Two new Google Nest minis, both require "activation"

[CherylK]

I just purchased 2 nest mini speakers. Setting up with my Pixel 6. Both give error "  Nest mini found. It needs to be activated before setup". I've restarted the phone, and reset the Mini, with the same results. I don't have another phone. 

How should I proceed?

[JillG · Accepted solution]

Hi @CherylK 

It's not just you. See this community blog post:  Heads Up: Device Activation - Google Nest Community  

I don't have any more info than that.  

[CherylK · Accepted solution]

I ended up having to borrow a phone to make this happen. I hope Google fixes this, it's not a reasonable solution. Thanks.

[JillG · Accepted solution]

Hi @CherylK 

It's not just you. See this community blog post:  Heads Up: Device Activation - Google Nest Community  

I don't have any more info than that.  

[Azarco]

Hey CherylK,

JillG, thanks for that information.

For most Google Nest devices you will only need to use the Device Utility app to complete the initial setup, after which the device should receive an update. For devices that don’t have software updates available, the Device Utility app will be needed for each setup. Please refer to this help center article for steps on how to use the Device Utility app to complete device setup.

Let us know how it goes.

Best,

Alex

[Azarco]

Hey CherylK,

I wanted to follow up and see if you are still in need of any help. Please let me know if you are still having any trouble from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.

Thanks,
Alex

[Azarco]

Hey CherylK,

One quick final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need assistance, feel free to start a new thread in the community and we’ll be happy to help.

Kind regards,

Alex

[CherylK · Accepted solution]

I ended up having to borrow a phone to make this happen. I hope Google fixes this, it's not a reasonable solution. Thanks.

[Blaze2000]

This is not at all acceptable and needs to be resolved. 

[CherylK]

Also note that the "help center article" is of no help as it does not address how to connect this hardware. 

[Muddi]

Hey CherylK,

Thanks for updating the Community forum of your resolution. We appreciate all your feedback, and rest assured that it will be passed over to the team. Feel free also to send feedback using your device by saying, "Hey Google, send feedback," or follow the steps on this link.

 It looks like we can consider this one complete, so I will lock the thread shortly unless I can help out with anything else.
 

Cheers,

Muddi

[Muddi]

Hey CherylK,

As we got our resolution here, I'm going to mark this thread as resolved. I'll be locking this thread if we won't hear back from you again in 24 hrs. Should that happen, feel free to create a new one if you have more questions or have other concerns in the future.

Cheers,

Muddi

[RSMuirhead]

I find it mildly absurd that you cannot use Google's flagship phone (Pixel 6) to "activate" a Google Nest Mini. I, too, had to dig an old Motorola smart phone out of my desk drawer in order to get Google Home to recognize and set up the Mini. 

But there you go - that *is* the solution to the problem we faced in setting up the Mini. 

[Muddi]

Hey RSMuirhead,

I can confirm that you can use Google Pixel 6 to set up any Google Home/Nest speakers and display. Could you tell us more about what happened? Also, what country are you located in?

Thanks,

Muddi

[CherylK]

Muddi,

There seems to be a problem with more than one Pixel 6 not being able to activate the Google Nest Mini. Maybe it's not all of them, but I'm not the only one who has reported this issue and been told that the solution is to use another cell phone to activate. So, I'll have to concur with RSMuirhead's assessment. I am also in the US, also tried the Device Utility app (with no success), and had to borrow another phone to get the speakers activated.

[RSMuirhead]

Muddi - what she said... 🙄 👆

Rob

[Muddi]

Hey CherylK and RSMuirhead,

Thanks for the added information. We'd love to further investigate the issue. Could you tell us the firmware version of your devices, including the Pixel 6 phone.

Cheers,

Muddi

[CherylK]

Android version 12 on the Pixel 6, this was  the version at the time I tried to set up the Google Nest Mini. The Minis updated after connecting so not sure how that is relevant. They are both currently on firmware version 279716.

You can also find various reports of this same behavior by looking through this Community and by some various Reddit threads. I was hoping that something had been done since those reports but apparently not. Thanks, Cheryl

[Princesss · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone, 

We're truly sorry about this inconvenience. This is not the experience that we want you to have. In line with this, you can follow the steps on this thread as this was the official post to further discuss this.

Best,

Princess

[RSMuirhead]

No idea how to check the firmware on the Mini. My Pixel 6 is running Android 12 with updates through July 5th as of when the issue was encountered. Not seeing reference to firmware for the phone. Let me know if you need anything else (and perhaps how to locate it...)

[RSMuirhead]

Hi, Muddi. My experience with my new Nest Mini mirrors CherylK's. I got the same 'need to activate before setup' msg. and went to the Help article referred to. As I'm in the US (East Coast), I followed the US directions to attempt the Google TV "setup flow" (very unhelpful instruction, that...) and got absolutely no where. Even tried downloading the Device Utility app - as you can guess, that didn't work. The Google TV didn't find the new speaker; didn't really do anything. Remembered my old Moto Z3 in a desk drawer, re-attempted the setup and it took IMMEDIATELY. 

Not quite sure what I did wrong, but tried multiple times, rebooted the Pixel 6 (2X), same with the Mini. Nada. The old phone activated the speaker immediately.