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Contributor I
October 5, 2019
Answered

Sonos and Mac OS 10.15 Catalina

Tried using Sonos with Golden Master of Catalina and its a no go. When I add my music library on an external drive it does so normally but NO songs in the folder are recognized. Wonder if it has to do with Music being the new app for music instead of iTunes?I was able to see music added if it was on the internal drive of the machine.
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    Ryan S
    Ryan SAnswer
    Retired Sonos Staff
    December 17, 2019

    Hi everyone, as BowlerBrown just mentioned above, there were some changes made in the Sonos 10.6 software for Catalina compatibility. If you haven’t tested it out yet, go ahead and make sure you’re all up to date, and then you should be able to add your music library and find your updated playlists. There are steps here to update your music library in the Sonos app. Let us know if you see any trouble and I’ll get the feedback to the team.

    If you’re still having trouble with your playlists, check out this guide for some troubleshooting suggestions as well.

    Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

    176 replies

    Avid Contributor III
    December 2, 2019

    Hi there,

    IS THIS THE SOLUTION?  IT WORKED FOR ME: (until the next issue at least...) :grinning:

    I just though I’d share what has worked for me: I have a Play:1 and two Ones, and when I installed Catalina on my iMac, I couldn’t access my music  library any longer.  So, I messaged Sonos on Messenger, and they suggested the following, which worked - it’s now set up as it was before.  Step 1 below alone didn’t work, but after Step 2, the problem was solved, so I’d recommend doing both.  Also maybe throw in a computer re-start etc (although I don’t think I actually needed to do this). So:

     

    1. Check the System Preferences -> Security and Privacy settings of the computer. From there select the Privacy Tab and scroll down to and select “Full Disk Access”. From this screen make sure Sonos has permission. You'll also want to ensure Sonos has permission under Files and Folders (which is below).
    2. Remove your music library from the Sonos App and then re-add it by first opening Sonos Desktop Controller App for Mac (computer, not the phone app). From the “Manage” menu, select “Music Library Settings”. Click on the folder you would like to remove (the whole music library). Click - (minus) and confirm you wish to remove the library from Sonos. Then Re-add the Music Library by clicking on the + (Plus) button in the same area (If you use iTunes or are not sure where your music is stored, leave “In My Music folder” selected. If your music is located outside of the My Music folder, select the appropriate option) - I have iTunes and left it as it was, with “In My Music folder” selected.

     

    So this worked, and for now my speakers are working again.  I’ve shared this to try to help others suffering the same nonsense.

     

    Liam, I had to have the grandson come over and follow your suggestions.  We were able to load the music library, if that is correct terminology? The music from my Mac Mini appears in the Sonos Controller on both the Mini and MacBook Pro.  The music appears in my iPhone Sonos app and I am able to play and control the speakers from the iPhone.  I cannot get our iPads to display music or control the speakers.  I will again contact Sonos support.  thanks for your work around.

    Avid Contributor III
    December 3, 2019

    Sonos tech support was useless on the phone.  He shared my iPad screen and could not resolve the issue.  I finally removed the Sonos app from the iPad, shut the iPad down and rebooted. Then I reloaded the app.  Success, the app now shows the entire music library on the iPad, iPhone and MacBook.

    Trending Lyricist I
    December 17, 2019

    there appears to be no real resolution to this issue on the horizon.  SONOS are buying their hands in the sand over this.

    when i purchased my SONOS speakers less than a year ago I was given a demonstration that showed that ai could control all of my music sources including those stored in iTunes from a single app.

    I have updated to MAC OS 10.15 Catalina and find that my system no longer works as advertised during the demostration.  

    I am signed up to SONOS and receive regular e-mails about updates and offers but at no time has SONOS advised me that I should not update to Catalina.  They do not think it is an issue.

    It is becoming time too take this to the UK consumer court.

     

    Any other UK SONOS users who feel the same please reply to this post.

    Lyricist III
    December 17, 2019

     have been emailing SONOS for a considerable time and today I have received the following message regarding SONOS App version 10.6.  I am, however, concerned with updating to Catalina.

     

    Hi Richard,

    I've checked on this and we have already released a solution for this in our latest update which utilizes Apple's new file library system.

    With best regards,

    Marc M.
    Sonos | Customer Care | Contact Us
    Ask questions, find answers, and share your thoughts on the Sonos Community.

    Ryan S
    Ryan SAnswer
    Retired Sonos Staff
    December 17, 2019

    Hi everyone, as BowlerBrown just mentioned above, there were some changes made in the Sonos 10.6 software for Catalina compatibility. If you haven’t tested it out yet, go ahead and make sure you’re all up to date, and then you should be able to add your music library and find your updated playlists. There are steps here to update your music library in the Sonos app. Let us know if you see any trouble and I’ll get the feedback to the team.

    If you’re still having trouble with your playlists, check out this guide for some troubleshooting suggestions as well.

    Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
    Trending Lyricist I
    December 17, 2019

    I have probably been fortunate. My music files were preserved intact in their original iTunes location on my iMac. All my iOS devices find the system and play ok. I did have to relocate some of the album artwork to get it to display but was just a handful.

     

    my biggest bugbear is not the loss of iTunes but the imposition of the new dire podcast app. I found the original iOS version pretty user unfriendly and the Catalina version is equally so.

    worse still, it is wholly useless for use with Sonos. 
    there are a number of podcast apps but none without subscription that I’m aware of, which will download rather than just play. I like to store them for later listening.

    I was able to automate the process using iTunes/Apple script/Sonos library update. My only intervention was adding podcasts to a speaker queue. At present it’s a nightmare job!

    Lyricist III
    December 18, 2019

    Thanks to you all for the helpful posts!

    One thing though, and wonder if anyone else has the same issue: all music in my library syncs to Sonos, but still not the playlists, and also not any songs I have downloaded via Apple Music. I used to buy songs on iTunes, they are all there, but since I switched to Apple Music subscription, all the songs are downloaded on my NAS, they appear in my library in the Music app, but will not appear in Sonos library. I notice they are all M4P format, whereas iTunes bought music was M4A format…

    Anyone has the same issue, and is there a solution to this?

    Trending Lyricist I
    December 18, 2019

    Looks like 10.6 has solved the issue with Catalina and updating the Music Library.  I think it is now safe for others to update.

    Thank you SONOS all is forgiven.

    Lyricist III
    December 19, 2019

    Can anyone confirm that the problem is resolved in Catalina and everything operates as it used to with Mojave?

    Lyricist III
    December 19, 2019

    Hi,

    Following my previous message from Sonos I went back to them and asked why the fix was not mentioned in their release notes with 10.6. I have just received the following response:

     

    Hi Richard,

    Unfortunately, I have no more formation to provide for you in this case. I have been told and assured by our engineering teams that we have resolved this issue in our 10.6 firmware update but I have no explanation as to why this is not listed in the change logs.

    Ultimately the decision to update is yours to make so again I can only stress that we have verified and tested this fix internally and that it is working as expected.

    With best regards,

    Marc M.
    Sonos | Customer Care | Contact Us
    Ask questions, find answers, and share your thoughts on the Sonos Community.