Still need the time to look into this...
Looking quickly at your log. The message received is only "", so no message will be spoken. Please show me how you are actually sending the speech. Thanks
From your log:
@hakarune,
Something just jumped out at me from your RM screenshot. I don't use RM so I didn't notice it right away but your using 'Notify Follow Variables' to send the speech. I have no idea what that does! To send the speech to Follow Me, simply use 'Speak'
I had to install RM to get this. 
I have tried:
From the device page. Using those. I have tried pointing a test notification at it
i think i made it worse a one point i had it "playing" and it wasn't going ot the que but there was still no sound, also not the FM is not adjusting the volume.
i cleared the que and tried rm again - no sound from speaker
que is still empty
so it thinks it working ?
and finally if i set RM to office speaker is works fine
i hear the message
Okay, so I've read through this entire thread from the beginning. I'm glad I did. It helped me with several things - especially some setup issues that I was confused about in the beginning. Bryan, thank you for all of your work on this project.
Google Nest question: I have a home with 6 google nest minis, and I am using FM to control announcements. At the moment, I do not have any motion sensors or anything. FM Children are all set to be always on, and I use priority messaging to route STT where I want. I am using RM machine to send the speech to the FM Virtual device. All software and HE OS is up-to-date to the most current version. I am using Chromecast Integration and Chromecast Helper, and my FM Children are set to initialize every 4 minutes. All speakers are set to "Chromecast Audio" drivers. All RM rules are either 4.0 or 4.1 rules.
I am aware of the wonky-ness with volume initialization with google speakers and I am definitely experiencing that. After the Nest Mini hasn't been active for a while, the first volume command sent to it often doesn't work, but when the rule is played a second time, it pretty much always works. I'm starting to give in and am sending an empty message to the speaker 20 seconds before the actual announcement, and then send the actual announcement, which is then always heard as expected.
I know this is a known issue with the google speakers, but I got the feeling that Bryan figured out how to get around it in FM. Just curious if there is something obvious that I might be missing.
I can update with log info and all that if you would like, but i don't know if it's necessary. I've done some debug checks, and gone through the log reports and I am not seeing any errors. I feel like I am probably missing something specific to the google device. Maybe there is a different thread I should read trough?
Not much to it.
- setup your chromecast devices using the built-in Chromecast integration
- verify that they work by going into each device and sending a test 'speak'
- Now it's time to setup 'Follow Me', go through each section and fill in the options, including the 'Initialize Google/Nest devices' (no need for a separate 'Chromecast Helper' app, it's built right in)
Nothing magic or 'a way around it' going on here, but to be honest I hardly ever have an issue with my Google/Nest devices and I have at least one in every room.
As for RM, I don't use it so I can't help you with that.
If still having issues please take a screenshot of the App Description and post it here.
I'll test some more and get back to you. I wonder if I was having some type of conflict with Chromecast Helper doing it's thing as well. I just uninstalled that and will do some more checking. I've done all of the steps, and am still having the issue, but let me check myself again.
And this leads me to the question about RM. I use RM for speech announcements (Mainly), and Hue light control. Not much else. It's pretty simple. I assume you use EE for this? I haven't looked into EE yet, but I am more then willing to check that out. I don't have a preference at this point, so Im game to learn more.
Yup, this is what I use. I have nothing against RM, Follow Me is fully compatible with RM. I just like to write code, so I made my own. 
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Okay, I've dumped Chromecast Helper and have checked my drivers/ etc... Double checked for updates and restarted my HE C-7. Still having the same problem. After a reboot and waiting for a bit of time, I played an announcement on a single speaker and had the same problem. The volume change of "50" looks like it is being sent, however it is definitely not changing on the speaker. I am including the app description and the full logs for the try after the reboot. If I play the announcement a second time, the volume changes like I expect it to.
I'm sure you will take one look and tell me what I'm missing....
I went ahead and installed EE and built a test cog, triggered with a virtual switch from a dashboard. I had the exact same results with that.
@bptworld - Just noticed my Follow Me notifications (most all sent from Notifications app) aren't working. Rebooted GH, no joy. Broadcast from Google Assistant to GH does work, so speaker is working.
Haven't changed my Notification apps in forever, same with Follow Me, untouched for weeks/months until I poked around a little tonight to see what was up. Even using "Speak" option from device page does not work.
Any ideas?
Notifications app:
Follow Me:
Trying "Speak" on Follow Me Parent and Child - nothing comes out of GH:
If you go to the Google device page and try to send a 'Speak' command, does it work?
