Mac Sequoia Sonos App Cannot Connect to System

Hi

The Link refers to Mac with Apple Silicon. If you Mac is Intel just try the steps as listed below the link.

If you are having issues installing the Sonos app on your Mac with Apple Silicon the following link should help. It’s an official Apple article:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211861

After a successful installation I further suggest you give it permission to update by going to:

1. Apple Icon Upper Left Corner on Menu bar
2. System Settings
3. General
4. Privacy & Security
5. App Management
6. Click Plus Sign (+) to add Sonos App *

 * The app should be found in your Applications folder. If not it wasn’t properly installed.

Yes, this is an M1 Mac. I added the Sonos app under App Management, verified the Mac firewall was disabled, restarted the Mac and the Sonos app still presents the same firewall message. I figured out how to install Rosetta 2 at the command line (since it didn’t seem to be engaging automatically as the Apple article said), restarted the computer, but I’m still getting the same firewall message.

Thanks for any additional thoughts.

If you are using a 3rd party antivirus its firewall may be active. If so turn it off. You should be able to use the Mac built-in firewall without issue.

Edit: Probably not the case….but if your computer is managed by your employer or has a Company VPN…that may be the Firewall causing the problem or other restrictions may be in place.

It might be worth trying un-installing Sonos on the upgraded Macs and then re-installing. There’s an un-install option in the menu. Possibly reboot between the uninstall and re-install. 

I use Sophos Home AV so I’ll take a look at that and make sure it’s not posing a problem. It hasn’t in the past, but who knows. Not a corporate computer (I’m retired and this is one of my home systems) so a company VPN is not the issue. 

I *think* I already reinstalled the Sonos app but I probably wouldn’t bet my life on that, so I’ll do that again. I’ll also try starting in safe mode and see if anything changes, but I’ll admit I’m not certain what functions that will disable, so that may introduce another issue that confounds the problem. 

OK, uninstalled my AV and the Sonos app, restarted the computer, reinstalled the lates Sonos app, verified the Mac firewall is still disabled, and still no joy. Same “your computer’s firewall setting has changed” message. Tried booting into safe mode and same result.

I did notice one oddity, but I only see it on one of my two M1 Macs (I see it on my MacBook but not my Mini) and that is in the System Settings / Network, there’s an entry in the list right under Wi-Fi that says “Sonos” and it has a yellow circle that says “No IP address”. I’m beginning to wonder if the whole firewall message is a red herring and there’s actually another error happening, but it’s really not the firewall. The weird thing is I do NOT see that Sonos network entry on my Mac Mini yet I’m still getting the same firewall error message on that system as well.

For the record, I have not tested starting my Mini in safe mode because I manage that over Apple screen sharing and safe mode will require the system's own KVM setup.

As an old Air Force 3-Star I used to work for would say, “I’m about out of altitude, airspeed and ideas.”

Thanks for the reply…Don’t crash and burn 😂

I too have a M1 Mac Studio running MacOS Sequoia 15.01. This may resolve your issues…

Go to System Systems > Network > Firewall

Turn on Firewall (It should be enabled for security) > Options

Turn off > Block All Incoming Connections

Sonos > Allow incoming connections

Turn on > Automatically allow built-in software to receive incoming connections

Turn on > Automatically allow downloaded signed software to receive incoming  connections

Turn off > Enable Stealth Mode

• Having it turned on can inhibit TCP and UDP connections attempts
• Numerous key Internet applications use UDP, including: the Domain Name System (DNS), the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). Voice and video traffic is generally transmitted using UDP.

Click > OK

Restart > Mac

Thanks for the response. All due respect, I’m pretty well versed in protocols, networking and network security, as it was my career for the last 25 years or so of my working life (CCIE #8237, awarded September, 2001). My plan regarding the host firewall was to disable it until I could at least get communication going, and then reenable it and make sure that didn’t break anything.

But in the interest of encouraging community support, I've modified my settings to match yours: firewall is enabled, Sonos connections are permitted, enable stealth mode is disabled but the other two settings are enabled. This didn’t change the outcome; I still get the same “your computer's firewall settings have changed” message, which, as I’ve said, I think is a red herring.

I did connect everything I needed to boot my Mac Mini (the one that does NOT have that Sonos “No IP address” entry under the Network settings) into safe mode, and I still get the same result. 

At this point, I think I'm going to bypass WiFi and see if I can connect to my Playbar over Ethernet, see if that makes any difference. I’m not even sure exactly what that will tell me (anything that’s blocking traffic over Wi-Fi should also block it over Ethernet) but I honestly can't think of anything else to try.

 [For the record, I am still wondering about the “Sonos” entry in the Network window (which I do not see on the Mac Mini), plus the fact that it says “No IP address”. I've considered modifying the /etc/hosts file to add a host DNS entry, but I'm not sure what the actual hostname would be. But I am still curious about why it shows up on one Mac and not the other.]

