Connected Speaker loses all volume

  • 6 November 2023
  • 13 replies
  • 194 views
D
Userlevel 2
Badge +3

As far as I know this only started a couple of days ago after the last of our computers got their latest Sonos Controller for PC updates (to 15.9). We have been out of town for 2 months, and only have been back for the last week.

ISSUE: volume drops to nothing from some of the grouped devices.

REPRO STEPS:

  1. set a group (“main” device is Play 3 which has a wired connection remainder of devices are connected via wi-fi)
  2. play music from Spotify (have not been playing from many other sources, so cannot swear it doesn’t happen with other sources)
  3. This morning, I was playing for about 20 minutes

RESULTS: no volume from most devices in the group

DIAGNOSTIC 2066897565

NOTE:

  • Devices are still seen as connected to the group
  • Devices have a light showing they are connected
  • Pressing volume up/down buttons on the devices with no volume is reflected in the Controller App UI
  • Pressing pause and play buttons on the device with no volume pauses/restarts play on the devices that are still having volume in the group

WORKAROUND: remove devices with no volume from group and re-add them to the group

LATEST GROUP MATCHING THE DIAGNOSTIC: Devices in blue are still playing audio

  • “Main” - Play 3 (connected via wire) - name in diagnostic: Office
  • 2 paired Play 1 (connected via wi-fi) - name in diagnostic: Living Area
  • 2 paired Play 1 (connected via wi-fi) - name in diagnostic: Parental Room
  • Move (connected via wi-fi) - name in diagnostic: Move
  • Playbar, Sub, and 2 paired Play 1 (connected via wi-fi) - name in diagnostic: TV Room
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13 replies

Ken_Griffiths

Sounds rather like an IP address conflict - maybe power off router and speakers and bring things back online in this order…

  • Modem/Router
  • Wired Products 
  • Wireless Products (nearest first and then the next nearest…etc.)

Let each powered on device settle and connect to the internet before powering on the next device 

Check for any Sonos Updates, then when all done, try the group playback again.

D
Userlevel 2
Badge +3

Can you elaborate on the IP address conflict?

If there was an IP conflict then wouldn’t the devices would be cut off and all the actions I listed under the note and the workaournd would not occur? Or if they did (and the conflict was resolved), then wouldn’t the audio output come back?

K

It seems like you're experiencing an issue with volume dropping on some of your Sonos devices after the latest Sonos Controller for PC update. This issue can be frustrating, but your detailed information is helpful.

Given your observations and the diagnostic you've provided, it appears to be a software-related issue. While you're waiting for a resolution from Sonos support, a possible workaround is to remove the devices with no volume from the group and then re-add them. This can help restore audio playback.

It's also a good idea to keep an eye on any updates from Sonos that might address this specific problem. Others in the Sonos community might be experiencing similar issues and could share their insights on potential solutions.
 

Moderator Edit: This reply is most likely AI-generated.

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

Can you elaborate on the IP address conflict?

If there was an IP conflict then wouldn’t the devices would be cut off and all the actions I listed under the note and the workaournd would not occur? Or if they did (and the conflict was resolved), then wouldn’t the audio output come back?

The IP addressing problems are difficult (impossible for me) to diagnose and no solution has been posted on resolving it other than the suggested assignment of static/reserved IP addresses. This seems to be related to a Sonos and DHCP server conflict, setting the reserved IPs avoids it in the future. Just power down all Sonos, reboot router and power back up the Sonos and take that possibility off the table.

 

Not Spotify but Amazon, I had a similar issue where some Sonos would go silent in a group, or a single non-grouped Sonos would go silent. The App happily assured me all was well. I submitted a couple diagnostics and apparently the Amazon issue is now fixed. Before that the solution was to change to a different stream and then change back, worked every time. If grouped sometimes un-grouping and re-grouping the silent speaker would help, but not every time. Pausing didn’t have any impact.

D
Userlevel 2
Badge +3

Perhaps I have not explained well…

  • The group does not go silent - only the speakers that are not the main speaker
  • Any speaker in the group can pause the music when it goes silent, they can also restart the music - but no audio comes out of these other speakers but you are still getting the audio from the “main speaker” 

I have also discovered this only happens with two scenarios:

  1. Playing individual tracks from YouTube music (your library) when I build a queue by adding songs individually.
  2. Playing individual tracks from Spotify music when I build a queue by adding songs individually.
Ken_Griffiths

@DavidPelton,

I think most here understand that the wired Group Co-ordinator is playing and it’s wireless ‘grouped’ rooms are falling silent, but…

Can you kindly clarify if you did try both the network subnet & Sonos system reboot mentioned earlier in the thread and then bring the devices back online, one at a time, in the sequential order suggested and then checked for any Sonos updates?

If so, then I would next set the routers 2.4Ghz band to a fixed non-overlapping channel, either Ch1, 6 or 11 and set a channel-width of 20Mhz only. Then set the Sonos App’s SonosNet channel to a completely different channel. 

Set any wired Sonos devices so they are directly linked to the router, but positioned not less than 1 metre away from that router or access point. You may even want to try wiring a different ‘standalone’ device (as long as it is not a Home Theatre Surround or Sub) - if wiring a speaker that is part of a stereo pair then I recommend wiring the left speaker, rather than the right. 

It’s also worth trying a different network cable - perhaps wired to a different port on the router.

