Sonos has a line of multi-room speakers that allow you to enjoy music no matter where you are at home. The biggest draw of these products is that you can wirelessly connect these speakers to different audio devices and fill your home with sound. However, it sometimes has issues with your music library.
If your Sonos has issues with recognizing, finding, updating, or loading your music library, the most likely culprit could be a weak wireless connection, wireless interference, or a disconnected device somewhere.
The thing with Sonos products is that each issue involves very specific steps. Fortunately, we’ve collated common problems with your music library and how to fix them. So read on and continue to discover just how to get your music library working without a hitch on your Sonos speakers.
Sonos Not Finding or Won’t Recognize Music Library or Sonos Won’t Connect to My Music Library
If your Sonos isn’t finding the music library, it’ll show an error message that goes something like “[Your Computer Name] could not be found” or “Unable to Connect to [Your Computer Name.]
When this happens, it might be a case of your computer or storage device not being powered on. Sometimes your computer might go to sleep. When that happens, Sonos won’t be able to access your storage device or computer and find your music library.
Another reason for your Sonos not finding the music library stored on your computer or storage device is when your firewall is blocking any connection made between your device and speakers.
How To Fix These Issues
To ensure that your Sonos speakers can find your music library and connect to it, it may be as straightforward as making sure that your computer or network-attached storage is turned on and it’s not sleeping.
If that doesn’t fix it, you’ll need to properly configure your firewall to work with Sonos. If you’re using a Windows 10 machine, go to Settings and then:
- Click on Network & Internet.
- Go to the Status item and then look for the Change connection properties link.
- Set the Network profile to Private.
- Go back to Windows Settings, but this time choose Update & Security.
- Click on the Windows Security item.
- Choose Firewall & network protection.
- Look for the Allow an app through the firewall link.
- Confirm that the Private and Public tick boxes for these two items are checked: Sonos Controller and SonosLibraryService.
If you’re using a Mac with an operating system of macOS 10.11 or higher, follow these steps:
- Open the System Preferences, then click on the Security & Privacy icon.
- Look for the Firewall tab.
- Press on the lock icon so that your Mac will accept your changes.
- Click on the Firewall Options… button.
- Look for the + button and then look for Sonos in the applications list.
- Click on Add.
- Sonos would appear on the list of applications with the message Allow incoming connections.
- Click on the OK button to save your changes.
Set Your Antivirus
Sometimes, it’s your antivirus that’s causing the problem. Here’s how you fix them:
Firewall Ports
Sonos uses several firewall ports, which you’ll need to know if you’re configuring your firewall manually. TCP ports used by Sonos:
- 80 and 443: For your Sonos account, music services, and online radio
- 445 and 3445: For your music library
- 3400, 3401, and 3500: For enabling control via the Sonos app
- 4070: For Spotify Connect
- 4444: For system updates
UDP ports used by Sonos:
- 136, 137, 138, 139: For the music library
- 1900, 1901: For enabling control via the Sonos app
- 2869, 10243, 10280, 10281, 10282, 10283, 10284: For Windows Media Sharing
- 5353: For Spotify Connect
- 6969: For setting up and configuring Sonos
Sonos Won’t Add Music Library
There are times when Sonos fails to add your music library. This problem is often encountered
When your library is on a Windows computer. Sonos fails to add your music library because Windows Server storage space isn’t enough.
To fix this issue, you will need to modify the Windows Registry. You can do this by:
Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on June 15, 2021.
- Click on the Start icon, type Run, and press Enter.
- Type regedit in the box that appears.
- The Windows Registry will appear; look for this entry on the list of folders: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesLanmanServerParameters
- Check if there’s an entry for IRPStackSize.
- If there’s no such entry, click on Edit and then New.
- Click on DWORD Value and then type IRPStackSize under Value Name.
- If it already exists, you don’t have to do anything.
- Click on the IRPStackSize and press EDIT, then Modify.
- Change the Data Value box to something with a bigger value.
- Set the Base to Decimal.
- Set Value to 24.
- Save the changes and then restart your computer.
Sonos Won’t Load Music Library
There are times when your Sonos will not load your music library. If this happens and you’re using an iOS device with your Sonos, you might not be signed in to your Apple ID, preventing access to your iCloud Music Library.
The same thing is true for other music services. To ensure that your Sonos speaker loads your music library from these services, you should add them to your Sonos speakers.
- Open the Sonos app.
- Find the Settings tap and then choose Services and Voice.
- Go to Music & Content and then select Add a Service.
- Find the music service you subscribe to and then select Add to Sonos.
- Follow the instructions on screen.
If you’re using a desktop or Mac computer, you can:
- Go to the Sonos app.
- Look for Select a Music Source and then Add Music Services.
- Find the music service you’re interested in and then follow the instructions you’re given.
Sonos Won’t Play My Music Library
One common reason Sonos won’t play music from your library is due to network connectivity issues. Sonos systems rely on a stable network connection to access and stream your music library. If there’s a problem with your Wi-Fi, Sonos might struggle to connect to your music files. To fix this, try restarting your router to refresh the network connection. Ensure your Sonos speaker and the device hosting your music library are on the same network for seamless access.
Another potential issue could be outdated software on your Sonos system. If the system’s software isn’t up to date, it might not be compatible with the latest formats or network protocols. To resolve this, open the Sonos app, go to ‘Settings’, and check for any available software updates. Installing the latest updates can often resolve playback issues and improve overall system performance.
Lastly, the problem might be with the configuration of your music library in the Sonos app. If the music library’s settings are incorrect or if the path to your music files has changed (for instance, if you’ve moved your music to a different folder), Sonos won’t be able to access your music. Reconfiguring your music library in the Sonos app can help. Go to ‘Settings’, select ‘Music Library’, and update the path or settings to reflect the current location of your music files. This ensures that Sonos can correctly access and play your music.
Sonos Won’t Update Music Library
Sonos comes with an Update Music Library Now option that gives you a one-button way to update your music library. However, sometimes pressing this won’t work correctly.
Check to see if your network-attached storage or computer is up and running. If it is, then it might be a problem with wireless interference.
Check if hardwiring the Sonos speakers to your computer will solve the issue. If you can’t run a wire, though, you can change your router’s wireless channel.
Or if you’re on an iOS or Android device, do the following:
- Going to the Setting tab and then choosing System.
- Choose Network and find the SonosNet Channel.
- You can change the channel to any of these: 1, 6, or 11.
You can also try relocating your Sonos speakers to lessen the interference.
Sonos Keeps Losing My Music Library
The same thing could be causing your Sonos to lose your music library. The wireless interference might be causing performance issues.
Either that or your Sonos speaker might be getting weak Wi-Fi signals. You can correct this by reducing wireless interference or moving your speakers closer to the router.
Sonos Not Enough Room To Update Library
Sonos keeps a copy of the index of your music library on all Sonos speakers in your space. This means that no matter where the controller is, the speakers will still be able to play your music. The problem is that Sonos put a limit on the number of songs that can be indexed: anywhere from 40,000 to 65,000 songs, depending on the metadata that they have.
The fix recommended by Sonos is seen on the error message itself: delete unused queries or remove obsolete playlists. For some, however, this solution isn’t acceptable, and there have been some workarounds suggested.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on June 15, 2021.
A Word About Sonos Support
If you get stumped about any issue with your Sonos speakers, you can always run diagnostics and send the results to Sonos’ customer support group. They’ll be able to figure out what’s wrong and help you fix the issue.
Related Articles
Sonos Sub Connection Problems (How To Troubleshoot)
ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on June 15, 2021.