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Speaker group composed entirely of Chromecast audio devices does not work

jpelton
Community Member

For years I had working speaker groups consisting entirely of Chromecast Audio devices. Several months ago they stopped working, presumably as a result of changes required by the Sonos settlement. I've tried intermittently ever since to get even one group working again, without success. I've gone so far as resetting every device, uninstalling Google Home, restarting my router, reinstalling Home, adding the devices (all on the same network as my phone), and creating a new speaker group. Result: when I cast to the group, only one speaker plays the audio. The others beep when I adjust the volume, so they're clearly in the group, just not getting the desired audio.

I don't know if it matters, but I have a Polk Audio soundbar with Chromecast support. It never played particularly well with the other speakers, so I haven't added it as a device, but I wonder if it could somehow be interfering with the group operation, especially since I suspect its firmware is outdated.

How can I get my speaker groups working again?

9 REPLIES 9

jpelton
Community Member

This is apparently a problem with the app I use to cast my music (BubbleUPnP). I can cast to the speaker group from Chrome on a Mac and (more significantly) from Google Podcasts on my phone.

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there jpelton,

I'm glad to hear you were able to narrow down the issue to a specific app! Just to confirm, you've only noticed this issue with the BubbleUPnP app? If that's the case, you may need to reach out to their support to see if they are aware of any issues with their casting abilities.


I look forward to your response, and if you have any other questions or concerns for me, please let me know!

Best regards,
Jeran
 

jpelton
Community Member

Further research has revealed that it's not just BubbleUPnP. I've tried a couple of other apps that allow casting to be initiated from within the app, and they have the same problem.

I have a Samsung phone, and I can initiate casting to a group with Samsung's Smart View app. If I do, casting from devices that are NOT cast-aware works fine. Apps that ARE cast-aware don't work; they seem to stop the externally-initiated cast session and start a new one that only sends audio to one speaker in the group.

Since Smart View clearly must interact with the casting system, I wondered whether it might be interfering with the operation of other cast-aware apps, so I forced it to stop. This made no difference to the behavior of the other apps.

The BubbleUPnP developer says "When you play to a Chromecast group in BubbleUPnP, the group is entirely a black box for the app: from its POV, it plays to a unique renderer and it is Google magic that actually plays to multiple CCAs of the group," and "No idea what is causing this issue, as I cannot reproduce it on my system."

Since the problem occurs with multiple music players available from Google Play, I'm back to thinking that the problem is with Google's casting system, not the apps.

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there jpelton,

 

That is an interesting observation, just to double-check, is your Google Home app up-to-date? If so, try making a second speaker group using the same Chromecast Audio devices, and see if the same issues occur. That way, we can narrow down the solutions a bit more.

 

I look forward to your response on this!

 

Best regards,

Jeran

jpelton
Community Member

As I mentioned, I deleted and reinstalled Home, so yes, it's the latest: 2.58.1.7.

I have made many, many different speaker groups, sometimes by creating them alongside existing groups, sometimes by deleting groups and recreating them, most recently as I detailed above my completely removing Home, reinstalling it, and rebuilding the whole thing from scratch. They all behave the same way (or I would have stopped my efforts).

I just created a new group and tried the same test. Same results: only one speaker emits sound, though they all show in Google Home as playing - at least on the screen that displays all of the devices and groups. If I tap a speaker that no sound is coming from, the volume control displays with a non-zero value, but above it is the legend "Not playing" and below it is a "Cast my audio" button. If I tap it, casting to the group ends, which is not what I want.

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there jpelton,

 

No problem, we can try some more things. Would you be able to sign up for the Preview Program for Google Home to get some early updates? You would need to enroll in the Preview Program, then uninstall and re-install the Google Home app. Afterward, try casting to that Audio Group again to see if the issues persist.

 

I look forward to your response on this!

 

Best regards,

Jeran

jpelton
Community Member

I signed up for the Preview Program (which is for the devices, not the app) last night. No firmware updates have been installed yet. I guess I just have to wait for them to show up.

If you meant the Public Preview for Google Home, the only signup page I found says "Sign up for Public Preview will be available in the coming weeks."

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there jpelton,

 

Shoot, the Preview Program must be down for Google Home since there are some large updates coming out. I think in this scenario, it would be best to have Chromecast Support look into this, since they have access to more tools. If you don't mind, would you be able to fill out this form to have them reach out to you?

 

Best regards,

Jeran

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there jpelton,

 

Thank you for filling out that form! You should have someone from Chromecast Support reach out to your e-mail, so feel free to continue the conversation over there. Unless you had any more questions for us here on the forum, I'll go ahead and lock this thread in 24 hours.

 

Best regards,

Jeran