Retired Sonos Staff

Resolving (the majority of) Issues with Alexa on Sonos

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
January 5, 2018
111 replies
205033 views

Moderator note: This article was updated in December 2024.

This thread is intended to help get you going if you get stuck setting up Alexa with Sonos, or if you have run into any errors. The setup process does use two different apps, so don’t stress if you’re having trouble, we can help.

If you are reading this thread, you will now be aware that integrating the two platforms requires several authentication steps which require you to move between applications and interfaces, providing login details and authorising services along the way.
Simply put: It involves some moving back and forth, providing information as you go.

The issues this post may help you resolve include but are not limited to:
- "Your Spotify account does not support streaming on this device."
- Radio stations not playing when you ask them to.
- Asking for something to play- whether this is acknowledged or not- only to be met with silence.

It is worth noting, however, that several of your desired functions may simply not be available on Alexa via Sonos just yet. We have an article that describes exactly what services to expect at this time: Control Sonos with Amazon Alexa

Is your desired functionality available? Then let's move on to fixing your issue.

If you get to a point where you're not able to complete a step, just skip to the next section.

1. In the Alexa app, go to More > Skills & Games > Your Skills > Sonos > Settings > Manage Smart Home Devices > Tap 'Forget All'.
Note: The step to 'Forget All' will delete all actions in all Routines within an Alexa set-up.

2. Go to Alexa's UK site or Alexa's US site (again, depending on your region).
Please do this in a web browser on a computer (PC or Mac).
It's also best to do this using private browsing or incognito mode to avoid using cached information.

Go to Settings. Click on your Sonos One in the list of devices. It will probably be listed both as '(your name)'s Sonos One' and whatever room name you gave it in Sonos. It's the '(your name)'s Sonos One we're looking for. On this page, click on 'deregister' and confirm that.

If on this page you do not see your Sonos One already set up, then it's probably linked to a different account somehow. In this case you can skip the rest of the troubleshooting. Just add the Sonos skill on this website, then follow the prompts.

3. Make sure you know your Amazon account password, and then log out of your Amazon account everywhere. Log out of the Alexa app, log out on your web browser, log out on the shopping app, the music app.

4. Delete all your Amazon apps, including the Alexa app, and then just install the Alexa app.

5. Add the Sonos One back to the system in the Sonos app, via Settings -> Add Speaker or Component. Follow the prompts to set up voice services which will require you log in to your Sonos account, and then your Amazon account, to link them together. You'll also need to enable the Sonos skill in the Alexa app at this point.

6. If that's all worked you should hear the Sonos One say "Hello". Try asking it to play something like a radio station (Radio by TuneIn is enabled by default) and see if that works.

If this does not work, or you are getting stuck at any stage, please post a diagnostic confirmation number and describe how/where it went wrong.

Thank you, keep us posted as to whether or not this helps!

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Ken_Griffiths

This is getting a little silly.

I've now found out that the issue I am facing is a known bug - so there is a help page asking you to basically to re-set up everything from scratch after a hard re-boot when the issue has nothing to do with accounts, duplicate items or authentication. It's simply a bug - Amazon and Sonos have both acknowledged it.

grumpysausage,

Can you kindly point me towards the help page you refer to in your post please that acknowledges the problem both by Sonos and Amazon and asks us to reset everything ... thanks very much.

S

Spekesmill

Trending Lyricist I

I have just spent nearly £2k on a second Sonos system for a different property precisely because my first was so simple to set up. I now feel sick that it is so complicated and I cannot, however much I try, get Alexa to play a well known UK radio station.

UKMedia

I have just spent nearly £2k on a second Sonos system for a different property precisely because my first was so simple to set up. I now feel sick that it is so complicated and I cannot, however much I try, get Alexa to play a well known UK radio station.

Hi Spekesmill

A couple of things to check:

1/ What command syntax are you using? Can you try 'Alexa, Play Radio 2' - please include the room name at the end of the command if not a Sonos One, 'Alexa, Play Radio 2 on Kitchen'
2/ If the command fails, does Alexa reply with a message?
3/ What Sonos devices do you have? If they are Sonos Ones, can you check that the small round white light is displayed on the top. If not then the mic has been switched off, just touch the mic symbol to toggle back on.
4/ If you open the Alexa App>Settings>History did Alexa properly hear you?
5/ If still not working please look at the Answer to this post which lists the three most common issues:

https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/alexa-says-she-is-playing-on-kitchen-but-no-sound-comes-out-6800126/index1.html

Let us know how you get on.

Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)

Ken_Griffiths

Is the problem arising because spekesmill is (perhaps) using the same amazon and Sonos Accounts and mobile controllers at his second home location perhaps?

Don’t they need to be different for a second home location ?

UKMedia

Is the problem arising because spekesmill is (perhaps) using the same amazon and Sonos Accounts and mobile controllers at his second home location perhaps?

Don’t they need to be different for a second home location ?

Yep, they need to be location specific or the radio will play in property one. Well spotted Ken. 🙂

Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)

Ken_Griffiths

I bet his family, or neighbours, back home are wondering what on earth is going on. ha ha 😃

S

Spekesmill

Trending Lyricist I

Thanks all for your helpful comments I appreciate your time. As I mentioned this is my second system so I am familiar with the lights and other basic controls. Alexa hears me ok but keeps saying I need to enable the skill to use the radio even though I have done this in the same way as I did with my first system. She does a sort of "humph" sound then proceeds to tell me to enable the skill. Can't give you the exact wording as I am in property 1 at present. I will try your suggestions asap.
Regards my commands going to the wrong system I thought I needed to be on the same network / WiFi to operate the respective systems?
I think my issue revolves around the 2 accounts as suggested by Ken but I might be wrong, I am no expert.
Thanks again.

UKMedia

Regards my commands going to the wrong system I thought I needed to be on the same network / WiFi to operate the respective systems?

Not for voice command but yes for the App.

I think my issue revolves around the 2 accounts as suggested by Ken but I might be wrong, I am no expert.
Thanks again.

Yes, I expect so. To run multiple Sonos locations you need two Sonos accounts and the relationship between your Sonos Account and your Amazon account must be a 1:1, so you'll need two Amazon accounts.

Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)

S

Spekesmill

Trending Lyricist I

I refer back to my original post.
Please can you point me in the direction of how I creat two Alexa accounts and two Sonos accounts. At present I am seriously regretting my second system purchase and I wish I had done more research.

Ken_Griffiths

Specksmill,

If you were allowed to use the same Amazon/Sonos account credentials at different locations, it would mean that some unscrupulous users could get together and use those accounts at numerous houses and yet only buy one monthly music subscription.... so for example me and everyone in the street where I live, could all share the same account. So that’s obviously not going to be allowed.

So when you set things up at a different location it’s best to keep things separate... otherwise if we take your Sonos Account (just as an example) it may end up with two speakers at different locations with identical names like 'lounge', 'dining room' or kitchen etc. So it’s best to use a new Sonos Account for your other premises to keep those speakers separate from each other.

Same with Amazon, because you have to link the Sonos Account to the Amazon Account and only one Sonos Account can be linked at any one time.

So you need two new accounts (one Amazon and one Sonos)... you set them up in exactly the same way you that setup the earlier accounts, but use different email addresses.. some folk create an email address specifically for this purpose, l presume others use their partners email address.

I hope that now helps and gives you a slightly better understanding.

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