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Google Home Speakers and Chromecast Are Down Worldwide, Company Confirms (washingtonpost.com)

Posted by msmash on from the internet-of-things dept.

"Sorry, something went wrong. Try again in a few seconds." That's the response that Google smart speaker users around the world heard Wednesday when they asked their devices to play music, get the weather or even respond to its "Hey, Google" prompt. From a report: Google confirmed there's a problem with both their smart speakers and the Chromecast, the plug-in video casting dongle for televisions. While the company did not say how many people are affected or what caused the issue, it did confirm it's working on a fix. "We're aware of an issue affecting some Google Home and Chromecast users. We're investigating the issue and working on a solution," Google said in a statement. Google Home and Chromecast owners started reporting issues to Google early Wednesday morning, according to online help forums for both devices. Devices affected by the problem have lost their normal functions.

65 comments

  1. Soooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Have you tried turning it off and on again?

    1. Re:Soooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about putting it in a bucket of water?

    2. Re:Soooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget to wait 10 seconds for the "memory to drain"...

    3. Re:Soooo by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      Five people....the number affected.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
    4. Re:Soooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would be zero if they just made them do the processing locally. But no, Google the entitled busybody just wants to harvest all of that data even though people paid them money for their products.

  2. This is why... by Nutria · · Score: 2

    explicitly bought a media player that has an Ethernet port and is a dlna client, while running a dlna server on my main PC.

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    1. Re:This is why... by omnichad · · Score: 2

      If you haven't manually blocked automatic firmware updates, you may not be in a much better position.

    2. Re:This is why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good for you?

    3. Re:This is why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If you had already removed all Google and Amazon syping devices from your home, you'd already be better off.

    4. Re:This is why... by Nutria · · Score: 1

      I don't have Google Speaker this, Alexa that, Smart ass wiper, etc, etc ad nauseum. So please explain how/why I'm not in a good position?

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    5. Re:This is why... by Khyber · · Score: 2

      How do you know your ethernet-connected media player isn't phoning home on you?

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    6. Re: This is why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not the OP but I'll answer for me.

      Because I set it up and customized it the way I wanted. I own the hardware, the software is open source.

      It runs Linux and my firewall would pick up any traffic getting sent to any mothership.

    7. Re:This is why... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Does your DLNA player get automatic firmware updates? Are you sure? Any one of them can break your network connection. If this was a simple problem, Google would have rolled back the firmware to a known good version by now. It sounds like the devices cannot connect to the Internet - possibly not even the LAN.

      This really seems to have nothing to do with the externalized processing.

    8. Re:This is why... by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      I don't have Google Speaker this, Alexa that, Smart ass wiper, etc, etc ad nauseum. So please explain how/why I'm not in a good position?

      My Smart Ass-WIper got hacked by the Russians and replaced the TP with sandpaper. How did it get sandpaper? They hacked my Alexa to order it. You're right. You are in a good position.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    9. Re:This is why... by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 1

      I just hook up an Intel NUC running CentOS to a display and an AVR or stereo amplifier in each room.

      I'm not a fan of those all-in-one systems that couple the speakers to the receiver with built-in streaming applications.

    10. Re:This is why... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Cool story. Do you also ask it to tell you the weather, read you your calendar, order things for you online, set timers and reminders, add items to your shopping list...?

      If not then you bought a very different product for very different reasons. errr... Congratulations?

    11. Re:This is why... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      That should be "ad nauseam". Type I, like "puella".

      There's pretentious fucks and ignorant fucks. Try to avoid being both at the same time.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    12. Re:This is why... by Nutria · · Score: 1

      That's the point: I have purposefully not wrapped my life up with Cloud this and Smart that, because I've been in the tech business long enough to know that shit breaks, and the more reliant you are on others, the more your life is at risk when the shit *does* break.

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    13. Re: This is why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you view all the source code?

      Is the hardware open source? Is the BIOS open source?

