Not quite sure where to start. I've had Sonos for several years now. These days I use it mainly for streaming functionality and radio listening. But I have a very large music library on my PC that I used to also listen to on the Sonos and would like to again. I would also like that functionality to be available from my Ipad and Iphone. My library exceeds the Sonos's capacity and I for awhile tried to get Plex working without success. So I haven't tried to use the library for some time now. I am having multiple problems. First of all, is there a way to access a limited portion of my library via the Sonos (almost like accessing a playlist rather than the whole library? Also, when I try to enter the path to my music library, the path disappears the next time I try to access it. When I try to access things from my Ipad or Iphone, I get a "computer not responding" message even though I have configured the firewall to allow Sonos through and my wi-fi (Google mesh network) is good and I am within a few feet of the router. I think I have multiple problems and I suspect problems in one area are keeping me from resolving problems in other areas. Any help is appreciated.
Problems with playing from library - I think issue is multifactorial
You can not use a mobile device, such as your iPad or iPhone as a storage device (library location) that Sonos can access. And Apple blocked the ability to ‘play from this device’ last year, so if you want to, you might be able to use AirPlay 2 to send a signal to your Sonos speakers, assuming they are AirPlay 2 capable. Since you didn’t tell us what you have, it’s hard to be definitive there.
As to your other library issue, the number batted around is around 65k tracks, but that’s more of a ballpark, as the system also considers other tags in each file to be part of the memory limiting factor when trying to save the library’s list of files.
The next time your library update fails, I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes, 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.
When you speak directly to the phone folks, there are more options available beyond just the diagnostic analysis.
Thanks. This is helpful. I may not have been clear about one thing, though. What I was trying to do was not to use the iPad/iPhone as the storage device; the music library is on my PC. I thought I should be able to share the library on my PC to the iPad and/or iPhone and play music from my library, controlling it with the Sonos App on those Apple devices and playing through the Sonos speakers. Shouldn’t that work??
Most of my system is older and not AirPlay enabled, but I do have a Sonos Beam (that is primarily my TV soundbar) and I can successfully play music stored on my Apple Device via AirPlay. I guess one workaround would be to just sync an iTunes playlist (highlights from my library) to my iPhone and use AirPlay.
I will try the Sonos Support option. Thanks again.
Ah, yes, I did misunderstand that. And yes, assuming your PC is set up properly, and the hard drive is ‘on’ and not sleeping, you should be able to use the music library from the PC. Again, assuming the size of the file list with ‘tags’ doesn’t exceed that limit of the memory on the Sonos device.
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