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Connects to Google Assistant but doesn't play

  • 23 November 2020
  • 14 replies
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I say something like "ok Google, play Radio 4" and it responds saying "Playing Radio 4 on TuneIn" or I say "ok Google, play Bruce Springsteen" and it responds saying "alright, playing the Spotify playlist called This is Bruce Springsteen" but then does not start playing in either case.

 

I check the system by saying something like "ok Google what time is it?" And it always responds to that correctly.

 

Very occasionally it works and starts playing the music but more often than not it doesn't.

 

I have tried:

Disconnecting and reconnecting my Spotify account

Disconnecting and resetting up Google Assistant on the Sonos

Setting my default device to play from in Google Home as the Sonos One

Checking my default music service in Google Home is Spotify

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Best answer by Annazel S 2 January 2021, 22:59

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14 replies

Userlevel 5
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Hi @amyagj.

Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the community!

I appreciate your detailed post outlining the issue as well as the step(s) that you did, let me help and try to figure this out.

Kindly reproduce the issue, then submit a diagnostic report through the Sonos app, and reply with the confirmation number. I'd start by reviewing your system as well as the status of the devices, it will help in identifying what's possibly causing the issue.

 

I’m looking forward to assisting you further from here.

If you have any other questions or run into any issues,  please do not hesitate to reach out,  we are always here to help.

Hi @Annazel S - thanks for coming back to me.

I asked Google to play a couple things. 

First time - I got no response at all - diagnostic number 1960824143.

Second - I got a response to say it was going to play it on Spotify but then didn't play anything - diagnostic number 1627945392.

Thanks in advance for your help

 

 

 

 

Hi @Annazel S - have you had a chance to look into this? Are you able to give me an update? Thanks

Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi @amyagj.

Thanks for the response and you have my sincerest apologies for the delay in our response time.

I see on the diagnostic that Sonos One is connected to another WiFi channel, a different channel from other speakers. Ideally. Sonos works best if the components are connected to the same wireless. (non-overlapping channels are 1,6, 11)

This article will show you how to change your Sonos system’s wireless channel.

NOTE: These steps apply if you have at least one Sonos product wired to your network with an Ethernet cable.

 

If the above advice was followed and the issue persists, please submit a new diagnostic report so I can check the system further and see if there’s anything else causing this issue.

 

Let me know how it goes.

Hi @Annazel S 

Thanks for coming back to me. None of the Sonos are wired via an ethernet cable (nor can be because they are not located anywhere near an ethernet port).

They are all on the same WiFi. When I view System > Network > SonosNet Channel on my settings, per the instructions you linked, I see Channel 6 but it is greyed out (presumably because this is not an option available to me to update because none of the Sonos are connected via ethernet).

I have submitted a few more diagnostic reports for you.

  • This one is from before I tried to ask the assistant for anything: 1852896321
  • This one it didn’t respond at all, apart from the wake up chirrup, when I asked it to play something: 382339795
  • This one it responded saying it was going to play the music, but did not play the music: 756493986

I am also experiencing some other odd behaviour:

  • Suddenly stopping playing in the room with the Sonos One, but continuing to play in the other rooms
  • When choosing the room the Sonos One is in to play music, starting playing the most recently played music in other rooms despite not requesting it

I had no problems with my Sonos system until purchasing the Sonos One. 

Looking forward to your advice.

Hi @Annazel S - me again! I spotted there were instructions for if you weren’t connected via ethernet to configure your router’s wireless channel manually. I did that and asked it to play, and it appears to be successful thus far. 

I’ll continue to monitor if we get any more odd behaviour. My internet provider’s website suggest that having to manual configure internet channels gives sub-optimal performance across all connected devices so this does not seem like an ideal solution.

My problem is similar but the response for music or radio services is “sonos is not available. Sometimes it will work for one or two commands if I unlink and relink the Sonos app in GA. Always works for things like weather and time.

Hi @Annazel S - it’s still not working consistently. You ask it to stop - it chirrups but then carries on playing. Or you ask it to play something else - it chirrups and then just carries on playing what it was already playing.

It is also more consistently cutting out on the Sonos One and continuing playing in the other rooms since implementing the channel fix above. Here’s a diagnostic from just after it did that cutting out but continued playing on the other devices: 480811020.

We had no problems before introducing the Sonos One to the system - it’s very frustrating.

Userlevel 5
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Hi @Bilbo24.

Thanks for reaching out, we’d be glad to help.

If you can replicate the issue, please submit a diagnostic report through the Sonos app shortly when it happens, and reply with the confirmation number. I'd start by reviewing your system and go from there, it will help in identifying what's possibly causing the issue.

You may refer to this article that is designed to help you get the best results when using the Google Assistant on Sonos, and follow the simple guidelines, if you find that you’re still having issues, follow the troubleshooting steps provided.

 

Let us know how it goes.

Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi there @amyagj.

Thanks for your response and sorry to hear that you’re still experiencing the issue.

Upon checking the diagnostic report, there are a variety of errors the system has detected, most indicating connectivity issues due to low or bad signal strength to the router/access point. This condition results in conflicts and different types of issues affecting your Sonos system as well as the associated services.

We highly appreciate your patience, time, and effort you've spent troubleshooting with us, but at this point, it would be best to reach out to Sonos Support so we can take a closer look at this and continue working with you in real-time and expedite the process. I suggest our phone team for they have more resources available on their system for advanced troubleshooting, and the tools our agents can use would be very useful in this case, there can be an advantage if they need to remote into the controller to see what's going on.

 

​If you have any questions, please feel free to let us know.

Hello!

 

I have the exact same issue as the OP.

I ask google to play something, “Hey google, play sabaton”. “Playing sabaton on spotify” and then silence.

I ask it again, exact something and it starts to play after 1 second.

 

This happens quite often and it always the same thing, it chirps up, tells me its going to play and then silence. I ask it again, and it works.

 

Want a diagnostic from me as well?

 

 

 

 

Userlevel 5
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Hi there @Rogjet.

Thanks for reaching out, we’d be glad to help.

If all the recommended steps to reduce wireless interference were followed and it doesn’t help, then knowing how and through what Sonos is connecting is the great foundation to troubleshooting this successfully.  It will be helpful to submit a diagnostic report on the Sonos app shortly when the issue occurs then, you can give us a call and work with a technician live, they'll start with checking your system health and go from there. They have resources available for advanced troubleshooting, and the tools our agents can use would be very useful in this case, there can be an advantage if they need to remote into the controller to see what's going on.

 

Let us know how it goes and if you have any questions feel free to reach out.

When I ask sonos to play something it usually works….when my wife does it says it will do it but nothing happens. Why does it work for me and not my wife. We have a beam and use google assistant. 

Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi @mbrownsher.

Thanks for reaching out, we’d be glad to help.

To better understand what’s going on, please submit a diagnostic report through the Sonos app shortly when the issue happens, and reply with the confirmation number. I'd start by reviewing your system and go from there, it will help in identifying what's possibly causing the issue.

You may also see this article provides steps to resolve issues with the Google Assistant not following commands, not responding at all, or responding with an error: Google Assistant commands not working on Sonos

 

Let us know how it goes and if you have any questions feel free to reach out.