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There is a reported bug fix coming mid-June 2024. If you can’t wait until then…

(I did this running Sonoma 14.4.1) And thanks to folks in a separate thread on the details - just tried to put them all in one place.

I made a video of the process if you prefer that way: https://youtu.be/kjhKhDuvgDY


Part 1 - Set up the share (System Settings/Preferences)

  1. Open System Settings (in earlier MacOS it’s called System Preferences).
    • Click on the apple in top left of your screen to find that option.
  2. Choose General
  3. Select **Sharing**.
  4. Enable **File Sharing**
  5. Click the "i" symbol
  6. Click the "+" symbol.
  7. Add a shared folder by choosing the folder where your music is stored and selecting Open
    • The name of the folder here will be the ShareName that you’ll use in Part 3.
  8. Under ‘users’, confirm that the list includes an ‘everyone’ option, and that you set ‘everyone’ to *Read Only* at a minimum (or “Read & Write”)
  9. Ensure the customer's account is set to **Read & Write**
    • I’m not 100% sure ‘customer’s account’, but I took it to mean the account I login with on the computer.
  10. Click the Options button
  11. Ensure that both SMB and the customer's account below are checked and choose Done. 

Part 2 - Find your computer’s name

  1. At the bottom (or sometimes top in earlier versions of macOS) of the Sharing page, you’ll see Local hostname. Everything before the .local is the hostname. Copy that down - that will be your MacName that you’ll need in Part 3.

 

Part 3 - Add the share to Sonos

  1. Open the Sonos app on your mac.
  2. Choose Manage > Music Library Settings
  3. Choose the + for your music folders.
  4. Instead of ‘another folder or drive’, choose Networked Device
  5. Type the network path name when prompted, and press Next. The format will be \\MacName\ShareName
    • Remember the ShareName and MacName you captured earlier? This is where you’ll use them. Make sure the \ are the right ones (not /, but \).
  6. Enter the Mac username and password. The password is the same as when you login opening your laptop.
    • If you’re not sure about the username, you can find it this way:
      • Open an app called ‘Terminal’ on your macbook. (Go into Launchpad and type ‘term’ and it’ll show up)
      • Type whoami and press enter. 
      • The result that shows is your username. (e.g. Perhaps my computer shows my login name as Salami Slices but my username technically is different (salamislices)). Copy and paste that into the username that Sonos is asking for.
  1. If that doesn’t work, someone had mentioned trying the following:
    • From System Settings, on left side, choose ‘users and groups’
    • Click on the ‘i’ next to Guest User
    • Enable “Allow guest users to connect to shared folders” and choose OK.
    • Now, from Sonos app, when get prompted for username and password, leave them blank and just choose enter.
      • The idea is it would treat it as a guest and since gave access to guests, will work.

 

I tried following the process for Mac users uploaded on YouTube and the author said sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t: no one seems to know why! It didn’t work for me. I emailed the Sonos CEO and got a reply about using the Desktop app - but it’s the Desktop app which doesn’t work! I finally got through on the phone helpline and was told they’re working on a fix which should be available “in June”. I asked why Sonos had disabled my system and was told they hadn’t as ‘services’ still worked. I had to laugh but that’s just adding insult to injury. As another post put it, I now have an extremely expensive Internet radio. The fact that Sonos has not publicly acknowledged this foul-up is the most scandalous aspect of the whole sorry business.

Thanks. That still wasn't visible for me however Sonos just pushed out an update this morning and after doing the Sonos update on my iMac I can now see my Music Library on my phone app.

That works ! on Mac. BIG thanks man !! and total shame on SONOS not even able to guide on their page to the fix. For sure my last SONOS product ever.

 

Outstanding.  I had to use the Guest User option.  Indexing took about five minutes for my library.  

 

Good to go.  Thank  you for posting clear instructions. 

 
 
 

Damn. This fix only lasted 24 hours.

Sonos no longer recognised the library pathway and when I first tried to re-add it the process seemed to work but then timed out during indexing.

Now it just says unable to add folder/access denied etc, etc.

Does t work!

Ugh… even doing everything on the video, it still won’t work for me! (Thank you for the video, it gave me hope at least)

 

I’ve tried everything. Even just throwing an album or two into a directory and simply cannot get past the Error 913.  Of course, everything was fine before the updates...

 

I’m using a iMAC with macOS Ventura Version 13.3.1

 

Anybody have any suggestions?

