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

  • 27 January 2021
  • 31 replies
  • 936 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

Userlevel 6
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Hi everyone, thanks for reaching out to the Sonos Community!

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.

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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 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!

 

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

Fingers crossed!

Alan

Userlevel 2

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.

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

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

Userlevel 1
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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?

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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



 

Userlevel 6
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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 :)

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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

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?

I am getting this constantly over the past few months, on two separate Sonos systems.  The "lost connection” error fixes itself quickly, but the "not encoded correctly” problem does not.  

 

The thing I noticed is that pocketcasts seems to give this error only if you are trying to play a podcast from any position other than 0:00.  Since pocketcasts syncs across its system I go into the pocketcasts ios app, reset the position to 0:00 and then can play on sonos.  But don't try to fast forward or you'll get the error again unfortunately

@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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I have been having the exact same problem for months. It seems to only happen when the podcast has been stopped and restarted. It has been a bug with Sonos for some time now. 
 

has anybody heard anything from Sonos about a solution?

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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Ugh. First problems with Apple podcasts, then Stitcher, now Pocketcasts. Getting tired of it. 

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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.

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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!

One of the key things that I used to miss when I rebooted my system was the simple action of rebooting the router while the Sonos devices were unplugged. That way, I get fresh software across the board, as well as renewed IP addresses and DNS information. It’s not clear from your post one way or the other, so I thought I’d throw the idea out there.

Sometimes, people have also reported that removing PocketCasts from Sonos and then adding it back in has worked for them. I suppose it matters exactly why the error is existing as to which solution might work. 
 

However, if it continues after trying both those possibilities, I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it, or post the diagnostic number here for a Community Moderator to pick up.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution. Indeed, nothing better than hard data to look at.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, there are more options available beyond just the diagnostic analysis. 

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:

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.

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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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:

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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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I have started experiencing the “song not encoded correctly” error since the upgrade to 12.2.2.  It happens whether I am running a PocketCasts podcast using Sonos from my PC or from Android phone.  The fault occurs if I pause and restart or attempt to skip forwards or backwards.  I assume this is a Sonos bug rather than a PocketCasts issue.

What can I do to fix this problem?  Is this a known bug in the current release?  Where can I find it logged as such so that I don’t waste time looking for help? 

Alan