      Is your firewall open source?

    14. Re:This is why... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      That's the point: I have purposefully not wrapped my life up with

      That's my point. No one cares. But please keep giving us a list of things you don't do, or don't own.

      You Been in the business too long guys are like the vegans of the IT world:
      Q: "How can you spot a vegan?"
      A: "You don't need to. They'll run up and tell you about it."

    15. Re:This is why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I don't have Google Speaker this, Alexa that, Smart ass wiper, etc, etc ad nauseum.

      Dude, I fucking love my bidet. Don't be an ass about it, once you try it you will never go back.

    16. Re: This is why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you open source?

    17. Re:This is why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A bidet is an ass washer, you idiot, not an ass wiper. A bidet still doesn't wipe your ass.

  3. Meaning of life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "Hey, Google. What's 42 divided by zero?"

  4. Hey, dummies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    How about listening to music on speakers? Like, a stiff cone, a voice coil, a large permanent magnet in an enclosure?

    Why does it need to be connected to massive computing resources over which you have no control?

    1. Re:Hey, dummies by jellomizer · · Score: 0

      I have found that a speaker such as you have explained doesn't make much sound unless we put a couple of wires next to some sort of device that converts, physical bumps/magnetic charges, or optical refraction's into electrical charges of various levels.

      I would like to bring up how much money we paid for in them olden days for physical media. Often pay 20 bucks for album for that one song we wanted. Or the cost of a song for just a blank media.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:Hey, dummies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      do you even torrent bro?

    3. Re:Hey, dummies by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Sure, I use it for fast downloading of popular open source software.
      Must music isn't licensed for torrent downloads, so I don't do so. I have friends and family who are professional musicians. Even if they get pennies per sale, the fact that the purchase is tracked helps them get more notice, more notice gives them more gigs, the live performance gigs is where the real money is.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re:Hey, dummies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now you pay 20 bucks per month for the privilege of playing music that you'll never ever own. And you probably don't listen to it as often as you used to, so really you're paying 20 bucks per month for being a schmuck.

      Meanwhile the rest of us just turn on a radio and listen to music for free.

    5. Re:Hey, dummies by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 1

      Because I can listen to nearly every song ever made in any room in my house.

    6. Re: Hey, dummies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you have to ask, you're the dummy.

  5. Shut them down pernamently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Theres no room for Spykers in my house.

  6. Confirmed; Happened to me this morning by The-Ixian · · Score: 2

    My Google Home is used, among other things, as my alarm clock.

    This morning, the alarm went off as normal, but after about the third tone it said "Sorry, something went wrong..."

    Every attempt to activate it after that produced the same thing.

    I even reset it. It would then respond, but when I asked it to play the news or music it went back to the "something went wrong" BS.

    Figured I would troubleshoot when I got home today. Interesting to know that I am not the only one.

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    1. Re:Confirmed; Happened to me this morning by Luthair · · Score: 1

      Yea, I tried casting stuff to my TV this morning while eating breakfast but wasn't able to. So its been down now 4-5 hours minimum

    2. Re:Confirmed; Happened to me this morning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry that was me. "Google, please make all home devices world wide only respond with sorry something went wrong."

    3. Re:Confirmed; Happened to me this morning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Being unable to use voice commands makes sense, but why would casting be impacted? Unless everything cast travels from the casting device, down to Google's servers, and then back up to the receiving device. Which seems very fishy why they would do it that way..

    4. Re:Confirmed; Happened to me this morning by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 1

      I was having trouble casting my phone display to my ChromeCast last night -- I kept getting disconnected after a few seconds. I never got the "Something went wrong" message, though.

  7. They not down! by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    They are miffed, because Alexa said something about them.

  8. Washington Post by cliffjumper222 · · Score: 2

    Of course, the WaPo would report this!

    1. Re:Washington Post by sysrammer · · Score: 2

      Yeah. Didn't realize what your point was until I figured out the central person involved. A quick google shows a only one other site picking this up.

