Google began rolling out a repair for its damaged second-generation Chromecast and Chromecast Audio units on Thursday. The problem quickly bricked hundreds of streaming dongles as a consequence of an expired license earlier this week.
Right here’s what the Google assist workforce stated on the Google Nest Neighborhood discussion board:
Hey everybody, thanks to your endurance whereas we work to resolve this challenge. Right here’s the newest:
We’ve began to roll out a repair for the issue with Chromecast (2nd gen) and Chromecast Audio units, which might be accomplished over the following few days. Your gadget should be related to obtain the replace.
For those who carried out a manufacturing facility reset throughout preliminary troubleshooting, you should still be experiencing a problem the place you can not re-setup your gadget. We’re working to resolve this as quickly as potential. Please proceed to test the Neighborhood web page right here for updates and subsequent steps.
We’ll replace this put up once more when Google shares extra updates.
[The original article follows below.]
Final 12 months, Chromecast joined the Google Graveyard as the corporate ended manufacturing of the streaming dongles. The streaming units themselves are nonetheless usable (for now), however this week, hundreds of Chromecast second-gen and Chromecast Audio house owners found that their TV streaming dongles had immediately stopped working. Fortunately, they haven’t been turned off for good, as Google acknowledged the difficulty and commenced engaged on a repair.
Anybody who tried to attach their cellphone to the 10-year-old Chromecast fashions this week noticed an error message indicating that it was an untrusted gadget or couldn’t be authenticated. Whereas some customers suspected that Google was quietly bricking the growing old dongles, it seems that it’s truly a technical drawback involving the firmware.
As defined by a Reddit consumer in a busy thread (through Ars Technica), Google constructed a certificates into the 2015 Chromecast fashions that expired on March 9, 2025. That simply so occurs to be precisely when all of those Chromecast customers began working into hassle.
In a put up on the Google Nest Neighborhood boards, Google confirmed discovering “an rising challenge impacting Chromecast 2nd gen and Chromecast Audio units” and stated {that a} repair is coming. Within the meantime, the corporate tells customers to not manufacturing facility reset their units.
“Don’t manufacturing facility reset your gadget – we’ll maintain you all up to date when the repair rolls out,” warns Google in a message. “When you’ve got already manufacturing facility reset your gadget, we’ll present directions to set your gadget again up as quickly as potential.”
Whether or not Google will proceed to assist these older streaming media gamers for the lengthy haul stays to be seen, however on the very least, the corporate is dedicated to fixing this drawback. Be sure you test the Google Nest Neighborhood thread for updates.
