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I’ve had an Arc w/ 2 speakers + sub, plus 6 Amps (all S2) for years has been working fine, the bugs started recently about when the new app problems started.  I just tried the new Aug 28 app release - and yes rebooted all the devices/iphone/router and problems still occuring to the point the Arc is mostly unusable (usable but requires constant fiddling with the app to reconnect the Arc while either playing music through Spotify or watching anything on the connected Xbox).

Problem #1 - Arc constantly drops out when grouped with other amps (not using the Sonos App Groups, but checking them off in the app as added together and the grouping showing up in Spotify)

I have 6 Sonos Amps (S2) and an Arc (with L/R speakers and a Sub).  Each amp drives speakers in different rooms.  The Arc doesn’t run off an amp and is in the living room and is also connected to the Xbox.

I always play music through the house using Spotify and I connect all the Amps together with the Arc so in Spotify it shows as a device like “TV Room + 5” when I have the Arc (which is the tv room) and 5 of the amps checked).  It doesn’t matter either if its an Amp that has X number of devices checked such as “Kitchen + 5” where Kitchen is one of the Amps and the +5 are 4 other amps and the Arc.   The behavior is the same regardless of how they are grouped (and this is not using the Groups feature of the Sonos App as those groups do not show up for Spotify on the network).

The Arc is the device that keeps dropping out sporadically.  And its not any set time, sometimes it’ll last an hour or more, sometimes it’ll drop out 5 minutes after it starts playing.

And it drops out even if the Sonos App isn’t running on my phone.   I have to open the Sonos app and add the Arc back in to get it playing again in the living room.

 

Problem #2) - Using the TV Autoplay and Ungroup on Autoplay keeps dropping out the sound 

 

When using the Xbox where I have the source auto play from the Xbox it is constantly stopping.   Doesn’t matter if its gaming or watching YouTube or a movie.   The sound stops.  I have to open the Sonos App and toggle the TV Autoplay switch off then on to get the sound playing again.  

 

Sometimes that doesn’t even work and I have to reboot the Xbox to get the sound back.  Watching a 1hr show it happened 5 times and had to reboot twice.   I’ve given up using the Arc and had to switch to using the TV’s internal speaker.

 

Are these issues on the bug list to be resolved?

 

Let’s try to address problem #2 first. What model TV is the Arc and Xbox connected to?


Its an LG OLED65E6P, connected via the HDMI Arc cable. Everything is also hardwired to the network.  All my Amps, Arc, Xbox are connected with Cat7 cables, nothing wireless.   This setup hasn’t changed in years and its only been in the last months the Arc problems have been happening (and its only been really recently like a week or two?) that the Arc dropping sound from the TV has been happening.

I did just get off a chat with Sonos who had me change to Channel 11 and there is a home automation hub near the Arc they suggested might be causing interferrence.  But that hub has been there far longer than the Arc problems have been occuring.  And not sure how interferrence from a home automation router would cause a wired Arc to cut out.   But I just change Sonos to use Channel 11 and will move the hub so its not directly under the arc in the meantime.

 


Try this:

Disconnect everything from the TV and unplug the Arc and TV from power for a couple of minutes. Plug everything back in but keep everything disconnected. Make sure Simplink is enabled in the TV settings. Run TV Setup in the Sonos app and follow the app instructions. When the app instructs you, connect the Arc to the TV’s HDMI ARC port using the Sonos-supplied HDMI cable. After the Arc has been successfully connected, connect the Xbox to the TV.

 


I’ll run through that again later.  Pretty much did all that yesterday but not in that precise order.  I checked Simpllink was on and did the TV connection from the app but it was connected to the hdmi, and had rebooted/unplugged everything earlier after the new app update rolled out yesterday.

The Sonos support I talked with a few minutes ago said my device logs were showing interference with the Arc why it might be dropping out.  So I’ve already changed the Sonos channel to 11 which he said would be less crowded and moved my home automation hub a few feet away from the Arc.   Will reboot and reconnect everything later today and try it out.


I ran through the setup as described above again.   Plus I realized the Arc wasn’t set to disable the WIFI so even though it was wired, I expect it was using WIFI.   I disabled the wifi on the Arc, and double checked all the other devices (6 amps, l/r speakers and Sub) are all set to disable the wifi and are wired.  The xbox is also wired.  I also moved the Hubitat home automation hub a few feet away instead of being right under the Arc.

So far since last night I have not seen the Arc drop out from the music system so that’s a good sign.

But, the 2nd problem is persisting.  When using the XBox after all the updates above, it will still drop out the audio and I have to go into the Sonos App and toggle the TV AutoPlay on/off to get the sound to come back on.

 


Be sure to set the TV to these settings (if available):

HDMI Input Audio Format: Bitstream
Digital Sound Output: Pass Through
DTV Audio Setting: Auto

 

And set the Xbox to these settings:

HDMI Audio: Dolby Digital

Enable Allow passthrough

NOTE: Since your TV isn’t equipped with eARC, don’t use the 5.1 uncompressed or Dolby Atmos for home theater settings on the Xbox.

 


Thanks, so far so good. 

Those first settings don’t exist on the TV settings, but I did have the Xbox set to DTS and Allow passthrough wasn’t enabled.  So set those to Dolby Digital and turned on the passthrough.

The TV didn’t have a passthrough option, only Auto and PCM.  So left it on Auto.

Been running the xbox for hours since without the audio dropping out.

Odd how those settings have all worked for ages, and just recently the audio started cutting out unless something did an auto update recently and those old settings broke it.

 


So similar issue, apple tv hooked up hdmi, nintendo switch hooked up hdmi, sonos arc hooked up arc hdmi everything works great. Bought xbox S got a hdmi splitter for xbox S and nintendo switch and now the sonos arc plays great for the games but stops working for apple tv. 
 

i did all the unplugging and resetting everyone suggests and still issues. If xbox S is on and I switch to apple tv Sonos Arc will work, once xbox S goes off so does the sound from the sonos. 
 

suggestions, this is crazy irritating. 
thanks 


Klav684 - get on a live chat and explain the problem to their support staff and make a separate post with your issue.  That’s how I wound up getting help on both issues pretty quick after beating my head against the wall for a couple months thinking it was the new app being buggy.

 


So I followed what you were told and it worked for like 30 minutes. So I found out if my xbox turns off my sonos stops playing for everything, so now when not using the xbox I leave it sleep mode and everything works great. 


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