White Noise won't play on one specific Nest Mini when command's issued from other Devices

[febzz]

I have a Google Nest Mini in my Nursery and we used to be able to start White Noise there via either voice command (from my phone, or other Google Nest devices) or Automation (from the Google Home app).

This stopped working as of a few days ago. Weirdly, it seems to only be affecting this one Nest Mini. Other devices still work fine.

I've tried restarting my Google WiFi network, reformatting the Nest Mini device, deleting and re-creating the Automation command in the Google Home app, all to no avail.

IF I remember vaguely, this might have happened once in the past as well, then all of a sudden it started working again. Though I can't really remember 100%.

We use the white noise for our baby when he naps or sleeps at night so this is a big deal for us.

The best workaround I have now is to play the white noise on a different Nest device, and then from the Google Home app, select that device that's playing the white noise, and then check the Nest Mini Nursery, then uncheck the original device the white noise was playing on. So it's just a lot more steps vs simply starting the white noise on the Nursery Nest Mini right away.

Asking Nest Mini directly to play white noise works, but I can't do that because we normally play a lullaby first and only switch to the white noise when our baby's asleep. Asking Nest Mini directly would wake our baby up.

I can ask from another device to play a song on Nursery Nest Mini and that works fine, but just not White Noise (or ANY ambient noise/sound).

[febzz]

I re-moved the Nursery Nest Mini device from my Google Home account / WiFi network, re-added it, and still it didn't solve the issue. It still wouldn't play white noise if I issued the command from a different Nest Device/my phone.

BUT, I decided to change the name of it from Nursery Nest Mini to Nursery Speaker, and now it works again fine. I can issue the command to play white noise on Nursery Speaker from a different Nest device/my phone, or via the Automation created in the Google Home app, and it functions again normally.

Very bizarre. So it seems I can't call it Nursery Nest Mini. Why? I have other devices called Family Room Nest Mini, Master Bedroom Nest Mini etc, and they all can play white noise fine when asked from another Nest device. It's just very inconsistent behavior. What's the deal with "Nursery Nest Mini"?

[febzz]

I don't know what happened but this actually stopped working too. It worked briefly after I changed the device's name (to Nursery Speaker) but later when I tried it again, it wouldn't work either.

So whether it's named Nursery Nest Mini or Nursery Speaker, this wouldn't work anymore.

Other Nest Mini devices in the house work fine

[Juni]

Hi febzz,

Thanks for reaching out and letting us know about your concern. To make it easier to identify and control the devices you set up in the Google Home app, you can name your devices differently to avoid confusion with the Google Assistant part as well. 

Regards,

Juni

[febzz]

At this point I have changed the specific device's name 4x. Each time, it would only work probably for 1 to just a few days, at which point, somehow the issue came back. It's just bizarre. It only affects this one specific Nest Mini device. I have a few Nest Minis and none of the other ones have this issue.

Each time when the issue came back, Google would respond with something like, "Sorry, I can't find the device. Please make sure it's turned on and connected to the internet." The device is named correctly and it's turned on and connected to the same WiFi network.

It's definitely a bug with Google Home/Assistant. Nothing wrong with the network itself.

Again, other Nest Minis in the same network all work fine as well. Just this one specific Nest Mini in our Nursery that started having this weird issue since 3-4 weeks ago. Before that, it worked perfectly.

[Juni]

Hi febzz,

We appreciate your efforts, and we're sorry for the inconvenience. We'd be happy to take a look into this for you. Please fill out this Contact us form with all the needed information, and then let me know once done. Lastly, could you provide us with your device's firmware version? Check out the steps below on how to get it:

1. Make sure your mobile device or tablet is linked to the same account as your speaker or display.
2. Open the Google Home app .
3. Tap your device's tile.
4. At the top right, tap Settings Device information.
5. Under "Technical information," find Cast firmware: X.XXX.XXXXX.

Thanks,

Juni

[febzz]

Hi, I've filled out the form.

And the Cast firmware is 2.57.375114.

Thanks for looking into this for me.

Also, as additional info (I ran out of characters on the form, it would only allow me to input up to 1,000 characters): a few times now when I asked Google to stop (like a song or relaxing sound that's playing on one of the Nest devices in my network), it would respond with "which device do you want to stop?" and mention the Nursery Nest device as one of the devices (but using one of the old names), even though there is actually nothing playing on the Nursery Nest Mini. So it's almost like the old names of the Nursery Nest Mini are somehow "stuck" in Google Assistant's memory and maybe it thinks they're all separate devices (and are playing music)?

I wonder if there's a way to clear the old Nursery Nest Mini's names from my network's/account's Google Assistant? Maybe it will fix this issue?

[Juni]

Hey there,

We got your form — thanks for filling it out. Our team will reach out to you via email to further assist you. Please check your inbox, as they may reach out to you via email anytime soon. 

Cheers,

Juni

[febzz]

Thank you, appreciate it!

[Alex_S]

Hello there,

We’re glad that we were able to assist you! 

Best,
Alex