- If not, then nothing else will work either.
- Figure out what's going on with your devices and the chromecast integration
Next go to the 'Follow Me' device page and try to send a 'Speak' command, does it work?
- If it doesn't, make sure this device is using the 'Follow Me Driver'.
- If it's using the FM driver. Make sure your using the latest version of the driver. Might want to re-download it just to be sure.
EDIT to below:
Turned on the Default Speak setting and things are working again...no idea why this needed to be changed, nothing has changed w/my GH (same GH I've had from the start) but maybe something in 2.2.5 or ?
But it appears to be working again - speaks from FM device page and from Notification app that I triggered. Happy camper! 
=======================================================
Thanks for the details and suggestions. 
- Speak from Google Home device page works fine.
- Speak from Follow Me device pages (parent and child) doesn't work.
- Follow me devices are using Follow me driver.
- Did a repair of Follow Me from HPM, that didn't help.
Some helpful (?) pics:
Using the right device driver on the Follow Me parent and child:
Even though nothing is actually being spoken, the list of items I've tried to get the speaker to say via the "Speak" command on the Follow Me device pages (or via an automation that ran - you can see the entry about the dryer) - none of them are actually spoken. As noted above, the Speak command does work on the GH device page, and GH is operating and speaking normally in all other contexts.
Summary
Logs look normal but nothing is ever actually spoken, GH is silent. Texts that are in the notification automations work normally - so I know the notification automations are running.
What else should I check? I'm wearing clean underwear and just brushed my teeth. 
@bptworld, I did find a consistent thing happening with my google nest mini speakers and this volume problem. When the MediaSource for the google speaker is set to “Hubitat”, the volume commands work. But, after about 5 minutes or so of not being used, the MediaSource automatically changes to “None”.
If the MediaSource is set to “None” when the FM message is sent, then the volume commands do not adjust the speaker volume. However, inside of the FM command, the MediaSource gets changed to “Hubitat”, and stays there for about 5 minutes. As long as the MediaSource for the speaker is still at “Hubitat”, the next FM command will work fine. But, once the MediaSource auto changes to “None” again, the volume commands in FM don’t work. Initialize and Refresh do not seem to effect the status of the MediaSource.
I hope this information is helpful. If there is anything else I can do to test, let me know. Thank you!
I did some more testing with my Google Nest Minis and confirmed a few things:
- The volume problem is definitely related to the driver. If I go to the device page, and the Current State is "mediaSource: None", I can enter a value into the "Set Volume" field and it will not change the volume on the speaker. However, if I enter text into the "Speak" field, the Current State changes to "mediaSource: Habitat" and I hear the text. As long as the Current State stays on Hubitat, then entering values into the "Set Volume" field works. As soon as the Current State changes back to "mediaSource: None", the "Set Volume" field no longer works. This behavior mimics all TTS commands from RM and through FM.
- The mediaSource variable seems to automatically revert back to "none" about 4 minutes after the speaker is used, and initializing the speaker doesn't seem to make a difference, as seen in this log where the media source changes back to none just 4 seconds after FM initializes the speaker.
- I can't figure out a way to change the mediaSource variable before sending a speech command to FM. So, right now my hack is to send a "" speech command to the speaker a second before I send text to the FM Device. This seems to flip the mediaSource over in time for FM to do it's thing.
Is there a way for FM to set the mediaSource on the google device before it sends out a volume change command?
I have other logs, and I can do more tests if you would like me too.
Thank You!
I have a new (to me) error. Unfortunately, I am not able to reproduce this during my tests. However, it has now happened two mornings in a row during the scheduled time of the rule (RM). The result seems to be a backup of the commands. Final result: the Priority Sound doesn’t play, the TTS message plays late - starting at the programmed volume but gets reduced to the return volume mid message.
Info below:
As I mentioned in earlier posts, I am send a “” command to the speaker 1 second before the FM command, just to make sure the volume wakes up properly.
I would appreciate any input. Thank You!
Not seeing any issue with FM in your log. The errors are from the Chromecast Device not FM.
Set it to 2 seconds and see what happens?
Hi Mark. Thank you for your input. I’ll try it. However, the error occurred 1min, 44sec after the last refresh - so I don’t have a lot of hope that the refresh is related. Like I said, it doesn’t happen during testing - so I’ll report back after it’s had a chance to run a few times on its own.
Btw: this is on a GNestMini
Thank you!