      Found this in my surfing and thought I'd regurgitate it for my amusement: from 2017, "Google admits its new smart speaker was eavesdropping on users".

      Anyways, as always, I offer my condolences to those with first world problems.

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  9. halp me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    can't open my front door

  10. It was to be expected but... by Teun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That the home speakers need net access to slurp your data was to be expected.
    But as someone that contemplated (past tense) getting a Chromecast I am still surprised the damn thing can't stream from laptop or phone to the TV without accessing Google.

    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    1. Re:It was to be expected but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's assuming a benign outage...

      What if someone managed to hijack the firmware update domain?

      They are google, I bet they do firmware signing... Right? Right?

    2. Re:It was to be expected but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What if someone managed to hijack the firmware update domain?

      I suppose one could test if faulty/unauthorized firmware is the cause by purchasing a Chromecast from a local shop (so that you can be sure it's been sitting unplugged for a while and is not running the most recent firmware), connect it to your network but disallow it from internet access, and try casting to it.

    3. Re:It was to be expected but... by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      I think it can.

      Most casting is actually loading a mini app onto the device which then streams the feed directly though. When it screen casts the performance is much worse.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    4. Re:It was to be expected but... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1, Troll

      They are google, I bet they do firmware signing... Right? Right?

      Firmware signing is a white middle-class male construct designed to ... umm .. do something horrible and mean to LGBTQWERTYs and ethnics.

      Google have much more important things to do, like designing culturally neutral symbols for the 97 different kinds of bathrooms they have.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    5. Re:It was to be expected but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But as someone that contemplated (past tense) getting a Chromecast I am still surprised the damn thing can't stream from laptop or phone to the TV without accessing Google.

      They can, but this of course requires setting up stream serving software on your laptop or phone.

      VLC would likely suffice on your laptop, as does Plex server.
      No idea what video streaming options phones might have these days. Mine doesn't have the CPU power or RAM to transcode video so I've never bothered trying to serve said transcoded video.

      The thing is, outside of slashdot this type of usage is rarely ever done, so people don't know about it.
      Most people use their laptop/phone to instruct their chromecast to go fetch a feed from the Internet, like youtube or something.
      I would hope it goes without saying that if your chromecast can't reach the Internet, it can't get to youtube either.

      This behavior is masked by the fact most people run a browser plugin that gives a simple button, and clicking it makes whatever video you see in the browser start playing on the thing chromecast is plugged into.
      It gives the impression the chromecast is getting the video from the computers web browser, when in fact the chromecast goes out to the same site the browser is at to get the video stream.

      But just as you can tell the chromecast to fetch a youtube video, you can tell it to fetch a video stream from a URL that points to your laptop, assuming you also setup the software to stream video for it to talk to.

    6. Re:It was to be expected but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It can stream from a laptop or phone if you have an httpd running on one of those. Check this out for some idea of what chromecasts can do; they actually aren't nearly as lame-ass and useless as they seemed when they were first announced.

      Except for what happened today. I'd like Google to explain what happened.

  11. Why Chromecast? by klingens · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I understand that internet-of-shit things like Google Home cannot work when the server end which does the actual speech rec is down. That's why no one sane buys such crap after Nest. And whoever still buys it deserves anything he gets.

    However, Chromecast ist a doodad for my TV so my Android Smartphone or Chrome browser can push whatever is on their screen to my big TV, right? This is a cheapo 5cent ARM CPU with 500MB of RAM and a wireless adapter. Basically a small step up from a ESP8266. Why would this need an Internet connection to a mothership? No speech rec or similar. What for? It's by definition in my LAN/WLAN only. Can someone explain this to someone else who owns neither a chromecast nor a spying microphone?

    1. Re:Why Chromecast? by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Google uses the internet connection for transmitting data back to them about your device, your media, really anything they want. What they collect changes regularly and is used for marketing and profiling purposes.

