Sonos S1 hangs when attempting to add any music service



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Hi. I’ve had an S1 system for over a decade (3x S5 gen1, Amp and Connect) and it generally worked fine. Over the years I’ve subscribed to (legit) Napster, Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Apple Music and Deezer. Plus BBC Sounds and a few other services without issue. 

Last night, we purchased our first S2 product, a Move. I removed all existing devices, reset them and, after setting up the S2 with Move, created a new clean S1 system.

All of the devices are there, but the only thing I can connect to is Sonos Radio. If I click to add a music service I just get a spinning ball type icon (happy to share a screen grab if needed) and the app hangs. It responds fine if I select to add a voice system.

I’ve obviously rebooted everything multiple times. I’ve reset the S1 app. I’ve deleted and reinstalled it. On two iOS phones. Nothing works. There are no issues using the Move on the S2 app. All services are visible and available to add.

I spent over an hour on Sonos chat and was ultimately told to call the UK freephone number quoting a case reference. When calling the number a voice recording informs that lines are closed. At 10am when they’re supposedly open?

I’m at a dead end and we’ve gone from ‘let’s trade all of the S1 kit up to a new S2 setup and add a sound bar and sub for the lounge’ to ‘the S2 is going straight back to the shop and the S1s in a skip because we can’t listen to anything.’

Before I literally take the S1 stuff to the recycling centre, does anybody have any tips or ideas that might save the day? To say we’re fed up is an understatement.

Thanks.

 

 

I have the same issue. I have just got added a Play 5 to my collection, but this one is not S2 compatible. Therefore, I’ve set up so that everything else, including Boost, works using existing S2 app. Was hoping to at least use the Play 5 independently using S1 app, but like you all I can access is SONOS Radio! I get exactly the same buffering circle as you when I try to add a music service. Had live chat with SONOS who seemed not to be paying much attention, and like you they’re now telling me to call up. Soooooooooo frustrating. In the seven years that I’ve been building my collection, I’ve got a little more disappointed each year! Did you ever resolve?

You can attempt to install the SONOS S1 client on your PC and then add a music service. Once that is done, you will be able to view the music service and play music from the mobile phone using the S1 client. That's what I discovered.

Well, yesterday was a fun day with this issue. I spent just shy of 3 hours text chatting and on the phone with Sonos support.  I started the chat at 9:03AM.  During the course of the chat I explained several times that the list of music services was empty and the spinner kept spinning forever.  At 10:03AM (an hour after I initiated the chat) the rep is telling me to click on Add a Service and select the one I want.  Total failure to communicate.  By 10:16AM the chat rep finally told me I would need to call by phone and have someone help me.  A total waste of an hour.

The phone call was also frustrating.  The rep didn’t seem to believe me that the list of music services never populated with any choices, so he wanted to start a screen sharing.  After seeing it himself he started having me try different things.  He had me unplug 18 of my Connect:Amps and leave just the one remaining one powered on.  No change.  He had me reboot the one remaining Connect:Amp (again).  No change.  He had me add manual DNS entries on my iPad.  No change.  He had me add manual DNS entries on my router (UniFi Dream Machine Pro).  No change.  We rebooted the router.  No change.

While I was on the call with him, Joy Lin posted on this forum thread about adding the music service on a PC, so when I told the rep about that he had me go into the Sonos S1 app on my iMac.  Unfortunately there was no “add service” entry in the MacOS S1 app, and the built-in Update function that’s supposed to update to the latest version of the app kept failing with a useless generic error message, so eventually (after more system reboots) we uninstalled the S1 app on the Mac and downloaded and installed the latest version.  After that the “add service” entry was visible, so we ended the call there.

Aside from the fact that I spent almost 3 hours dealing with this, the other MAJOR irritant was the background noise on the phone call.  There was LOUD music blaring for much of the call, and at times the voices of other people on his end made it difficult to understand him.  I realize that Sonos is a music company, but there’s simply no excuse for making your customers listen to extremely loud music in the background during a support call.  I mentioned the excessive background noise to him a couple of times and he mumbled something about someone playing music near him.  I really don’t understand how he could work in that kind of environment all of the time, and it sure doesn’t convey any sense of professionalism to your customers.  At first I thought he might be working from home, but I think he was in the office while all of this background chaos was going on.  In the end we arrived at an alternate solution, so I have to give credit to them for sticking with me until a solution was found, but we still don’t know why the Add a Service function is broken in S1 on iOS.

