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.

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.

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.  It’s not really a question of philosophy, nor of the lifecycle of electronics.  The real question is whether the failed unit can be resurrected or not (and if so, the steps to do so).  I think that’s the only question that the owners of these failed devices have.

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.

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

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.

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

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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)

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.

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.

More likely caused by the Illuminati. 

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

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.

Keep us posted. 

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

No help for your dead unit but as we have iffy power here I plug every Sonos into a good quality surge suppressor. Plug a lot of other stuff into them too, not just a Sonos issue!

I’ve had very good luck with Trip_lite units over many years, just buy based on the specs, not looks or price. Amazon links here but you might find better prices elsewhere.

Four to eight outlets, these are my gold standard, had a couple burn their inner parts to ash absorbing a surge, the plugged in devices survived. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005119M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Nice for Play 1s, 3s and Ones, small.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006B81E/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Compact and higher rated than the small one above.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000510R4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Really low rating, I’d get something better.

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Protector-INSURANCE-TLP6B/dp/B006KAP4AK?ref_=ast_sto_dp

I have the same issue.  Went away for 2 weeks (with the Connect:Amp plugged in and on), but upon my return it did not work.   Same issue as OP and others above.

I have 4 Connect:Amp devices, and the other 3 work fine.  All are hardwired with Ethernet.

Factory reset was not helpful - I can get to the point where it asks to press the button (which I do with all of my might), but with no positive result.

I am not sure what to do, now that I have 3 working Connect:Amp devices and one broken one.  I suppose I could buy another one (used on eBay or something). 

It does seem like a lot of us are having this problem all of a sudden, but again we are a self-selecting group.

If anyone makes any headway, please keep this group posted.

As much as I respect the opinions provided, it’s a binary question.  Can a failed unit be made to work again?  That’s it; none of the other hand wringing or pontificating has any practical application.  Thus far it appears that the answer to the question is no.  There has not (yet) been a remedy discovered.

Hallo,

Ich habe versehentlich die die s2 app auf das Handy von meinem Mann geladen. Damit ich den Connect weiterhin verwenden kann, muss ich jetzt die speaker wieder auf s1 downgraden. Bricht allerdings das downgraden immer ab - mit und ohne Internetkabel. Habe die schwere Befürchtung,  dass das von sonos so gewollt ist, damit Sie mir einen neuen Connect verkaufen können mit 30%für 350,-- Euro ! Grrrr

Hat jemand eine Lösung für mich?

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?