Lost surround and sub ( after update ?)

Hi All,

I have been intrigued why some people are not having the issue, and being somewhat mad, I have tried a fresh setup again. At time of writing, I have not been able to trigger the issue BUT it's only been 70 minutes of flicking through channels, playing different sources, etc. I am just reporting my findings so please no false hopes as its too early!

This is what I have done so far.

1. Reset all Sonos devices back to factory default. 
2. Deleted the S2 Application (and all data) from my iPhone. 
3. Re-added all the Sonos devices with a dedicated IP addresses on my router, out of the range of DHCP. 
4. Reinstalled S2 Application, and started the setup process. 
5. For this stage of testing, I have left my Boost disabled, so using native Wi-Fi network only.
6. I moved my Gen3 Sub right next to the ARC. (Before, my Gen2 was next to the ARC, and the Gen3 was some way away.
7. Set-up ARC, as per S2 instruction.
8. Setup Subs, as per S2 instruction.
9. Setup Surrounds, as per S2 instruction.
10. Made sure the dedicated IP addresses were assigned to the Sonos Speakers. (About My System).
11. Performed TruPlay setup for position and frequency tweaks.
12. No other settings were changed in the S2 app (like lip sync, or anything else).
13. NOTE: My router was not rebooted during this process. as it does not require one for adding static IP addresses. 

At his point I played a selection of different sources, but mainly thru Apple TV.

1. Sonos Radio, multiple channels, all working as expected. (Not Apple TV).
2. Apple TV+, Atmos Movie, all working as expected.
3. Netflix, 5.1 Movie, all working as expected.
4. Various iterations of the above with different Dolby codecs, different video formats (like Dolby Vision, HDR).
5. Full standby mode for 15 minutes, repeat the above after system power on. 

At current, I have had the most stable surround sound from all sources with no problems, no delays to the surrounds and no cut outs. 

As said above, this is an evolving test case.  So this is very likely to reappear. However, I intend to leave the setup as configured above, and play throughout the day until the point of failure. Just to underline, that the key changes thus far (which are not related to factory reset) are moving the Gen3 Sub next to the ARC and removing the Boost from the setup so running on native Wi-Fi.

I will report back any findings to this community. 

Is this issue occured also when you use ethernet connections or Sonos Boost?

I consider buying two Sonos Boost and move my system from wifi to separate network. Maybe it could be a solution. Or I will connect all home theater items with ethernet… (cheaper than boost) 🤔

Brad 1, Sonos 55

😂

Hi All,

OK, next update. 

After hours of switching between different AppleTV sources with different sound and video formats I could not replicate the issue. For me the issue has (previously anyway) been fairly quick to surface. For several hours there has been nothing bad to report.

I have now progressed to doing the below:

1. Run the ‘Connect TV to Sonos’ in the S2 App.  That connected fine, and it updated some settings line TV Autoplay and IR to ON.
2. I added the Sonos Boost back into the mix, and that is now functional with all speakers showing as WM:0.

Preliminary playing of different sources has not reproduced the issue yet. However, it's only been 15 minutes or under. I also include my current matrix output below so we can record where we are with signal etc. (This was taken when playing a Dolby Atmos Movie).

I will report back in a few hours. 

Brad

I’m rooting for you! This is a more extensive rebuild than I’ve done on the networking side. I’ve been more suspicious of the audio stream side so my rebuilds have focused more on the tv, speakers, and sources (sever and re-establish all HDMI connections and power cycle everything by disconnecting from the wall before rebuilding). I was stable without a dropout for 2weeks before it reoccurred albeit using almost exclusively 1 source (Apple TV 4K). It reoccurred for me when using a second source (second Apple TV 4K) and has been dropping out more frequently since. 🤞 time for another rebuild I guess

Ha! Thanks @Freddy45764 !

I don't give this much of a chance to be honest, but if its done in a structured way then perhaps we might learn something on this (very) long journey.

I already had factory reset all the Sonos speakers before, but that saw a return to the issue within 30 minutes of doing that. This time I am taking a Software (S2) - Network (Router) - and Full Factory Reset approach (All Speakers + Boost) - almost as if I am bringing the equipment through the door for the very first time.

Whether this approach works or not, it's the most stable (i.e. in terms of time between an incident/issue) it has been. It might well reoccur in the next few hours, but it's still a behaviour change where it's gone from being able to be replicated in less than 30 minutes to many hours (and many switches between formats) of not experiencing an issue.

It might also be useful that I am going through this to some degree, so people know whether it's worth going through the whole rebuild process in the future.

As a for root-cause and why now? That's anybody’s guess at this stage!

Ya I appreciate what you’re doing and sharing. I’ve given up on finding a real fix for now because I think only Sonos can do that but I’m still trying to find things that improve stability and make it easier to live with this bug while we wait. 

Bad, but expected, news.

Just now the incident occurred. (Sonos Support ID: 241138124)

I was flicking between movies on Netflix, moving from an Atmos movie to a 5.1 movie, and the subs and rears dropped and they no longer work. This happened all without leaving the Netflix app. One minute it's working, the next it's not. It did not occur during the film, just between switching films. 

Captured a screenshot of the matrix whilst this was going on, not sure how to interpret this really, but it looks kind of green - although this time a lot more grey boxes than before. Anyone know why there are more grey boxes this time than my last post?

For my final test, I am going to switch off the boast and go back to Native Wi-Fi. That was where it seemed to last the longest, so let's prove that is not part of the issue. 

OK, Boost ha been disabled, and the whole Sonos system is back using my Netgear Routers Wi-Fi. (This is a Netgear Orbi, had a few years and no recent firmware updates or changes). 

As soon as network was changed, all sound was back on all speakers. (I think this might be because it reboots the arc and the other speakers to bring the new wi-fi settings in?). Need to leave and play again for a few hours/overnight to see if this is part of the puzzle. 

Matrix now looks different, lots of grey, and only one green.  Whatever that means!