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

  • 2 November 2022
  • 56 replies
  • 7094 views

Hi,

I hope you can help me reset my Sonos Connect.

After applying power with the pause button depressed, then releasing the pause button after about 15 seconds:

  • the led flashes white/orange forever
  • the led does not transition to green.
  • the network port (cable connected) flashes so the switch and network is working.

I have tried other combinations many times without success.

Any ideas please?  

Thanks

Rich


56 replies

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.

I also had trouble of not getting the flashing light to turn green.  I took an Ethernet cord and plugged my Sonos device into the router.  I came back to it an hour later.  It was green.  I was able to connect and use my Sonos.

Had the same issue and found a solution which was either one of two things, or a combination of both. I had two Sonos units in close proximity from each other and a relative distance away from our Wi-Fi hub. After an hour of the endless “white and orange blinking light” I moved the unit away from any other Sonos devices and plugged it in within closer proximity to the Wi-Fi hub. And it finally gave me a green light and allowed the app to pair up the old device again on our system. Maybe it was pure luck, but hopefully this can help others

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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.

They told me that unfortunately my Connect is broken and not repairable. I could start an RMA procedure. I‘d need to send back my Connect in order to get a 30% discount on a new device.

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

Same exact issue as shared by many others , Sonos Connect flashing orange.

This cant be a coincidence with this many incidents , must be a known issue, 

I understand my Connect is from 2015,  but still should not go dead….or Sonos should be clear upfront that their products last 4-6 years. Am not interested in buying something else that will die in 4-6 years.

 

 

I have a CONNECT from 2010 that is still working. This community is similar to a hospital -- after a quick walkthrough you might jump to the conclusion that “everyone” is sick. We don’t know what the ultimate life of these units will be. For any manufacturer’s product a few fail on day one and along the way. In the 8-10yr range the failure rate will start creeping up. Lots of original 2005 units are still functional. Each product has an age related characteristic failure. If you go to a large service center with a broken product, as soon as they know the model number, before you speak, they likely know the issue. This doesn’t mean that all units will fail, only that when they do fail, they tend to follow a pattern.

More likely caused by the Illuminati. 

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.

Hey Buzz,

 

I don’t think that it failed too fast, per se.  I just think it’s curious that so many of the same model had reported failures around the same time.  

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.

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.

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. 

That’s curious. My 2010 CONNECT is wirelessly connecting via WiFi. Describe your WiFi hardware for us. CONNECT’s use some older WiFi standards that some WiFi access points block by default. If you can configure your router, make sure that “b/c compatibility” is enabled. Note that some routers do a bad job of this and will slowdown overall throughput.

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?

Try looking in the "system tab" in your online Sonos account, it should identify the version there. As a bit of a general rule anything older than March 2015 is Gen-1 (S1 App only)

Absolutely - just had the same issue on a previously perfectly-working Connect:Gen2 !

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. 

by the way, thank you for taking the time and making suggestions, I appreciate your help.

 

More evidence suggesting a hardware issue. While not a fix, simply powering down the unit for a couple days might allow it to Factory Reset. This is more proof that there is a hardware issue. If there is a temperature issue, the “cooling off” might help, but only till the unit warms again.

The hardware failure could be vexing. Let’s postulate that a section of memory fails at a certain temperature. Factory Reset and update moves lots of stuff around in memory -- increasing the risk of stumbling over the intermittent section. If the Factory Reset and any updates are successful, and the bad memory is now not in use, the unit could continue working for a while -- until there is an attempt to use that bad section. This could be days, weeks, or months from now, long after you’ve disconnected your brain from this current problem. Then you’ll start looking for a seemingly unrelated problem because this problem was “fixed” long ago.

Keep us posted. 

I have exactly the same issue, was any fix found?

Same issue. I can get all the way to this screen with my connect amp but the flashing light never goes green this is where everthing dead ends as a result. Did everyone give up on this issue?

There has to be a fix somehow.

 

Any fix? Flashing orange and white, it never turns green....

Same exact issue as shared by many others , Sonos Connect flashing orange.

This cant be a coincidence with this many incidents , must be a known issue, 

I understand my Connect is from 2015,  but still should not go dead….or Sonos should be clear upfront that their products last 4-6 years. Am not interested in buying something else that will die in 4-6 years.

 

I contacted Sonos Support, got a case number. I was told the network card on the Connect is no longer compatible and can not connect to my wifi. They offered a 30% discount towards a new item. Knowing the Connect replacement has been out for 3 years, not sure its worth buying.

I am a Sonos fan and customer, with 10 Sonos products in my household, I understand technology can age. Time to go back to all analog, and only get a streamer that can be replaced every 4 years.

 

Same issue. Sonos Connect working fine. Gone for 3ish weeks, when I come back app can not detect and can not factory reset. Nothing here ?

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