Hi after straining my poor eyes trying to see the crazy light colored print in your response, I think I can answer your questions.
In the order asked
- No, the device was taken straight from it's sealed box and began the connection to the Nest router.
- Yes, Some but not all. More specifically, of the three Nest displays connected, only one is able to access other devices such as the Nest Thermostat also on the network. Also I'm sure it's not coincidence that the one Display that dose work is a 2nd gen while the other two displays plus the mini I'm currently fighting with are all 1st gen devices.
- Yes, as stated above, I performed a factory reset (several times actually) to get the Home app to find the device again, and once it did, then to get it to show up on the network. Ultimately giving up once the same error occurred several times in a row.
- No, I can not, because as stated above, when I did perform the reset, I thought it would be a repeat of the first attempt, but it wasn't. It skipped the "activation" bit after it had run the first time, seemingly having flipped whatever bit it needed to in the firmware that then survived a factory reset. So now it no longer asks for the 2nd app.
After rereading my reply, I feel a correction is needed. When asked if other devices would connect to the network, I said some but not all. But that isn't correct. Everything in the house does connect, and the home app does indeed see them and allow me to add them to the home profile. What I actually meant by "some but not all" is that while everything is technically connected, only a few devices behave correctly and are able to have awareness of the other devices also connected, and are able to send control commands across the network to for instance, turn on/off lights.
As I'm piecing all of this together, I'm realizing that it's only the first gen devices (two Nest displays, and one Mini (different than the one that can't be fond on the network)) that are unable to communicate with other devices. They all say when asked to send some kind of command, that the device I'm asking to control is offline/unavailable. But it wasn't until now that I was able to see the connection between what was working and what wasn't, was determined by if they were first gen or second gen.
So clearly something has changed in the communication protocol for the first gen devices, and that is the underlying issue across my network.
But knowing this, still doesn't help me figure out how to get them working properly
Update to this issue:
As I've been trying to figure this stuff out and searching things an ongoing lawsuit between Google and Sonos has come to my attention, and is most definitely the underlying cause of all of my problems.
Now the problem is why is google breaking its devices, and as my mother is one of the most affected since she uses a pixel device, what are my options to a resolution?
Because from my position, it seems google is knowingly selling products that have the potential to just not work if you were loyal to the brand and bought into it's entire ecosystem. As the full weight of the situation sets in on me, anger is quickly replacing my confusion. I was never informed that google was removing functionality from the devices I've long since paid for, and bought solely for the features that they have so thoughtlessly taken away.
I no longer have any hopes of this problem getting resolved, but instead I'd like to know through what channels I can take to escalate this up the ladder. Because through no fault of my own have I found myself with a bunch of broken devices, and I'd like to know what they are going to do to right this situation.
