Answered

Pocketcasts - Error, Unable to play, song not encoded properly or the connection was lost

  • 27 January 2021
  • 31 replies
  • 945 views

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Has anyone else seen this error? The encoded error as well as the lost connection error are persistent & I have tried changing network channels, I have tried rebooting the system and I have tried uninstalling the service and adding it again.

 

The error codes persist despite these troubleshooting strategies.

 

Anyone else having this issue or have any suggestions?

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Best answer by James L. 26 March 2021, 16:20

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31 replies

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I'm not sure why this post is marked 'answered' the issue is still present? Does anyone know what Sonos is doing on this issue at the moment?

As another data point, I'm still experiencing this issue. Using S2 13.1.2

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This is not fixed for s2 either

Userlevel 6
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Hi @Tudz Drkl, we’re continuing to look in to this for both S1 and S2 systems - no news to share as of yet, however we’ll post any updates as we get them :slight_smile:

Why is this fixed on S2 but not S1? Some of us can’t afford to go out and buy a new speaker every time sonos decides to retire support for older hardware.

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As an update, Sonos support are aware that this has nog yet been fixed and are still working on it. I've also found some odd behaviour in that some podcasts aren't affected by the issue. It seems to be those that are not subscribed to, i.e. you are not also subscribed to them in pocketcasts app.

 

It might be that the 2 apps in the phone are generating conflicting data and the sosos app, rather than resolving the error by streaming the app just breaks and throws up random error 'toast' messages.

 

Come on guys get this fixed!!!

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I am on s2 version of the app with everything updated and have contacted customer care multiple times, I'm just making it clear here gor the community that his issue has not yet been answered fully and we're still waiting for this fix? Was hoping to get extra information as customer care don't know anything? 

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The latest update on S2 contains some fixes that hopefully resolve this issue across multiple podcast services. Please do get in touch with customer care if you continue to experience this problem on S2 version 13.0 or later :smile:

The issue is still present and has not been fixed (android all latest updates as of 27th march 2021)

Will not play any podcasts which are partially played (pause and resume or played previously). This is a faukt with the Sonos side tech (app) which has required a bug fix for quite some time now, do we not have any feedback from Sonos app dev to advise? 

As I mentioned in my previous post, our engineers have confirmed fixes for the S2 version of the app. If you’re running S1 then this issue isn’t solved yet. If you are on S2, and still experiencing the issue, please contact customer care.

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The latest update on S2 contains some fixes that hopefully resolve this issue across multiple podcast services. Please do get in touch with customer care if you continue to experience this problem on S2 version 13.0 or later :smile:

The issue is still present and has not been fixed (android all latest updates as of 27th march 2021)

Will not play any podcasts which are partially played (pause and resume or played previously). This is a faukt with the Sonos side tech (app) which has required a bug fix for quite some time now, do we not have any feedback from Sonos app dev to advise? 

The latest update on S2 contains some fixes that hopefully resolve this issue across multiple podcast services. Please do get in touch with customer care if you continue to experience this problem on S2 version 13.0 or later :smile:

 

Excellent thank you so much for pushing this ahead!

 

Badge +17

The latest update on S2 contains some fixes that hopefully resolve this issue across multiple podcast services. Please do get in touch with customer care if you continue to experience this problem on S2 version 13.0 or later :smile:

Just checking in with others -- I feel like I haven't seen this error in several days.  Are we fixed?

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Seems to be working ok but the annoying and erroneous “The OS on this device is no longer supported” messsage is back.

I, too, was excited to see the update on iOS. But it’s still not fixed, at least not on iOS. 🙃

This is frustrating!

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Just had updates to my PC and Android phone.  Looks like the problem is fixed.

Fingers crossed!

Alan

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Out of frustration I tried iHeartRadio for podcasts.  Same problem.  This is a SONOS issue.  Despite their claims to the contrary, SONOS doesn't do podcasts.

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I have only been experiencing this in the last three weeks - it did not start in November for me.  I wonder if it has anything to do with the hardware?  I have a Windows 10 PC and a Samsung Android 7.0 phone

Diagnostic 966372957

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Hi all,

I raised this in November last year. Basically the request times out for any tracks if playback is attempted part way through (so if paused and attempt to play later, already played elsewhere in another service or PocketCasts track is part played). It’s like it can’t search to the correct start point so throws random errors.