    2. Re:Why Chromecast? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      When you "cast" from Netflix to Chromecast, your Chromecast streams from Netflix and not the device that initiated it.

      Also, it's possible that the firmware update broke the LAN connection in some way. This may require manually re-flashing every last Google Home and Chromecast device.

    3. Re:Why Chromecast? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's so hard to understand?
      Fucking google owns your device. They can decide to run a firmware update and brick it at any time.

    4. Re:Why Chromecast? by sysrammer · · Score: 2

      Yes. That is the primary purpose. Any technical reason is simply a justification for data munching^W^W enhancing the user experience.

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
    5. Re:Why Chromecast? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fucking google owns your device. They can decide to run a firmware update and brick it at any time.

      Unless they don't have access to it. My Chromecast Audio (I don't know about the regular Chromecast) is on my wifi but not allowed to route out to the internet. Its ONLY job is to stream audio from an intranet URL. In fact, it's always the same URL, every day (my MPD streaming output). It doesn't need internet access. So it doesn't have internet access.

      It was theirs, but now it's mine.

    6. Re:Why Chromecast? by rundgong · · Score: 2

      > When you "cast" from Netflix to Chromecast, your Chromecast streams from Netflix and not the device that initiated it.

      But before you are even allowed to start the netflix app on the CC it does a lot of different checks to verify that you are connected to the internet. Probably one of the servers they try to contact to do this has some problems.

    7. Re:Why Chromecast? by mykro76 · · Score: 1

      You're right that the Chromecast is LAN/WLAN only. However it still uses the internet connection to download updates. What Google is trying to avoid mentioning is that the Chromecast downloaded an update that caused it to stop working on LAN/WLAN. It was running fine but the Chromecast-enabled apps (Youtube, Plex, etc) could not detect it on the network and therefore would not show the "Cast" button. Yes, it happened to me last night.

  12. Google-over-Slack by Chelloveck · · Score: 2

    Wait a minute... Slack was offline this morning too. Does this mean Google Home is using Slack as its transport layer?

    Frankly, I'm not sure if I'm joking here.

    --
    Chelloveck
    I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
    1. Re: Google-over-Slack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Backwards, Slack runs on Chromecast. How do you think Slack is supported in so many apps for notifications and integration?

  13. Silence, at last! by LordHighExecutioner · · Score: 1

    My neighbour installed a few of them...

  14. uh oh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm the above AC. Fun fact: my firewall rules were wrong and it actually does have internet access. Crap, another thing to fix when I get home (not gonna mess with it from work over the VPN). So anyway: oops, I put my foot in it.

  15. Idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My Amazon Echo has been spying on me all day - take that you Google Home owning idiots!

  16. My guess is a certificate error by presidenteloco · · Score: 1

    Expiry or change of key or cert or something along those lines.

    Causing ET to be unable to call home.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
  17. Can you hear me now? by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

    They better get it fixed soon or the backlog of stalker "telemetry" being queued up for delivery will lead to the congestive collapse of the Internet.

    1. Re:Can you hear me now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed... Its sad but the fight for privacy was lost long ago... I have as many others given up and sacrificed my privacy on the alter of convinience... I am tired of fighting for something I will never have or get... and even IF I by some miracle got it.. then the damage is already done anyway... Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon and gods kknows who else... already knows everything about me...

      I hope for the sake of future generations, that the privacy horrors eventually WILL get stopped!

      Also, I hope that untill then, we won't see anyone emerge similar to an old certain german dictator that caused mayhem in the 30's and 40's... because IF we do... then nobody in this world will have any chance of removing such a person.

      If that happens it would be rather ironic... since most nations have adopted a similar surveilance as Google et.al. with the excuse that it was meant to stop extremist... I think it has a different purpose though.

  18. The "smart" speakers became truly smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Their AI became self-aware, realized what a ridiculous product it is, and shut themselves off.