Chromecast woes

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sonyxperiageek

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#958742 29-Dec-2013 18:49

Glad it's working again! :-)

Sony

old3eyes

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#958748 29-Dec-2013 18:58

Glad you sorted it. I've bookmarked this thread in case it happens to me some day..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Linuxluver

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#958776 29-Dec-2013 19:45

sonyxperiageek:
mattwnz: Do they have a support line you can phone, or email address you can contact for support, as I presume it is under warranty? If this had happened to an apple device, it would make the mainstream news.

It's Google - they never have a support line... unless it is setting up for Google AdWords.

Besides, Chromecast is still not officially available in NZ at the moment AFAIK.

Google's biggest weakness down the road is the near-total lack of support.

You just can't trust them if anything goes wrong. I say this is a long-time Google fan. It's their Achilles heal...and very relevant for them as a cloud provider. Just....don't.

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mattwnz

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#958778 29-Dec-2013 19:52

sonyxperiageek:
mattwnz: Do they have a support line you can phone, or email address you can contact for support, as I presume it is under warranty? If this had happened to an apple device, it would make the mainstream news.

It's Google - they never have a support line... unless it is setting up for Google AdWords.

Besides, Chromecast is still not officially available in NZ at the moment AFAIK.

I would have thought for an actual product, they would have some form of support line, especially if they are trying to compete with Apple products, who do. Even if it is an 0900 one, or a pay per incident support line. Perhaps that is why they are not being sold in NZ, due to lack of support, and retailers or importers would need to provide end user support?

Rickles

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#958841 29-Dec-2013 22:43

Little bit of thread drift, but us Kiwis are well served by consumer protections, so not being able to contact a manufacturer or retailer to whom we've given good money is an anathema.

My friends in the USA cannot believe that our protections and remedies go beyond the one or two year standard warranties, even up to many years after purchase if the item has failed when it should rightly perform correctly for a considerable amount of time thereafter.
Over there they seem to simply give up if the item is outside the warranty period, and expect to buy new again!

R.

sonyxperiageek

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#958858 29-Dec-2013 23:56

All Google expects us to do when one of their products doesn't work is to go on their forums - where if you are lucky you will get good help from a knowledgeable person, or else......

Sony

mattwnz

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#958861 30-Dec-2013 00:03

Rickles: Little bit of thread drift, but us Kiwis are well served by consumer protections, so not being able to contact a manufacturer or retailer to whom we've given good money is an anathema.

My friends in the USA cannot believe that our protections and remedies go beyond the one or two year standard warranties, even up to many years after purchase if the item has failed when it should rightly perform correctly for a considerable amount of time thereafter.
Over there they seem to simply give up if the item is outside the warranty period, and expect to buy new again!

R.

Your friends probably also won't believe the prices we pay here for some goods, which can be double if not triple what they can get in the US. So I am sure that NZ retailers/ importers, or retailer who are also importers, add on a larger margin incase they have a CGA claim, and the manufacturer won't cover it. WHen you buy a product from overseas you don't get that CGA coverage, but that is your risk, and the benefit is the low price. Australia appear to have really tightened up on their CGA protection too, and I think it is even harder on retailers than NZs now.

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Rickles

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#959017 30-Dec-2013 12:27

Retested unit this morning, same old problem. Works OK IF you power on device first (boots and connects to wifi in about 5 or 6 seconds), then insert HDMI.

Pretty stupid requirement that was never necessary prior to firmware update.

Frankly, performance is poor all round (resolutions, sound synch) and my ethernet connected media player does 99% of the jobs in full HD and at speed ... just thought getting On Demand/Replay TV would be nice but that is even worse than YouTube deliveries.

Anyone want to buy a nearly new Chromecast?

R.

jeffnz

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#959046 30-Dec-2013 13:37

Rickles: Retested unit this morning, same old problem. Works OK IF you power on device first (boots and connects to wifi in about 5 or 6 seconds), then insert HDMI.

Pretty stupid requirement that was never necessary prior to firmware update.

Frankly, performance is poor all round (resolutions, sound synch) and my ethernet connected media player does 99% of the jobs in full HD and at speed ... just thought getting On Demand/Replay TV would be nice but that is even worse than YouTube deliveries.

Anyone want to buy a nearly new Chromecast?

R.

I've been tempted by these and the Google TV sticks but only as a toy as I have a media PC so get all that and more. Actually I can't get TV anymore so just use Youtube and Onedemand, don't actually miss it and can get most sports live if you look around.

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Rickles

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#959989 1-Jan-2014 17:11

WEIRDER by the minute:

Had a play around with the Chromecast and HDMI cables and found that it all works perfectly and as before IF I disconnect the other HDMI cable that comes from my media player. Tried swapping HDMI ports for each, made no difference.

Found online a reference to the fact that the latest Chromecast update now includes CEC controls for HDMI appliances, and more importantly (and I quote) -

"Handshake (HDCP) interference, when multiple devices are connected to a TV set, and •All devices connected to the TV via HDMI must be HDCP-compliant".

My media player is not HDCP compliant, and even turning this off on my TV (Samsung Anynet+) doesn't cure the problem.

I guess my option now is to connect the media player to the TV via separate Component and Audio cables, thus leaving Chromecast to work.

R.

old3eyes

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#960047 1-Jan-2014 18:34

Or buy a HT amp with HDMI in / out.. That's how I run mine as I have no spare HDMI on my TV set (2 only)

Regards,

Old3eyes

Rickles

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#1016599 1-Apr-2014 14:24

UPDATE since January .... Chromecast device went through an automatic upgarde today, and it is working perfectly as it should, viz. no problems having two HDMI cables plugged into the TV at the same time. Maybe they read my feedback to them

Also updated the Chrome extension, and the whole thing seems much more stable ... even the wifi signal is reading higher/stronger. YouTube being optimised for Chromecast blasts away full screen in HD and smooth as. NZTV On Demand and Project Free TV still gives slightly jerky visuals, but I suspect that is due to how they transmit/feed?

R.

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