Sonos Update to 3.7 and Linux

Hello,

Unfortunately, WINE will no longer be able to be used due to the requirements of the Sonos Controller for PC (.NET 4.0 and Windows Presentation Foundation).

-Clay

I was able to install the sonos controller 3.7 using wine 1.4 and the latest winetricks script for dotnet40. It fails to render the splash screen and crashes right after showing the main window (before drawing anything into it).

It doesn't seem impossible in the long run, but I am for now forced to use the Android controller.

Hello,

Unfortunately, WINE will no longer be able to be used due to the requirements of the Sonos Controller for PC (.NET 4.0 and Windows Presentation Foundation).

-Clay

How should I now control my sonos system?
Is there a way to downgrade to 3.6 again?

really disappointed today, that is not fair.
Now i can't use my desktop computer anymore to control my music 😞

really disappointed today, that is not fair.

Not fair? I know of very few commercial products that promise to support Wine, and certainly Sonos doesn't. Maybe "unfortunate" would be more accurate than "not fair".

Isn't Wine only for people who hate the man so much that they choose to have software not work, rather than give evil APPL or MSOFT any $$$?

Also, for Linux support wouldn't one normally expect the FOSS community to provide an open source alternative controller that was Linux native? I think all the protocols are freely available.

Not fair? I know of very few commercial products that promise to support Wine, and certainly Sonos doesn't. Maybe "unfortunate" would be more accurate than "not fair".


It worked before. It doesn't now. That's what seems unfair to him.

I agree, though, that it's more unfortunate than unfair, because the fact that it ever worked was good fortune, not because of anything Sonos had actively done.

Isn't Wine only for people who hate the man so much that they choose to have software not work, rather than give evil APPL or MSOFT any $$$?

Is that a serious question? I'll answer it, just in case.

WINE is for anyone who needs to run a Windows app, for whatever reason.

In the Sonos world, WINE is needed to run the Windows controller, because Sonos provides neither a Linux controller nor, more sensibly, a platform-independent controller.

Also, for Linux support wouldn't one normally expect the FOSS community to provide an open source alternative controller that was Linux native? I think all the protocols are freely available.

No, one wouldn't "expect" that. No-one in the world of open source is obliged to provide anyone else with code, particularly when there was no need until a few hours ago, because the proprietary controller worked fine under WINE.

As it happens, the old pre-3.7 DCR can be made to continue to work, but I'll post about that separately.

You are basically right - sorry about that.

But Wine is certainly not for "anyone who wants to run a Windows app". I run Windows apps all the time, and I've never use Wine.

I ordered a copy of Windows from newegg.com. It seems to run all my Windows software just fine.

I think even on a machine that naively boots linux you can run a VM that hosts Windows, yes?

So, if you remove my ill advised sarcasm, I guess I'm asking: if you want to run the desktop Sonos clients, why not use one of the operating systems that host it reliably?

You are basically right - sorry about that.

But Wine is certainly not for "anyone who wants to run a Windows app". I run Windows apps all the time, and I've never use Wine.


Anyone on a platform that runs WINE, but not Windows. Better?:)

I think even on a machine that naively boots linux you can run a VM that hosts Windows, yes?

Indeed, if you have the VM and a copy of Windows to run on it.

So, if you remove my ill advised sarcasm, I guess I'm asking: if you want to run the desktop Sonos clients, why not use one of the operating systems that host it reliably?

Purchase a copy of Windows and run it under a resource-hungry VM, just so that one can use the desktop controller? I think you're probably pulling my plonka again, but here are just a handful of reasons:

1. Windows is expensive.
2. Sonos don't support that configuration any more than they support WINE.
3. There are likely to be UPnP issues.
4. The old 3.6 controller can be made to work under WINE.

You own ten Sonos zone players and you think Windows is expensive? I'm not buying it.

Sure a VM is not supported, but they tend to always work. More than Wine does. Agreed?

Sure an old version worked. So what?

Do you have a reason to think UPNP wouldn't work?

I run WinXP in VMWare on my work computer. I'll try bringing it home and see if Sonos Controller runs on it, if you are interested.

Crazy as this may sound, Linux is just some people's preferred OS!

I'm a developer and all my computers are dual boot into Windows 7 & Linux... honestly day in day out I prefer using Linux.

As such, I'd love to continue to be able to use Sonos in Linux to save me having to reboot into Windows each time for a simple task like changing music. It has zero to do with money - it's preference and convenience...

If you could tell us how to downgrade to 3.6 in Linux I'd be very grateful! ;-)

Many Thanks