Cannot successfully add a replacement Nest Hello doorbell to my Home config

[jschriesheim]

The good news was that when I complained that plastic was peeling from the front of my Hello doorbell, Nest offered a replacement. The bad news is that after removing the otherwise functioning doorbell from my Nest home structure, every attempt at installing either the replacement or the original doorbell failed with an NC009 error while stating it was adding the camera to my Nest account. From my router logs, the camera successfully connected to my WiFi and got an IP address. The issue seems to be with leftover cruft in Nest's backend database that causes the addition to fail.

Contact with Nest support resulted in my being directed to do a variety of useless tasks. These included moving the doorbell closer to my router (how do I move a wired doorbell?) and reconfiguring my home network (which has been working fine with the existing Hello doorbell for years).

After asking to escalate this problem to engineering, the latest response I've received tells me that I need to reconfigure my Nest account to add a new home structure. Then I should install the doorbell into that structure and move all of my existing Nest devices to it as well. I have 2 thermostats, a temp sensor, 4 protect smoke alarms and two cameras on my account. I believe I  will have to remove and reinstall each device, including the smoke detectors that are 15' up on the ceiling, but all of the configuration information will have to be set. Also, my Nest subscriptions for the 2 cameras will have to be updated. That seems like a lot of work to push onto a customer when  the problem is at Nest's end.

"Back in the day" when I worked on networking and storage products, we would fix backend configuration mess-ups by cleaning up the data held in our systems. 

This is a bad response from Nest and I am not a happy customer.

[MplsCustomer]

@jschriesheim 

That is indeed disappointing.

Did Google Nest have you try the following?

Create a temporary second Google Nest "home/structure". Then add your Nest Hello doorbell to that second "home/structure". If that works, remove the doorbell from the Google Nest app (thereby removing it from that temporary second "home/structure") and try adding it back to your original "home/structure". Then delete that second temporary "home/structure", which would now be empty.

I'm only suggesting this workaround because in other posts, customers have used this to get around the "assisting device" error that many customers have encountered when adding a new Google Nest device. I don't know if it will work, but it would certainly be less disruptive than moving EVERYTHING to a new "home/structure" and trying to get your Nest Aware subscriptions renewed on the new "home/structure".

Note that I'm just another Google Nest customer.

[jschriesheim]

I wasn't advised to do that but did try it as one of many attempts to get it working.  I was able to install the new doorbell in the new home structure, but after deleting it, the doorbell could not be added to the original home. Also the doorbell being replaced can no longer be added to the original home structure. I have since created yet another new home structure and added the new doorbell. I am not looking forward to redoing all of my existing devices.

[MplsCustomer]

@jschriesheim 

That's too bad. It's really absurd that because Google Nest will not clean up some back-end cruft on their servers, they instead are asking you to reinstall everything. And you might encounter other issues--like the persistent "assisting device" error--while reinstalling everything else.

Maybe another customer will have an idea.

[Efl123]

I tried that. It doesn't work

[Juni]

Hi folks,

Thanks for reaching out. Sorry for the late reply. I'm glad that it worked for others. For those who are still having the issue after the troubleshooting please fill up this form with all the needed information, then let me know once done.

Regards,

Juni

[Juni]

Hi everyone,

mikeman123,  we got your form — thanks for filling it out. Keep your lines open as our team will reach out to you via email anytime soon. 
 

For the others, we haven’t received your form. Kindly fill it out so we can continue with the next step. 
 

Thanks,

Juni

[Juni]

Hi there,

I wanted to follow up if you are still in need of any help. If so, please fill out the form above.
 

Best,

Juni

[Juni]

Hey there,

We haven’t heard back from you, so I'll be locking this thread in 24 hours. Feel free to create a new one if you have other concerns in the future.
 

