Sonos Roam - Stuck In Sleep Mode

To be honest, all they see to do is quote the ‘help’ available on website(s).

Tried factory resets many times and still unstable. 

I tried many times to reboot and factory reset both option software pressing the back button, and pressing play button and later back button etc for a factory reset with and without  USBc power cord connected and disconnected, giving time in between. I compare everything to my working Sonos roam. working one you can feel the battery is warm when it is charging and Orange light goes out after connecting power cord. On non-working Sonos Roams orange light never goes out. Battery is stone cold.  I think issue is once both speakers depleted batteries (I left both in the garage while working and deplete overnight) it cannot restart the charge, either it needs some minimum charge for it to start charging like a software gate or there is a battery issue as it gets old and looses full charge can never reengage) . There is no way two Sonos Roams develop the same problem randomly. 

This weekend I am planning to test my 3rd and working Sonos Roam, currently it charges and works without problem but it is on a magnetic charger at all times; I shall deplete it and, this will mean more than likely it will reproduce  same fault and  I shall  end up with 3 x Bricks , but better now than later, than I have a good case against Sonos if I document this all and I do not want to live with the fear of battery depletion, these units are supposed to be mobile.

And yes I agree with above the fact that Sonos help is useless on this subject just following same protocol . they must known they have a problem, they are just running your round and round and tossing you a 30% discount coupon after 1 year warranty as per their script. I am now not going to return back my first Sonos Roan for 30%. 

Right here is the solution as at 12/03/2023

if everything you try fails then do this,

unplug from power source 

leave it alone until the light goes out (could take a few days)

once light is out pluck back into power source

after 15 mins push the button to power on……… your Roam is back.

your welcome

I have noticed that chargers will sometimes get into a mode where they won’t charge their ROAM. A simple reboot of the charger has worked around this. This has been the case with the SONOS wireless charger and 3rd party chargers.

There is a 3rd reset method for ROAM. Make sure that the ROAM has at least some charge, even if it does not seem to be responding. Remove ROAM from the charger and hold the power switch for about 15 seconds. This reboots a small auxiliary processor involved in power management. Now, reconnect the charger and charge to full capacity. This is not a Factory Reset.

This worked.  

Alternatively the Roam may be, to all intents and purposes, dead.

I have two Roams.  In the early days I had problems with battery life.  If left off the charger (and why buy a battery speaker if you have to keep it on the charger all the time), they would run down in a matter of 3-4 days even if just on standby/sleep.  Then I think Sonos did a software update to improve sleep mode.  One Roam improved hugely.  The other didn’t. It always seemed to need a charge whenever I needed to use it.    After almost 2 years the problematic Roam exhibited the problems as described here.  The wireless charger did not seem to do anything.  I could, but not always, get the charge light to glow solid orange on a wired charger.  But solid orange is not a recognised LED state.  The charge LED is supposed to glow orange and then go out after 10 seconds.  And as soon as the charger was unplugged the light went out and it was totally unresponsive.  Nothing from the status LED.  No tones.  No response to holding the power button for any amount of time.  No difference if I left the Roam on charge for a day.  

The eventual conclusion was that the Roam was faulty. 

Best open a support case unless one of the suggested ways of coaxing it back to life works.  The support desk will suggest much the same so you need to have tried that first.  That said the suggestions also included things that were clearly not going to work  (like power the Roam off by holding the power button until you hear the tone) but I guess they have to try the simple things first.  

I am inclined to believe that there was a design flaw lurking in there somewhere which means the Roam did not cope well with its battery being completely discharged.  Or there was a problem with a batch of batteries or charging circuits or something.  Or maybe, like all rechargeable batteries, they don’t last more than a certain period.  Perhaps because the problematic Roam was always being re-charged then it ‘wore down’ the battery.  That said even charging it every 4 days for 2 years should be seen as reasonable usage.  If I actually used it for 8 hours to play music on battery power then I would be charging it up even more often.  But I am sure Sonos knows exactly. 

Mine are two years old now.  My gut instinct is that if I bought a Roam today then I would not get the same battery issues.  

Equally if you have an older Roam and you still experience problems with battery life then beware.  You may well find it does not live as long as you would expect.  

I take my Roam to the golf course and this happens to me periodically when I unplug it. Sometimes it’s fine, sometimes the flashing white light of death comes on and the speaker is unusable. I agree it’s extremely annoying and seems like a design flaw. The only way I’ve ever been able to reliably fix the issue is to “Update” my Sonos system. Even if it doesn’t need an update, just pushing the button to attempt an update fixes the issue and my Roam is back and part of my system and will finally respond. 

So, here is the conclusion to my story.  My Roam was seen as faulty and fortunately just within warranty.  It was replaced under warranty once I had sent back the faulty product.  Annoyingly the returns process in the UK involves sending it to Poland and since UK is now out of the EU then it has to pass through customs.  My return got stuck in customs for 2 weeks and it was hugely frustrating emailed various people in the UK and Poland.  No one could tell me if there was a problem.  The returns process includes a pro-forma invoice to aid the customs process.  But as a failed product it really had minimal commercial value.  Then as if by magic the return left the customs warehouse and made its way to Sonos.  Within a day the replacement had been shipped and 2 days later I had my new Roam.  Setting it up was a breeze.  No issues with me calling it what the old one was which had of course inexplicably to the app become permanently offline.  This work has worked faultlessly.  It goes to sleep and so preserves the battery power.  That said my experience will mean I am not going to allow it to run fault and be left flat for any extended period.

I have just been on the phone to Sonos support for 45 minutes. Mine was stuck in sleep mode.

Resolution

————

* Check the plug output is 5 volts. It states it on the underside of the plug. 

* Ensure the charger is unplugged and hold the power button for 12-15 seconds. The battery light should start to flash orange. 

* Then plug it in. Await it to boot up.
* Submit diagnostics and call them to ensure battery is fully functioning. 
 

They admitted they have a lot of issues with the Roam. It is hopeless. I have 11 Sonos and this has got more issues than Vogue!!
 

The charger being unplugged is key to this resolution! 
 

Good luck!