Blackscreen during live feeds on the hub

[Morgan41]

I recently saw another post with almost the exact same issue as ours and it wasn't resolved. (I copied some of the language from this post because it was well written and really mirrors our situation)

So, our problem occurs when viewing the Nest camera from ANY of our nest Hubs. Our house as multiple google products, doorbells/nest/etc. The one issue we have is our wired indoor camera that we use as a nursery camera. 

Just like the post I saw another person make,  we use the live feed throughout the day via different hubs around the house. 

We leave our bedroom hub streaming until the morning each night so that we are able to view and hear our baby. We did this for around 7 months with no issues (Jan to July?)! However, over the past few months we have woken with the nest hub screen black and the issue is getting worse (happening more frequently and for longer periods). The camera is working fine,  I can pull up the feed on my phone whenever and there is no issue. All products are less than a year old.

The nest hub states that it is currently streaming the camera feed and is "live", but is only showing a black screen with no audio or scratchy audio. 

I know the WiFi is not an issue, it works well on everything else. I can use the hubs to do any other task fine. We also have multiple extenders throughout the house and no other device suffers from low signal or slow Internet connection. 

When requesting to view said camera, it loads up fine and very quickly. But will change to black screen any number of minutes/hours later on any of our hubs that otherwise work perfectly.

We really need help fixing this issue so we can hear if our son is crying and get a good nights sleep again because it has been going black at night. 

[Nimh13]

I'm having this same issue solely with the wired indoor cam and all of our nest hubs. Can bring up the feed just fine on mobile device, but not on the hub. 

[Princesss]

Hi folks,

Thanks for bringing this up.

We're sorry to hear about this. I also appreciate all the details you've shared. Could someone send a photo of the exact display you're getting so we can investigate on this further? Also, kindly provide the cast firmware version of your Google Nest displays?

To check which firmware version you're on, follow these steps:

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Tap your device's tile.
3. Tap Settings Device information.
4. Under "Technical information," check for Cast firmware: "X.XXX.XXXXX." If the device is on Fuchsia, check for System firmware version: "X.XXXXXXXX.X.XXXXXXX"

Check the version on your Nest display

1.  Swipe up from the bottom of the display screen.
2. Tap Settings About device. You should find your "Cast firmware version."
   • For Nest Hub (1st gen) and Nest Hub Max: If “Fuchsia Version” is also listed, this means your device runs Fuchsia.

Looking forward to your responses.

Best,

Princess

[Mistered]

Hi Princesss, here’s a picture of my hub display when the issue happens.

[Mistered]

Technical Information for the Nest Hub:

System firmware version: 12.20230611.1.67


Cast firmware: 1.70.377722


Language: en-AU


MAC address: 1C:53:F9:A5:92:6D


IP address: 192.168.86.24

[Mistered]

Same issue here. Multiple wireless cameras and doorbell, and one wired camera used as a nanny cam 24/7. The live feed from the wired camera just goes black on any of my Nest Hub displays. But streams fine on Home app on my iPad.

[Nimh13]

My current workaround, though not ideal, is to bring up the wired cam feed on the google home app on my phone and then open the feed on the nest hub at the same time. I keep both devices streaming the cam for about 2 minutes, and then turn off the feed from my phone. The nest hub maintains the feed, but goes black for a few seconds every couple minutes. It's like the wired camera isn't getting the wake command from the hub.

[Glow55]

I have been using the same work around.  Sometimes my hubs will load the camera and think it’s idle also.  Opening the app on my phone wakes it up.

[Princesss]

Hey folks,

We appreciate all your efforts. We'd be happy to take a look into this for you. Please fill out our Contact Us Form with all the needed information then let me know once done.

Best,

Princess

[Mistered]

Thanks Princesss. Not sure about the original poster, but I have submitted that form.

cheers, John.

[Princesss]

Hello  Mistered,

Thanks — we got your form and we've escalated it over to our higher level of support for further review. Please keep an eye on your inbox as someone will get back in touch with you soon. 

Best,

Princess

[Mistered]

For anyone following, Tiesan from the Customer Care team followed up, and escalated to the Product Support team. I supplied some debugging feedback and the issue is now escalated to the Engineering team for investigation.

[Princesss]

Hello Mistred,

Thanks for keeping this thread active. We will keep this thread updated on our progress and will contact you as soon as we have a resolution.

Best,

Princess

[JD84]

I have the exact same issue and it is extremely frustrating. What is the status of this?

[Flojo1]

Hi,

I’m also here for the same problem. Has there been any updates on resolving the issue?

[nesthubrokeblac]

try to keep deleting and factory reset it and rename it during the next setup

[jcates98]

@Princesss I see this was escalated back in October,  and there are now a longer list of us having the same issue, any update? 

[jcates98]

I filled out the form  weeks ago, along with others months ago, why is this not going anywhere ?  this is very frustrating to spend a lot of hard earned money on something that doesn't function as expected.  

[Mistered]

Hi @Princesss , no updates on this thread and no contact since October 2023. 

