Hi! Short time lurker, and first time poster, but I will try to be as descriptive as possible.
I have had my HomePod mini since 2021, and have been loving it. Recently, though, I am facing issues which have paralyzed it.
Background: Running two HomePod Minis under a stereo pair on the same network in a room. Devices worked well, with the odd dropping of the sound once a while, not too big of an issue. Started running HomePod OS26 beta in July to see what the new updates have, and maybe if the audio issues would be resolved.
Issue: Two weeks ago, the after the (then) latest update, there was a no response issue in the app. No big deal, let's just restart the HomePod pair. After restart, no bueno. I also got a new beta software update notification, so decided if I updated them both, the issue will probably be resolved.
No dice. The issue persists. So I decided to pair the HomePods and factory reset them. Both HomePods disappeared from my home app. Regular behavior. Going to reset them with the old unplug for 30 s, replug into power, hold finger on the display had no issues for the first one.
For the second HomePod, unplug, hold, and plug in. Problems. No display. Tried it a bunch of times, nothing. Waited a day, in case the capacitors needed to be discharged for it to do a cold boot. Nothing. Looking across the interwebs, I found that we can connect the HomePods to Macs, have them show up on Finder, and update from there. Connecting into the Mac, nothing. Waited for the caps to discharge before engaging again, nothing.
Now, I fear I may have problems. So I scheduled a meeting at the Genius Bar. Genius Bar individual said no support as you are running beta software. We are not allowed to touch or diagnose those devices. They also said that there are no external facing endpoints for us to diagnose or check. I would have better luck with online Apple Support or over call with Apple Support.
Okay, sounds good. Contacting Apple Support, they said that we will have to wait for the official release of HomePodOS 26 for us to support you, to which I agreed. During this time, I thought about seeing if I could troubleshoot and see if anything was coming out of the HomePod when connected to the Mac. So I wrote a script, querying and logging different aspects of the USB controller on the Mac and seeing what device connects. I removed all other USB devices connected to the Mac, and started the script. First, I connected and disconnected the HomePod a couple of times, and on the last connect, I left it in, and let the script record the readings.
Reading the output told me that there was indeed a device that was connecting and disconnecting. Here are some of my findings:
Port Readout Summary
Apple's UVDM stack lights up on the Port-USB-C@2 (CC path, SOP)
AppleUVDM driver tried to read identity VDOs, initially rejected, then carried on and the transport finished powering on successfully. Furthermore, the VDM read attempts itself are rejected, typical when the accessory is gating Apple specific commands
The CC transport merged metadata for SOP with a 3-VDO identity set. The CC property change during the run indicates an active PD negotiations.
USB link states also toggled on that port with driver status Ready
Port-USB-C@2/SOP shows Vendor ID and Product ID (not sure if this is private information, so not sharing)
Port-USB-C@1/SOP, the e-marker in the HomePod cable shows the same, with product type "Passive Cable"
Only CC is flagged "TransportsActive"
Apple's accessory authentication stack is present
The USB speeds on the port flicker between Gen 3 and Gen 2, indicating to me some sort of handshake failing in the stack, which is preventing enumeration in the System Report and Finder
This likely is indicating to me that the target isn't enumerating as a normal USB device, but rather as a USB-PD Vendor Defined Messaging (UVDM) protocol on the CC line. Furthermore, the signature is in a "hidden" service/update modes, which does not enumerate standard USB functions.
So, having all this information available to me, I got on a call with Apple Support today, and they went through some of the troubleshooting steps and told me that they could neither escalate the issue (due to it being on a beta software that THEY DO NOT SUPPORT) nor remediate or troubleshoot the issue (as it is an accessory) and the only thing their support options say is to wipe the device, as it is something that is not supported. Upon my suggestion of this my USB logs being used to review the case, they said my personal USB logs would be detrimental towards my case. Their final recommendation was for me to reach out to Apple Developer support as I am running beta software on this HomePod Mini.
So, here I am! I highly believe this is a Software issue, contrary to what Apple Consumer Support call representative indicated. All and any help/guidance and support is appreciated. All and any help in boosting the visibility of this issue on the forums would also be greatly appreciated. I have had these bad boys since my undergrad, and I would hate to lose one of them.
For Apple Support, before you lock and close this post down and recommend I go to Apple Consumer Support, they said that they cannot help me, and consumer support steps start and end at resetting the device.