Same issues here too. Spent the majority of a day trying all the same steps. Absolutely not worth the effort anymore if they are going to essentially sunset products. 
 

still waiting of justification for why a DAC with a * UI needs to cost $600 too

 

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

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Absolutely not worth the effort anymore if they are going to essentially sunset products. still waiting of justification for why a DAC with a ** UI needs to cost $600 too

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

Nobody's asking you to buy products you don't like. Go try some other brand, but please, spare us the drama.

Same issue here. Unable to add services. Still using S1 app because I use multiple Play:1, Play:5, One , One SL speakers and a Sonos Connect (wired to my stereo in the living room). Always sticked with S1 app because Play:5 and Connect aren’t compatible with S2 controller. Then I bought a Roam SL to have a portable bluetooth device. The only way to get the bluetooth functionality activated is by using S2 app which is absolutely crazy. Long story short (that’s an other story) I had to install a new ‘sonos’ system under the S1 app, adding all the speakers again (except the Roam SL) and now I can’t add any services any more. So currently my speakers are useless to my family !!!!!

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Hi @ArubaWalk 

Thank you - while I can’t add anything regarding the issue you are experiencing, we take all feedback seriously and someone will look at the interaction you had with our technical support team and how it could have been improved.

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Still no solution to this? Unhappily the workaround of using the Sonos Controller on PC does not work for Apple Music, because Apple does not allow you to add their service from the PC Controller.  This must be affecting a lot of people.  Sonos, is there any hope of fixing this?

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MS Defender on those iPhones?

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Hi there. Sorry, I did check a bunch of similar threads but forgot to mention that no, Defender isn’t installed. 

I really am at a loss with this. The fact that the S1 app is just hanging whereas the S2 immediately displays the list of music services, plus the fact that it’s been working fine for literally years until I reset the S1 devices and created the new networks is telling me, what, exactly? I don’t know how the S1 and S2 apps differ when connecting to music services. I’m using the same Sonos account on both systems, by the way. Presumably that should be fine?

Submit a diagnostic from both the S1 and S2 systems and note the confirmation numbers. I don’t know what is the issue with UK support. You can post the confirmation numbers here and Staff will occasionally comment, but they are in the UK time zone.

Same here … S1 App can no longer add services!

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735073989
Sonos S1 in just the lounge connected via ethernet directly to the Virgin Media router (app hangs at Settings - Services & Voice - Music & Content - add a Service)

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Sonos S1 in all four rooms connected via wifi (app hangs at Settings - Services & Voice - Music & Content - add a Service)

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Sonos S2 Move in bedroom connected via wifi (working fine)
 

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And still ‘all lines are closed’, as they have been all day. Times in the grab below are UK summer times.
 

I’m edging closer to giving up and returning the Move to John Lewis, skipping the S1 kit and investing in something else.

 

 

I ran into this issue yesterday while moving from spotify to deezer. Removing spotify from my system (S1 system because of 1 old play 5 I still use) worked just fine. When I wanted to add a new music service, I got the infinite spinner…

 

I solved this issue by downloading the sonos s1 controller for windows and adding the service from there. Luckily, the bug that is happening in the mobile app isnt happening in the desktop app. 

 

Sonos S1 controller for windows (or mac, which will probably work as well) can be found here: https://support.sonos.com/nl-nl/downloads

 

@Sonos , just wanted to say that I am dissapointed in you guys. This issue is clearly a bug in the mobile apps, but instead of being upfront about it you guys just send people on a wild goosechase, spending hours debugging their entire system for absolutely no reason. 

Maybe I'm being too negative here, but every since the old sonos app got deprecated, I have the feeling that sonos is deliberately introducing these kinds of bugs (I have encountered quite a few bugs over the last few years) to discourage people from using older speakers.

I think it's disgusting and a kick in the face of loyal customers that have helped build your brand to what it is now. 

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Ugh. This is not answered, I accidentally whacked it when picking my phone up and can’t see a way to un-answer it. 
 

Thanks Keith. I was tempted to attempt this earlier but the risk is that I end up with a whole house system that will only play Sonos Radio, and that’s just too much of a risk.

