Have you ever tried to delete the M5 or another problematic device in the Google Home app?
In other words, remove it completely from "this home"?
Delete the Google Home app's cache or reinstall and after restarting the router and mobile device add the M5, or whatever, in the Google Home app again from scratch.
Helped with me with a Naim Mu-so Qb 2 that suddenly started having problems. I don't know if it was the Naim or the Google Home app though, because both are totally buggy.
Anyway, although the Mu-so was correctly connected to the network, it suddenly started to get crazy.
Connected to my Roon network and via Roon it was playable.
But with Chromecast it showed up as connected to the network no longer.
But then I found out that it was connected to my other network, via guest access, which I only use for other tasks and for which the Mu-so had no credentials at all?!
I could well imagine that is a bug in the Google Home app.
Anyway, it might be worth to give it a try and check your networks:
That your devices are not ghosting around in another or even your neighbors network via guest access and therefore are discoverable no more.

It’s really a pain with this company! You buy a product which is advertised as Chromecast capable and out of a sudden you loose that. Because of an Google update???

so next one is probably Spotify and their own NL system they almost buried. So I’m having now equipment lying around which is just nicely looking trash...

stampfki wrote:

It’s really a pain with this company! You buy a product which is advertised as Chromecast capable and out of a sudden you loose that. Because of an Google update???

so next one is probably Spotify and their own NL system they almost buried. So I’m having now equipment lying around which is just nicely looking trash..

Not only for B&o a problem. But a reason the more for B&o to enhance their own multiroom (CC or Airplay should work aside with B&o multiroom).

Note: I do not say you're B&o devices can not use CC anymore in the future.

Hiort reported: "Got the following reply from B&O on my question why Chromecast was not updated and when A6 will receive an update of its firmware:

The update would not be with the Chromecast firmware but with the M5 and A6's firmware itself. The two are distinct from one another and updates to the Chromecast firmware are no longer possible." 

He didn't got an answer whether this would be the end of CC completely on both devices, to me it reads, there may be a way around (for the time). 

My read on this is Google changed something on their backend which is causing these problems.  My BS2 (mk1) went from working, to not working, to working again with no software changes on the BS2.  Therefore, all that B&O can do is 1) lean on their "partner" (Google) to fix their stuff and 2) keep NL alive. 

The Level has a path to address the longer term obsolescence that we will eventually see across our products, but for older products there is only so much that can be done.  Actively developed software tends to grow and will eventually require hardware upgrades to support newer releases. It sounds like this is already the case for the A6. 

As far as CC goes, given their investment in GVA, they can't drop it as GVA and CC go hand in hand.  However, that doesn't mean older products will not be left behind.

My older products now still work (2x Essence Mk2, BS2 mk1), but they don't work with the new CC features like joining a currently playing group.  Then again, this feature didn't exist when I bought these products so am I really losing anything?

I can't say I'm happy about this, but this is the current reality of "smart" products. Hopefully these CC problems are enough to motivate B&O to continue supporting NL.

Indeed the good news is that "normal" Google/Chromecast use is still working (at least for me). The new functionality for adding / removing speakers on the fly is "unpredictable" (sometimes it works, but sometimes after this, the speaker is removed from a Google Group all together.....), but ok, as long as the "old" GC version can still be used by GC and in GC groups, it is not that bad. 

Of course it would be better not to fully integrate all these third party features, but modulize it. Either externally (like with the Essence and the Core) or internally. So when after a few years, new tech is there, and a module can not be upgraded by software alone anymore, just replace this module and off you go (like upgrading from Essence MK1 to MK2 and later to the Core, and if the Core is EOL, the Core MK2 or any other new module). 

Don't know if internally B&O also works with these kind of modules that can "easily" be upgraded?

I spoke too soon.  My "older" devices stopped working again today. 😡 Same "authentication server unreachable" error as before. 

Same here; BS2 w/o GVA, Essence MKII, M5 disappeared from GH app.

BTW: are the products with GVA working? Have those been updated to Chromecast >1.28?

Stan wrote:

I spoke too soon. My "older" devices stopped working again today. Same "authentication server unreachable" error as before.

My M3, Eclipse gen 1, bs1 gva and Chromecast audio work.  My bs2 mk1 and essence mk2 do not.  My older products have 1.28.* and my working products have 1.44.*.  The CCA has 1.42.*

My BS2  Mk1  works ...