I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, while the Amp is showing up in your controller, and call Sonos Support to discuss it. But don’t post the resulting diagnostic number here, they get sensitive about GDPR.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

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

I’ll try that tomorrow, when tech support is open.

The problem with the touch controls, power LED, and IR control is ongoing. Is the reason for submitting within 10 minutes because logs fill up and that helps make sure they get a report of activity when it would show up?

I was thinking of just pulling the power cord and restarting, fixing the controls so the sound plays, so they could see a report of the startup and of what changes so sound works.
 

Update: Called tech support. The guy I talked to didn’t seem up to speed with the computer system they use or with the product. I was reviewing, to make sure he had the report correct, and the sound on the other end of the line just went silent. I tried to ask him if he was there multiple times, but no response. I finally said, “In case this call is being recorded, I’ve lost contact with the rep and he won’t respond, so all I can do is hang up.”

Also of note: He did NO attempt to troubleshoot while on the phone - he just took my info, including the diagnostic. Then he said he’d review it all and get back to me. That’s when I reviewed everything I had told him, just to be sure he had it right and during that review is when the call went silent and he never responded.

I called today and it turns out no report or trouble ticket was generated, so the rep I’m talking to now is looking over things.

Update:

The woman at tech support really wanted to help me. She was misinformed on several issues - information she found by searching the support database. Once again, I am far from impressed with what Sonos tech support can do and them providing me misinformation.

Hi ​@TangoMe 

Thanks for your post!

Sorry to hear of this less-than-ideal interaction you had with our support team. I’d like to look into it for you, but I’ll need some details - please look out for a Direct Message from me in a few moments. Thanks.

Search your memory. Do you recall if there was a static electricity discharge during your struggle with the Christmas tree? Pure speculation on my part, but if there was a discharge, damage to the AMP is possible.

Note that the touch controls can be disabled. It would pay to check this detail.

Those are good poings, ​@buzz.

Static discharge is always a possibility, but i’ve been working with electronics since I was a kid. (I don’t mean plugging things in, I mean building shortwave radio kits, soldering things together, even doing some circuit design on my own.) All the devices in my entertainment center are on a UPS with surge protection and I saw no indication of static discharge while I was moving things around - this is something I always watch for.

I also know that not only can the touch controls be disabled, but so can the IR control an the power LED. So all three of the items I have an issue with can be turned on and off with the app. I have tried them all in ON and OFF positions. (And I find the UI for this confusing - usually a toggle switch on the left is off and on the right is on. Also, black is usually associated with OFF. But when you slide the switch to the right, most of the switch is black. The dot that represents the switch is white, but all that black makes it confusing as to whether it’s on or off. I’ve had to design UIs before. This is not a good design choice.)

Considering the history of the control app, over the past year or so, I find it quite easy to believe that the app might not actually be toggling these settings as needed. I’ve also notice that it’s the three items I can turn on and off that are now all turned OFF. (I would think these would default to ON.)

I am now thinking it could be the NVRAM that’s been spiked. I saw no indication of a static discharge, but they’re not always something we can see or feel.

Hi ​@TangoMe 

Please see my Direct Message to you, but I’ll repeat a few of the points here:

I think ​@buzz may be on to something. I could not get confirmation, but I suspect the IR Sensor, the touch controls and the LED all reside on one circuit board - it is conceivable that a static charge could knock them out. It is also conceivable that the ribbon cable that connects the daughterboard to the mainboard is loose (you did say you relocated the unit), but please be aware that if you open a unit, we will no longer accept it if you decide to go ahead with the RMA to get a replacement.

There is no setting that can prevent the LED from operating during the boot process - if it does not ever light up, it is not the app causing it.

A factory reset should still be possible, but I doubt it will help. Hold the button for about 3 minutes - that should be long enough. The app will offer to add the unit if it has been reset (assuming you have Allow Pop-Up Messages enabled in the App Preferences - otherwise, Add a Product manually).

If you don’t want to go down the replacement route, I think the Amp will continue to work fine without these non-functional items. It seems to me the biggest issue is probably the IR sensor - if you use the TV’s remote, the instruction to change the volume will come over the HDMI cable rather than by IR.

I hope this helps.