Using a chromecast without a google account?
Using a chromecast without a google account?
I have a 2nd-gen chromecast, it's factory reset. If i plug it in all it tells me is to install the app to start configuring.
I don't have a google account not do i want to install/use google-related stuff on my phone.
My home router doesn't register any new device, which makes sense since the cast doesn't know the SSID/pass of the WiFi.
Does it try to ping some service/port? Multicast perhaps? Where would it get an IP from without authenticating?
My (wired) PC runs gentoo.
How can i get it to work in these conditions?
Well it's not a network client, it presents its own WiFi network. Got a laptop with a live distro to connect to it and run this script to configure it. Seemed to work, apparently.
Then tried a bunch of clients:
- VLC will just eternally remain in scanning mode
- go-chromecast kept throwing errors even with host/port parameters
- chrome wouldn't find the device (with the laptop connected to the hotspot)
My guess is it needs to phone home to finish setup (the script has wifi name/pass parameters though) or i borked something.
Not gonan waste more time on it, i'll just gift it.
If I recall correctly it sets itself up as a hotspot (no Internet access) and your phone connects to it to set it up. It may use Bluetooth, but that could also be a different version.
AFAIK the Google Home app is required to set it up, but once set up you can remove/uninstall the app.
In terms of being on your network it will broadcast itself as available on your network.
It also does auto-update, so it will expect Internet access. (It also probably periodically checks for Internet access.)
If I recall correctly it sets itself up as a hotspot
This is what was confusing me, i thought it would connect as a client and couldn't grok the catch-22 of connecting it to a network without knowing its IP.
I can't even get mine to work WITH an account if I put it on the guest network. That sucker wants full access to snoop on everything. I don't think you'll have much luck, but I'll be watching this thread just in case. Good luck.
Re guest network, it broadcasts to the current VLAN and I think you need client isolation disabled (this is frequently the default for guest networks).
I've had success with this script https://gist.github.com/interfect/5f68381d55658d334e2bc4619d796476
You should be able to connect to the Chromecasts setup hotspot, get the IP of the Chromecast and then run the script.