Answered

I think I've made an expensive mistake.

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
December 13, 2017
77 replies
4902 views

Alexa - what a piece of junk. I'm serious. :@

I ask it to play a group (Cream today) and it will either play one, or if I'm lucky two songs then stop. Or if it does move to a third song it plays rap. Rap for God's sake. The last thing I want to listen to is rap crap.

I asked it to play sixties music today. Two songs and silence.

It has become very obvious to me that the people who program this device do not know what they are doing.

A lot of money for a piece of garbage. Merry Christmas to my wife.... not.

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Best answer by Tek_Freek

It's early yet, but. A BIG BUT.

I found a reference to firewalls. https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4268

When I went to the little slide out box to open Norton (The one by the calendar - see below) I notice Windows Defender was there. It's never shown up before. I think the recent Windows update may have activated it. So I found how to turn it off. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_other-security/do-need-to-run-windows-defender-if-i-have-norton/85dd02b7-1722-4dd3-8f09-2c76acd956c7?auth=1

I added Alexa back in, asked her to play the Doors and it's playing the second song. Scratch that - fourth song. I just may have figured this out. Stubbornness and perseverance do pay off sometimes.

So if I have found my solution I can hope it helps others. Fingers crossed.

The right pointing arrow

Airgetlam

Well, you certainly have not provided much information to us to help in rectifying this issue. Are you interested in assistance, or did you just want to vent?

Bruce

B

Boba-Kahn

Lyricist I

Because of copyrights and subscriptions etc you need to link an account otherwise it will play songs from your library or public domain type music. I suggest amazon prime music if your a prime member. Go into Alexa app and link it and you will get a lot more than 2 songs.

U

upstatemike

Just tried to reproduce this problem but could not:

I asked Alexa for 60s music and listened to 4 songs before telling her to stop.

I asked Alexa to play songs by Cream and listened to 4 songs before telling her to stop.

I do not subscribe to any special streaming services beyond what is offered by Amazon.

I am testing using straight "Alexa" in the form of a $149.99 Echo Show from Amazon. Is this problem really meant to call out Alexa? Or is it something specific to a Sonos One speaker even though that is never mentioned in the original post?

Local music library with carefully constructed playlists - no shuffling!, Integration with Homeseer Automation, No touch screen devices, No streaming services, No Apple products ever

T

Tek_FreekAuthor

Linked to Amazon Music. Haven't added others because I figure if this one doesn't work others likely won't. I've been through a bunch of "fixes" mentioned in various places most of which have me delete then reconnect the Sonos speakers. 2 Sonos ones. I don't know who to call out. Is this behavior a result of Alexa programming or Sonos programming? Does anyone know?

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upstatemike

Based on the original premise: "An expensive Alexa problem" I did my test using the most expensive "Alexa" product Amazon offers and I could not duplicate it. This would suggest you are having a problem with your Sonos speakers or the beta Sonos skill so now you know you only have to chase Sonos for the solution. A call to Sonos tech support is probably going to be the quickest way to move this forward.

Local music library with carefully constructed playlists - no shuffling!, Integration with Homeseer Automation, No touch screen devices, No streaming services, No Apple products ever

jgatie

Just asked Alexa to play 60s music, first on Echo and then on Sonos. Both played 4 songs before telling her to stop.

Just asked Alexa to play songs by Cream, first on Echo and then on Sonos. Both played 4 songs before telling her to stop.

Both played from Amazon Music.

Whatever the OP is experiencing, it is not endemic of either Alexa or Sonos.

And people . . . that is how you do a diagnosis. :8

T

Tek_FreekAuthor

My Sonos plays 60's music when I ask it to.

My Sonos plays Cream when I ask it to.

Both played from Amazon Music.

Since mine works perfectly everyone ele's does as well.

And people . . . that is how you recognize a troll.

jgatie

My Sonos plays 60's music when I ask it to.

My Sonos plays Cream when I ask it to.

Both played from Amazon Music.

Since mine works perfectly everyone ele's does as well..

Didn't say that. I simply was correcting the poster who stated that because he was able to play these things on his Echo, it must be Sonos at fault. Your problem is most probably a configuration problem with either Alexa or Sonos, such as 2 or more Alexa devices with the same name, or maybe a networking problem. But it most certainly is not endemic to Sonos as claimed by the other poster.

Since the problem is not endemic, these are things that may be easily fixed. To start, I would duplicate the problem, then submit a diagnostic from the Sonos app and post your reference number here. That will allow a Sonos tech to see what is wrong.

S

stevecook

Lyricist I

The commands can take some getting used to, but once you're familiar with them, you'll certainly find Alexa more impressive and useful. If you're a Spotify user, you'll find this to be a helpful resource: https://alexa.bio/guide/the-spotify-users-guide-to-alexa/

T

Tek_FreekAuthor

Sunday we had it working. That after having the Playbar stop every 20 minutes or so, then work after unplugging and re-plugging. After the fifth or sixth time it settled down. So we had the Playbar and both speakers working.

Monday no Play One speakers. I've gone through countless "fixes" found here and elsewhere. Quite often get an error connecting the right speaker. Finally got it connected (or so it said) today, but only one speaker is showing up when I try to add Alexa. Alexa "Does not understand...". The Playbar is the only thing working.

Called the 800 number. Wait time is over 1/2 hour. Apparently I'm not the only one with problems. At this point I'm not going to waste 30 plus minutes waiting. I have about 15 days left to find the fix before this all gets returned. No system should be this difficult to troubleshoot.

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