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Advisability of doing full factory reset to resolve glitches - and how to do it if so

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We have a fairly old Sonos set-up: Playbar and two Play:3 surrounds, with the TV sound delivered via an optical cable.  It used to be rock-solid but, in recent months, it’s become insanely unreliable.  For example:

  • The Sonos app can take 5+ seconds to connect. It used to be instant. (Nothing has changed in our networking setup and the problem happened long after we’d upgraded to S2)
  • Sound from the TV will be perfect for days and then it will just start dropping out… eg no sound for 5-20 seconds… and when this happens it happens several times.  We changed the optical cable (no improvement) and then thought it was the TV so bought a new one(!) and STILL get the issue.
  • Music played through the Sonos app (eg from Spotify) will also periodically stop. We have a very reliable high speed fibre connection so it’s unlikely to be a connectivity issue.

Given the above, I’m convinced it’s the Sonos system that is somehow messed up. 

Before, going down the support route I figured maybe I should just try to reset the whole thing from scratch.  Is that worth trying? If so - and maybe I’m being dumb - how do I do it? I can’t find a guide on how to reset an entire system. I can find articles on how to reset an individual device… but if I want to hard reset EVERYTHING, is there a recipe somewhere I can follow? eg should I reset the surrounds first? Or maybe it doesn’t matter?

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Best answer by buzz 14 January 2023, 19:20

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12 replies

Airgetlam

Highly inadvisable. A factory reset of each device erases all data that Sonos might be able to use to assist you. 

Submit a diagnostic first, and call Sonos support. If they advise a reset, that’s the time to do it, not on your own. 

It seems like you have multiple things going on too. I’d certainly recommend a network refresh by unplugging all Sonos devices from power, then rebooting your router. Only after the router has come back up should you plug back in your Sonos. This will do a few things, none of which are bad, including a refresh of your router (and its DHCP table for IP addresses) along with a refresh of the software and IP addresses for all Sonos devices. 

Important to note that while your own network may not have changed, that doesn’t always mean that the environment in which that network exists hasn’t. From external wifi interference to issues with the IP addresses due to problems in the router itself, the simple fact that you’ve not changed anything doesn’t really mean nothing has changed. The above process might (and I stress that might) help, and certainly won’t hurt. 

But if your system continues to act up, that’s when you should submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and network. 

 

Bruce
G
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Thanks Bruce.  Makes sense.

I’m sceptical that the network is a factor (how could it cause the TV sound issues?) but I imagine it’s a checklist step Sonos Support will force me to go through so I might as well do it beforehand!  

Thanks for the quick response.

Richard

Airgetlam

If there’s a DHCP conflict, it might interrupt the ability of the soundbar to reproduce sound, momentarily, depending on how the software actually works. However, I’m neither a software engineer, nor work for Sonos, but those are some fairly generic things that might help, and certainly won’t hurt. 

However, you did indicate a 5 second delay for the app to connect, which could indeed be an IP conflict somewhere in the system. 

And you’re “it can’t be a connectivity issue” is somewhat questionable, too, as we’re not just talking about the fiber into your home, but the connectivity between the speakers themselves, both to each other, and to the router. Networks, especially when you’re dealing with Sonos, are complex. 

But given that I don’t have hard data to look at, and give you a precise answer to your issue(s), I provided a method by which you could provide Sonos that information, and get a better, more accurate reply.  

Bruce
G
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If there’s a DHCP conflict, it might interrupt the ability of the soundbar to reproduce sound, momentarily, depending on how the software actually works. 

 

Yes - that’s fair. One might argue that is *shouldn’t* have that effect…  but, as you imply, if one possibility is a bug/corruption/hardware problem with the PlayBar, you’re right that I shouldn’t rule out an environmental or network issue being the thing that triggers it.   

That said, I’ve just done the full power-down, step-by-step bring back up and there is still a noticeable lag in the app… as if PlayBar is running really sluggishly, and taking forever to respond to any request it receives.  But I’ll experiment with the TV optical sound and music streaming for a bit to see if the other issues recur before putting a call in to Sonos. 

 

Airgetlam

At the least, you’ve eliminated one possible cause, in your quest to find the solution. I look forward to reading what you hear back from Sonos. 

Bruce
buzz

To me this seems like two, not necessarily related issues. I’ve been noticing that the initial system discovery, when a controller is started, has been requiring more time with recent releases. This is true for all of my controllers, Android, iPad, and Windows Desktop. It’s a bit annoying, but I don’t think that there is a fault. I’m sure that this startup time will vary with the system size and I have a few more components in my system.

The controllers don’t participate in TV play. Actually, if you have PLAYBAR set for TV Autoplay, you could uninstall the controllers.

What is wired to your network? Wireless? Network switches? WiFi extenders or mesh points? Which model router are you using?

buzz

You could explore WiFi interference by going to http://[address of a player]:1400/support/review. Open the Network Matrix at the bottom. Red cells indicate potential issues.

G
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What is wired to your network? Wireless? Network switches? WiFi extenders or mesh points? Which model router are you using?

 

Good questions. It’s so long since I installed it that I had to go and do some archaeology.  The router is an ASUS RT-AC88U and the Playbar was connected over Ethernet.  I just switched it all over to wifi (directly connecting to the router, which is in the same room - no extenders/mesh) to see if it changes any of the symptoms - for the better or worse!   

 

If anything, it’s taking the app even longer to connect now, which I guess may not be a surprise.

 

I’ll be back here mid-week and will experiment with the TV optical sound, and music streaming, to see if I can reproduce the issues and/or if the issues have changed in any way after the reboot and switch to wifi.  (I imagine wired is what I *should* be doing? But let’s see how things change I guess.)

 

G
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You could explore WiFi interference by going to http://[address of a player]:1400/support/review. Open the Network Matrix at the bottom. Red cells indicate potential issues.

Thanks. Network matrix all green

 

buzz

That’s a very clean environment.

Your router has a checkered history with SONOS. If you search the community for your router you’ll discover moaning and crying. Make sure that the router’s firmware is up to date and follow this suggestion. 

G
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Your router has a checkered history with SONOS. If you search the community for your router you’ll discover moaning and crying. Make sure that the router’s firmware is up to date and follow this suggestion. 

 

Well, well… that’s very interesting. The router is set to auto-update, but it did have airtime fairness enabled by default.  Thanks for the pointer.

G
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Quick update… the problem has not yet recurred.  It’s intermittent so I’m not ready to declare success yet but so far, so good.  Thanks for all the tips and pointers.

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