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Sonos and Mac OS 10.15 Catalina


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Tried using Sonos with Golden Master of Catalina and its a no go. When I add my music library on an external drive it does so normally but NO songs in the folder are recognized. Wonder if it has to do with Music being the new app for music instead of iTunes?I was able to see music added if it was on the internal drive of the machine.
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Best answer by Ryan S 17 December 2019, 19:01

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Does Catalina 15.1 help with this at all?  The release notes say it improves the migration of iTunes Libraries to Music/TV/etc, so there is some sort of change there.

Sonos is TRULY THE WORST set up experience ever created. Products are great when they work but I have the same issue with Catalina. Both of my speakers are USELESS until a fix is released. 

 

I will certainly not be recommending these products to anyone else. 

Userlevel 1

Hi there,

IS THIS THE SOLUTION?  IT WORKED FOR ME: (until the next issue at least...) :grinning:

I just though I’d share what has worked for me: I have a Play:1 and two Ones, and when I installed Catalina on my iMac, I couldn’t access my music  library any longer.  So, I messaged Sonos on Messenger, and they suggested the following, which worked - it’s now set up as it was before.  Step 1 below alone didn’t work, but after Step 2, the problem was solved, so I’d recommend doing both.  Also maybe throw in a computer re-start etc (although I don’t think I actually needed to do this). So:

 

  1. Check the System Preferences -> Security and Privacy settings of the computer. From there select the Privacy Tab and scroll down to and select “Full Disk Access”. From this screen make sure Sonos has permission. You'll also want to ensure Sonos has permission under Files and Folders (which is below).
  2. Remove your music library from the Sonos App and then re-add it by first opening Sonos Desktop Controller App for Mac (computer, not the phone app). From the “Manage” menu, select “Music Library Settings”. Click on the folder you would like to remove (the whole music library). Click - (minus) and confirm you wish to remove the library from Sonos. Then Re-add the Music Library by clicking on the + (Plus) button in the same area (If you use iTunes or are not sure where your music is stored, leave “In My Music folder” selected. If your music is located outside of the My Music folder, select the appropriate option) - I have iTunes and left it as it was, with “In My Music folder” selected.

 

So this worked, and for now my speakers are working again.  I’ve shared this to try to help others suffering the same nonsense.

But that said, these speakers, apart from the good sound when they do work, have been quite annoying for the couple of years I’ve had them.  Sometimes disconnecting for no reason, stupid messages like Sonos can’t connect that then just go away a few minutes later, the Sonos app is much slower at responding to play, stop, skip etc requests than doing so to the speakers directly through iTunes/Music app.  Getting them on the wifi when you move house is more annoying than you’d expect in this day and age.  Smetimes they just stop playing half-way through a playlist without explanation.  Somtimes the music library just disappears and you have to restart the app to resolve it.  Etc.  So yeah, they’re annoying.  And although I did eventually get help from regarding this Catalina installation problem by messaging them via messenger, their first answer was just that they were aware of the issue but that there was no solution at this time and they didn’t have a time frame for a solution!  It’s only when, incredulous that my Play:1 speaker was now essentially and indefinitely useless (people have been talking about this problem on these forums for at least a month), it was only when I pushed them that they tried a couple of other suggestions (those above).  So yeah the speakers have very annoying issues (I wouldn’t recommend them unfortunately to older people who might not know what to do in these situation - delete your music library, re-add it, allow full disc access… whatttttt??), and the customer service/response rate to simple but debilitating problems just isn’t good enough: we as end users/customers shouldn’t be going through this nonsense in 2019 - I sometimes feel like I’m trying to connect to dial-up Internet in the 1990s with the amount of work and hassle these speakers, which should be plug in and play, have caused over 2 years), but anyway - I hope the above helps people for at least this particular issue.

Userlevel 1
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Liam, I am one of those old users you wrote about. I followed each and every step listed for the last month.  

I agree that the sound of these speakers is fair to good.

But the hassles involved in trying to use my Mac, iTunes and wifi offsets the sound and no wires.

I am going back to wires and a Yamaha receiver, the Sonos speakers are going to charity.

Hi,

I tried a couple of hours all of suggestions above and gave up.

I have a Mac Book pro with Catalina and the latest version of Sonos Controller for Mac.

My Security and Privacy settings are

  • Accessibility - Sonos is checked
  • Full Disk Access - Sonos is checked
  • Files and Folders - Sonos show up with “Full Disk Access”

I do not find SonosLibraryServer as suggested above in any of the Privacy settings.

When I try to add the Library via the Manage , Music Library settings in the Sonos app, I always get the Error message “Sonos was unable to add the music folder  Authorization failed”

I selected Music Folder but also selecting ANY other folder on my Mac provides the sames result.

