Help with HomePod pairing and errors

I have had a pair of HomePod Minis for about a year. These have been set up

as a stereo pair on my iMac, and working fine up until a couple days ago. I was

no longer able to select them from the Sound settings on the Mac. I would get a

not available message.


I went to the Home app, and looked for updates, which oddly, one of the two

said there was an update for (why not both?). So, I tried updating. It took a

half an hour to install, which again was odd. Still no connection.


I decided to tap the top of each HomePod to see what would happen. One

started playing some music from exactly where I left off on my iPhone hours

earlier, and the other started playing random songs from Apple Music that I

have on my iMac. Both happening t the same time.


I unplugged each for 2 minutes. Plugging in did not change things. So, I

tried to reset from the Home app. This is when things got weirder...


Now in my sound settings the room I have set up (Entertainment Room) has

doubled to two of the same name. In addition, only one of the two speakers let

me reinstall (add accessory). The other one will not show up on the Home app...

but seems to still be installed. If I tap it, even though it was removed from

both my Mac and my iPhone, it is still playing music from Apple Music. I can't

seem to reset it.


Additional information to what is above...


When I go to the Sound settings for speakers, like I mentioned there are two

items for "Entertainment Room". The first one shows an icon for a

single HomePod mini and seems to work when I go to Apple Music on my Mac. This

is the HomePod that I was able to reinstall.


The other "Entertainment Room" selection shows an icon with a PAIR

of HomePod mini speakers (like it did before all this trouble started) but I

can't connect to it with my Mac or iPhone. However, when I tap on it, it is

playing random music from my collection - but it is not the same

"currently playing" song on either device, so I don't know where it

is picking it up from. My iPad is powered off, so it can't be that.

 

I've done all the restart stuff on all devices, and all of my operating

systems are kept up to date.


Thoughts on what to try next? Thanks!


HomePod mini

Posted on Aug 13, 2023 12:16 PM

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4 replies

Aug 14, 2023 6:51 AM in response to turingtest2

I just tried as you suggested. It worked fine for the one HomePod (I'll call that "A"). The problem HomePod (I'll call this one "B") is still not showing up on my iMac, iPhone, or iPad. However if I tap the top of B, it plays random songs in my music collection - but these songs do not show as being played in the Music app on any of my three devices.


So the room I created from your suggestion is named Kitchen. The room I deleted was Entertainment Room. Checked the Home app on all three devices - no sign of Entertainment room. However, if HomePod B is playing its mystery random mix, and I hold my iPhone close to it, I get the typical screen that says "Now Playing" but instead it says "Entertainment Room" (which I've deleted) and below it says "Not Playing"... but B is obviously playing. If I hold the phone close to HomePod A it says Kitchen, and shows the correct song that is playing in Apple Music on the Mac.


It's like B is doing it's own thing with picking music, and not showing up on any device. Basically, I can have different songs playing at the same time - on a pair of speakers that was paired up until last week.

Help with HomePod pairing and errors

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