Skip to main content

Downgrade to S1

The current version of the S2 app includes the capability to downgrade to S1. Go to “help and support” and you'll find it.

Your products have to be downgraded one by one, and they need to be 2020 or earlier.

I recently downgraded my two Play 3 speakers to S1 and now all the features are back and the response is instant, as it should be.

Simply reset your products to factory settings, then follow the instructions on the S2 app.

Once that is done, install the S1 app and create your Sonos system.

If you use the PC app as well, uninstall S2 using Windows Control Panel and download and install the S1 app in its place. It will then find your downgraded Sonos S1 system and connect to it. Everything then works as it should.

A note for those of you who use Samba on Linux to share your music library, if you use Samba version 4, you need to add two settings to your ‘sub.conf’ file, then restart ‘smbd’ and ‘nmbd’.

The settings are:

server min protocol = NT1

client min protocol = NT1

Your S1 system will then map the share and index the library.

If you have your library on a Windows machine, you don't have to concern yourself with that.

Hope this helps people.

@chambolle

My response wasn’t focused on planned obsolescence; but more toward getting people to understand the consequences of downgrading to S1. In hindsight I probably should not have mentioned anything about what may happen in the future regarding S1 products.

I can see now what I fear most is that this post (since you honest comment ) has a potential to be taken in another direction. There are plenty of posts already complaining about the failed communication of Sonos upon launching the app refresh in May. We really don’t need another one.

I didn’t intend to ‘take your post in another direction,’ other than to observe that Sonos really has been extremely conservative in making model changes and uncommonly generous in its support of ‘legacy products’ in the context of the 21st century ‘consumer tech’ industry.

I vow to be more circumspect in the future.

I have downgraded my Play:1 from S2 to S1 to get it to work again. The new app is absolutely horrible with disconnects and lags. S2 in my Play:1 also was failing to stream properly, giving me ads every 5 minutes on TuneIn and even more often 10-15 seconds pauses with no sound at all. 

With S1, everything works again, although I had to use 1-2 hours to get WiFi going again.

And yes, I lost playlists and history, and I hate that, and because of that, I hate Sonos. I am not sure I want to buy more Sonos products. The reliability and trust is gone.

On android, app version released on 2024-08-02, cannot downgrade. My Play3 is recognised in the downgrade tool, but downgrading says that my mobile device couldn’t be connected to the product Play:3 and I should confirm it’s powered on. Yes it is, the app just found it like five seconds before.

Shooting in the dark here but maybe try hooking an Ethernet to your Play and the main router’s ports.

So where are all the positive responses to having the ability to downgrade from S2 to S1, with so many thousands of requests for this specific functionality?

Are you seriously posting that?  My $5,000 worth of sonos stuff turned into bricks and the roll back means I get to MANUALLY RESET ALL OF IT TO FACTORY AND THEN MANUALLY START IT ALL OVER. I’m supposed to post something positive to THAT solution????  Is this the CEO?  Because that is the kind of stupid crap I keep getting from him in email. 
 

at least the app works to deliver his idiotic updates. 

On android, app version released on 2024-08-02, cannot downgrade. My Play3 is recognised in the downgrade tool, but downgrading says that my mobile device couldn’t be connected to the product Play:3 and I should confirm it’s powered on. Yes it is, the app just found it like five seconds before.

I was having similar problems, I found  that I needed to factory reset and keep unit powered up (don’t unplug power and replug) before attempting to go back to S1. Some times I needed an Ethernet connection too. 

So where are all the positive responses to having the ability to downgrade from S2 to S1, with so many thousands of requests for this specific functionality?

I just performed the upgrade ( they call it a downgrade) My system now functions properly and I am very pleased. 
Hallelujah! 

Interesting options.  I’d have to have a split system (a Roam and a Five that would have to be on their own) and dump my sub-mini.  But if by year-end, things have not turned around, that may become a viable solution.  90% of my system would be working well again.

It’s interesting to look at the implications of this.  It’s an acknowledged dead-end. The planned obsolescence is obsolete customers. The features I bought the system for obviously are no longer important to SONOS.  To use them, I revert back to the “last known good” and that’s it.  And SONOS is accepting that any new products will not be of any use to me. I, as a customer, am now obsolete. 

That right there is a baller move - to cut off some of your customers as lost causes like an infected limb.

Here’s to OG SONOS - it was pretty awesome while it lasted.  Out to pasture now.

ITT: “You should be thankful they haven’t totally bricked your system already”. Yeah no. We’re not dealing with something like the unavoidable effects of Moore’s law, this is expensive audio equipment that has no reason to not work other than Sonos’ desire to apply a cloud subscription in order to gatekeep access to something I already paid for.  My main problem is I didn’t follow my gut 18 months ago and pull the plug instead of adding two more amps. No more.

Reply


Terms & ConditionsCookie settings