Strange Tone/Noise playing randomly on the Sonos speaker systems, weekend of May 12-13. 2018


We've had two clients report over this weekend that their Sonos systems are playing back a strange tone/noise randomly? Anyone else out there hearing this strange noise? The date of the occurrence was on Sat./Sun. May 12th-13th - 2018.

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Yes, a faint (but irritating) beep (in a room with two Sonos One speakers) that could be heard whether or not the music was playing. Turned off the microphone (for Alexa), but the beeps continued. Beep occurred perhaps every 5-10 seconds for 10 minutes or so, would then stop for 5-10 minutes, and then resume.
May I recommend that within 10 minutes of hearing these beeps, you submit a system diagnostic , and post the number here, or call in to Sonos to discuss it. It's entirely possible that there would be data in that diagnostic that would help Sonos track down what is causing this issue.
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That's interesting, just out of curiosity, do you know if the follow-up mode for the Sonos One had been enabled? There's a problem we're working on with that mode where it can cause the chime to sound regularly.

The next time it happens, as Bruce suggests, it'd be great if we can get a diagnostic from your Sonos system and let me know the confirmation number when it comes up?
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I did call Sonos support when this happened, and was instructed on how to do a diagnostic; at that point the rep told me to shut off the mike (beeps persisted); I then turned it off (but did not unplug the speakers), and the beep continued for at least 24 hours -- intermittently. It stopped after about 1 day, and I turned the system on after about 72 hours (with the Alexa mike still off), and it seems to be working fine now. I got an email response from the rep and my case # is 00045353

Thanks for your response.
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Thanks for the update, nikkiwood. Since you've already got that case going it's best to keep the troubleshooting all in one place. I'll take a look at it and add some notes if I notice anything that the technician should investigate with you.

Glad to hear we're making a bit of progress.
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Tried that room again today, and there was no beeping. So I will get up there and turn the mic on to see what happens. I miss Alexa...... 🙂
Laugh. I can completely understand. It would be hard to think of using my Sonos without voice control, now that I've become used to it. "Echo, resume in bedroom" is my morning routine.
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My paired 1st gen 5's and sub are giving a beep every few minutes. I have submitted diagnostic 552819110 so please investigate. Thanks.
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My paired 1st gen 5's and sub are giving a beep every few minutes. I have submitted diagnostic 552819110 so please investigate. Thanks.
I just took a look at your diagnostic and there's no play commands going to your speakers, so it'd be best to give us a call on our support line and work with a technician to look closer at what's happening.
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Hi Ryan, it was happening with the system idle. I was out for a few hours and the beeping has now stopped. There is a jack plug in the back of the speaker which made the noise but the Alexa device has not been connected for some weeks. Is it worth talking to your support line to help them work out what happened ?
Came home at about 11:00 pm on June 22. From outside of our house we could here very loud rapid sequence tonal sounds. Entered house and found one of our paired Sonos Ones at maximum volume emitting sounds almost like synthesizer notes. Had to unplug the unit to make it stop.
Without a diagnostic, it's hard to tell what happened. It's certainly not a normal thing to find. Must have been disconcerting.
I ran the diagnostic. If I plug in the second Sonos One it makes the odd sounds and then my other sonos shuts off. So at this point it is obviously useless. Guess I'll try to return it.
Did you call in to Sonos with the diagnostic number? As indicated in the Diagnostics - How do they work? thread they don't look at them unless prompted.
Came home at about 11:00 pm on June 22. From outside of our house we could here very loud rapid sequence tonal sounds. Entered house and found one of our paired Sonos Ones at maximum volume emitting sounds almost like synthesizer notes. Had to unplug the unit to make it stop.


I got this same thing and now I am getting the random beeps. Has anyone heard an answer yet?
Without any data to support this, it's overly easy to suggest that there is some sort of interference coming over the wifi that's being carried to the speaker causing it to reproduce the sound. If you, or your clients, are able to submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes or so of experiencing it, it's going to be much easier for someone one from Sonos to track the issue down, with real data, rather than just anecdotal evidence.

The few cases I've seen on speakers that were connected to TVs have ended up being a signal being sent by the TV when the TV has shut down, and the speaker has just been playing that "errant" signal. Since the TV considers itself "off", it just requires a change in the settings for power down to remove this "clearing of the throat" that the TV has been doing. Don't remember the real specifics, but it was happening, as I recall, ten to fifteen minutes after the TV had been "turned off". But this is on TV connected speakers, and not general music speakers.
Hi Bruce,
Thanks for your reply.

I understand your desire for extra information. I worked in technical support for years.
This is a Sonos Play, its line-in is connected to a TV. It has been set up like this for months, as I have been reviewing this system for installation for my clients'. This is the first occurrence of this situation that has happened... at least when I have been home to hear it.
At the time the TV was off, and had been off for at least 20 hours.

If this happens again at my house I will run a diagnostic for you.


Thanks.
Don't run it for me, I can't see diagnostics. Run it for the Sonos techs, who can.

But thanks 🙂