To get around this I have to play the track to the very end in PocketCasts (reset the track) and then open in Sonos (play from start) then search/scan to where I was. A nightmare.

Here is what Sonos emailed me in November:

“My colleague has done some experimenting on his own system and has found that the Pocketcast service has an unacceptable reaction time - the service is not responding quickly enough and your (and his) Sonos system finds this unacceptable and reports a lost connection. We have reported this to Pocketcast, but have no further information to share at this time. 

The solution for this is likely entirely at the server side of things - your Sonos system is operating as it should and when this issue is fixed, I don't think you'll need to do anything yourself.“

A quick fix Sonos should add is a ‘play from start option’ so it just plays without timing out while we wait for the actual fix.

I have been onto Sonos customer support again this morning as it’s a pretty unacceptable amount of time for a such small fix to be implemented. Hoping this is escalated and resolved soon.

Fingers crossed.

 

Frank



 

I don’t have the unexpected stop issue but I have noticed:

  1. During podcast playback I cannot move from a speaker in one room to a speaker in another room
  2. If I start a podcast playing on all speakers I can mute them individually by turning the volume down (in the app or using the physical button)  but I cannot disconnect a speaker.

I feel sure that it is all part of the same bookmarking feature that is filing to pick up properly.

Today’s diagnostic number 1125182448

Alan

 

I have no specialized insight into what is going on, but my observation is that the problem occurs when pocketcasts syncs episode position on one device (whether it’s a non-playing or other-playing Sonos device or a pocketcasts mobile app) and then it tries sync that position on the currently playing Sonos device.

 

I think this relates to you not being able to move from one room to another, something I also have struggled with.  I think I have “solved” for that by doing the following:

 

  1.  Group the currently playing room together with the room to which you like to move;
  2. After they are playing together for a minute or two, drop the first room from the group; and
  3. Importantly, clear the queue on the non playing room (and make sure no pocketcasts episodes remain in any queues in any non playing rooms). 
  4. Possibly, though I haven’t tested it, try to avoid simultaneously playing any pocketcasts episodes on any other devices, whether Sonos or non Sonos, as it appears to me that position syncing on any device other than the playing Sonos device triggers the problem.

I wonder if that might work for you  It’s not ideal, obviously, but it’s a somewhat reasonable workaround until the combined Sonos / pocketcasts forces hopefully sort this out.

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I don’t have the unexpected stop issue but I have noticed:

  1. During podcast playback I cannot move from a speaker in one room to a speaker in another room
  2. If I start a podcast playing on all speakers I can mute them individually by turning the volume down (in the app or using the physical button)  but I cannot disconnect a speaker.

I feel sure that it is all part of the same bookmarking feature that is filing to pick up properly.

Today’s diagnostic number 1125182448

Alan

@Xander P just fyi I've noticed a new behavior where playback stops in the middle of an otherwise successfully playing podcast, and gives the same encoding error, then sonos moves on to whatever is next in the queue.  

 

Have others seen this?

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Thanks for that update

Alan

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Hi @gnuf, I’ve double checked that with the engineering team, and I can confirm that we are currently working with Pocketcasts to get the issue resolved :)

 

As you have experienced, we are aware of an issue affecting Pocketcasts playback, particularly when attempting to skip forward or back, or when resuming from pause.

No ETA to share for a fix I’m afraid, however we are working with Pocketcasts to get everything working properly. In the mean time, if you are using an iOS device and have AirPlay capable speakers, you can AirPlay audio from the Pocketcasts app as a workaround.

 

I am experiencing the same problem described above (stopped playback with not encoded correctly error) when resuming a podcast from the middle, on the Android G2 app.

 

I have been in touch with PocketCasts support, and they have said that due to a lot of turnover at Sonos, they have been unable to establish a working relationship with Sonos engineers who understand the problem, who could help debug the problem.

 

How can we get PocketCasts and Sonos to work together?

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At least we have an acknowledgement of a problem and that they are working on it.  Is there an official “Issues List” anywhere so I can stop trying to fix things at my end that I can’t fix?  I am always scared that I will make things worse!