Ugh… even doing everything on the video, it still won’t work for me! (Thank you for the video, it gave me hope at least)

 

I’ve tried everything. Even just throwing an album or two into a directory and simply cannot get past the Error 913.  Of course, everything was fine before the updates...

 

I’m using a iMAC with macOS Ventura Version 13.3.1

 

Anybody have any suggestions?

What did you have for your path? I couldn’t get it to work until I simplified the path to \users\...\Music

Thank you. This worked for me when I used the guest option. Also added the Sonos DMS to the user details in the shared folders section of Sharing. The indexing took some time, but I have lots of tracks. Fingers crossed that it hold up.

Thank you salami slices for the detailed screenshots on adding a shared library to resolve 913.

 

I am running the latest version of Monterey and my General, etc. is very different than your screenshots.  However, I was able to navigate through nit with some trial and error.

 

It did not like Username and password as you mentioned.  So, I added a guest sharing to the file share and it still does not work for me.  Not sure what I am doing wrong.  I  get an error message, access denied even though it is set to Read/Write.

 

Any ideas on how to resolve?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Watch this, it’s step by step. 
 

 

Brilliant - I have my library back!

This thread and video saved my sanity, gratitude to OP and this community.

Demonstrates how great the user base is and poor SONOS are for not knowing their customers. I hope the Devs officially fix this soon.

Touch wood this worked for me. Running Sonoma 14.5 on a Macbook Air with a 1TB Western Digital external drive. Set up is two Sonos 1 (one wired to router) and a Playbar.  I use the same library to connect to Apple Music (local files only, no subscriptions).

 

I needed to copy the files over to the WD external as set out here https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255466081?sortBy=best. 

 

Otherwise did exactly as described by the OP.

 

I’m now alarmed the next update will break it again.

 

Thanks heaps.

I’m now alarmed the next update will break it again.

The update from the other day left me with access to my music library, but about a 3rd of my speakers (a mix of Play1 and 2, 4 stereo pairs, 4 singles) disconnected and I had to do the unplug-and-plug-again routine, and they came back. No rhyme or reason as to which speakers were dropped - a pair, some - but not all - Play1s, and a Play2. Still no option to add my local library as My Music Folder, but at least the NAS fake-out still works.

I’m now alarmed the next update will break it again.

The update from the other day left me with access to my music library, but about a 3rd of my speakers (a mix of Play1 and 2, 4 stereo pairs, 4 singles) disconnected and I had to do the unplug-and-plug-again routine, and they came back. No rhyme or reason as to which speakers were dropped - a pair, some - but not all - Play1s, and a Play2. Still no option to add my local library as My Music Folder, but at least the NAS fake-out still works.

I had that problem a lot before the update and ended connecting to the router directly (through a switch).  Not ideal but better than the constant dropouts. 

A lot of posters here are having trouble with missing playlists. I use M3 Unify to create them manually. Needs updating with new tracks but otherwise flawless and not impacted by this update. 

This worked very well or me initially, and thank you. However, somehow Sonos reverted to some other BS music folder, somehow assuming my music is on the my Computer (MAC) Hard drive. So frustrating. 

Thanks..I have my music library working on all but one of my Speakers. For some reason Play 3 will not load my music library but only the Spotify, global etc services. All Sonos 1 speakers working fine..even though quite old!!

Any suggestions as to what to do to get my Play 3 working please, would be much appreciated. TY

 

This workaround did the job for a while and my Music Library was fully accessible but after the latest ‘update’ (!) the Music Library appeared to be linked but on all sub-folders: Artist, Albums etc, I get ‘No selections are available’. I’ve tried re-linking several times by using the workaround and get the same dud result. What are Sonos doing?

Thanks..I have my music library working on all but one of my Speakers. For some reason Play 3 will not load my music library but only the Spotify, global etc services. All Sonos 1 speakers working fine..even though quite old!!

Any suggestions as to what to do to get my Play 3 working please, would be much appreciated. TY

 

I eventually solved the problem by resetting my router!!

 

There is a reported bug fix coming mid-June 2024. If you can’t wait until then…

(I did this running Sonoma 14.4.1) And thanks to folks in a separate thread on the details - just tried to put them all in one place.

