Forcing Updates



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39 replies

Sorry for the confusion about the IP reservations. I don't reserve addresses for my speakers.

So you've reserved address for some of the devices in your home, just not the Sonos speakers? From what you wrote previously, it seemed like you understood that reserving IP addresses resolves IP address problems? Were you quoting someone else or was that actually you, talking about your system?

I'm just not following the train of thought around this. I'm not sure why you aren't considering reserving IP address for your Sonos devices when you understand how to do it and it's been recommended as a fix to the issue your having with updates.
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Not having reserved IP addresses is still likely to bite you when you finally do run an update and also when the router and/or Sonos gear reboots due to a power glitch or other reason.

I finally gave in and did the IP assignments after getting tired of power cycling after every storm.
No, the router loses track because an update causes the Sonos to reboot and get a duplicate IP address from a wonky router. The controller is a very dumb application, all the information is stored on the Sonos units themselves. If the controller cannot reach the Sonos units, then it cannot retrieve any information about the Sonos unit.

Do a network refresh. Reserve IP addresses for your Sonos units so they never again get a duplicate. 99.99% of the time, this fixes what you are seeing.
Sorry for the confusion about the IP reservations. I don't reserve addresses for my speakers. The interesting thing to me is that after a controller upgrade, the controller doesn't know about any of my speakers. I then go through the steps to add 1 and amazingly it knows about the specifics for the one that I added (like name) and also all the other speakers also show up.
That tells me, that after a controller update, the controller looses track of everything and doesn't know how to contact any speaker. I assume that the speakers know about each other so that when the controller finally is forced to query one of the speakers, it learns about all of them.
The strange thing to me is that this issue has only popped up this year, on some, but not all of the updates. I find out about it because I go ask Alexa to send something to a speaker and nothing happens. If I'm lucky enough to be the one that does that, all is well. But if a visitor or my wife asks Alexa to play something and nothing happens, I get yelled at.
So, I have now taken the steps above and have turned auto updates off so that "I" control when an update happens and can verify it afterwards. That should stop the screaming. 🙂
SONOS should be able to make it simple.
I have a network with quite a few devices. I like playing with computers and automation systems. I have never, even with multiple SONOS speakers, ever had any IP address conflict problems. Almost all, but not all, of my systems use DHCP, some have reserved DHCP addresses. If you are having issues with IP conflicts, then you may need to look at how you are handing out IP addresses. If you have systems with statically defined addresses within a DHCP range, that is a problem. Also check your system that is handing out addresses, if it get confused about who has what addresses that is also a problem. DHCP has been around for a long time and just plain works if it is configured correctly. If you are having problems with address conflicts, then the DHCP configuration needs to be checked.


I'm confused. You're having trouble with speakers disappearing after an update, which is usually do to IP address conflicts, but your familiar with the issue? Have you setup reserved address for your Sonos speakers (not static, but reserved)? If you do have reserved addresses and you're still losing speakers on updates, then it's a different issue. Submitting a diagnostic after the next update could help.


One underlying desire that I have for all systems, is to make them simple to use. If my wife takes more than a couple clicks to get what she wants done, it will get tossed away.
If an update requires me to reconfigure the system, I get very upset.


And that's reasonable. I do think that one downside to all the emerging tech around voice control, smart speakers, and IoT in general that it's too complex right now. That's due to emerging tech, integrating of different products, and so many products potentially on a network.
SONOS should be able to make it simple.
I have a network with quite a few devices. I like playing with computers and automation systems. I have never, even with multiple SONOS speakers, ever had any IP address conflict problems. Almost all, but not all, of my systems use DHCP, some have reserved DHCP addresses. If you are having issues with IP conflicts, then you may need to look at how you are handing out IP addresses. If you have systems with statically defined addresses within a DHCP range, that is a problem. Also check your system that is handing out addresses, if it get confused about who has what addresses that is also a problem. DHCP has been around for a long time and just plain works if it is configured correctly. If you are having problems with address conflicts, then the DHCP configuration needs to be checked.

One underlying desire that I have for all systems, is to make them simple to use. If my wife takes more than a couple clicks to get what she wants done, it will get tossed away.
If an update requires me to reconfigure the system, I get very upset.

In general, SONOS is very easy for her to use. However, the last several upgrades have tried my patience. Having to re-add speakers that I already have on the system is unacceptable.
I don't think, 'making it simple' is really a viable option. Sonos functionality/requirements around IP addresses has not changed over the years. What has changed is the volume of devices in a typical home that utilize a wifi network (and volume of wifi networks in general). If all you have is a couple computers along with your Sonos, the odds of running into IP address conflicts are very low. But today, we have dozens of devices in the home that use IP addresses and thus the odds of conflicts are a lot higher.

Can Sonos somehow maintain the same stable multi-room audio system and change it's use/dependence on non-conflicting IP addresses? I don't know.
Thanks for the suggestion on turning off the auto updates. It hasn't been a problem for me until recently. The last couple of updates have been complete junk. I have had to re-add one of my speakers and then it knows about all of them.
Yes SONOS, you need to get your act together on the updates. It MUST be seamless again. I don't know what has cause the headaches this year, but that must end.
As one person put it, most of the users are consumers, not tech heads.
If you make it simple, they will come!!!
Totally agree. Stop forsing me to update. Stop stop force me.
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If my 93 year old mom can do it (with a bit of over the phone prompting) I don't think it is rocket science but you know your limitations better than I do.
Userlevel 5
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Ooooh, yet another answer from a techy. "Assign static/reserved IP addresses". NO. I'm a consumer, not a pointy head. 99.99% of the population haven't a clue (and don't care) what you are talking about. This is a CONSUMER product, not a nerdy/Machine code wet dream.

SONOS - get your act together or you will DIE......
Userlevel 7
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You can likely solve your update hassles by assigning static/reserved IP addresses to your Sonos gear from your router's DHCP page. Usually fairly quick to do, follow by unplugging your Sonos gear and rebooting the router. Plug in any wired Sonos devices one at a time, give it about a minute between each one, then the wireless ones, again one at a time.

If you turn off update notifications you might want to manually check for updates every month or two so you don't get too far behind.
You're not forced to update*. Disable the update check in the system (which BTW doesn't automatically update, it just notifies that an update is available), and ensure that Sonos apps on iOS/Android don't automatically update from their respective app stores.

If you don't prevent the controller apps updating they'll go out of step with the player firmware, which will then usually require a system update before you can play anything. This is because controllers and players must be at compatible versions.

(*Except when you add a new unit to the system.)
Userlevel 1
It’s a pain in the a**, friends come round you switch on Sonos and guess what you can’t play any music, it worked fine the day before but not now. The system does not NEED an update, the update might help but it’s not NEEDED, please give us the option to update when we’re ready.