Adding Bose Soundbar remote crashed bose and removed bose soundbar from Bose music

[hmstanley]

This is an odd bug and I did this twice, so I know it's reproducible

I have a Bose 900 home theater.  You set this up within the Bose music app.  Bose actually attaches the device to your account, so you have a managed bose system within the Bose music app.

As some have experienced on this board, I was having issues with the Bose 900 soundbar NOT turning off when I turned off the TV/Chromecast.  I also could not see any setting within power sync under the Bose music app, so i thought, hey, I'll setup a remote within Chromecast and see if I can pair the Bose soundbar to my Google remote.  

1. Went to settings > Remotes > Add new remote
2. I selected soundbar and then bose
3. It then shows you a picture of the Google remote and tells you it's gonna play a sound and you can use the vol up/down and if the vol/up/down works, click ok.
4. Well, the first one didn't control the volume on the bose
5. it then tries a set of new codes I guess, and immediately the chromecast hangs and the bose app entirely resets my soundbar within the bose music app, as if it got a "factory reset" command or something.  I really don't know, but getting the Bose soundbar back online is a complete nightmare since you can't delete it from your managed systems, since it thinks it's still managed by your account.  You need to reconnect the wifi, and then delete it from bose and completely re-add it to the bose music and google home app.  It's an hour long journey and if you don't know what you're doing, you're borked.

I got this to happen twice, since I wasn't sure it was a bug.  It could also mean I have a wonky bose 900 soundbar and maybe I should return it.. but, it plays music.

Now, instead of ONE bose system in my google home, I have two and one is deactivated and I can't remove it, since I didn't remove it from the Google home app first.. these ghost devices are just horrible UI for Google home and they should have a force remove for devices that you don't have or own, but now I have two Bose devices in my Google assistant and I can't remove one of them.  It also completely borked a few other Google home settings.

anyway, I don't have any idea why this happened, but don't add support for your bose soundbar to your google chromecast, you will literally kill your system.

[loop2]

This happened to me multiple times, too. Bose 900 soundbar, attempting to connect volume to the Chromecast remote.

[hmstanley]

Do you have ghost devices that can’t be removed?  I have two Bose 900 soundbars that I can’t remove one. It’s screwed up my assistant settings. Did any of this happen to you?

[loop2]

I had a ghost soundbar at one point, but I was finally able to work around and get it removed. Forgive me, I forget exactly how as it was late and I'd hit the frustration point of mashing buttons to try and get it fixed. I may have added it to a different home and then deleted that home setup? I can't remember exactly. ☹️ But it was a huge pain in the arse to accomplish.

[Juni]

Hi folks, 

hmstanley, thanks for reaching out, and sorry for the delay. We sure do appreciate all the troubleshooting you did. Have you tried the steps provided by loop2 to remove ghost devices from your Google Home app? Do you still need assistance linking your Bose soundbar to your Chromecast Voice Remote? 

loop2, I’m glad it’s resolved now. If you need further help, let me know.

Regards

Juni

[hmstanley]

I refuse to create a new home to only create issues with my current home setup.  I've done this ONCE and that time I completely messed up my home automation and devices being in two homes and not working at all, so I won't do this again.

You need to add a function to Google home that allows the user to remove ghost or no longer used devices that were 1) not reset properly or 2) were created as a result of a bug (like the one above) and you have two devices within your Google Assistant device list and there is absolutely NO way to remove that device.

This is a GRAND oversight, as every other single home automation system has a force remove function, but not Google.

[loop2]

I was just going to say the same thing. My workaround, for which I can't even give complete instructions, is not a solution. Nor does it solve the issue where the Chromecast is seemingly factory resetting an independent device and removing it from its proprietary app.

The ghost devices are just one small part of a much larger problem. And that larger problem is making me want to move away from Google devices, as they seem to not play well with others.

[hmstanley]

Thanks, this perfectly describes my experience..

Trying to setup the remote inside Chromecast resulted in Chromecast somehow (I have no idea how) factory resetting my Bose 900 soundbar and leaving the remements in my Google home that I can't remove..so I have duplicate Bose soundbars and no way to remove the one that Google factory reset.. it's madness really.

It's a very very easy bug to reproduce.. I do NOT recommend those of you who have a Bose 900 soundbar integrated with Google home.

1. Go to Chromecast
2. Go to Settings > Remotes
3. Setup new remote 
4. Select Soundbar
5. Select Bose as the vendor
6. You get to a screen where it will ask you to hit the Chromecast remove volume buttons and if the sounds levels change to indicate
7. Well, at first it's fine, first remote settings DO NOT work
8. You get to the next set of codes I'm sure Google Chromecast it running through
9. BOOM, the entire Bose 900 soundbar is factory reset
10. It's no longer on the wifi
11. You can't get access to it within Bose
12. You can't setup a new one because the old one is "in service" according to Bose's Hardware RIghts Management System, where you register a Bose device within the app
13. You are literally stuck.. the only way I got around it was connecting a USB cable to the Bose and telling it to connect to my wifi and then I was able to remove and reconnect the device.  It was a total nightmare and cost me literally hours of effort and panic

At the end of this horror, I have TWO bose 900 soundbars affiliated with my Google Assistant.  I could NOT remove the one that was factory reset and I the one I re-added is acting funky and is not behaving the same was it did when I initially set this up.  I have found NO way to remove the old Bose 900 soundbar because Google offers NO way to force delete devices.

[Juni]

Hi there,

Check out this link and see Bose speakers are still linked. If so, you can remove it from there. 

I hope this helps.

Best,

Juni

[hmstanley]

Thanks.. but this just lists the services "Works with Google".. it does not list devices.. 

[Juni]

Hello there,

Got it. Here is another link for you. Check this one out and unlink unwanted devices.

Thanks,

Juni

[hmstanley]

thank you and per your first link, I did find this devices list page.  I actually "logged" out of some of the devices I thought may be the offending ones, but this resulted in to changes to my Google home and those devices were still present and not removed, even tho, I believe I signed out of those devices.

[Juni]

Hey hmstanley,

Understood. Try creating a new home structure and observe if it will still show there. If not, you can move your devices to the new home structure. See the steps below on how to create a new home.

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Tap Settings Add.
3. Select Home.
4. Follow the steps.

See this link for more information.

Regards,

Juni

[hmstanley]

No. I won’t. 

what you are asking us to do is break the existing google home, potentially break further devices by opening a new home. I have done this before and it offers no fixes. Do not ask your customers to potentially break their existing home app, which you are doing to “see” if this fixes the problem. It doesn’t. 

fix the problem.