OK….thanks for the visual. That suggests that something in your Sonos gear is acting as a network device capable of broadcasting a WiFi signal. The only time that should occur is during initial setup of a Sonos speaker. So IMO one of your Sonos units is malfunctioning probably due to defective NIC.

One way to determine which Sonos is generating the WiFi signal is to disconnect each device 1x1 and reboot each time. That is very tedious and time consuming as you well know.  The other option is too contact Sonos support and they’ll probably have you run a diagnostic for them to review.

The only other possibility I can think of is that some other device on your network is masquerading as a Sonos device. Spoofing 🤔

BTW…my response was not to indicate that you have no knowledge of IT. I really have no way of knowing what your level of knowledge is nor your credentials. That’s one of the downsides to a forum such as this. I also try to explain in certain cases why I suggest certain things be done especially involving turning on or off features. I try to provide as much information as possible to avoid excessive back n forth on an issue. 

Weird. I powered down each of my Sonos devices, one at a time, rebooting my Mac each time, and the Sonos entry still appears in the Network list, with no Sonos devices in my house powered on. Seems like it’s embedded in the OS settings at this point. And as I said, it doesn’t appear at all in my Mac Mini. Guess I’ll contact Support and find out what they want to see in order to diagnose what’s going on. 

Still no joy on the app. I tried Ethernet from my laptop to my home router and Ethernet from there to the Playbar (I suppose I could have hard-set an IP address on my laptop in the same subnet but figured this was easier) and still no luck, so it’s not a Wi-Fi issue. I found a list of protocols and ports used, and might try Wireshark to see if I can identify exactly which one is failing. Other than that, probably a fresh OS X install is the only other thing I can think of to do. At least that might give me a clue as to whether there’s something I installed that’s blocking communication. Fortunately, my Mac Mini is really just a server where I keep my MP3s, so those are easy to back up and restore. 

Thanks for your assistance. Sorry about being an a@@ regarding IT credentials. I understand you really have no idea who you’re working with, or what their background is. 

I have no answers but wanted to add that I am also getting the “your computer’s firewall setting has changed” message when trying to access my One SL and Beam using the desktop app. I recently installed OSX 15 (Sequoia) as well. All was working fine for months (years) before the update. My firewall is off and always has been off.

Got mine working again by going to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network and toggled Sonos off and then back on. Restarted the Sonos desktop app and now it connects. Weird.

@Surfdog_2003 - I was just as frustrated and saw your advice on toggling Sonos off and then back on and this solved my problem too.

I had tried all of the other “fixes” to no avail.

thank you.

I’ve got this issue now too.  Toggling Sonos under Local Network did not solve my problem.  Neither did any of the other “fixes.”  My laptop’s firewall is not active now, nor was it before.   I have multiple Sonos installations.  It worked fine at one yesterday.  Today I am in a different location and I get the errors described here.  This all used to work from my laptop just fine <sigh>.  It works fine from my phone, in both locations.

Any chance you have a mesh network? It sounds like a device that your controller is running on is on a different subnet than your speakers, now.

Even if not, have you submitted a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and called Sonos Support to discuss it?

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the Support staff, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

No mesh network here.  In fact many of the speakers are on a wired network.  I guess I’ll give support a try when I have some time. 

I’ve also got the same issue since updating to MacOS 15. I’m moving constantly as a student between my student room and my parents home and each time sonos S1 app is saying there is an error with the firewall. Which wasn’t an issue at all before updating MacOS and isn’t an issue at all on my iPhone.

I already tried the to add the app to the firewall settings (I’m using Little Snitch and allowed all communication), which isn’t even turned on and added SonosS1 Controller to App Management. 

I am running Mac Sequoi 15.1.1 and cant connect to Sonos. It says there is a firewall problem, but I have changed the Firewall to allow Sonos, restarted etc about 10 times, same message comes up, allow Firewall Access. I have also re-installed Sonos to try that, same message. I have no other security on the macs. And the sonos works on my iphone, but not either of my laptops.

I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the Support staff, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

Yes thanks and I have done all that. First had a chat with a bot that was a timewaster, then did the diagnostic thing and called the help line which had an actual person. But the conversation was really just a sponge, with no actual help. It seems the helpline and support staff is more about appearances.

I had the Firewall message frustration also.  Did all the stuff Sonos suggested and nothing changed.  When I read this thread I saw the suggestion from Surfdog_2003.  It worked!!    Let me repeat his simple method, since I’m now his #1 fan.

• Surfdog_2003

Got mine working again by going to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network and toggled Sonos off and then back on. Restarted the Sonos desktop app and now it connects. Weird.

^^^ THIS ABOVE ^^^ Thank you! You just saved me many hours of banging my head on my keyboard trying to figure this s*** out! It worked… ^^^ YAY ^^^

Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.

I’m glad it helped. Saved me much head banging also