Contributor I

Unable to turn on/off TV through voice command (chromecast)

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
October 5, 2022
36 replies
3113 views

Hi

I have a weird issue. For years I have been able to turn on/off my TV through voice command using google assistant on my Sonos One. Suddenly this has stopped working, and the google assistant in Sonos says “Sorry unknown error has occured on [name of my chromecast]” (this error might not be precise, I have translated it from my native language).

I am able to for example pause/unpause the chromecast using voice command.

If if say the exact same turn on/off command using the Assistant app on my phone the TV turns on/off.

I have tried unlinking/removing my assistant both in Google Home app, and in the Sonos. Linked it again, and went through the setup process, but the same error occurs. I have also tried renaming my Chromecast (found that advice in a similar thread), but same result.

Both my Sonos One and Chromecast has newest firmware.

If i go to https://myactivity.google.com/ and filter on assistant, I can see the command, and here it also says that unknown error has occured.

Anyone else experienced this problem, or have any advice on how to debug this?

TIA

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jgatie

Is CEC enabled on your TV and Chromecast?

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bstAuthor

Contributor I

Yes it is, and it works if if issue the command from the Google Assistant app on my phone.

Ken_Griffiths

So did you rename the "Sonos (Room Name) TV" device, or did you assign it a nickname instead?.. I would perhaps try assigning it a unique nickname instead of renaming the device …and see if that works for you, but remember to include the nickname in the voice instruction and ensure no other device/room in the Google Home has the same name.

Just as an example, if you assign the control a nickname of "BST’s TV” then it’s ‘Hey Google turn on BST’s TV"

S

SimonHeide

Lyricist I

I have exactly the same issue. Google assistance can turn on/off my TV but when asking Sonos to do it, I receive an unknown error. However, I can still stream audio and video via Sonos. It is only the turn on/off function, which is not working.

It have been working for years up to now. I did not change anything, the problem just suddenly appeared. I have the feeling it was shortly after updating my Sonos.

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bstAuthor

Contributor I

Hey Ken

Thanks for your reply, I am not sure I understand what you mean. My chromecast is not known in my Sonos app/environment. I tried renaming the Chromecast device in the Google Home app, here I tried renaming it to something unique.

And if I do “Hey Google, turn the volume up on BST’s TV”, than that command works. This is what puzzles me greatly, some commands work, but turn on/off does not.

Ken_Griffiths

Hey Ken

Thanks for your reply, I am not sure I understand what you mean. My chromecast is not known in my Sonos app/environment. I tried renaming the Chromecast device in the Google Home app, here I tried renaming it to something unique.

And if I do “Hey Google, turn the volume up on BST’s TV”, than that command works. This is what puzzles me greatly, some commands work, but turn on/off does not.

Sometimes more than one device can control the on/off functions of a TV and be linked to the voice assistant.

As an example my LG TV has the Google assistant built-in and the TV skill/action itself can turn on/off the TV (mic is built into the TV remote), I can also control the TV with the Sonos action/skill (in works with Google) and also with the Harmony action/skill linked to the Harmony Hub that I use to change TV channels - so in each case, I have called the TV by different names for each of the devices - my Sonos nickname is ‘Living Room TV’, whereas my Harmony Hub knows it as just ‘TV’ and my LG TV calls it the ‘Lounge TV’ - so depending on the name I include in the voice instruction will relate to which action/skill actually switches the TV ‘on’ or ‘off’ etc... and most such actions/skills default their own connected television names to ‘TV’ - So that’s why my suggestion is to look at which devices might be controlling your TV (i.e. Chromecast & Sonos etc.) and change their nickname to something ‘unique’ and include that in the voice instruction and see if it solves your issue.

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bstAuthor

Contributor I

Hey Ken

Thanks for your reply, I am not sure I understand what you mean. My chromecast is not known in my Sonos app/environment. I tried renaming the Chromecast device in the Google Home app, here I tried renaming it to something unique.

And if I do “Hey Google, turn the volume up on BST’s TV”, than that command works. This is what puzzles me greatly, some commands work, but turn on/off does not.

Sometimes more than one device can control the on/off functions of a TV and be linked to the voice assistant.

As an example my LG TV has the Google assistant built-in and the TV skill/action itself can turn on/off the TV (mic is built into the TV remote), I can also control the TV with the Sonos action/skill (in works with Google) and also with the Harmony action/skill linked to the Harmony Hub that I use to change TV channels - so in each case, I have called the TV by different names for each of the devices - my Sonos nickname is ‘Living Room TV’, whereas my Harmony Hub knows it as just ‘TV’ and my LG TV calls it the ‘Lounge TV’ - so depending on the name I include in the voice instruction will relate to which action/skill actually switches the TV ‘on’ or ‘off’ etc... and most such actions/skills default their own connected television names to ‘TV’ - So that’s why my suggestion is to look at which devices might be controlling your TV (i.e. Chromecast & Sonos etc.) and change their nickname to something ‘unique’ and include that in the voice instruction and see if it solves your issue.

Ah, got it. My TV has no built-in functionality for this, and I have no other smart gadgets that can control my TV. Only the Chromecast via Google Assistant :)

Ken_Griffiths

Ah, got it. My TV has no built-in functionality for this, and I have no other smart gadgets that can control my TV. Only the Chromecast via Google Assistant :)

Ah I see, I thought it was a Sonos-skill/action related question and you were perhaps trying to use the Sonos TV control (action/skill) that comes with a Sonos HT product connected to the TV. Sorry that’s my mistake. I will crawl back into my hole. It might be worth giving the router/network a reboot to see if that fixes it perhaps?

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bstAuthor

Contributor I

Ah, got it. My TV has no built-in functionality for this, and I have no other smart gadgets that can control my TV. Only the Chromecast via Google Assistant :)

Ah I see, I thought it was a Sonos-skill/action related question and you were perhaps trying to use the Sonos TV control (action/skill) that comes with a Sonos HT product connected to the TV. Sorry that’s my mistake. I will crawl back into my hole. It might be worth giving the router/network a reboot to see if that fixes it perhaps?

I already tried that, but again - I can use voice commands to control volume on the Chromecast. And I can use the Google assistant app on my phone to turn the TV on/off, so I do not think it is related to connectivity :)

P

periodic_purge

Lyricist I

just got to jump on and bump this.

exact same issue. I have a Chromecast connected to my tv which is also connected to my Sonos beam (via ARC). if I use any other assistant enabled device I can turn the tv off but when asking assistant on the beam it responds with 'something went wrong for xyz'.

I've tried removing and re-adding these devices to Google home, using custom names etc. but it seems like it's a Sonos assistant issue not being able to successfully send this one command to the chromecast.

can also verify that other commands such as adjusting the volume, work.

it also might be that it's trying to intercept and run the turn off/on command with the tv control that comes with the beam? not really sure

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