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Hi all, I’d be very grateful for any advice on the following.

 

I own a Sonos Port so we can send audio to an external line-out source via the Port’s RCA outputs. It has been running glitch-free on our Unifi system for well over three years, alongside our many other Sonos devices.


A couple of days ago, I noticed that although the Port showed that content was streaming from it, output was not being heard via its RCA outputs. Power cycling the unit did not resolve the issue.

To try to troubleshoot, I hard reset the Port by holding down the button on the back of the device while connecting it to power. And that’s when my nightmare really started.

 

I went through the process of setting up the unit. At the risk of hijacking my own thread, I do need to note in case any one from Sonos is reading this that the setup experience for this product is horribly inaccessible to me as a totally blind person. Rather than simply joining our existing Sonos network, the iOS app prompted me to connect to the PORT’s WiFi network. I had to enter the 8 digit code written on the back of the Port, which as a blind person I could not read. No OCR app would help me, so I had to wait until I could obtain sighted assistance. This was really disappointing.

 

But back to the main thrust of my question. Once I did have the number, which I have now written down for safekeeping, I were then invited to press the button on the back of the Port to continue. However, I was advised by the sighted person assisting me that the light on the button was not flashing, and pressing the button had no affect.

 

We have attempted setup with multiple controllers.

 

Sonos works flawlessly on our Unifi system and I have set up other devices without issue before. After taking some advice from Unifi experts some years ago when we went Unifi, all our devices use WiFi, none are hard wired.

 

A Sonos support person suggested hard wiring the PORT to our router to “simplify setup”. I presume that either Ethernet port should work, but neither does. When I do this and try to add the PORT, the Sonos app doesn’t see it at all. I have conducted some research on any Unifi settings that may be at fault, but I am reluctant to change too much because what we have works in general, and I wonder if the PORT may simply have developed a fault, since its sudden failure to work is what got me started on this journey. All other Sonos devices are performing fine and not glitching in any way.

 

If anyone has any thoughts, I’d appreciate it. I am out of ideas.

 

 

It sounds to me like you’ve exhausted most , or all of the things I’d normally recommend.

As you’ve found, a factory reset is almost never a good idea, and should only be done at the direction of Sonos themselves.

Based on your lengthy post, I’d suspect some sort of issue, either with the power itself (check that the plug is fully inserted to the wall, and the back of the Port) or a faulty / blown Port itself. 

Certainly the advice suggested by the Sonos support person is what I would also recommend. There’s a simple advantage to having the device in a position where there’s the least number of variables that can affect the setup. And once the device is “working” properly, it can be moved to where it will permanently live. I do this myself, when I purchase a new Sonos, setting it up on my Kitchen table, so I have full access to it, and then moving it to where it will ultimately end up. And wiring it directly to the internet keeps out those pesky wifi issues, although isn’t 100% able to remove potential duplicate IP address issues, since they’re not wifi related. 

All electronic devices can fail, unfortunately. I’m wondering if this one has.  

Most of my Sonos devices are “protected” by various surge protectors, but not all. At the end of the day, each Sonos device is ultimately a very small computer, and subject to all the potential issues that can happen with power fluctuations.  

I’ve recently had a “smart plug” device fail this week, and I fear it’s given up the ghost due to power issues. I’ll need to replace it soon. 

Yes, my hunch is that the unit has developed a fault. I’m relaxed about that, I’ve worked in the hardware industry and I appreciate that stuff fails.

Perhaps I just need to find a friendly retailer who will let me take a new unit back if getting a new one doesn’t resolve the problem.

Not that I have wide experience, but in general, Best Buy won’t, unless I can provide a receipt to prove that it is within their return window. Or Sonos, for that matter, refers to when I purchased the device on their website.

Much like you, I’m somewhat resigned/aware of the failure of electronic equipment. I’ve had my fair share of replacements, across all spectrums of devices, due to power brownouts, more than spikes. 

For Sonos, mostly I end up at Best Buy anyway, and am purchasing open box stuff for the discount. There’s always a large number of people who don’t understand how to use network connected equipment, from what I can tell. I’ve not had any issues with broken purchases over the last 10 or so years of doing so. 

Good luck!

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