Part 1 - Set up the share (System Settings/Preferences)
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.
Choose General
Select **Sharing**.
Enable **File Sharing**
Click the "i" symbol
Click the "+" symbol.
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.
Under ‘users’, confirm that the list includes an ‘everyone’ option, and that you set ‘everyone’ to *Read Only* at a minimum (or “Read & Write”)
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.
Click the Options button
Ensure that both SMB and the customer's account below are checked and choose Done.
Part 2 - Find your computer’s name
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
Open the Sonos app on your mac.
Choose Manage > Music Library Settings
Choose the + for your music folders.
Instead of ‘another folder or drive’, choose Networked Device
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 \).
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.
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.
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when is sonos going to fix their app !! i mean if the support knows about it… are they short in cash or something, may be I can send them $5 …
GIVE this man a beer !!!
this is what helped me
1/ use the THIRD OPTION of network drive...even if it is your LOCAL filder
2/ DO NOT use the FULL path to your folder but only //localcomputername/foldername
NO WONDER everybody is lost… these 2 steps alone MAKE NO SENSE AT ALL !!!
it is totally counter intuitive.. but with SONOS I guess who gives a damn right ??
SONOS you are heading out of business if you can’t figure out your MAC OS app… come on.. don’t come crying when you have to close shop
AMATEUR HOURS !!
Those very instructions (Use the network drive option, use a network path, etc.) have been listed here in countless threads, and given in the official support page for months.
Thanks! I’ve spent about 10 hours yesterday and today trying to share a Music library with Sonos controller on a Mac. Sonos tech chat this morning provided a new thing to do (change SMB settings), but I could not find any way to change SMB settings, and I found that these settings are done automatically on a Mac.
There are a couple of critical things where ALL of them must be done to share a Music Library with Sonos controller:
First, share the folder where the music is stored as stated in this post.
Sonos uses the folder name for shared folders as shown in Apple > System Settings > File Sharing > (i). If this music folder is a sub-folder, DO NOT use the complete sub-folder name list like I did. This mistake cost me 10 hours. Also, File Sharing must be toggled to On.
To add a music folder to the Sonos controller, select the third option where it is located “Networked device (ex. NAS drive)”.
Type in the computer name and just the shared folder name as shown in File Sharing. The format is \\computername\shared folder name. Here, to be clear, the only two entries are 1) the computer name and 2) the name of the shared folder as shown in Shared Folders. Do not enter additional sub-folder names.
Last, when asked for username and password, use the username that can be found using the prompt “whoami” in the Terminal app and your password.
I hope this is helpful and saves others time.
GIVE this man a beer !!!
this is what helped me
1/ use the THIRD OPTION of network drive...even if it is your LOCAL filder
2/ DO NOT use the FULL path to your folder but only //localcomputername/foldername
NO WONDER everybody is lost… these 2 steps alone MAKE NO SENSE AT ALL !!!
it is totally counter intuitive.. but with SONOS I guess who gives a damn right ??
SONOS you are heading out of business if you can’t figure out your MAC OS app… come on.. don’t come crying when you have to close shop
AMATEUR HOURS !!
Thanks! I’ve spent about 10 hours yesterday and today trying to share a Music library with Sonos controller on a Mac. Sonos tech chat this morning provided a new thing to do (change SMB settings), but I could not find any way to change SMB settings, and I found that these settings are done automatically on a Mac.
There are a couple of critical things where ALL of them must be done to share a Music Library with Sonos controller:
First, share the folder where the music is stored as stated in this post.
Sonos uses the folder name for shared folders as shown in Apple > System Settings > File Sharing > (i). If this music folder is a sub-folder, DO NOT use the complete sub-folder name list like I did. This mistake cost me 10 hours. Also, File Sharing must be toggled to On.
To add a music folder to the Sonos controller, select the third option where it is located “Networked device (ex. NAS drive)”.
Type in the computer name and just the shared folder name as shown in File Sharing. The format is \\computername\shared folder name. Here, to be clear, the only two entries are 1) the computer name and 2) the name of the shared folder as shown in Shared Folders. Do not enter additional sub-folder names.
Last, when asked for username and password, use the username that can be found using the prompt “whoami” in the Terminal app and your password.
I hope this is helpful and saves others time.
Thanks,
I’d been fighting the damned computer all day before I found this.
Downgrade to S1, if you still can and your speakers allow it. I did, as after every update, it was such a hassle to get my local library back, and if so only with limitations (no proper playlist indexing, no artwork, etc.). And it no longer worked at all after the latest November update.
Sonos has failed to live up to its promise to fix the app.
I am now going to ditch my hundreds of pounds worth of equipment (probably via e-Bay), keeping the Play5s, as I can at least still play my turntable through them.
It was a great few years with Sonos, but the current system is unusable. I feel really bad, as I also recommended Sonos to my family and friends, who have also invested hundreds of pounds. They will also be ditching their hardware.
I am moving to Apple HomePods, where I know I can access my music library, as well as streaming services.
A sad end to a once-great company.
Thank you, got my music library to show up but as with others, no playlists. Really disappointed in the Sonos experience, very close to chucking three Sonos devices out the window and just going with decent Bluetooth system. Slower, more bugs, more upgrades that do nothing (or worse) for me. Come on Sonos, get your act together.