Given Sonos ‘couldn’t care less attitude’, we’ve concluded that we’re going to crack on and return the Move and take the others - plus the Connect that I’d forgotten about - to the local tip. 
 

Thanks for your suggestion, I appreciate it.

If you’re running Defender, they released an update to their ‘definitions’ that blocks a lot of Sonos operations, although not all. Again, if you’re running Defender, try disabling it, and see if things show up. If they do, it might be worth providing the folks at MS Defender feedback from within the app.  There has been a post purportedly from a Defender team member saying they’re aware, and working on the issue.

However, if you’re not running Defender, I would absolute suggest that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.

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Well, Sonos’s phone lines are still not working (for me at least) here in the UK. 
 

I tried one final thing last night before bed. I reset everything (again). I installed the S2 app and connected and downgraded the Move. Then, I created a new Sonos account in my partner’s name and ‘built’ a new system using S1. Notably, I was immediately able to add new music services and everything worked, including the Move. Of course, I couldn’t use my Apple Music account - which is our primary source because we also have a couple of Sony Atmos setups and an Apple 4k floating around - on her Sonos/iPhone so I had to upgrade to a family Apple Music account to fully test. But that worked.
 

I deliberately excluded one of the S5g1 units. I then reset the app on my phone and turned everything off, then created a new system using just the (reset) S5g1 via *my* iPhone and my Sonos account. And once again, the system hangs as soon as I try to add a music service.

In conclusion, then… it looks to me like something corrupted my Sonos account when we added the Move and S2 app and then attempted to set up a new system of ‘old’ components via the S1. It has been impossible to get any help from Sonos so this is likely to be signing out/off, binning the system and buying something else.

Many thanks to those of you who offered your suggestions and assistance.

 

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Hi Corry P,

Thank you for taking the time to write such a considered and detailed answer.

We actually have four Devolo Magic 2 power line adaptors, which do work as a Wi-Fi mesh too. We live in an old house with three floors and solid walls throughout. The Devolos work very well to be honest and we would struggle without them, especially since we received Virgin’s latest modem router, which really struggles for some reason. We have a whole load of Hue stuff, Sky multiroom and a smart boiler and heating system as well as well as the Sonos kit and, in all honesty, we’ve had barely any issues with anything until we installed the S2 app.

Honestly, I just don’t have the time and the patience today to try to set everything up yet again. I’ve lost the best part of two working days trying to figure it all out.

That said, I particularly note your comments regarding the AP server. That’s very interesting. If the AP device is turned off, what happens, does another Sonos device automatically get assigned? I’m curious because I obviously rebooted the router etc and the error persisted, plus when I created the new ‘clean’ network I added devices one at time to see if it could be isolated to a specific one.

Finally, does the AP need to the same (or even different) when a user has both S1 and S2 accounts?

Thanks again,

Martin

 

 

 

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Hi @popguru 

Please - take your time and address this when you feel up to it. There’s no point in getting tech fatigue!

I had a feeling you’d say something like that about your extenders - I did mean that they only needed to be turned off until you get things working again, just so we can be sure that it is not them getting in the way of the list of services being populated. I’m not sure why you’re having the issue you’re having, but simplifying things (the network) at least until things work again can be helpful. To be clear, however, Powerline adaptors are not supported by Sonos as they can introduce issues not otherwise seen, but many users use them often without issue. By turning them off, we’ll be ensuring that the app and Associated Player are both connecting via the same network access point.

That said, I particularly note your comments regarding the AP server. That’s very interesting. If the AP device is turned off, what happens, does another Sonos device automatically get assigned? I’m curious because I obviously rebooted the router etc and the error persisted, plus when I created the new ‘clean’ network I added devices one at time to see if it could be isolated to a specific one.

The Associated Player is simply the first Sonos device to respond when the the app opens and says “hello?” on the network. By turning off one, another becomes the first. It’s not unusual for a particular speaker to always be the AP, however, so my thinking is that forcing a change might help. If you previously reset your system and tried adding services with each additional device added, this unfortunately now seems to me less likely to help.

I don’t recall coming across this particular issue before, so the best I can do at the moment is to give educated guesses as to what will fix the problem. If none of your previous troubleshooting steps were proceeded by a reboot of your router and phone, it’s conceivable that they will help if repeated after doing the reboots. My assumption is that not just one thing has gone wrong here, and that perhaps before we can fix the main problem, there might be another, less obvious one we need to fix first. Reboots often help with this, and many people neglect the possibility that the router and phone are the ones in need of a reboot rather than the speakers.