Regards,

Juni

[truebeliever · Accepted solution]

TLDR - This also works if you blow away all (and just) your Nest devices from your existing home, and then begin adding back starting with your freshly reset doorbell. Thanks to LEO in the thermostat/nest protect department! You don't need a new nest home structure, you just need an EMPTY home structure. Just be sure to remove from Nest first before you reset each item.  Saves any subscriptions associated with the primary Nest home/structure

Thanks so much for your post! My whole house is Nest and Google so this was going to be a big job! I too was unable to do a one-off replacement of my nest hello (for the same reasons - peeling). And since I had reset the old doorbell, that also would not reinstall. I followed your post's advice and created a new home structure. It worked, but  I was concerned about my subscription for nest aware, my energy rewards, and my alarm monitoring which is going away in December, but even so...  First call to the camera section was a huge waste of time. That guy, who shall remain nameless, was fixated on me switching all over to the new home structure, but we got interrupted because somewhere in the process he decided I needed to pay a professional installer and transferred me away!  Booooooooo!  After that hellish experience, I was prepared to just write off the subscriptions, but wanted to see what would happen with my energy rewards, so I called the thermostat department and explained the whole thing to them. THIS GUY!!!! LEO!!!! SO AWESOME!!!! Really knows his stuff. He understood that the problem has to do with previously installed items and the assist function, but couldn't narrow it down to what equipment exactly caused the conflict. It wasn't the cameras 'cause I removed them first and tried to reinstall.  Anyway, instead of moving everything over to the new home and risk losing subscriptions and energy rewards as well as needing to reset and move every other cotton picking smart home product from my existing GOOGLE home to a new GOOGLE home, LEO suggested blowing away all the nest products from the existing home, resetting the doorbell and starting with that. Then reset and reinstall everything back into the new home. Worked like a charm. Subscriptions and energy rewards are intact. The only hitch so far is my monitoring isn't showing up, but the Brinks connection to our equipment is now pretty tenuous, so I will need to call and see if I still need to cancel or if I can enjoy their outrageous month to month prices until the cut us off in December.

I wish I had tried to install that doorbell intermittently as I removed various groups of equipment to narrow down which assist item was causing the issue, but I was tired. I've poked that doorbell about 25 times by now and I'm just relieved it's finally installed in the correct home structure! THANK YOU LEO!!!!!! 

[truebeliever]

Some additional information: I never got an assisting device error. It was always a NC009 error. I even bought a 20.00 router to use instead of my nest Wi-Fi because this was a suggested solution. Next item - alarm monitoring DOES still work even though it doesn’t show that status in the app. I ran a test through the Brinks online page and the technician I called said all of it came through. Looks like resetting and adding back to the same structure preserved it all. 

[mikeman123]

I'm having the same NC009 error and I want to make sure I understand your post. You're saying you need to remove all Nest products from Google Home? And then re-install all your Nest products?

[truebeliever]

I removed from Nest, not from Google Home, with one exception indicated below (Nest Hub Max)

That is what I did.  But before that I did try using a router with a separate 2.4 band and it still wouldn’t connect so I suppose that means my nc009 error was a lie. I’m using nest Wi-Fi, so if you are too, maybe you can skip the router game. If you are already using a split band router, then probably make sure you are physically on the 2.4 band before moving on.  

Before emptying my home, I did add the doorbell to a new empty home using the nest Wi-Fi and it worked fine.  Its important to remove and reset the doorbell before attempting the installation in your real nest home.

When I emptied my existing Nest home, I actually missed removing the connect for my door lock and discovered that after the fact.  Fortunately that one reset with no problem. Apparently if you try to reset a temperature sensor before you remove it, you risk bricking it.  Use the white settings page that shows all your devices in a list instead of the blue home page to make sure you have removed everything from Nest.

