Local Superstar

"Sorry, something went wrong" response from ERA-100 using Alexa voice service

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
December 19, 2023
68 replies
2267 views

Over the past couple or months or so, I have been experiencing a response along the lines “Sorry, something went wrong” from an ERA-100 device in bedroom, with the first command. The second command works fine. I have a ticket open with Sonos Support, unfortunately, they are just asking me to restart devices, re-install skill, move devices, change WiFi channels etc, and not looking at the diagnostics I have been sending them.

I have found out today, that others may be experiencing similar issues, here is an example:

https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/18bgxhx/long_time_user_with_a_new_problem_alexa/

I also see this thread, that maybe related:

https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/170fit6/fyi_alexa_still_doesnt_work_properly_on_era_100/

Which suggests Sonos are aware of the issue?

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craigskiAuthor

Local Superstar

I don’t have issue asking ERA-100 for music, or more specifically to stop music. The ‘Sorry, something went wrong’ response is for a non music request, eg ‘Alexa, what is the temperature’.

I don’t think this issue is specific to morning, its just when I use voice commands most, to stop Sonos Alarm, get weather etc.

UKMedia

I don’t have issue asking ERA-100 for music, or more specifically to stop music. The ‘Sorry, something went wrong’ response is for a non music request, eg ‘Alexa, what is the temperature’.

I don’t think this issue is specific to morning, its just when I use voice commands most, to stop Sonos Alarm, get weather etc.

I still think this is most likely a Network issue. Did you follow the steps in my first post? (Your AP, won’t identify this issue, as explained in my article)

Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)

Ken_Griffiths

I use Alexa on Era 100’s lots throughout the day - I definitely don’t see the same issue. I thought this was an early morning thing,after a period of inactivity? If I ask the time, date, weather and general questions - I’m not seeing the issue. See attached - a quick test a few moments ago.

Ken_Griffiths

I think it must be an intermittent local network issue of some kind too, as @UKMedia suggests. As mentioned earlier, maybe reposition the Era 100 in a place so as to increase its SNR level and see if that solves things for you. Get the level to at least 45dB, or higher.

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craigskiAuthor

Local Superstar

Re network, all Sonos & Amazon devices have reserved DHCP address. SNR Level is 38-40dB, which is ‘good’. I do have a Play One in another room, I may swap them, if I get time.

@Ken_Griffiths What is interesting, the ‘Alexa, stop’ ‘Alexa, play” commands work fine on my ERA-100 but don’t appear in the Alexa App, so they must be slightly different, eg local commands not using Alexa cloud service? Do you see same?

Ken_Griffiths

Re network, all Sonos & Amazon devices have reserved DHCP address. SNR Level is 38-40dB, which is ‘good’. I do have a Play One in another room, I may swap them, if I get time.

@Ken_Griffiths What is interesting, the ‘Alexa, stop’ ‘Alexa, play” commands work fine on my ERA-100 but don’t appear in the Alexa App, so they must be slightly different, eg local commands not using Alexa cloud service? Do you see same?

No they show up in my activity list …see attached.

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craigskiAuthor

Local Superstar

OK, “Alexa, stop” and “Alexa, play” don’t appear in “Activity” but they do appear in “Voice”, as per your screenshot.

Ken_Griffiths

OK, “Alexa, stop” and “Alexa, play” don’t appear in “Activity” but they do appear in “Voice”, as per your screenshot.

Yes, that’s where I see the Sonos activity - see attached. I think the main activity screen relates more to asking Amazon Alexa things like the weather and other non-music related things.

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RLB

Trending Lyricist I

I thought I’d chip in to say I’m experiencing exactly this. I have 3 Sonos Ones, a Move, a Roam and a few Amazon Echo devices.

Over the last 2 or 3 months, I’ve experienced an issue where the first voice “Alexa” command issued to a Sonos elicits a “something went wrong” response. If I immediately repeat the command, it works. This only occurs if the Sonos hasn’t been used for a few hours.

There is no connectivity issue. I can use the app to access an Amazon playlist etc with no problem. I can also use voice to stream from other services without this issue (eg. BBC sounds). There’s no issue using the Echo devices.

It does feel as if the Alexa capability has started sleeping, and can’t wake fast enough to process the first command. And this is a fairly recent problem, which makes me wonder if it’s been triggered by an update (maybe to reduce standby power usage?).

I’ve done all the usual things - rebooted the Sonos, the router, disabled and re-enabled the Sonos skill in the Alexa app and the Amazon service in the Sonos app. I’ve looked at the signal strength for each Sonos and it’s fine. In any case, I stream music off a NAS with no issues, so the Sonos network is robust enough for that.

I am left suspecting some kind of “sleep” issue related to an update at either Sonos or Amazon, but I can’t be certain. Any ideas?

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @craigski

Thanks for your post!

I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

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