I bought a new JBL Link Bar — a soundbar with Android TV and Google Assistant built-in — and I’ve gotta say it has been a very frustrating experience.

Anytime the device restarts (e.g. after a system update), it no longer responds to voice commands. The only way I’ve discovered that fixes this is to factory reset the device.

When I open Google Home after a restart, I notice that there are multiple linked devices for the same Link Bar — only all but one are “ghost” devices from the previous times I’ve had to factory reset.

Apparently each time I’ve factory reset the device, the old profile persists as a ghost device. I can unlink these ghost devices, but they always reappear after a restart. I unlink them again, but it doesn’t fix it.

I’m pretty sure the ghost profile thing is causing the problem, but I don’t know how to fix it.

Things I’ve tried

• Factory reset: only works into the next restart, then the voice activation breaks
• Signing out of the Link Bar and signing back in
• Deleting my “Home” in the Google Home app, unlinking the Link Bar and the ghost devices, then creating a new home (with a different name)
• Doing all of the above in various orders

Nothing works. I’m at my wit’s end.

Any suggestions?