Is My Roam Dead? Won't power on.

  • 24 April 2021
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76 replies

Ken_Griffiths

I have the same issue.  Very deceived of that unit.  It didn’t last a year !!!!!

As it was ‘less-than a year’, it will most likely still be covered by the Sonos warranty then. See this link:

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/legal/terms#legal-terms-sale-warranty

F

Same problems here. Problems with play back from the start and now won’t even turn on. Very disappointed with what should be a premium product - will think twice before buying anything else from Sonos. Bought from John Lewis so will be taking back. 

C

Thanks this thread really helped. I had tried the 14 second reset while plugged in and it did not work. I then tried it while unplugged after reading this thread and hey presto it started to work. Mine was also on 100% charge as soon as it showed in the app after starting again. Thanks all

A

My Sonos ROAM has exactly the same problem. After a month of usage, it does not get charged at all. Tried various USB chargers even 5V/2A (10W) charger. Please note these were not wireless chargers. Tried charging through laptop’s USB port too

It just shows the orange light for a sec or two; then goes blank. Sometimes if I disconnect and reconnect the USB charger, it shows orange light lit up for about two secs; then blinks orange once or twice and then goes blank.

Battery does not hold charge at all earlier when it worked. Hardly lasted a day on standby.

I have some 8 SONOS speakers including ARC. This is the worst Sonos speaker I ever had. Unfortunately, I have ordered one more Roam which I am yet to open. Wonder if I should return both!

G
Userlevel 7

Do you still see the Roam under your Products in the Sonos app? What happens when you perform the steps in this article to reset the speaker? 
https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1096?language=en_US

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
G
Userlevel 7

Try to charge the Roam for about 15 minutes and then try to add the Roam/run the setup process in the Sonos app again.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
S
Userlevel 2

Mine is dead too!

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +5

I don’t mind, this is the second unit that I have, clearly is faulty product. The UE Wonderboom 2 is much better, I want mine back😔. Guys… Before buying the Sonos Roam think twice, is not as good as people suggest, it has too many connectivity issues and battery drain issues, I’ll probably be returning it soon, and buy an other speaker in stead, either the JBL Flip6 or the UE Wonderboom2, no mor Sonos Roam   

La discapacidad visual no es ningún impedimento, a disfrutar Bros
M
Userlevel 3
Badge +5

Good luck for you! Mine 1 month ago  started to cut off  using Airplay, Apple Music and Bluetooth, and Alexa gets unresponsive often. Sonos always  says that is Wireless interference and network related issues, but all other devices in my home network  are working fine, an iPad Pro streaming content from Spotify and YouTube, my iPhone 11, my Laptop HP and my brother’s Xbox Series X. Also, I’ve use Alexa, I had an Amazon Echo 4gen before the Roam and it never got unresponsive, always worked fine. How ever, Alexa on my Roam gets stuck, answers with any error and it fails to play Apple Music most of the times, I don’t know why. Before I return my Sonos Roam I want to make sure: Are these issues (REALY) caused by Wireless interference? What else can I try besides changing my Router’s channel and put my Roam away from electronic devices or materials potentially interfering? My home has concrete walls and that might be the case. But I wonder why the Sonos products tempt to suffer more Wireless interference issues than the rest of other devices, I don’t really get it! Here I posted an other topic explaining my matter with the Roam, I’m stressed!         

La discapacidad visual no es ningún impedimento, a disfrutar Bros
M

I'm having similar issues. Recd my Roam for Christmas 2021. Fully charged unit and set it up for use at a vacation house. Went there this week and Roam will not power on. The orange led flashes rapidly when plugged in. I left it plugged in to a 2a charger overnight and it was still flashing orange in the morning. 