Finally, does the AP need to the same (or even different) when a user has both S1 and S2 accounts?

You have S1 and S2 Households (what we call separate systems whether they are in separate locations or not) rather than accounts, but there will be a separate Associated Player for each system/household, yes. The Associated Player for your S2 system can only be the Move as it’s the only device on that system. This is largely irrelevant, however, as you ideally want your Move to be a part of your S1 system, rather than being on it’s own on S2.

On the subject of the Move, I’m a little confused - it wasn’t registered to your account anymore, so I just now did a little digging. The Move is now online, running S1 software, and registered to another user. There are two Play:5s on the same system. If it is still in your home and now just registered to your partner, for example, are you able to add streaming services to that system as per normal? If so, I recommend you now just reset the other devices (Connect:Amp, Connect and Play:5) and add them to the Move’s system, and that should be the problem done and dusted.

By the way, you now have no reason to have the S2 app installed on any of your devices - please uninstall it.

I hope this helps.

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Good morning,

Firstly, thanks again for the second follow up.

Just to confirm, we do have it working as a single system now on S1, albeit everything (other than one unit, I think a Connect) has been ‘transferred’ as such to the new Sonos account that we created in Jackie’s name.
 

When adding Apple Music as a service it automatically uses her iCloud account and I’m not going to add mine as a user on her phone just to see if it can be done. Instead, I’ve changed our Apple Music sub to a family one.

What I would say though is that we used ‘new’ system with the Move in our little garden on Friday night and it kept dropping off, even when we moved it closer to one of the S5s. We currently have three S5s and the Connect Amp on the ground floor, with them all being within maybe 10m if one another sand, although we do have solid brick walls throughout, there are open doors in all rooms. I’ll bring the Move out into the garden and see how it works out this afternoon. It will itself be about 8m from the closest S5 with just a window in between so fingers crossed.

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What I would say though is that we used ‘new’ system with the Move in our little garden on Friday night and it kept dropping off, even when we moved it closer to one of the S5s. We currently have three S5s and the Connect Amp on the ground floor, with them all being within maybe 10m if one another sand, although we do have solid brick walls throughout, there are open doors in all rooms. I’ll bring the Move out into the garden and see how it works out this afternoon. It will itself be about 8m from the closest S5 with just a window in between so fingers crossed.

The Move does not use SonosNet, so its proximity to other Sonos devices is irrelevant. The Move can only communicate with your WiFi network, so its proximity to your router or AP is what is important (and the quality of the router).

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Thanks for the guidance Bruce. I wasn’t aware that the BRIDGE is retired and no longer recommended. I successfully removed the BRIDGE from my setup. Unfortunately, I still cannot see any music services from my iOS devices. I may need to contact support with the diagnostic as you suggested.

I’d also like to add that I tried to add music services from the Sonos client on my MacBook Pro. On that device I can see all available music services, and was able to add Soundcloud successfully. However, I am trying to add Apple music, and receive a message that it can only be added from an iOS or Android device. 

Hi @popguru,

Hope so you’re doing good, below defined are the solution of your problem:

  1. Ensure Sonos devices are up to date with the latest firmware and software versions.
  2. Verify network connectivity and check for any network configuration issues or firewall settings that may be blocking the Sonos app.
  3. Power-cycle all Sonos devices and network equipment by turning them off, unplugging them, restarting the router, and then powering everything back on.
  4. Reset the Sonos app's cache to resolve any software glitches or conflicts.
  5. If the issue persists, contact Sonos customer support for further assistance and consider using a different device for setup and control.

Hope so this points help you to solve your problem asap!

Regards,

Bryce June

Same issue… S1 no longer allows me to add a new music service.  I’ve tried on 4 different iOS devices and it just spins forever and never populates the list.  Very annoying if this is the result of an update that wasn’t fully regression tested.  I know S1 devices are getting old, but this used to work fine.  I’ve got 19 S1 devices, so upgrading to newer hardware simply isn’t an option at the current upgrade pricing.  Hopefully this issue is seen as serious enough to warrant some attention, even if it only impacts users with older hardware.