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Where to enter Chromecast code?

DE22
Community Member

My chromecast displays an alphanumeric code on my TV to connect to a device (eg. a phone or computer).  Years ago, I could simply enter that code in the Google Home app on my Android phone to pair the devices.  I can not find any place to enter the code in the current app.  The app wants to automatically "detect" the device but it fails to detect anything.  How can I get past this and pair the device.

1 Recommended Answer

David_K
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

Assuming the TV and your phone are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, I still suspect you don't see the option to enter the code as the Google Home app isn't able to find and communicate with the TV. 

There is another workaround:

  1. Go to the Wi-Fi settings on your phone.

  2. Open the list of available Wi-Fi networks and look for an available network with the name “ChromecastXXXX" (where XXXX is a random number).

    Note: If the TV was previously setup, you'd need to look for the name of the TV in the list of available networks instead.

  3. If you can successfully connect to the TV's Wi-Fi network in your phone's Wi-Fi settings, open the Google Home app and try to set up the device.

View Recommended Answer in original post

17 REPLIES 17

David_K
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

Tap the + icon at the top left of the Google Home app > Set up device > New devices > Select your home > Next > Chromecast/Google TV.

At this point, you would normally scan the QR code on your screen with your phone, but you should also see an option to enter the setup code manually in the app instead of scanning the QR code.

DE22
Community Member

Thank you for your response, but there is no QR code to scan on the TV and there is nowhere to manually enter the code in the app. Years ago, it was so much easier. You would just type in the code in the app. They tried to make it easier and idiotproof with auto detect, but if they don't detect each other, you are out of luck.

David_K
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

Was the Chromecast previously setup or connected to a different Wi-Fi network? 

In any case, I'd recommend resetting the device and following the setup steps described here.

DE22
Community Member

It is a hotel TV with some kind of native Google Chromecast and YouTube functionality.  I have no way of resetting it and the linked directions aren't applicable to this device.  Maybe I picked the wrong device option when submitting my question.

 

If I go to the YouTube app on my phone, there is an option to input a tv code but it will only accept numeric codes, not alphanumeric codes.

 

The Google Home app has no place to enter any code.  It tries forever to detect a device and detects nothing.

David_K
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

Okay, so it's not a physical Chromecast device, it's a TV with Chromecast built-in. You also mentioned it's a hotel TV, so typically connected to a Wi-Fi network that requires you to login to be able to access the internet. Those are known as captive portals and not supported.

It sounds like you're instead looking for these steps:

  1. Open the YouTube app on the TV itself.
  2. Go to Settings in the YouTube app.
  3. Scroll to Link with TV code. A blue TV code will show on your TV.
  4. On your phone or tablet, open the YouTube app.
  5. Tap your profile picture and select Settings.
  6. Tap General, then tap Watch on TV.
  7. Tap Enter TV Code and enter the blue TV code shown on your TV.

DE22
Community Member

I appreciate your effort in trying to help me but I was unsuccessful in connecting to that TV.  I was connected to the hotel WiFi per the instructions on the TV's Chromecast page. The instructions then said to enter the TV code in your device's Google Home app to connect to the tv, but as I previously stated, there is no longer any way to do that.

Incidentally, it was not YouTube specifically that I was trying to cast. I only mentioned the YouTube app to point out that it does have a way to enter a tv code whereas the Google Home app no longer has that option. As I mentioned in a previous reply, I was not able to use the TV code in the YouTube app. The YouTube app wanted a 4 digit numeric code, and the Chromecast code on the TV was a four digit alphanumeric code. It was not compatible with the YouTube app and as far as I can tell there is nowhere to enter this code in the current version of the Google Home app. There used to be a way of doing it, but as far as I can see there no longer is. This is not about me being unable to read the online Chromecast help instructions, this is about Google removing functionality from the app.

David_K
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

The core problem here is the hotel Wi-Fi. As I mentioned, hotel Wi-Fi networks often require you to login to be able to access the internet, known as captive portals. Chromecast, and TVs with Chromecast built-in do not support those Wi-Fi networks, hence your difficulty adding it to your Google Home app. 