Ken_Griffiths

Good luck for you! Mine 1 month ago  started to cut off  using Airplay, Apple Music and Bluetooth, and Alexa gets unresponsive often. Sonos always  says that is Wireless interference and network related issues, but all other devices in my home network  are working fine, an iPad Pro streaming content from Spotify and YouTube, my iPhone 11, my Laptop HP and my brother’s Xbox Series X. Also, I’ve use Alexa, I had an Amazon Echo 4gen before the Roam and it never got unresponsive, always worked fine. How ever, Alexa on my Roam gets stuck, answers with any error and it fails to play Apple Music most of the times, I don’t know why. Before I return my Sonos Roam I want to make sure: Are these issues (REALY) caused by Wireless interference? What else can I try besides changing my Router’s channel and put my Roam away from electronic devices or materials potentially interfering? My home has concrete walls and that might be the case. But I wonder why the Sonos products tempt to suffer more Wireless interference issues than the rest of other devices, I don’t really get it! Here I posted an other topic explaining my matter with the Roam, I’m stressed!         

Earlier on, you described your Roam as being on the routers 5Ghz band, which is much less-penetrating (through walls etc.) and has much shorter distance than a 2.4Ghz signal - I suggest a couple of simple changes and that is to move the Roam onto the 2.4Ghz band and set its channel to either 1, 6 or 11 (these are the non-overlapping channels for that band - start with channel 1) and set the channel-width to 20Mhz only and see if that then resolves your issue.

B

Mine has a flashing orange/red light after being charged, I can’t get it to turn on/off! Is it a return job?

D

Same problem. Mine’s lived since day one on the Sonos QI charger. I suspect in my case the issue lies more in that element than the actual Roam.

If use a different 2.1a charger (as support told me to do) plugged straight into the Roam it’ll come back to life and charge. 

I’m not sure if the Qi is getting it’s self in a pickle and de-activating its self somehow maybe, and then the Roam is slowly running out of charge, and because it takes so long to charge it means it looks dead everytime I pick it up. 

I’m running one more experiment and then I’ll get a new charger from Sonos as a starter 

J

I have had the same issue, tried multiple cables, chargers, power points etc with no luck.

Tried the 13 second hard reset, as well as the other reset methods and nothing, not even a blink on a light.

But after doing this reset I tried pulling hung in to charge again and it instantly turned on? The battery was reading 98% full so it wasn’t a dead battery.

Seems to be working now, will update again if anything changes.

I had only used the Roam for maybe 10-15 minutes total on 2 occasions since purchasing.

E

Came back here to report maybe some positive news for other folks - I spent some time with Sonos support today, and they recommended a hard reset, which isn’t in the user guide… Hold the power button down for 12 seconds until the orange light turns back on. Wait a few moments and then see if you get the white light at the top back. If you do, check the app and see if it’s back online. This did the trick for me and now it’s working normally again! (Before I did this, I couldn’t get it to do anything outside of the orange light turning on when I plugged it in.)

Thank you. This did it for me. We should not be having these problems.... 

L
Userlevel 1

Mine is also dead - tried the same reset and troubleshooting tactics everyone here has suggested. Going to try to submit a support ticket tomorrow. Super frustrating - have owned the thing for less than 48 hours. Told friends to steer clear. 

Ken_Griffiths

My unit sometimes shows a solid red light before turning on even  being unplugged  but it works, not without issue, but works, with many Alexa, Airplay and Bluetooth issues, but it’s batery life is poor. Is the red solid light before turning on  something wrong? I have it for 3 months and talking about power it works perfect, is my first Sonos unit, but honestly I don’t like at all its battery life. Notice that the solid red light had been happening since I the first day I got this second unit as a replacement, but I’m afraid something serious could happen later with its hardware. @Comunity: What do you recommend? Should I keep trusting on Sonos or shud I change it and buy other brand? I was happier with the Wonderboom 2 I had before, but I want to hear about all of you with  

The LED lights and what they mean in relation to various Sonos products, including the Battery LED etc; are outlined here in this support link:

 https://support.sonos.com/s/article/226

L

Mine charged for 10 seconds and then turned the amber led off. Other than that the Roam was completely dead.

