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michael319
Avid Contributor I
April 10, 2018
Answered

Sonos won't play when i ask alexa to play?

  • April 10, 2018
  • 39 replies
  • 2082 views
I have music playing on my sonos via the sonos app. But sometimes when i ask alexa to play it will say hmm. you''ll have to enable the skill, but yet if i then go into the actual sonos app and press play it works.

why does alexa not always play and pause when i ask it, even if music is showing as paused on the app?
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Best answer by Jeff S
I have music playing on my sonos via the sonos app. But sometimes when i ask alexa to play it will say hmm. you''ll have to enable the skill, but yet if i then go into the actual sonos app and press play it works.

why does alexa not always play and pause when i ask it, even if music is showing as paused on the app?

Hi michael319,

Thanks for sending in the diagnostic report. I think it would be best to have our phone team take a look at this issue live. Please give us a call and we'll hep get things working. You can find our phone number here.

39 replies

UKMedia
UKMedia
April 11, 2018
Are any of your devices showing as 'offline' in Alexa App>Settings?

Please look at the steps I've listed in the Answer to this post:

https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/alexa-says-she-is-playing-on-kitchen-but-no-sound-comes-out-6800126
Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
michael319Author
Avid Contributor I
April 11, 2018
Are any of your devices showing as 'offline' in Alexa App>Settings?

Please look at the steps I've listed in the Answer to this post:

https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/alexa-says-she-is-playing-on-kitchen-but-no-sound-comes-out-6800126 Hi yes one of the sonos players is offline, but i thought that was because i don't have alexa turned on for it. is that why?
UKMedia
UKMedia
April 11, 2018
Yep
Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
michael319Author
Avid Contributor I
April 11, 2018
Yepokay now all are online with Alexa and I just turned off the mic on the one speaker, so it won't hear me ask for alexa. I don't need all the speakers to hear me. Is that what you were referring to.
michael319Author
Avid Contributor I
April 11, 2018
Still not working. It says "hmm to do that. Enable your Sonos skill in the Alexa app after doing that say Alexa discover devices.

I already did that.

Weird thing is once I go into Sonos app on my iPhone and click play button then I can ask Alexa to pause and skip. But once I play a video on Hulu on my phone it's as if Alexa doesn't have music to play from Sonos. Even though it's in the player but paused.
michael319Author
Avid Contributor I
April 11, 2018
Could it be cause I am playing from Sonos app on phone as opposed to my computer?
michael319Author
Avid Contributor I
April 11, 2018
hmm it actually seems to be when it is inactive for a while that it stops working... sorry for the contant replies
    UKMedia
    UKMedia
    April 11, 2018
    Hi

    A couple of questions:

    - Did you follow the steps in the link I replied to you?
    - When it stops working can you check that the device is still online?
    - Have you set-up the same music services/accounts within the Alexa and Sonos apps?
    Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
    michael319Author
    Avid Contributor I
    April 11, 2018
    Hi

    A couple of questions:

    - Did you follow the steps in the link I replied to you?
    - When it stops working can you check that the device is still online?
    - Have you set-up the same music services/accounts within the Alexa and Sonos apps?    yes I did do the steps. I did a complete reset now. It isn't music from Amazon it's music from my Mac music library. It only happens when the music is paused for a few minutes. Seems to be something to do with it being inactive for a bit. But doesn't make sense cause its still in the app.
    UKMedia
    UKMedia
    April 11, 2018
    Thanks for this and I should have asked long ago - sorry. Voice control of local music libraries is not currently supported by Alexa but you should be able to pause and resume after starting in the App. However I do find that sometimes I need to include the room name in the command. Have you tried this? Please see this help article for supported music sources/services via voice control:

    https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4343?_ga=2.57175786.1121285110.1523427758-1479154436.1521274384&_gac=1.123080825.1523444829.Cj0KCQjw5LbWBRDCARIsALAbcOcQEBh0zI9fApEJB5KbLRWkuTpyREwEvYUB6pbj5ti2rqQMivEk6e8aAlPfEALw_wcB
    Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
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