Starting to tear my hair out with my system

My MAC is currently running OS X 10.8.5. Would that cause a problem??

What mac OS are you running please?
If you go into About my Sonos System do all components (controllers and speakers) say they are on v7.0?

We crossed in post. That explains greying out. 10.8 is only partially supported. Do you have another controller device? Is Mac too old to upgrade OS to 10.9?

In any case, it will be a local network issue, rather than a problem with Sonos. The usual suspects are IP address conflicts and wireless interference. Make sure your Bridge is at least three feet from the router and on a different wireless channel (at least 5 channel numbers apart). Maybe try changing router channel as well. Do not have the router channel set to “Auto”. Are there other wireless devices near your router, such as a cordless phone or baby monitor, which might cause interference?

To clear a possible IP conflict, do a complete network reboot. Power down your router and absolutely everything that connects to your network - phones, printers, Smart TV etc, and of course Sonos gear. Turn on the router and let it come up fully. Then power on any wired Sonos component, then other Sonos components, then everything else. One device at a time, and let each come up fully before doing the next.

If none of that helps, submit a system diagnostic when the problem occurs and post the confirmation number back on this thread.

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/142/~/submit-system-diagnostics

Thanks John B.

All of my SONOS components are at V7, My Mac should be OK to go to 10.9, it certainly would not be happy going to the latest 10.12. I do have a cordless phone next to my router. Plus the Bridge is 18" away. I will try all of your suggestions.

Thanks

Note that if the IP refresh works, you can prevent IP conflicts in the future by reserving the IPs by MAC address in your router setup. Sounds complicated, but it is not, and it will ensure your Sonos devices (and others, if you wish) get the same IP every time, and that IP will never be assigned to anything else.

One slightly important thing I forgot to mention, my SONOS system works perfectly with radio etc. so it is all connected & working now. It just says that it cannot find the server. So am I looking more at an operating system upgrade to make my MAC/SONOS/I-TUNES all work seamlessly together??

The OS only affects the functionality of the controller. I'm afraid it is unlikely to sort the music library issue. The reboot (if you haven't tried it already) may sort it. Other possible reasons are firewall or sharing permission issues. Although intermittent nature makes these seem less likely.

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/692/~/configuring-your-firewall-to-work-with-sonos

https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2413/~/mac-os-x-music-sharing-help

Had the same problem more than once. Each time I have removed my music library and reinstalled it.

When you say removed your music library. What do you mean & how do you do it?

What is frustrating is I cannot open any of the items in the "Manage" menu so cannot update or change the music library. I do however have full control from my phone or I-Pad. But I cannot seem to get anything to read my i-Tunes library. I-tunes is all up to date it plays fine on the Mac itself. Just the SONOS cannot see it. I really do not want to upgrade my operating system, just for SONOS when everything else is working fine. This upgrade could cause me far more problems going forwards???? So I am now very frustrated....

if on your mac the manage menu is greyed out it means you are not runningthe newest version 7.0 on your Mac and need to update the software on the Mac.

oh your mac won't load the newest

It still should have no effect on sharing music from iTunes to Sonos.

On your iPhone can you delete the current library and add it back.

If you can't add the library residing on your Mac then could be a mac firewall issue. Info on firewalls here https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/692/~/configuring-your-firewall-to-work-with-sonos

If I open SONOS I click "About my Sonos system" It says Sonos controller for MAC Version 7, Bridge Version 7, Play:5 Version 7???

Just tried to delete the current library, I got a the following message - '//Macintosh/Music' no longer available. The device where the music files are stored may not be powered on, or the path may have changed. How do you find out the path on a Mac, I can do it easily on a PC??

I'm not a mac user. But does this help?

https://www.lifewire.com/use-macs-hidden-finder-path-bar-2260868

or this?

http://osxdaily.com/2015/11/05/copy-file-path-name-text-mac-os-x-finder/

Now I have finished work I am going to try & sort this. None of the above made a difference. I have now lost my music library all together. This is starting to get very annoying. I am currently on hold with the sonos technical help team. It would appear that if I update my operating system there will be far more issues come to light on things that are working perfectly??

Operating sustem updates do very much of the time expose issues in system and network. Not unusual or specific to Sonos.