[Update: Google will replace devices] Google Home firmware update is bricking some units

Ben Schoon | Oct 24 2019 - 10:26 am PT

Your Google Home speakers and displays get firmware updates fairly often, but they’re installed automatically and you usually don’t notice. However, it seems one of the recent Google Home firmware updates has been bricking some devices and they can’t be fixed.

Reports have been appearing in Google’s forums and also on Reddit (via Android Police) from users who have had their Google Home devices stop working recently. Specifically, the devices are completely unresponsive with all four LEDs lit up. Some users have been able to fix this with a reboot or a factory reset, but the majority of users aren’t having the same luck.

Google has already acknowledged the problem saying that a team is “working on the issue.” However, that was mentioned in late September and there’s been nothing mentioned in the month since.

For those who have had their Google Home devices bricked as a result of this firmware update – Google Home and Google Home Minis seem to be most affected – there’s no fix available. Since the devices are out of warranty, Google won’t replace the hardware either. We’re hoping that Google will fix the firmware update for further devices as well as helping those who have had their hardware break.

Update 10/24: Google reached out to 9to5Google to confirm that the company will be replacing all units that were bricked as a result of this update, regardless of if they are covered under warranty. There’s also a fix for that update which is rolling out soon to prevent the issue on other devices.

We are aware that a small number of Google Home and Google Home Mini devices are affected by an issue that causes the device to stop working. We have a fix that will prevent the issue from happening and will be rolling it out soon. We are replacing affected devices.