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empath
Contributor I
May 30, 2019
Question

Google assistant says ‘this mode isn’t available’ for anything I try to do.

  • May 30, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 2500 views
I can’t play music on any music service or do broadcast or anything like that. It says ‘sorry this mode isn’t available in the family room’

i have two sonos ones paired with a playbase
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      3 replies

      Ryan S
      Ryan S
      Retired Sonos Staff
      May 31, 2019
      Hi @empath, what command are you using to play music? Do you happen to have any other Google Assistant devices set up in the home?

      Do any basic commands like "what time is it" work?

      There's some useful information here that you might want to check just to start with.
      Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
      Steve-1111
      Lyricist I
      November 13, 2019

      This sometimes happens to me and took a bit to figure out how to get past it.  Essentially I prefix the command with 'song' or 'music' and it solves my issue.

       

      My guess at what is happening is that Google may be thinking you are referencing a video or something other than a song and as such, can't play it.

       

      What didn't work:

      "Ok Google, play let it snow"

      What worked:

      "Ok Google, play the song let it snow"

       

      Hope this helps for the next unlucky person :)

      Webleymk3
      Lyricist I
      December 10, 2019

      This happens to me too. I cannot command google home to play something new on the sonos. 

       

      1. “Hey google. Play music on Kitchen sonos”. This works. It just plays whatever was playing before. 
      2. ”hey google. Play music by pentatonics on Spotify on kitchen sonos”. Google replies “playing music on Spotify by Pentatonics on Kitchen Sonos”. Then I get the error. “This mode is not available on kitchen sonos” 

       

      so the system knows its a music service and to play it on sonos. But something on sonos side is stopping it. 

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