Tried the 12 seconds on the power button and that solved my problem.

 

/Anders

Ken_Griffiths

Also same issue, contacted support, said to leave it charging for 2-4 hours.  What kind of product requires 4 hours of charge to even turn on? Either way, here I am 8 hours later, same dead Roam, solid orange light, power button (which is easily the worst power button I’ve ever experienced on a product) does nothing.  Factory reset steps do nothing.  

It died while it was on the official Sonos wireless charger, its sat on that base since I purchased it at launch.  Never moved, never bumped, no interuptions to power.  Suddenly it was just offline and now won’t turn on.

Pretty shoddy product to be honest.

Have you tried an off-charger power reset? Take the Roam off charge and hold power button for approx 20-25 seconds and return to a charger which has a minimum of 5v/1.5A power output for half hour to an hour and then remove from charger and try the power reset procedure again and try to get the status light to show and it reappears in the Sonos App and then return to charger and leave it until it’s fully charged.

M

I believe so, do you get any indication that its working when you do this?
I’ve held the power button off charger for 25 seconds, but nothing happens, nothing lights up.  Returned it to charge.  An hour later I try the same thing, 25 seconds of power button, but still no led light or anything.  When its plugged in the light is solid orange, but otherwise it won’t come on.

Ken_Griffiths

I believe so, do you get any indication that its working when you do this?
I’ve held the power button off charger for 25 seconds, but nothing happens, nothing lights up.  Returned it to charge.  An hour later I try the same thing, 25 seconds of power button, but still no led light or anything.  When its plugged in the light is solid orange, but otherwise it won’t come on.

What is your charger power-output (not input) in volts/amps? - some mobile device chargers are sometimes only 5v/1A (which is not enough power to charge the device when battery is ‘flat’) so just double-check it’s charge capability

Note if it’s a USB ‘shared’ charger, then just leave any other devices disconnected. I actually use a 5v/3A USB PD charger and that takes about 2hrs to charge the Roam battery from an empty state.

The ‘second’ off-charger reset process I mention in my post usually results in the status LED showing but you may not see any light indication from the first reset - I would repeat the process if no joy ..but check the charger output too. If no joy after trying it a couple of times then contact Sonos Support via this LINK .

Hope that helps you to get it sorted.👍

R

Can’t believe the build quality on these things. I’ve used them twice in total, as every other time I’ve tried to use them, nothing happens. Same as the above issues. I’m now outside the returns period, so stuck with two book ends, as that’s all they’re good for. I would definitely recommend steering clear of these devices until Sonos can get their act together. Such a shame as I have 10 other Sonos device which are built to a much higher standard.

T

Came back here to report maybe some positive news for other folks - I spent some time with Sonos support today, and they recommended a hard reset, which isn’t in the user guide… Hold the power button down for 12 seconds until the orange light turns back on. Wait a few moments and then see if you get the white light at the top back. If you do, check the app and see if it’s back online. This did the trick for me and now it’s working normally again! (Before I did this, I couldn’t get it to do anything outside of the orange light turning on when I plugged it in.)

Thank you! this worked, I had this issue today, and the only thing a want to note is that it worked for me only when the sonos roam wasn’t charching

M
Badge

Video is here if anyone is interested:

I hade very similar issues with my Roam. If I didn't use the unit for a long time, I couldn't turn it on. It didn't matter if it was in the charger or not. Often the device stopped responding to button presses. 
I returned the Roam because my experience was horrible, so I'm worried if they sent you the same problematic piece :-(

A

mine has been shocking since i recived it, on off, reset, onto sonos, different LED’s, power wrong, saying its playing in the app - no music. they are swapping it with me after 3 full days of 30 emails back & forth.

btw, waiting to send it back thought id give it a try while i wait, cant even get an LED on it on charge with teh sonos cable. hoppe my next one is much better or i want my money back. very dissapointed.

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