Then see if these suggestions perhaps go onto resolve your audio dropout issue across the playing group.

Airgetlam

Note that only Forum moderators have the ability to see diagnostics. Sonos support folks don’t frequent these forums, so if the above suggestions don’t work, I’d suggest that you call Sonos Support directly to discuss it.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

Bruce
D
Userlevel 2
Badge +3

Thanks, @Airgetlam  - I am on the phone with Sonos now and will report back to you

 

@Ken_Griffiths , I really appreciate the time you and the others have offered - I hope I don’t sound disrespectful of that. Where I am lost is how the IP could be related since…

  • If I play a created playlist from Spotify - it does not happen
  • If I play an album from YouTube Music (your library) - it does not happen
  • The “silent” speakers are seen in the UI…
    • About… shows them as connected with IP addresses
    • Pressing the volume button on the “silent” speaker is reflected in the UI immediately
    • Pressing the pause button on the “silent” speaker pauses the music on the group controller speaker still playing

How could any of those occur if the speaker is having glitches with the connection? If there was random outages, then wouldn’t I see a delay in any of those issues or hear the music come back on - if even for a second?

 

Perhaps I am too ignorant on all that would be controlled by the IP address, so I would appreciate any education here.

@Ken_Griffiths, @Stanley_4 , @khabibnamonai 

 

Ken_Griffiths

Thanks, @Airgetlam  - I am on the phone with Sonos now and will report back to you

 

@Ken_Griffiths , I really appreciate the time you and the others have offered - I hope I don’t sound disrespectful of that. Where I am lost is how the IP could be related since…

  • If I play a created playlist from Spotify - it does not happen
  • If I play an album from YouTube Music (your library) - it does not happen
  • The “silent” speakers are seen in the UI…
    • About… shows them as connected with IP addresses
    • Pressing the volume button on the “silent” speaker is reflected in the UI immediately
    • Pressing the pause button on the “silent” speaker pauses the music on the group controller speaker still playing

How could any of those occur if the speaker is having glitches with the connection? If there was random outages, then wouldn’t I see a delay in any of those issues or hear the music come back on - if even for a second?

 

Perhaps I am too ignorant on all that would be controlled by the IP address, so I would appreciate any education here.

@Ken_Griffiths, @Stanley_4 , @khabibnamonai 

The network bandwidth demands were my thoughts, as it appears you did go onto rule out IP conflict, but hence my suggestions afterwards to change the router settings (and cable, just in case) to try to reduce interference and improve things for your LAN subnet segments and give SonosNet an interference-free clear run between all your Sonos products.

D
Userlevel 2
Badge +3

After the conversation with Sonos (90 minutes), they are chalking it up to a bug in the system, that they have no solution for at this time. They said they would pass it on to development.

Ken_Griffiths

After the conversation with Sonos (90 minutes), they are chalking it up to a bug in the system, that they have no solution for at this time. They said they would pass it on to development.

It will be interesting to perhaps see if any others in the community here go onto report the same issue. 

D
Userlevel 2
Badge +3

Discovered perhaps the most glaring example of this bug - How do I raise its profile?

 

Alarm goes off - plays a Sirius channel. SubController is the ethernet connected Sonos 3, attached is a Move and two pairs of Sonos 1 and a single Sonos 1

Change music source - to TuneIn radio station - everything playing fine

Pause music

Start new music source - after ~45 minutes, I...

  1. go to Sonos Controller
  2. click the above group
  3. search on artist “Jethro Tull”
  4. choose “Jethro Tull” from YouTube music (Your Library)  
  5. select shuffle artist

RESULTS: audio only plays comes from SubController (bear with me, I know you have heard that part)

ATTEMPTED WORKAROUND: remove all speakers and add back (no pause of music or change in SubController) - no change

NEW WORKAROUND TRY

  • search on album “War Child”
  • choose “War Child” from Spotify
  • Press play

RESULTS: all speakers have audio output

NOTICE: had not stopped playing before making the switch; had not regrouped

@Ken_Griffiths , @Stanley_4 , @Airgetlam , @khabibnamonai - Y’all have been active on this list for a longtime. How do I raise this higher?

My support engineer said they were going to report this when I spoke to them about 3 weeks ago, and I know just because there is bug doesn’t mean it goes to the top of the development queue. However, I also know that when you can show a more compelling set of repro steps that it can raise the profile - and that is all I am trying to do.

 

Thanks

Ken_Griffiths

@DavidPelton,

You mentioned earlier that Sonos had this down as a ‘bug’ from your initial report to them? If you want to add the additional info. mentioned, then my thoughts are to re-contact them and add the information to your earlier report. Here is the link to call/contact them:

https://support.sonos.com/s/contact

I don’t have an old Play: 3 to try to reproduce the issue here, but my thoughts are to try changing the Group co-ordinator within your group and see if that solves it for you, as the old Play:3 has limited memory anyway looking at this chart (attached) and perhaps it’s just running out of steam, particularly if some of it’s memory cells are beginning to fail due to old age/use.

Maybe a change of GC for the group will perhaps resolve the issue for you. Try something newer with more memory, like the Sonos One as that’s got a lot more memory available compared to the Play:3 and a faster processor too. Note that suggestion is just based on a bit of a guess on my part, but as the saying goes, “nothing ventured, nothing gained”.

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