Solutions ?

tx

Userlevel 1
Badge +5

Hi there,

IS THIS THE SOLUTION?  IT WORKED FOR ME: (until the next issue at least...) :grinning:

I just though I’d share what has worked for me: I have a Play:1 and two Ones, and when I installed Catalina on my iMac, I couldn’t access my music  library any longer.  So, I messaged Sonos on Messenger, and they suggested the following, which worked - it’s now set up as it was before.  Step 1 below alone didn’t work, but after Step 2, the problem was solved, so I’d recommend doing both.  Also maybe throw in a computer re-start etc (although I don’t think I actually needed to do this). So:

 

  1. Check the System Preferences -> Security and Privacy settings of the computer. From there select the Privacy Tab and scroll down to and select “Full Disk Access”. From this screen make sure Sonos has permission. You'll also want to ensure Sonos has permission under Files and Folders (which is below).
  2. Remove your music library from the Sonos App and then re-add it by first opening Sonos Desktop Controller App for Mac (computer, not the phone app). From the “Manage” menu, select “Music Library Settings”. Click on the folder you would like to remove (the whole music library). Click - (minus) and confirm you wish to remove the library from Sonos. Then Re-add the Music Library by clicking on the + (Plus) button in the same area (If you use iTunes or are not sure where your music is stored, leave “In My Music folder” selected. If your music is located outside of the My Music folder, select the appropriate option) - I have iTunes and left it as it was, with “In My Music folder” selected.

 

So this worked, and for now my speakers are working again.  I’ve shared this to try to help others suffering the same nonsense.

 

Liam, I had to have the grandson come over and follow your suggestions.  We were able to load the music library, if that is correct terminology? The music from my Mac Mini appears in the Sonos Controller on both the Mini and MacBook Pro.  The music appears in my iPhone Sonos app and I am able to play and control the speakers from the iPhone.  I cannot get our iPads to display music or control the speakers.  I will again contact Sonos support.  thanks for your work around.

Userlevel 1
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Sonos tech support was useless on the phone.  He shared my iPad screen and could not resolve the issue.  I finally removed the Sonos app from the iPad, shut the iPad down and rebooted. Then I reloaded the app.  Success, the app now shows the entire music library on the iPad, iPhone and MacBook.

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there appears to be no real resolution to this issue on the horizon.  SONOS are buying their hands in the sand over this.

when i purchased my SONOS speakers less than a year ago I was given a demonstration that showed that ai could control all of my music sources including those stored in iTunes from a single app.

I have updated to MAC OS 10.15 Catalina and find that my system no longer works as advertised during the demostration.  

I am signed up to SONOS and receive regular e-mails about updates and offers but at no time has SONOS advised me that I should not update to Catalina.  They do not think it is an issue.

It is becoming time too take this to the UK consumer court.

 

Any other UK SONOS users who feel the same please reply to this post.

Badge +1

 have been emailing SONOS for a considerable time and today I have received the following message regarding SONOS App version 10.6.  I am, however, concerned with updating to Catalina.

 

Hi Richard,

I've checked on this and we have already released a solution for this in our latest update which utilizes Apple's new file library system.

With best regards,

Marc M.
Sonos | Customer Care | Contact Us
Ask questions, find answers, and share your thoughts on the Sonos Community.

Userlevel 7
Badge +26

Hi everyone, as BowlerBrown just mentioned above, there were some changes made in the Sonos 10.6 software for Catalina compatibility. If you haven’t tested it out yet, go ahead and make sure you’re all up to date, and then you should be able to add your music library and find your updated playlists. There are steps here to update your music library in the Sonos app. Let us know if you see any trouble and I’ll get the feedback to the team.

If you’re still having trouble with your playlists, check out this guide for some troubleshooting suggestions as well.

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I have probably been fortunate. My music files were preserved intact in their original iTunes location on my iMac. All my iOS devices find the system and play ok. I did have to relocate some of the album artwork to get it to display but was just a handful.

 

my biggest bugbear is not the loss of iTunes but the imposition of the new dire podcast app. I found the original iOS version pretty user unfriendly and the Catalina version is equally so.

worse still, it is wholly useless for use with Sonos. 
there are a number of podcast apps but none without subscription that I’m aware of, which will download rather than just play. I like to store them for later listening.

I was able to automate the process using iTunes/Apple script/Sonos library update. My only intervention was adding podcasts to a speaker queue. At present it’s a nightmare job!

Thanks to you all for the helpful posts!

One thing though, and wonder if anyone else has the same issue: all music in my library syncs to Sonos, but still not the playlists, and also not any songs I have downloaded via Apple Music. I used to buy songs on iTunes, they are all there, but since I switched to Apple Music subscription, all the songs are downloaded on my NAS, they appear in my library in the Music app, but will not appear in Sonos library. I notice they are all M4P format, whereas iTunes bought music was M4A format…

Anyone has the same issue, and is there a solution to this?

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Looks like 10.6 has solved the issue with Catalina and updating the Music Library.  I think it is now safe for others to update.

Thank you SONOS all is forgiven.

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Can anyone confirm that the problem is resolved in Catalina and everything operates as it used to with Mojave?

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Hi,

Following my previous message from Sonos I went back to them and asked why the fix was not mentioned in their release notes with 10.6. I have just received the following response:

 

Hi Richard,

Unfortunately, I have no more formation to provide for you in this case. I have been told and assured by our engineering teams that we have resolved this issue in our 10.6 firmware update but I have no explanation as to why this is not listed in the change logs.

