"There was a problem adding Alexa"


Hello,

I've just purchased a Beam and Sonos One and went through the installation process.

I'm having a lot of trouble activating Voice Services on both of them, as I keep getting the "There was a problem adding Alexa" error message after it logs in to my Amazon account.

Both speakers appear in my Amazon account under "Devices" and also in the Amazon Alexa app (I can play music through them using voice via the Alexa application), however I can not control them via the microphones on the speakers.

Really eager to get to this fixed as I'm loving them otherwise.

Thanks

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53 replies

I note that you are in Australia. Does Amazon support Alexa in Australia? I cannot find evidence that it does, on a quick look.
I note that you are in Australia. Does Amazon support Alexa in Australia? I cannot find evidence that it does, on a quick look.

Yes I believe it is now available in Australia

https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/alexa-now-available-on-sonos-in-australia-and-new-zealand-6806386

I can use Alexa via the Alexa app, but can not activate it on my Sonos devices
You have enabled the Sonos skill for Alexa in the Amazon app?
Hi Vikram,

I raised the same issue with Sonos after purchasing a Beam to go with the One I already owned.

I am also in Aus and can confirm Alexa works ok with the One but not the Beam. This device shows offline in the Alexa app if I add it directly there, and I can’t enable in the sonos app.

Sonos have told me this is either an issue on their side or Amazon, and they are working to fix it. It may be something to do with the latest update (10.1). No eta for the fix though.

Don’t do what I did and waste hours trying to look for things you are doing wrong! Sonos will apparently let me know once this is corrected, I’ll post here once I know more.
Hi Vikram,

I raised the same issue with Sonos after purchasing a Beam to go with the One I already owned.

I am also in Aus and can confirm Alexa works ok with the One but not the Beam. This device shows offline in the Alexa app if I add it directly there, and I can’t enable in the sonos app.

Sonos have told me this is either an issue on their side or Amazon, and they are working to fix it. It may be something to do with the latest update (10.1). No eta for the fix though.

Don’t do what I did and waste hours trying to look for things you are doing wrong! Sonos will apparently let me know once this is corrected, I’ll post here once I know more.


Hi AJ,

Thanks for the info. Sounds like this may my issue as well, although you say Alexa is at least working on your One. Mine will not activate on either the One or the Beam
Hi all, I’m having exactly the same issues but with my 2 x Sonos:ones.

I’ve tried everything to get Alexa working but it simply won’t connect to the Sonos.

Music works fine via the app and airplay2.

It’s really annoying because I had this working fine in my study and then moved them to my family room and not they won’t connect.

Btw, I’m located in Victoria, Australia also.
Userlevel 7
Hi all, I’m having exactly the same issues but with my 2 x Sonos:ones.

I’ve tried everything to get Alexa working but it simply won’t connect to the Sonos.

Music works fine via the app and airplay2.

It’s really annoying because I had this working fine in my study and then moved them to my family room and not they won’t connect.

Btw, I’m located in Victoria, Australia also.


Hi Admr

Your post is a bit vague regarding the exact issue. However, based upon what you submitted I'm going to ask you to verify that the icon below the microphone on top of the speaker is on (white).

Odd, my issues are the same as original poster anyway..

My mice are off, can’t get them activated, Alexa app is saying the Sonos is offline. Have tried the app, have tried the web app to get them online but no dice.
Userlevel 7
Hi Admr

Logically speaking unplugging a speaker and moving it to another room should be a simple process. Once plugged in the unit should re-join your network. Can you think of anything else you did in the course of moving the speakers from your study to your family room beyond just plugging them into another power outlet.:?
Same problem here, I'm located in sydney. Sonos say it's a known problem and they'll get back to me when they've fixed it...
I change the email account in Sonos from my work one to personal and to reflect the same email address I had on Amazon.

@tyso interesting....
I first had the problem a week and a half ago after having to do a factory reset due to me changing the home attached for the HomeKit setup. I’ve gone through changing email addresses, setting up entirely new amazon and sonos accounts, taking it to a new house with different isps, wired/wireless etc all the same result.

I did a packet capture on it also and it’s speaking to an amazon endpoint via a TLS session (encrypted) and after some data is exchanged the amazon endpoint closes the connection so I’d say it’s either the sonos code or something on the amazon end. In essence nothing you can do and we should just wait for them to fix it.
@tyso awesome work!! I will just wait it out.
Not too long, I hope...
Hi, all.

I've been experiencing this exact particular issue today for something that's been working perfectly fine for the past few months. It must be a Sonos-wide issue and is reassuring to hear that there are other people suffering through this as well.

Looking forward to the official response from Sonos.
Australia also?
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I have the exact same issue and I’m in Australia too. Just bought a new Sonos One yesterday and can’t get Alexa to be added to it at all, despite the sonos showing up in my Alexa app and even registered as a device in my amazon account. My existing Sonos Beam works fine and Alexa added fine back in the day too. I hope this is fixed soon because I only bought the Sonos One for the Alexa integration, otherwise I would’ve saved my money and bought a Play:1 instead.
Hi - I just wanted to report that I have the same issue and also based in Australia running via amazon.com.au.

My situation is that I have a Sonos One and a Sonos Beam paired with the Sub. The Sonos One works fine, but no luck with the Beam /Sub pair.

I will keep my eye out on this thread and hope that between Sonos and Amazon they sort this out quickly.
Any update on this Sonos?
Hi, just adding to this thread. Also in Australia and can’t add Alexa to 2 new One speakers - which was the whole point of getting them! Hope Sonos & Amazon can get this sorted soon so that my smart speakers can actually be smart!
Hi - I just found this thread, which looks to be a better one to monitor regarding a resolution to this issue.

https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/sonos-one-gen-2-voice-control-will-not-connect-6822909
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Still no updates from sonos on any thread though! Meanwhile my ‘smart’ speakers aren’t smart at all! I’m contemplating returning it at this point.
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Just updated the Sonos iOS App to version 10.1.2, which was released overnight. This DOES NOT fix my issues. No associated firmware updates to the Sonos system come with the app update. Still saying “There was a problem adding Alexa” every time I try.
So glad to see i'm not the only one getting this issue (Sonos 1, United Kingdom). Everything was working fine for me up until today when Alexa stopped accepting spotify commands, but this isn't anything new so whenever it does this I just remove and add the skill in the alexa app which gets it working again. This time however it didn't work, so I tried removing alexa, removing spotify, etc. etc. eventually just factory resetting the whole thing. Still getting 'There was a problem adding Alexa' with no other information. So helpful of Sonos to actually give us an indication of what the problem might be... not!


Tried reinstalling, creating new emails, accounts, everything. Absolute joke. I can play music through the Sonos app, just no Alexa. One more thing i've just noticed is now the Sonos is not showing in Spotify connect on any of my devices, despite being connected to Spotify. No idea if related to the Alexa issue or what but my god I wish it just worked. When it works, it works great. Too many intermittent issues and random connection issues appearing out of nowhere!

Please for the love of god Sonos sort it out.
Just to update, for me in the UK with my Sonos One, it has just suddenly started working and allowed me to add Alexa once again...