How do I activate a Gen1 Chromecast?

[parryjm]

Having an issue with casting my PC to a 1st Gen Chromecast on my Samsung TV.

Don’t know if it has something to do with connecting to my Wireless Network.  I say this because when I switch my source on the TV to the Chromecast device connected to HDMI3 port on my TV, the TV screen shows…

“Living Room TV” cannot find the “Home Wireless LAN” Wi-Fi.

“Run the Google Home App to connect to the network”

I tried connecting my TV’s wireless to both wireless networks with no success.  It appears my Chromecast is looking for “Home Wireless LAN”, but cannot find it.

I recently replaced my “old” combined Modem/Router with a “new” combined Modem/Router.  Under the “Old” Modem/Router my SSID name was simply “Home Wireless LAN” and the Chromecast worked.

In my “new” combined Modem/Router, I have two wireless networks listed - “Home Wireless LAN-2.4 GHz” and “Home Wireless LAN-5GHz”.  Since “Home Wireless LAN” is not listed, I’m thinking my Chromecast is still looking for “Home Wireless LAN” and not finding it.

Some additional information…

When I try to launch Chromecast through my Chrome Browser, I can see a number of devices.  All 5 of my Google speakers are listed as being “available”.  My “[TV] Samsung LED55 is listed, but is “available for specific video stream”.  What does this mean?

When I run the Google Home App on my Google Pixel 2 XL phone to setup a “new” device for my “Home”, it looks for devices and presents the following – “Chromecast found.  It needs to be activated before setup”.  How does one go about activating a Chromecast device?

I did a factory reset on my Chromecast and it still wants me to activate my Chromecast.  How do I do this?

[David_K]

If you're seeing the "activation" message, follow these steps:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Blog/Heads-Up-Device-Activation/ba-p/176077

[parryjm]

Was advised to try running the Google Home App on a non-Pixel phone.

I downloaded and loaded Google Home on an iPad and tried running the App to connect my Gen 1 Chromecast to my TV and was still unable to get it working, even after doing another factory reset.

I was expecing the App to allow me to connect the Chromecast to my wireless network. It seem to locate the device, but I was not presented any option to proceed.

[David_K]

Try these steps as a workaround. First make sure both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are turned ON on your phone or tablet.

1. Go to the Wi-Fi settings on your mobile device.
   
   
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 you previously set up your Chromecast and haven't factory reset it since it lost connection to your Wi-Fi network, look for the name of the Chromecast that you assigned to it in the list of available networks on your mobile device.
   
   
3. If you can successfully connect to the Chromecast Wi-Fi network in your Wi-Fi settings, open the Google Home app and try to set up the device.

[parryjm]

I am able to connect to Chromecast2240 that is connected to my TV.  It says connected, but no Internet.  Not having Internet access shoud not be an issue.  Correct?

I assume I should be using the Google Home App on the iPad instead of my Google Pixel Phone.  Is that correct?

[parryjm]

I went ahead and was able to complete the setup process using the iPad.

I can now cast music to the TV connected to the Chromecast from the iPad and from my Google Pixel Phone.

However, I still cannot cast from Google Chrome on my Windows 10 computer.

[TV]Samsung LED55 is listed when I attempt to Cast, but it is grayed out.

It says "Available for specific video sites".

In the past I was able to display my computer screen on the TV.

Am I now only able to Cast certain things (e.g. music and video)?

[David_K]

That's good news. For tab casting, are you following these steps?
https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/322833

[parryjm]

Clicked on the link you provided and got this...

[David_K]

Looks like the link didn't copy correctly! It's this one:
https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/3228332

[parryjm · Accepted solution]

I was finally able to get my computer to cast to my TV.

instead of selecting "Cast desktop", my choice I selected was "Cast Screen".

Thanks for all your help.

[Jeran]

Hiya parryjm,

I'm glad to hear that you got your device activated! In that case, did you have any other questions? 

Thank you for your help on this, David!

Best regards,
Jeran
 

[JenniferV]

Hi parryjm,

We haven't heard from you in a while so we’ll be locking this thread if there’s no update within 24 hours. If you still have other questions and concerns, please feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.

Thanks for the help here, davidking and Jeran.

Regards,

Jennifer

[parryjm]

Do you not read the posts for this.  David & Jeran got me to a solution for my issue.  The case can be closed.

[JenniferV]

Hello there,

Understood. I'll go ahead and lock this thread now. If you have any new issues, updates, or just a discussion topic, feel free to start a new thread in the Community.

Thanks,

Jennifer