I understand it may take some time to fix the code, test and deploy. But Google need to improve their communication on this issue. Even if it’s just a “we’re working on it”. At the moment Hub owners have a non functional product and extremely frustrated. 

You should be aware that in Australia we have very good consumer protection laws. A product not fit for purpose can be returned for a full refund. Without a fix for the streaming issue you’re going to see thousands of Hubs coming back very soon.

i like the device and want to see it develop and improve, but the harsh reality is I don’t have the cash to buy stop gap solutions (like iPad or android tablets) without returning my 5 Hubs.

[tomspinks]

Any updates on this please? Having the same issue

[bjthelen]

Same issue for me and it is extremely frustrating

[Pads87]

I have the same issue, Assuming no update? 

[Mistered]

For anyone following - my last contact with customer care team was 16 Oct who said the issue was escalated to the engineering team for investigation. No further contact as of 7 Nov.

[alwawa]

I have the same issue. Tried resetting everything, i.e. modem, nest mesh router, nest hub, hard reset the nest cam indoor (wired), but still having the same problem.

the nest cam works normally on google home app, but on nest hub, some times it won't connect, some times it would connect but only show a black screen but telling me that it is showing live video.

[SideSherbert]

Same issue. Phone works. Nest hub max and nest hub 2 both have issue 

[jcates98]

I am having the same issue,  this just started for me a couple months ago, prior to that it was not an issue.  Nest Cam wireless (with optional power cable), Cast Firmware 1.70.377722 on my phone, hub max has Fuchsia ver 12.20230611.1.67,  same as others if I stream on my phone Google home app first, then it will stream on the Hub Max .  I have 3 other cameras with no issue (1 nest wireless with optional power , 1 nest wired , and nest doorbell)  

[Adoom]

I’m having the same issues. Was working fine for months. Now it’s borderline useless. This is obviously due to a bad software update from Google. If it’s working on the phone then the camera and steaming is working fine. Would love a factory reset option or a manual software update option so I can turn it off. 

if it ain’t broke,  don’t fix it. 

[AKH88]

I have the same issue.  Very frustrating. 

[nesthubrokeblac]

Same stupid issue just bought this device it updated and black screen after 1 hour every time. Factory reset 10 times already same issue after another hour.  Useless

14.20230831.4.72 nest hub max camera not working

[Mistered]

No more updates from Google as at 12 Dec. 

I resorted to using a cheap Lenovo Tab M8 running the Home app. It streams the cameras 14 hrs a day no problem. Solid as a rock.  The issue is not the cameras, it’s the streaming client on the Hubs.

[Holger1]

another frustrated user here. No probs for more than a year and now nearly unusable combo of wired indoor cam and four nest hubs. smartphone with indoor cam works well and (!) outdoor nest cam with the hubs works also well. But nest hub with wired indoor cam only issues. The issue happens only in this combination for me. really anoying! 
lack of feedback from google in this threat after approx. 3 months also very annoying

[nesthubrokeblac]

try to keep deleting and factory reset it and rename it during the next setup, seems to fixed it now, I got 3 outdoor iq cams and one hub

[Holger1]

thx for your reply. I'll do so later at home. until then i'm crossing fingers 😉
Anyway there are a lot of users with exactly the same issue and setup - a fix from Google/Nest do avoid factory resets would be much appreciated

[Holger1]

quick feedback: 
stream is back and hub connects to the cam as quick as it should. Unfortunately the video is not stable. While audio is not interrupted, screen shows a blackscreen 30-40 % of the time. (Tested in the first 2 hours after the factory reset) 
So, situation is much better than before but issue isn't solved completely. 
Thx again for your help

[Rorvik2]

Same problem here. Tried to restart everything, but still blackscreen every 2 minute. 

[Holger1]

Update and workaround for me:
As mentioned by someone below, the cam stream works fine with the Google home app on any mobile device. The error occurs only with the combination of Nest hub and wired cam indoor. 

Using the app on my Pixel phone and then starting the stream on the nest hub works fine! Problem:  after closing the app on my smartphone the stream on the hub disappears too.

So I tried the following: 

1. Starting Google home app on my mobile
2. Starting stream on nest hub
3. Starting stream on another nest hub 
4. Closing app on my mobile
5. Stream works fine on both nest hubs. Yes, I need only one at a time... 🙄

This is far away from a good solution, but cam works now as a nursery camera again. 
Maybe someone at Google/Nest can use this to find a fix. 

---

[alwawa]

Great find! Thank you! 

So I guess we, those who are having this issue, should consider buying another nest hub just to get it to work? 😑

[Holger1]

maybe that's the plan 🙈
@Princesss: any chance of further feedback or do we have to live with this fine "feature"? 

[Matt_twinsy]

Following. Same issue. Having the camera open on two separate hubs solves it. Weird.

[dramm]

We have been having the exact same issue which started in June ‘23. We too use them for nursery cameras. I factory reset everything even deleting our entire home and starting from scratch. Worked for like 3 days.