Promise me you won’t factory reset any Sonos device in future and I’ll try to help.

Power off everything except Play:5.  Uninstall the S2 controller.

Reset the S1 controller and then connect to existing system (i.e. the Play:5).  Check for updates.  Make sure that it is working.  Then try to add back the Play:1s and Sub as if new speakers, using ‘Add Product’.  Check for updates.  (The update checks should only offer you S1 updates, or no updates.)

When it is all working, power it all off.  Power on Arc. Download S2 app and connect to existing system.  Check for updates.

If all OK power the S1 system back on.

Hi John B, thanks v much for the response.  I promise I won’t use factory reset again :-)

Will try the above tomorrow and let you know how I get on. Do I need to uninstall the S2 controller on both my phone and PC, and similarly for the S1 controller reset?

Thanks

Yes that would be best.  I suspect it is not strictly necessary to uninstall and reinstall S2 rather than reset, but let us play safe.  I won’t guarantee this will work, but it has in similar situations.

I’ve followed the above instructions up to resetting the S1 controller, but when I then try to connect the controller to an existing system a message is displayed stating that the Windows Firewall must be configured for use with Sonos.  When I click on “Configure Windows Firewall” though I received a message that Windows Firewall had not been successfully configured, so exited the set up process.

I’ve manually checked the Windows Firewall settings, and all appears to be OK - the Private option is checked for the Sonos Desktop Controller.  I also tried temporarily turning off the Windows Firewall but his made no difference.

I‘d be grateful for any further suggestions.

Are you doing this with the mobile app? It has to be the mobile app for this bit.

I was doing it with the desktop controller, so have now tried with the mobile app but after checking for updates I get the message saying there was an update problem.  Clicking on Try again results in the same message

So at the moment all that is powered on is your Play:5 gen 1 and your phone?  Your phone only has the S1 app on it and the app has been reset?

If so, could you wire the P:5 to your router, uninstall the S1 app from your phone and download it again.  Try to connect to existing system.  If it connects, then before doing an update please go to About My System and see which version the P:5 is on, then post back please?

Thanks. The P5 is on version 11.2.4

OK.  So can you play music OK on the Play:5 as it currently is, using the mobile S1 app as controller?

I can using Spotify, but I get an error if I try to play something from my music library

That may be unrelated, in fact almost certainly is. Let's come back to that.

Now for the real test. For the moment leave the P:5 wired. Power on one of the P:1s, factory resetting it in tbe process. (But only because you reset it previously. )

Then in the S1 app, use Add Product to add it to your S1 system 

It may work, or it may throw an update error again. If there is any error code please post it. 

When I try to add the P1 I am prompted to update the Sonos app - should I try to do so?

I guess so…. but you have just downloaded the latest app.  you are sure it says the app needs updating, not the system?

A further thought - does it matter to you if the Play:1s end up in your S1 or S2 system?

And yet another - is your Connect a gen 1 or gen 2?  The best test of this is whether it is eligible for the 30% upgrade discount (see your online Sonos account if you are not sure).  Alternatively tell me what the 4-digit code in front of the serial number is on the Connect’s label.

Hi john, the message says that the Sonos app needs updating.  As before if I click on the Update button I am taken to the S2 app in the Play store so I did not install it.  In answer to your other questions the Connect is Gen 1, and I definitely want two of the P1s on the S1 system so that I can group them with the P5 + Sub. 

We seem to be back at square one. Sorry. 

I have another idea, but it would involve losing any Sonos playlists, Favourites and settings from your S1 system.  How serious would that be for you?

It wouldn’t be ideal, but I could live with it if it means getting my system back :-)

Well we don't have to burn all our bridges to try it. 

Power off all Sonos except one reset P:1. Wire to router. Reset the S1 app and choose set up new system. Follow the prompts. If you get that working try to add a second reset P:1 using Add Product. 

See what happens.  

I am less optimistic than I once was....

OK, I now seem to have a different problem. The app is telling me that the reset Play1 is only compatible with the S2 app, even though it was OK on my S1 system yesterday!

That might explain the problems we have been having. This would only normally happen if they had been at some point part of your S2 system.  Even then, it is supposed to be possible to take it back to S1 by a factory reset, provided there is an S1 system to add it to.

Hi again.  Is it possible that one or more of your Play:1s has been added to your S2 system in the things you tried before you posted?  It’s hard to think of another explanation for what has happened since then.  Do you hit the same problem whichever Play:1 you start from?

The only other route you might try is to start from your Connect (do not reset this device) instead of the Play:5, and try to add Play:1s to that existing system.

Is the Connect driving a HiFi system or is it just being used to provide a line-in?

Make sure you are factory resetting (if you do reset) correctly:

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1096?language=en_US

I think the problem may have started when I updated the S1 app, not realising that I had been taken to the S2, rather than the S1, app in Play store.  As you say, a factory reset is supposed to reverse this, and I will double check later that I have done this correctly.

Thanks again for your help.