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MoPac
MoPac
Headliner III
February 6, 2026

Why can’t Sonos look on a local network for available shares?

  • February 6, 2026
  • 12 replies
  • 122 views

 I read a lot of complaints from new users about how difficult it is to add a local share containing their music.  I remember years ago when BlueSound used to look for shares on my network.  Then a list of those shares was generated with the proper path shown.  All you had to do was pick which shares you wanted to index.  For some reason BlueSound eliminated that feature.  Can someone tell me why a feature like that would no longer be implemented.  

 Seems logical that Sonos may want to implement a feature like this to make life easier for new users.  Of course what might make this moot is the fact that new users would have to have available shares on their network.  In my case shares on a backup NAS were available and BlueSound found that share along with others I was not aware existed.

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12 replies

jgatie
jgatie
February 6, 2026

Easy.  10 years ago, local libraries accounted less than 10% of Sonos’ usage.  Today it is most certainly far less than that.  Nobody is going to sink man hours into something that accounts for a fraction of usage, and which already works for the fraction that  does use it. 

106rallye
106rallye
February 6, 2026

I had hoped Sonos resolved the 65k limit when they went to S2……

    MoPac
    MoPacAuthor
    Headliner III
    February 6, 2026

     I think maybe the fraction of usage may, in part, be because it’s a pain in the Butt to do for new users.

    Stanley_4
    Stanley_4
    Grand Maestro
    February 6, 2026

    Back when internal memory was an issue Sonos may have trimmed the Linux core and Samba code to remove non-essential functions in an attempt to fit in more essential things and leave room for updates.

    No way for outsiders to know, only suspect, and Sonos doesn't share this kind of information. 

    This SMB browse idea however would be an excellent addition to the Controller App since that is where the information is first needed.

      MoPac
      MoPacAuthor
      Headliner III
      February 6, 2026

       Yes.  Not sure why BlueSound dumped it.  Thought maybe it was some fictional security issue.  It was very cool when the BlueSound Add Share discovered my Bryston BDP-2 could be used as a share.  I think I had to set that as an option in the BDP, but not sure as that was a long time ago.

      controlav
      controlav
      Lead Maestro
      February 7, 2026

      Even Windows wont show you any file shares until you first select the server they are on.

      Showing the shares is one thing, but you can’t actually connect to them without a password, which would be the next problem for users who are network-challenged.

      Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.
      MoPac
      MoPacAuthor
      Headliner III
      February 7, 2026

       When BlueSound, back in the day, listed the local shares I decided to use the three shares shown for the Bryston BDP-2.  Yes… I had to enter a login for the Bryston.  
       I think back then I would have struggled trying to write in the path to the Bryston shares or any shares as I was new to all this indexing/shares thing.

       I do prefer accessing my music via a server, but I fortunately have sharing figured out.  Listing the shares would make it easier though.

      Stanley_4
      Stanley_4
      Grand Maestro
      February 7, 2026

      Looking at this it might be a two stage process.

      List all the devices offering an SMB share.

      -- Once the user selects one server

      List all the shares on that server.

       

      Once that is done lead the user through any steps needed to access the share if it isn't open.

      Since this would be done on the controller app none of the restraints that apply to firmware additions would matter.

      Airgetlam
      Airgetlam
      February 7, 2026

      On the contrary, wouldn’t the process (nominally daily) need to, at least eventually, on the firmware of a device, and not the controller? Or are you changing things to move processes from the speaker’s firmware to code inherent in the controller?

      Bruce
      Stanley_4
      Stanley_4
      Grand Maestro
      February 7, 2026

      On the contrary, wouldn’t the process (nominally daily) need to, at least eventually, on the firmware of a device, and not the controller? Or are you changing things to move processes from the speaker’s firmware to code inherent in the controller?

      Are you thinking of index updates?

      Updates to the index have nothing to do with the initial discovery and access configuration, they happen independently after the share is configured.

      Discovery and configuration only needs to happen once, unless there is a change to the server. That process can be completed by the app, only passing the final configuration information to the firmware for use in indexing and playing.

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