To add a TV with Chromecast built-in to your Google Home app requires your phone and the TV to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network (i.e. the hotel Wi-Fi). However, even in the case you did that, those kind of Wi-Fi networks nearly always have a security feature enabled called client isolation, which prevents different devices from being able to communicate with each other (i.e., your phone communicating with the TV. Hopefully, that explains why fundamentally Google just doesn't support Wi-Fi networks that require you to login, known as captive portals.

With all that said, there is a workaround that users have found success with, which is you can can try to use a phone or tablet as a Wifi hotspot. However, this will then use your mobile data plan, which could be expensive for you depending on the data plan you have with your carrier. Note you would need 2 devices to set this up. 

    1. Turn on the Wifi hotspot feature on a phone or tablet. If you're not sure how to do this, refer to the manufacturer's support website.
    2. Connect a second phone or tablet to that Wifi hotspot.
    3. You can then use that second phone or tablet to setup the TV and connect it to the Wifi hotspot on the first phone or tablet.

In this way, both devices are connected to the Wifi hotspot under your control, thus no issues with logging in for internet access, nor security restrictions that prevent devices communicating with each other.

DE22
Community Member

Thank you again for your effort in trying to help me, but I disagree with your assessment that the core problem is the hotel WiFi.  I had no difficulty connecting to the hotel WiFi.  In my opinion, the core problem is that older Chromecast devices still display a 4 digit alphanumeric code on the tv to allow you to connect to the device, but Google has removed the ability to enter that 4 digit alphanumeric code in the Google Home app (or anywhere else as far as I can tell) thereby making it difficult or impossible to connect to older Chromecast devices.

We had a similar issue at home recently.  We changed ISPs, and therefore had to change our modem/router.  Since our Chromecast (an old first generation unit) could no longer connect to the previous ISP's router (because it had been disconnected and returned), it displayed a four digit alphanumeric code to aid with re-connecting to the device on the new WiFi network.  But, as I stated with the hotel issues, there is no longer anywhere to enter this code in the Google Home app.  The only option is to let the Google Home app try to automatically detect the device which does not always work.  There should be a way to manually connect devices using the 4 digit alphanumeric code displayed on the tv.  What is the point of having that code if there is nowhere to enter it?  Google has removed this functionality.  It is likely part of a process of making older Chromecast devices non-functional to force people to buy newer devices.

I'm not sure how your suggested workaround would have worked.  I could certainly have enabled the WiFi hotspot on one phone and then connected another phone to that hotspot, but the Chromecast feature of the hotel tv would still be tied to the hotel WiFi and there would still be no way to enter the tv code in the Google Home app so there would be no way to connect my phone and the tv via Chromecast since the app could not automatically detect the device and Google has removed the ability to manually connect using the tv code.

David_K
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

Assuming the TV and your phone are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, I still suspect you don't see the option to enter the code as the Google Home app isn't able to find and communicate with the TV. 

There is another workaround:

  1. Go to the Wi-Fi settings on your phone.

  2. Open the list of available Wi-Fi networks and look for an available network with the name “ChromecastXXXX" (where XXXX is a random number).

    Note: If the TV was previously setup, you'd need to look for the name of the TV in the list of available networks instead.

  3. If you can successfully connect to the TV's Wi-Fi network in your phone's Wi-Fi settings, open the Google Home app and try to set up the device.

#

manumaahi111220
Community Member

# help

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there DE22,

Just checking up on this thread, did you have any more questions or need any additional help? 

Thank you,
Jeran
 

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey DE22,

Following up on this thread again, did you have any more questions or need any additional help? 

Thank you,
Jeran
 

DE22
Community Member

I am not there anymore. It was a hotel room.

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there DE22,

 

No problem at all, in that case, did you have anything else you wanted to ask us here on the forum?

 

Best regards,

Jeran

DE22
Community Member

No, thank you.

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hiya DE22,

 

No problem at all! In that case, I'll go ahead and lock this thread. If you run into any more issues in the future, please feel free to create a new thread.

 

Thank you so much for your help on this, David!

 

Best regards,

Jeran