I also have integrated my Nest and Google accounts so removing from Nest also removed from Google Home. I can’t remember if I had to remove my nest hub max from both google home and nest, but I would do it if it still showed up, just to be sure.  I did not remove any google products that were not present in the Nest app and I didn’t disconnect any linked services from Google home. That means lightbulbs and google speakers for me. I don’t have any Nest IQ cameras or any of the recent gen cameras. I know the newest wired doorbell does not show up in the Nest app at all. It’s strictly a Google Home device. So if any other products have dual residency in both, like the Nest Hub max does, I would make sure to remove from both places. 

I will say the most complicated re-install was my thermostat. The reset function is in the device screens and you do need to reset all. Maybe make some screen shots of your settings before you remove it to help you put it back where you want it. 
Hope this helps

[laling760]

First, thank you for this invaluable post.  I had to replace my Nest Hello wired doorbell due to end of life of its internal battery. 

At first I thought I could go the route others have gone and perform a DIY battery replacement, but the Hello is basically glued together and not intended to be opened up easily.  I cracked the faceplate trying to pry it off and that was when I decide to just order a whole replacement doorbell, which is what brought me here.

Short version:  The recommended answer works!  I had to delete all the existing Nest products (1 doorbell, 2 Nest IQ cameras, and 3 Nest Protects, plus 2 old DropCams) in my home before I could install the new Nest Hello doorbell successfully.

Longer version:  Knowing the end game solution that you provided, I tried incremental steps as you had suggested to see whether there was an intermediate point at which the new doorbell would install:

1. No devices deleted (including old doorbell).

2. Old doorbell deleted.

3. 2 old DropCams deleted.

4. One Nest Protect deleted.

5. One Nest Cam IQ deleted.

6. Remaining Nest Cam IQ deleted.

7. Remaining Nest Protects (2) deleted.  

Only after this last step was I finally successful in installing the new Nest Hello doorbell. So yes, there seems to be some leftover crud in the Nest configuration data or perhaps a buggy, non-recoverable software branch.  Maybe this will get fixed when the Nest platform migrates over completely to Google Home, but honestly I wouldn't hold my breath.

Why such a negative outlook, you ask?  Well, the new Nest Cam (wired) indoor cameras that I received to replace my old DropCams are not compatible with the Nest app.  That's right, they will only install and be viewed on Google Home. 😞

[jschriesheim]

I haven't tried that yet, but will probably give it a go this weekend. I did try adding my Nest Hello Doorbell to a new home structure and that worked fine.

[jschriesheim]

So I finally got around to following the advice from truebeliever. I removed all my Nest devices from my original home structure and deleted the new structure I had been instructed to create. One by one, I added the devices back to my original home structure and I'm back to where I was. Of course, I needed to reset all of the Protects, thermostats and cameras. My Nest aware data was retained, in particular the faces data I had tagged over a few years. The Protects were a particular pain, as one of them was up on a 15' ceiling and required hauling out a ladder. Another Protect had gotten it's QR code chewed up by a screw sticking out of the base. I was able to read the passcode but the network code was also mostly obliterated.

It seems bad that there's no backup for settings and that you need to physically disconnect every device to get to a printed QR code. If you've had prior network access, you should be able to save the data needed to reset and reconnect. The whole Nest setup seems designed for one-time installation ease but doesn't take the long-haul lifecycle issues into account.

[truebeliever]

Glad it helped a bit. I agree it still does not forgive Google nest of not correcting the assist error.  But it’s better than starting out with a new home. 

[jschriesheim]

I'm afraid this is a foreshadowing of Google/Nest discontinuing support for a number of devices. Home automation is entering mid-life where things have to be retired and replaced. Lifecycle management of devices and ease of integration become big factors in customer satisfaction. I don't think Google is paying attention. This is Apple's strong suit.

[truebeliever]

Nest secure is obsolete a year from now. The ADT self-install with their home hub replacing Nest secure is supposed to make the Nest app unnecessary. But they aren’t addressing Nest Protect or the Yale lock. I’m waiting for awhile to see what reviewers think before I commit to ADT. Wyze is improving with every upgrade.