seems to have stopped working around 19:00 (CET). Did a reboot again now (around midnight CET), and all is working again now. No connection errors anymore.
Did check the critical log file, and strangely the last few days, every time around 18:00/19:00 CET the GC Authentication error is there, not on other times.
Does the GC server has a dinner break or so around that time?
Let's see if the same thing happens tomorrow, and there is a pattern........given the above messages of other people, it seems time related. Please check the log if it indeed happens around the same time every day.
stampfki: BTW: are the products with GVA working? Have those been updated to Chromecast >1.28?
My Beosound 1 GVA has Chromecast-version 1.44.219548
HAWK: Very strange.........my Essence MK2 (GC v1.28) was working around 17:00 (CET), did not notice any problem, but now it seems to have stopped working around 19:00 (CET). Did a reboot again now (around midnight CET), and all is working again now. No connection errors anymore. Did check the critical log file, and strangely the last few days, every time around 18:00/19:00 CET the GC Authentication error is there, not on other times. Does the GC server has a dinner break or so around that time? Let's see if the same thing happens tomorrow, and there is a pattern........given the above messages of other people, it seems time related. Please check the log if it indeed happens around the same time every day.
It works just now and every time I tested today. With limitations. Because strangely the BS2 played with the Qobuz app via Chromecast only stuttering, I have no idea why. Switched to Roon, network the same, it worked fine and without stuttering, see last screenshot ....?
My 3 devices tend to check around 3, 9 and 13, but it's not "clockwork" (varies +/- 30 minutes, and not every day). These times are CST (Chicago)
Also, one of my devices hasn't checked for 2 days (and is unreachable by CC, but works fine with NL), and another failed 30-ish minutes ago, but recently showed again in Google Home.
Did some more testing today, and GC worked flawlessly and continously from morning until afternoon ...........but at 17:37 (CET, that is 10:37am CST in Chicago) it stopped working. Again GC Authentication failure. Now, 2 hours later, still no luck (also not aftter reboot). Will check it again in a few hours.
The B&O app keeps working, so it is really a Chromecast issue, that appears to happen daily.
And indeed, around midnight CET it worked again. Rebooting without the GC error and streaming as it should be.
So the GC error only in appeared here from 17:37 until max midnight... Maybe a Google server goes down and is rebooted after a few hours when noticed?
HAWK: And indeed, around midnight CET it worked again. Rebooting without the GC error and streaming as it should be. So the GC error only in appeared here from 17:37 until max midnight... Maybe a Google server goes down and is rebooted after a few hours when noticed?
This hypothesis should be easy to verify - I remember that you have other Chromecast built-in speakers from another brand. If it's true, GC shouldn't work with them at this time either?
Ulrike: This hypothesis should be easy to verify - I remember that you have other Chromecast built-in speakers from another brand. If it's true, GC shouldn't work with them at this time either?
Good point! My other brand Chromecast devises keep working (day and night :)) , but they all run GC v1.44 or newer, so it might be that the reroute "older" GC v1.28 devices to a different server?
Have you ever tried to contact Google support? They should be able to answer that. I called them on January 24 and was told that the firmware on the affected devices had apparently expired, that the manufacturer would have to update it, and that all the problems were related to firmware that was no longer up to date. In any case, the number I was called back from is this: 0016504179099
However, it is possible that this is no longer valid and that you have to create a new Google support ticket.
Just an idea to rule out other possible causes: You could try to change the DNS servers in your router settings. Usually found under Network Settings =》DHCP If you use the DNS servers of your internet service provider, it is possible that their DNS servers are overloaded at times, especially in the evenings during peak hours. Doesn't happen that rarely. You could try 8.8.8.8 (Google DNS) And as a second, substitute in case of overload 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare DNS) Maybe it helps?
After the recent update of M5s firmware to 1.25.42741.87953554 it does not disappear from the Google Home app and always appear "online" in that app. M5 still have the Chromecast version 1.28.102057 . In Google Home app has problems displaying what M5 is playing when you click on the speaker icon. If you click the media icon it shows whats playing but you cannot add other speakers (newer CC version required).
My A6 (that has no updated firmware) constantly disappear from the Google Home app. Only workaround is to power cycle but it A6 disappear after some time.
Hiort:After the recent update of M5s firmware to 1.25.42741.87953554 it does not disappear from the Google Home app and always appear "online" in that app. M5 still have the Chromecast version 1.28.102057 . In Google Home app has problems displaying what M5 is playing when you click on the speaker icon. If you click the media icon it shows whats playing but you cannot add other speakers (newer CC version required). My A6 (that has no updated firmware) constantly disappear from the Google Home app. Only workaround is to power cycle but it A6 disappear after some time.
Ulrike: Just an idea to rule out other possible causes: You could try to change the DNS servers in your router settings. Usually found under Network Settings =》DHCP If you use the DNS servers of your internet service provider, it is possible that their DNS servers are overloaded at times, especially in the evenings during peak hours. Doesn't happen that rarely. You could try 8.8.8.8 (Google DNS) And as a second, substitute in case of overload 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare DNS) Maybe it helps?
Thx, that is indeed a good suggestion! Just changed it, and let's see what happens end of day here :)
BTW, does it need DNS continuously when playing already via GC? I would assume it needs to DNS it only once, and then caches the correct ip address of the GC server until the next reboot?
No expert here :) and as far as I found - if your DNS server has the domain name and IP address in its database, it resolves the name itself. If it doesn't have the domain name and IP address in its database, it contacts another DNS server on the internet. It may have to do this multiple times. If it has to contact another DNS server, it caches the lookup results for a limited time so it can quickly resolve subsequent requests to the same domain name. If it has no luck finding the domain name after a reasonable search, it returns an error indicating that the name is invalid or doesn't exist.The last one perhaps could be the cause also of the firmware problem, namely the way Google server accessibility has been implemented in the FW. But I am only a layman in this field. But at least I know from experience that you have to reboot your router for any changes to take effect :))
Ok, yesterday it did work all day, but today at 18:04 (CET) it stopped working again (despite the new DNS servers in my router). At 19:30 it worked for a few minutes, but now (19:42) it stopped working again.
Totally unpredictable behaviour.........I give up and enjoy my Harman Kardon (Citation Towers, great speakers by the way!).
Same experience this evening.
Looking at the log for Critical Events on my B&M M5 i can read several "Authentication server unreachable, stopping Google Cast". Seem slike a serer issue mor than a DNS-problem.
Im surprised you managed to update your firmware for the M5. I dont know if its just me, but I seem to be stuck on 1.24.41628.167401182 according to beotool. It says it is up to date as well, so I cant manually further update it. Chromecast version is missing on the B&O app.
coachsharter:Im surprised you managed to update your firmware for the M5. I dont know if its just me, but I seem to be stuck on 1.24.41628.167401182 according to beotool. It says it is up to date as well, so I cant manually further update it. Chromecast version is missing on the B&O app.
Agree that a B&O own nl protocol should have been there on release, but it is official that NL will be added in Q2 for beound level and beosound balance, tunein is being released by B&O radio, so you'll have All you need this year, if you can wait (ALL streaming devices from Any company has software issues and awaiting fixes)
Regards
Ol