Ultimately the decision to update is yours to make so again I can only stress that we have verified and tested this fix internally and that it is working as expected.

With best regards,

Marc M.
Sonos | Customer Care | Contact Us
Ask questions, find answers, and share your thoughts on the Sonos Community.

Userlevel 2
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Recent posts in this thread suggest “the problem is fixed”, but I’m not sure which problem people are referring to. Need some help here pls.

I am running the current version of Sonos and macOS software. I never had a problem, however, with getting Sonos to recognize my iTunes (now Music) library on my Mac. This was true even before the latest Catalina and Sonos bug-fix updates.

The problem I was seeing, and still am seeing, is that Sonos is unable to find, display and play my Imported Playlists from iTunes. Even with the latest bug-fix updates, my Imported Playlists still do not appear in the Sonos app. And yes, I have run the software updates, removed and re-added my music library within Sonos, turned all devices off and back on, etc.

So, from my perspective, the problem is not fixed. But again, I’m not sure that I am experiencing the same problem as others on this thread. Can anyone confirm whether they now are able to see iTunes Imported Playlists in the Sonos app?

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Thank you, Sonus confirmed that the iTunes playlists problem was solved with 10.6: See below,

 

Hi Richard,

Yes, this does include iTunes playlists.


With best regards,

Marc M.
Sonos | Customer Care | Contact Us
Ask questions, find answers, and share your thoughts on the Sonos Community.

Userlevel 7
Badge +26

Can anyone confirm that the problem is resolved in Catalina and everything operates as it used to with Mojave?

Yes, it should be resolved now. Generally a fix doesn’t get included in release notes if it doesn’t have broad enough attention, or  in some cases, when the software team decides to include it a little last minute. I suspect it was the second one this time around as they wanted to get it out to people before the holidays. 

 

The problem I was seeing, and still am seeing, is that Sonos is unable to find, display and play my Imported Playlists from iTunes. Even with the latest bug-fix updates, my Imported Playlists still do not appear in the Sonos app. And yes, I have run the software updates, removed and re-added my music library within Sonos, turned all devices off and back on, etc.

So, from my perspective, the problem is not fixed. But again, I’m not sure that I am experiencing the same problem as others on this thread. Can anyone confirm whether they now are able to see iTunes Imported Playlists in the Sonos app?

This is the issue that should be fixed. When you create a music share using the Mac Sonos app, it’ll create the XML file needed so that imported playlists get indexed by Sonos. That XML file is also updated by the controller when it does a manual re-index from the Manage menu. You said you’ve already removed and re-added your share, which is all you should need to do. If you’re still having trouble, I’d suggest that maybe it’s a permissions issue, so check that the Sonos app is allowed at mentioned earlier in this thread. Other than that, it’d probably be best to give us a call and work with a technician to investigate further.

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A note to pomm4tous:

if you manage to sort the iTunes playlists problem in Catalina with the advice given by Ryan S above, please post your success with the solution.

Userlevel 2
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To Ryan S: I will try to contain my frustration. I called Sonos support twice today, spending nearly 2 hours on the phone with Sonos support staff. Both individuals seemed to be Level 1 support. They each used TeamViewer to probe my Mac, and to try to resolve the “missing imported playlists” problem.

Neither individual had heard of the problem. Neither knew how to fix it. Neither, IMHO, really understood the difference between a Sonos playlist and an imported playlist. Neither was willing to escalate my call to someone with more expertise on the topic. One said I need to subscribe to Apple Music to solve the problem. Both suggested I call Apple for further assistance.

So how do I get help resolving this? How do I reach a person within Sonos with knowledge on this topic? My case number is 0136 8722. Thank you.

Userlevel 7
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That sounds frustration to be sure, let me check in on that case for you and see what I can do. I’ll PM you to follow up.

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This is exactly the same level of support that I have had. Frustration all the way. If Ryan S takes it up maybe some resolution can be achieved.

my reference is 

Re: Sonos - Here to Help    [ ref:_00D1N2JMtd._5002KheHRK:ref ]

So according to this thread the problem has been fixed.

but the fix is not documented in the release notes (users are told to ignore this cause there are excuses)

But the sonos help staff have no knowledge of the problem and no knowledge of the supposed fix

but nobody here is saying that their Sonos, including playlists, podcasts, index updates, music library access etc etc works again with catalina

shame, used to be a good product. Now it’s junk. 

probably time for Sonos to just delete this thread and move on like nothing happened

 

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I know Christmas has come and gone but has anything been resolved since the post of Ryan S seven days ago. I would like to think so!!

Userlevel 7
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There’s currently a fix in Sonos version 10.6. The fix has the Sonos app create the music library.xml file for playlists that is needed for the Sonos app to read and import your playlists. 

If you wanted to try to do this manually, this video shows how to make the XML manually, however the Sonos app for Mac will now do this automatically when you create a music share, and when you update your music index. Your Sonos app would need permissions to write on the computer, so you may need to adjust permissions as well.

I’ll check on your ticket with the team to make sure it’s in the right hands, but as I mentioned above, this should be fixed now.