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Recently purchased a new Macbook M1 (2020) with Big Sur OS. I’m now unable add my music library that sits in my Music folder and another music folder on my external hard drive.

I get the messages “computer refused to let Sonos connect to it” and sometimes a message saying it cannot find my computer.

I have tried EVERYTHING including:

  • Enabled file sharing - adding/ticking the relevant folders in System Preferences
  • Shortened/change computer name - making sure it matches the name in network settings
  • Checked if approved as an incoming connection in firewall settings
  • Checked if added in Full Disk Access and Accessibility within the Privacy options 

Was on the phone with customer service for a good hour+ to no help.

Are Sonos speakers currently not compatible with Big Sur/Apple M1 issue?? 

So, a few random thoughts, based on your post, I.e. I don’t have enough knowledge to be certain.…

Have you tried turning the firewall off completely, and tried the add, and once it has been added, turning back on the firewall to see what happens?

Also, the whole ‘sometimes’ comment itches my thought about the potential of the drives being powered down, and not responding before the Sonos request is fulfilled. Have you checked in the Apple Settings to ensure that both drives are effectively always on, and not some sort of ‘wake on LAN request’ sort of state? If I remember properly, that’s somewhere in the energy settings, but I’m not on at a Mac this second to double check. 
 

I am aware that Apple has an issue with Bluetooth on M1 Macs:

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/01/11/fix-bluetooth-connection-issues-m1-mac/

but I’ve not yet seen anything about your specific situation. Which doesn’t mean it isn’t there, or if there is an Apple issue or not, but I think I have seen folks here with M1s that aren’t reporting this issue, so it may be something specific in your setup that’s the problem. But networking is so complex, there are many avenues to chase.

Is this external drive an NAS? If so, you’d need to have SMB v1 turned on, something that most/all (?) NAS drive software turns off at this point. I’ve never used just an external HD on my Mac, but would assume to the OS it looks/acts the same as an internal drive, it is just the NAS which is ‘different’.

I’d also try testing with minimum things as potential variables. Make sure the ‘Music’ folder you’re pointing Sonos to is on the M1’s drive, and has at least one song in it before jumping to trying to add your full Library, wherever that is. Might make it slightly easier to track back where the failure point is.

 

Thanks for the reply @Airgetlam!

Have checked your suggestions:

  • Tried turning off the firewall, no luck
  • The option to not let the external hard drive sleep was already off 
  • The hard drive is an external hard drive, formatted to Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
  • Also tried to just add from a folder with 1 song, the computer still wouldn't allow access

 

 

Then I’ve shot my bolt. I’ve not yet purchased an M1 Mac, so I was working only from a theoretical standpoint. 

Sorry I was unable to resolve your issues. My only thought is if you can get past the level one folks, who appear to be competent within certain parameters, but less so with others, someone further up the line might help.

And there was a new software release for S2 today. Not sure it would make a difference, but not sure what’s in it, either, so I’d at least try updating. 

Thanks for your help @Airgetlam - I spoke to them on the phone for a while to no help again, but it has been escalated further up - so fingers crossed they’ll know once they contact. 

 

 

Hi @Sir Cal 

I have an M1 MBP. I’ll try later today adding Sonos and report back.

Cheers!

Hi @Sir Cal 

Added Sonos to my MBP 13 inch 2020 M1 with no issues. In fact I’m listening over a Move as I type this response.

For the record my network is as follows:

  • Asus Ai Mesh/Ethernet Backhaul : GT AX11000  x 1 (Main Node)  + GT AC5300 + RT AC5300 
  • Wi-Fi Security: WPA/3
  • TCP/IP: Configure IPv4 via DHCP / IPv6 via  Automatic
  • DNS: 192.168.xx.x
  • WINS: NetBIOS Name: XXXXX MBP / WorkGroup: WORKGROUP
  • 802.1X: Null
  • Proxies: None
  • Hardware: MAC Address_Configure Automatically
  • Sonos: Boost Mode
  • MBP 13 inch 2020 M1: 16GB RAM / Big Sur 11.1

The new MBP M1’s do require Rosetta 2 to run certain Intel based programs /Apps. Click this link for more infomation. A last resort maybe to re-install the Big Sur OS via MacOS Recovery built-in program. Let us know how things sort out.

Cheers!

Thanks @AjTrek1 - that’s super helpful. 

All my settings appear the same as you, except for DNS, mine starts with 10.9x.x.x (Express VPN). I did mention on the phone that I do use a VPN service, so we tried while disconnecting from it temporarily. 

I just tried it again on my older laptop and it worked just fine which is even more confusing!

Awaiting a call from a senior technical agent. Will update after

It’s fixed! It’s a temporary solution until the issues are fixed on both or either Sonos’ or Apple’s side in my location. I’ll try to explain the fix, but it was a LONG call and I’ll probably not be completely accurate:

There was an issue between my IP addresses linking between each other and Sonos recognising them - nhave had issued with my internet provider in the past with this. So both music folders were linked this way. However, it displayed the music strangely and it just isn't the most cleanest way to access the library (a bit of lagging) even though it was working fine and playable.

So I’ve since tried to add the music library the normal way (via adding the music folder) and it worked! I think I’ll leave the external hard drive for now as there is a lot of music and it takes a long time to index as it is, but this is a good solution for now. 

It’s worth noting that senior techs/engineers are really new to the M1 chip and its ways of workings, so it was learning for them too! Hope that all makes sense :sweat_smile:

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