Sonos can't connect to my mac for music library on iTunes

  • 31 August 2014
  • 68 replies
  • 62321 views

Sonos cannot connect to my mac. I have followed all the instructions and very frustrated as I have spent a lot of money on an Audio consultant and the hardware ... and am still playing music on my phone when we have guests! please help!

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68 replies

Hi Max,
So, it does work with a direct ethernet connection. We tried to disconnect the hardline and resume with the wireless, and immediately the library didn't recognize any of the music on the computer. We tested this several times, and it held true. We ran a diagnostic with the hard wire working option for reference. It is Confirmation #5195867. Any guidance on this issue is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jen DM
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Hi Max,
So, it does work with a direct ethernet connection. We tried to disconnect the hardline and resume with the wireless, and immediately the library didn't recognize any of the music on the computer. We tested this several times, and it held true. We ran a diagnostic with the hard wire working option for reference. It is Confirmation #5195867. Any guidance on this issue is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jen DM

Hi Jen, the best would be to contact our customer care team by phone. A Sonos agent will be able to test your network and ping your devices. It's possible your home network isn't able to stream music wirelessly due to WiFi interference or the Mac is too far away from the router. You can find our contact information here.
I have used Sonos for a year a suddenly I cannot access my Music folders.

I have an IMac and haven't had any issues previously.
I have attached the error message.

I have also made sure that my preferences allow sharing.

Any help would be appreciated.
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Hi Darren,

Happy to take a closer look. Do you mind submiting a diagnostic from your Sonos system and replying back with your confirmation number?
Hi,

Thanks for your response.

I have submitted a diagnostic and this is copied from the response.

Your confirmation number is: 5254115.

Kind Regards

Darren
I am no longer getting the error message but Sonos can't seem to locate my music even when I do it manually and find the required folder.

It is the standard Itunes folder.
Other posts say to change the name of your computer in Preferences/Sharing but they don't mention that the name must be less than 15 characters and that you must then reboot.
I ad problems with "\\MyComputer not responding" errors. Traced problem to a difference between the computer name in Preferences\Sharing with the NetBIOSname in Preferences\Network\WINS as explained in [url=https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2414/]Manually sharing music on OS X[\url] which pointed to [url=https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2413]Mac OS X Music Sharing Help[\url].

Solution:
1.) In Preferences/Sharing, change computer name to something less than 15 characters
2.) Reboot which will change the NetBIOSname to match the Sharing name.
3.) In Sonos, go to menu Manage/Music Library Settings.../
4.) Select Music, then click on the - (minus) sign at the bottom of the dialog box
5.) Click on the + sign and add your Music folder.

Wait while Sonos indexes your iTunes Music Library and then it works like a charm.
Today I encountered the problem of not being able to access my music library with the Sonos system software.
A tip in the FAQ's gave me the answer and it works fine now.
Follow the directions on how to set your Firewall to accept Sonos.
On my MAC I opened System Preferences.
Click the lock and enter password for computer to change settings.
Click Security> Firewall> turn on Firewall if it is not
Click Firewall Options > click +below list
A dropdown will show you the Applications on your computer
Click on Sonos>ADD
Click OK and you should be good to go.(I hope) this is my first time setting up a Sonos product.
Additional step that I also took was to rename my computer from Bruce Smith's iMac to Bsmithimac. Then added my music library onto Sonos after deleting what was currently on it. This might have triggered the sharing to work, also.?
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Additional step that I also took was to rename my computer from Bruce Smith's iMac to Bsmithimac. Then added my music library onto Sonos after deleting what was currently on it. This might have triggered the sharing to work, also.?

Sharing can run into difficulties with computer names longer than 15 characters, or containing special characters. This doesn't happen all the time, but it can cause trouble. Just a note for others, after you rename your computer you have to restart it before the name change takes affect.