I made a video of the process if you prefer that way: https://youtu.be/kjhKhDuvgDY


Part 1 - Set up the share (System Settings/Preferences)

  1. Open System Settings (in earlier MacOS it’s called System Preferences).
    • Click on the apple in top left of your screen to find that option.
  2. Choose General
  3. Select **Sharing**.
  4. Enable **File Sharing**
  5. Click the "i" symbol
  6. Click the "+" symbol.
  7. Add a shared folder by choosing the folder where your music is stored and selecting Open
    • The name of the folder here will be the ShareName that you’ll use in Part 3.
  8. Under ‘users’, confirm that the list includes an ‘everyone’ option, and that you set ‘everyone’ to *Read Only* at a minimum (or “Read & Write”)
  9. Ensure the customer's account is set to **Read & Write**
    • I’m not 100% sure ‘customer’s account’, but I took it to mean the account I login with on the computer.
  10. Click the Options button
  11. Ensure that both SMB and the customer's account below are checked and choose Done. 

Part 2 - Find your computer’s name

  1. At the bottom (or sometimes top in earlier versions of macOS) of the Sharing page, you’ll see Local hostname. Everything before the .local is the hostname. Copy that down - that will be your MacName that you’ll need in Part 3.

 

Part 3 - Add the share to Sonos

  1. Open the Sonos app on your mac.
  2. Choose Manage > Music Library Settings
  3. Choose the + for your music folders.
  4. Instead of ‘another folder or drive’, choose Networked Device
  5. Type the network path name when prompted, and press Next. The format will be \\MacName\ShareName
    • Remember the ShareName and MacName you captured earlier? This is where you’ll use them. Make sure the \ are the right ones (not /, but \).
  6. Enter the Mac username and password. The password is the same as when you login opening your laptop.
    • If you’re not sure about the username, you can find it this way:
      • Open an app called ‘Terminal’ on your macbook. (Go into Launchpad and type ‘term’ and it’ll show up)
      • Type whoami and press enter. 
      • The result that shows is your username. (e.g. Perhaps my computer shows my login name as Salami Slices but my username technically is different (salamislices)). Copy and paste that into the username that Sonos is asking for.
  1. If that doesn’t work, someone had mentioned trying the following:
    • From System Settings, on left side, choose ‘users and groups’
    • Click on the ‘i’ next to Guest User
    • Enable “Allow guest users to connect to shared folders” and choose OK.
    • Now, from Sonos app, when get prompted for username and password, leave them blank and just choose enter.
      • The idea is it would treat it as a guest and since gave access to guests, will work.

 

Finally a post which works, thanks a lot

Finally a post which works, thanks a lot😉

Thanks for this.

I did all the above and the Sonos app worked OK for a while. Then there was an ‘update’ (from version 16.0 to 16.2) and the Sonos app Music Library stopped working. I’ve tried the workaround several times but now it seems my Music folder is not recognised. The Sonos app appears to be linked and updating the Music Library then I get a window:

 

‘//******-****/****************/Music is no longer available.

The device where the music files are stored may not be powered on, or the path may have changed.

Go to Settings>System>Music Library>Music Library Setup to check the path.’

 

My Mac is running MacOS Big Sur 11.7.10 so Settings are System Preferences and the Music Folder location is set in Music Preferences. I reset the Music Location and even re-indexed my 500GB of music (which took most of a day) but I still get the same result from the Sonos app. The Apple Music app and Plexamp app both use this Music folder and have no trouble at all. Until (hopefully) Sonos bring out a working app I’m going to have to abandon their app and stick with Apple Music and Plexamp through my Sonos speakers. I’m quite new to Sonos. I have one stereo setup of 2 x Era 100s and another stereo setup of 2 x Era 300s. It seems they make great speakers but crappy software.

I’ve even tried giving the full pathway of  \\******-****\****************\Music\Music\Media\Music but the Sonos app still can’t find my Music folder 😖 

Seems to me that Step 11. “

  • Ensure that both SMB and the customer's account below are checked and choose Done. 

is the essential one - and the password needs to be entered for Windows (even though there are no Windows machines in my network).

 

 

Thanks. This has worked for me 🙏

I tried this several times right after it was first posted, with no success. So I decided that using my Sonos speakers with the iPhone Music app via AirPlay was a workable solution, and gave up. Today I decided to try this again. After a few more of failed attempts I finally got it to work by adding the external hard drive where my music lives to my shared folders list. The relevant folders on that drive had been on that list since my first attempt, but not the disk itself. 

Many thanks Salami Slices...

I too have now had success adding my music library, plus two additional music collections to “The New and Improved” Sonos App. That is, with the exception of no Playlists, except for one that I have no idea where it has come from.

A tip for anyone who is about to run through this solution – make sure to carefully read all the way through the instructions twice, and watch the video, before starting. 

 

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