There is a reported bug fix coming mid-June 2024. If you can’t wait until then…
… Yeah, sort of! Perhaps it depends what OS version.
Having said that, this is how I got it to work:
Most of the above, no idea what is meant by customer account.
Make the share, mine was like this \\myserver\iTunes
Make a Sonos user that can read the file system ( IMHO, don’t allow write): mines was “listener” with a password “Whatever”
under options in the share, make sure as above ( salami slices), smb is turned on, and under the lower part for windows users click listener and enter the password.
Go to the ridiculously, hard to use Sonos App on your Mac , and enter the above for
share: \\myserver\iTunes
username: listener
password: Whatever
This setup works for me, the guest network doesn’t, silly, but true.
Good luck!
Ignore my post 6 posts ago - Sonos worked for a while but then at some point again could not see the music folder….
I don’t really remember how I did this. Somehow I got Sonos to index my library on my computer. Now it recognizes all of my files. It doesn’t list them like my old library did. I have to come up with an artist name and it tells me that it’s in my music library, it won’t just list the entire library like before.
WOW! indexing finished… and… library is present in the Sonos controller!
Hi, I’m still in the “trial & error” mode. Thought I found the solution in allowing guests to log in on this computer, instead of “connecting to shared folders”. But then I only managed to import 1 single folder (with mp3-files in it). This afternoon I updated the “Sonos controller for Mac” to v. 16.4.2 and after a few attemps that went wrong, I am now awaiting for Sonos to finish the indexing of my library (which contains 20k+ mp3-files). Cross fingers…
But if it fails, I will try your suggestion!
Thanks anyway for replying :-)
FWIW, it was Part 3, Step 7 that got this (finally) working for me after a lot of trial and error based on the various posting recommendations. I did have to change the permissions for “Everyone” back to Read Only (I had switched it to Read & Write as a test), which also matches the instruction set….
Found a similar explanation on YouTube (Matt Klee), but it only worked when I went into “MEDIA SHARING” and choose “selected lists” (geselecteerde afspeellijsten), with my music map in it, in stead of “all lists”.
Glad I now have access to “my” music :-)
Spent an hour with Sonos tech trying to add my music library after new update. He couldn’t do it, said it was a known issue at their end. Apple tech had no idea also.
Hi again, everyone.
I’m now getting a “unable to add...1002” error. Has anyone worked through this recently?
Thanks in advance,
Joe
Perhaps see if this Sonos Support link will assist to resolve the issue…
I’m now getting a “unable to add...1002” error. Has anyone worked through this recently?
Thanks in advance,
Joe
Unfortunately, this work around no longer works after the latest update. I am now receiving a playlist import error at the very best (no matter what I try), which leaves the whole Music Library folder in the Sonos controller empty. And all this after having spent hours last time to add my Music Library in Sonoma before, and having spent hours with Sonos support to find another workaround for my TV sound connection, as one of their updates also broke the optical cable support. You figure….. Any ideas?
You mention a ‘playlist’ error - have you tried excluding the playlists to see if that might fix things, or try a different shared folder with just a few tracks in it, just as a test, to see if that may work for you, in case there’s something in the library itself that’s causing a problem?
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.
Part 1 - Set up the share (System Settings/Preferences)
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.
Choose General
Select **Sharing**.
Enable **File Sharing**
Click the "i" symbol
Click the "+" symbol.
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.
Under ‘users’, confirm that the list includes an ‘everyone’ option, and that you set ‘everyone’ to *Read Only* at a minimum (or “Read & Write”)
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.
Click the Options button
Ensure that both SMB and the customer's account below are checked and choose Done.
Part 2 - Find your computer’s name
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
Open the Sonos app on your mac.
Choose Manage > Music Library Settings
Choose the + for your music folders.
Instead of ‘another folder or drive’, choose Networked Device
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 \).
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.
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.
Unfortunately, this work around no longer works after the latest update. I am now receiving a playlist import error at the very best (no matter what I try), which leaves the whole Music Library folder in the Sonos controller empty. And all this after having spent hours last time to add my Music Library in Sonoma before, and having spent hours with Sonos support to find another workaround for my TV sound connection, as one of their updates also broke the optical cable support. You figure….. Any ideas?
I went through the settings change on here assisted by the Sonos Chat and it worked. It says its updating the music but lets see if it works.
I am really dissapointed I have had to do this if i am honest. It should be automotic and part of the app.
Yes...I am having the same issue, which I posted above I have found threads here and here that seem to reference the same issue...but I am not seeing any solutions anywhere unfortunately.
I am extremely frustrated to report that this workaround is no longer working for me. When I attempted to update the Sonos music library to reflect changes to my Music playlists, it failed each time. I attempted to re-add the file share following the same steps as before, and at first it appears as if it’s going to work:
However, at the end of the lengthy updating/indexing process, I consistently get this error:
‘//derochir2020mac/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.
I have the latest version of the Sonos Mac Controller version 16.3 (build 80155014) running on Sonoma 14.6.1 (23G93).
I can’t figure out what has changed. The solution has worked for the last few months and not this.
