Sonos Connect - cannot factory reset (flashing orange-white, never green)

Too close can be a problem. A meter is usually great, half that and things can get iffy.

Not always obvious to the clueless user either. I really appreciate the Sonos support that pointed out that I had two Sonos speakers about seven inches apart. In different rooms but backed up to the same wall. Minor movement of both and suddenly all was working fine.

Wrong thread

Good evening all. Thank you for being there in my moment of Sonos-based desperation! Just to give a flicker of hope to those of you facing this problem: my Connect is now working again after I turned it on whilst plugged in to the router with an ethernet cable.

Short history: moved flat; two Play 1 speakers hooked onto the new wifi straightaway without issue through the app; one Play 3 speaker needed a factory reset to appear in the app, but then hooked on without a problem; finally, my Connect was appearing in the app, but I too was getting the infuriating white flashing light when the app was telling me it should be green and that I should press the play button. Factory reset did nothing - the orange flashing light never turned green. So I turned off the unit, gave it 10 mins, and then turned it on whilst physically connected to the router with an ethernet cable. All sorts of flashing occurred in the cable, and then - BOOM - the front light on the unit turned green, and the Connect could be hooked onto the system as normal through the app. Good luck all of you - I hope you get the same lucky break.

Then I’d suggest that you call Sonos Support directly to discuss it.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and network.

Factory reset is almost never, ever the answer to the vast majority of issues that you might run into. As the previous poster suggested, connecting with an Ethernet cable, even temporarily, helps reconnect.

Now that you’ve factory reset, you should deal with this as if it’s a new device. Easiest is to follow the recommendation to connect it temporarily with an Ethernet cable, then use the ‘add a device’ function in the mobile controller. 

I just got my Sonos Play gen 1 to go from forever flashing orange to green by plugging it in through an ethernet cable. It’s back up now. Maybe this can help someone who got stuck on their factory reset. Or maybe it’s ot, and not at all applicable to the Connect product? If so, please disregard this post. 

My Sonos Connect (2015) does not show what version it is S1 or S2. When I try S1 Android software it cannot recognize Sonos. When I try S2 software it finds Sonos but cannot connect Sonos to wi-fi. At the stage to connect to SONOS wi-fi it stops recognizing device. Is there some way to find out what S version it is?

Bottom line: There are no user remedies beyond reboot or Factory Reset. The cold Factory Reset has helped a few users for an unknown period. SONOS does not repair units or provide any repair documentation.

There are a few 3rd party repair agents in Europe that could likely repair the unit. If you are a DIY, there may be some discussions about this issue, however, replacing memory will require surface mount soldering skills.

To some extent this is a hospital. Here, “everyone” is sick. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough data to declare that xx% of the units have or will fail with this issue at this point in the unit’s life. With a large complex device, such as an automobile, an ideal product characteristic would be that all subassemblies would turn to dust on the same day. This would save the owner from experiencing an ever increasing string of more and more expensive repairs until ultimately deciding that no more attempts should be made to support the remaining usable parts.

Mother nature is never fair. At some point all electronics will fail. Failures tend to be age related and the failure signature will change with age. Large service centers become familiar with a given model’s failure signature(s). If you simply give a model number, the center can likely describe your symptoms. If production control on model XYZ is very tight, all or most XYZ’s will fail at approximately the same time. This failure could occur after a few days, weeks, or decades. Warranties are designed to protect the user from manufacturing defects that will show up in the early weeks. It is possible to design units that have an expected life of decades, but these units cost more than a few hundred dollars.

I’m aware of a high quality speaker design that suddenly started experiencing problems. A driver would simply fall apart. This was new production. Production from years past was not having issues. Worse, the replacement part would fall apart in shipment. It took a few weeks to shake this out, but the failure was ultimately traced to units assembled over a three day period by one individual on the production line. Naturally, customers were annoyed, but protected by the warranty.

If you think that a unit has failed too soon, it pays to check with the manufacturer because there may be a known issue that affected one batch of product and the manufacturer might extend the warranty on that batch.

Here’s the LINK to CS - see what they suggest.

Keep us posted. 

gave it a try, did not work. thank you for all the support.