Glad you're all set Bruce.
i have tried to phone the customer service number, that was given on your email , only to be told that plant is on holiday.
i still have no awnsers to why the sonos will not play my itunes music, but looking on your web site it seams that a lot of people have the same problem.
it will not connect to my iphone and wants to reset, ?.
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i have tried to phone the customer service number, that was given on your email , only to be told that plant is on holiday.
i still have no awnsers to why the sonos will not play my itunes music, but looking on your web site it seams that a lot of people have the same problem.
it will not connect to my iphone and wants to reset, ?.


What country are you based in? Our European lines are open as we speak. Please try again.
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Having same issue, have changed to El Capitan operating system, have deleted, upgraded, added, till im blue in the face.
This is the most frustrating thing I have ever faced in the IT world. I cannot believe that some thing which is so basic to the underlying value propostion of the product could be so difficult. I still cannot get it to work.
I do not have enough time in the day to deal with this.
You should not have a beta product for prime time distribution.
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Having same issue, have changed to El Capitan operating system, have deleted, upgraded, added, till im blue in the face.
This is the most frustrating thing I have ever faced in the IT world. I cannot believe that some thing which is so basic to the underlying value proposition of the product could be so difficult. I still cannot get it to work.
I do not have enough time in the day to deal with this.
You should not have a beta product for prime time distribution.


I'm not a Mac user so can't be specifically helpful. But it would help if you would explain exactly what issue you are having - Any error messages? Missing menu options? You can connect music folder but it won't play.

You can be certain the currently released software is most assuredly NOT "Beta" and there is not a widespread problem with people not being able to connect to their Mac Itunes libraries - it is to be expected that those who do have issues will post in this forum and those who don't have a problem don't post.
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Having same issue, have changed to El Capitan operating system, have deleted, upgraded, added, till im blue in the face.
This is the most frustrating thing I have ever faced in the IT world. I cannot believe that some thing which is so basic to the underlying value propostion of the product could be so difficult. I still cannot get it to work.
I do not have enough time in the day to deal with this.
You should not have a beta product for prime time distribution.


Have you read the preceding posts in this thread?
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Yes, have been engaged in this for around 6 hours.
may call help desk tomorrow, or may just wrap up product and throw out. Really do not have time to play around with this.
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Give up, there's the spirit!
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Technology which makes our life better is good. If it sucks up out time and adds nothing, then it ceases to have value.
There are a number of other products out there. This one does not seem ready for prime time.
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You posted on this thread just to have a moan didn't you? You can't have wanted any help because you haven't actually told us a) Your setup and b) What problem(s) and if you are getting any error messages nor have you posted a diagnostic.
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Well, venting helps a bit,miso yes.
Was hoping there would be someone who would present an easy solution
It's an apple I Mac, El Capitan latest operating system.
In Europe, Switzerland, a main unit and a bridge.
Have Sonos on I pad, sorta works, but seems to view files differently than i Mac.
The problem is the same as I see with quite a few posts.
When configuring music file, select the "where I tunes is located" option,which makes she's cause that's where it is, I can select the file, so it obviously sees it, but when select it it, message" cannot find your computer"
So can not use the iTunes music. There was apparently a way to select some files on the iPad, cause was able to get some of music, added to queu, not to a music list,
Again, for a system which is billed as plying well with Apple, this is just not right. Expect a simple solution or some patchwork. But cmon. Yea, quite unhappy. Sonos may have a segment of technology sets who like to tinker with the system, but I'm not one of those, so pretty upset.
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All firewalls have been changed.
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Computer name changed in both places, reboot. Same issue.
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I don't have a Mac so I can't really advise more. I would strongly suggest you call Sonos support. I know you are time poor but they are pretty good and I think there is a high chance they will be able to resolve your issue.
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Yes, will do tomorrow thanks.
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Somehow, got it to work. Created a library file equal to I tunes files, so let's see how long it lasts. Naming of files, which should not be an issue, is, sharing, intuitive that it would need to be set up properly, and both Norton as well as Apple firewalls need to be proper. And then messed around for a good 12 hours. Voila...