Contributor I

Answered

Alexa will not stop playing or pause

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
August 3, 2019
94 replies
27141 views

I have a Sonos Beam in my living room in a group with two Gen 1 Sonos One speakers and a Sonos Sub. I have had Alexa enabled since I initially setup this system.

All had been working well but suddenly, Alexa will not stop or pause playing by voice command. I can say "Alexa, play NPR" and it will respond properly. I can say "Alex Louder" and "Alex Lower" and the volume will adjust. But when I say "Alexa Stop" (which is what I've been saying since day one) or "Alexa Pause" it will simply make the command chime and keep playing.

Also, the Beam is working properly but in the Sonos app, I don't specifically see the Beam listed as a speaker. I think it might simply be labeled "Living Room?" I'm not sure if I should see the Beam specifically?

I tried to remove Alexa and reactivate it but I got completely confused and I'm not sure what I accomplished.

I'm now back to square one, with the same symptoms as described above.

I have an Echo Dot in another room that responds normally to Stop and Pause commands.

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Best answer by UKMedia

Best option first is to Disable the Sonos Skill and then Enable it again in the Alexa App. If the problem persists, please power down the Beam for 5 secs and then power back on.

If the second option works, I suggest that you open the settings web page for your router and reserve the IP address for your Sonos devices. (I normally reserve the range 192.168.0.200 and above for my Sonos devices.)

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Disco StuAuthor

Contributor I

Hi Disco Stu

OK...saying the name of the service doesn't help. Although the steps below may sound redundant in some respects there is a slight difference that I haven't seen in the other suggestions. Let's try this....

Log out of Alexa in the Sonos App
Unplug your Beam
Delete the Sonos app
Disable the Sonos Skill in Alexa
Log-out of the Alexa App
Log into Alexa
Enable the Sonos skill
Power Cycle your device
Reinstall the Sonos app
Plug in your Beam and let it come back
Enable Alexa in the Sonos app for your Beam
Test your commands

Let us know how things sort out. Cheers!

I tried to follow these instructions but there are issues with them as written:

At step 7, "Enable the Sonos skill," I tried to enable the Sonos skill in the Alexa app but it first drives me to Sonos.com which then tells me I must open the Sonos App, which was deleted in Step 3 and does not get reinstalled again until Step 9.

I had no choice but to reinstall the Sonos app when attempting to enable the Sonos skill in Alexa in Step 7.

Also, the Sonos app would not let me move forward with the Beam being unplugged, so I had to plug the Beam back in. After all of these little hiccups, I'm not entirely sure if the intent of your instructions were met but I accomplished what you asked in the only way the apps allowed me to do so.

There is no change. "Alexa Stop" is still ignored.

AjTrek1

Hi Disco Stu

Sorry about the confusion with the instructions. Your comment "I have a Sonos Beam in my living room in a group with two Gen 1 Sonos One speakers and a Sonos Sub." threw me off. I should have realized that you meant the Beam was bonded with the Sonos Ones and sub.

As the Beam controls all speakers bonded to it you are correct that the Sonos app had nothing to connect to. Had the Sonos One's been independent it would have found them as they were still plugged in. The Beam being unplugged would not have prevented the app from connecting

Group means that you have speakers that are independent and only brought together (i.e. grouped) when you want them to be.

At this juncture I suggest you submit a diagnostic, post the reference ID in this forum and then call Sonos or contact them via Twitter.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

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Disco StuAuthor

Contributor I

Sorry for the confusion, as I'm not 'm not familiar with the vernacular specific to Sonos.

How do I "submit a diagnostic, post the reference ID in this forum and then call Sonos?"

I do not have a Twitter account nor will I establish one.

jgatie

Sorry for the confusion, as I'm not 'm not familiar with the vernacular specific to Sonos.

How do I "submit a diagnostic, post the reference ID in this forum and then call Sonos?"

I do not have a Twitter account nor will I establish one.

Diagnostic:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/141?language=en_US

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Disco StuAuthor

Contributor I

Diagnostic:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/141?language=en_US

Thank you.

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Disco StuAuthor

Contributor I

Diagnostic Reference ID Number:

1442781379

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Disco StuAuthor

Contributor I

I have found a work around:

I spent a lot of time on the phone with Sonos tech support, who was not able to resolve the issue.

After speaking with Sonos, I experimented and determined that if I ask Alexa to play a specific NPR station (eg "Alexa, play WNYC"), the the station will play and the "Stop" command will be recognized.

If I say simple "Alexa play NPR" the same station will play but the "Stop" command will be ignored.

I have no idea why this is happening but requesting the station call letters is the only semi-solution to the problem I've found.

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updownsideways

Lyricist I

I am also having this problem - Alexa won’t respond to Stop command when playing NPR. Any updates?

Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

The team is looking into this, but I don't have any specific details on a resolution. As Disco Stu suggested above, "Play NPR" isn't able to stop, but playing a specific NPR station will. Here's why, "Play NPR" loads up the NPR skill, which isn't responding to the stop command from Alexa on Sonos. Playing a specific station, is playing it from TuneIn or your preferred radio source, such as iHeartRadio.

I'll let you know if we have any news on this issue.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

C

Chris Morgs

Lyricist II

I also have this problem which only started about a week ago. I can stop anything played from the radio app but not Spotify.

However if if I say “Alexa Cancel” then this does work and stops the music.

I experimented with an Alexa device on a different account that is not linked to Sonos. Everything there works fine so it is definitely a Sonos skill issue.

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