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I'm quite disappointed to find that one of my speakers (now 7 years old) keeps reporting error code 4. Support has told me that it has reached the end of it's life. The speaker hasn't moved so I do not understand how this can be. When we buy cars and many other items we expect them to last longer. Being offered a 30% discount if I return the speaker to me feels like planned obsolescence.  There should be an option to fix whatever memory issues exist.

 

Anyone else figured out an alternative to resolve this annoying problem?

If you return a 7 year old car to the dealer, you get a 30% discount on a new one, AND you keep the old car? Wow, where is your dealership??

7 years isn’t bad for modern electronics, though personally none of my Sonos devices have ever failed and some are over a decade old.

But seriously, what kind of speaker are you having trouble with, and when do you get the error?


You are right… the car analogy was bad.  But why do we need to buy a whole new machine instead of being able to repair?

 

I am getting the error on my Sonos Play One. I have other components which are fine and hope they stay that way.  If the issue is with the flash memory can I simply replace that component?


You are right… the car analogy was bad.  But why do we need to buy a whole new machine instead of being able to repair?

 

I am getting the error on my Sonos Play One. I have other components which are fine and hope they stay that way.  If the issue is with the flash memory can I simply replace that component?

 

More than likely that flash memory is soldered onto the board for reliability, and the time/expense to desolder and reinstall a replacement is not worth the effort.  Ironically, the direct to the board connections make for more reliability, but also make it harder to fix when something does go wrong.  The opposite is having a socket mount for chips, memory, etc., which makes them easy to replace, but far less reliable.  


The cost to repair would likely be unattractive. I’m not aware of any 3rd party US repair options, but there some in the UK and Europe. DIY repair is a possibility -- if you are equipped for surface mount soldering and disassembly of the unit without defacing it or wrecking the radio antenna’s.


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