Sonos Speakers not located on Network

Hey guys,

Trying to get my Sonos speakers working with my Roon server.
Roon server is running in a Docker Container using the Host network (so it’s on my network)
I can play stuff from my Roon server on my PC using the Roon app, and browse my library from my Android phone using that native app.
I can still play stuff using the native Sonos app so the speakers are working fine.
I can even see my Sonos speakers under my PC Network folder as Media Devices.
But they don’t appear under the Networked section of the Audio tab in Roon as expected.

Am I missing something stupid?

Cheers,
Josh

Where is that Docker container running?

Docker is running on a Synology NAS.
I have other containers similarly configured (on the host network) for other services, like Home Assistant which can also see the Sonos speakers, which is why I’m confused.

I should also note that my Roon core can also see my phone under Networked devices, now that I have the Roon app installed. So it can see devices on the network, just not my Sonos for some reason.

Do you have Open vSwitch enabled on the Synology (it is enabled by default when installing Virtual Machine Manager and cannot be disabled with VMM installed)?

Open vSwitch somehow blocks Sonos, Airplay and Chromecast devices from being seen by Roon. As soon as you disable Open vSwitch, the devices jump into view. Roon Bridge/RoonReady devices are fine with Open vSwitch enabled.

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I use VMM to run a couple of VMs so that sounds like that will be the problem then :confused:

Where can I see the Open vSwitch option? (I’ve had a look and can’t find it to confirm)

So doesn’t sound like there are any workarounds for this (other than uninstalling VMM) which is a real bummer. Part of the reason I went with Roon was that I would be able to also use it with my Sonos.

Appreciate the insight. I never would have figured that out on my own. Cheers.

Any ideas what could be happening with Open vSwitch to cause this?

Nevermind - I found the setting, and yes it is obviously activated.

Thinking about this a little more, is this an issue with the Roon version of network Discovery?
I say this because other Docker containers on my Synology (eg Home Assistant) can still see my Sonos speakers and Chromecast just fine…

Hey are you aware of any similar issues with other network devices?
I just bought and set up a pair of KEF LS50W which are Roon Ready.
They popped up once in my Audio menu, giving me enough time to name them, never to be seen again.
I’m able to stream to them using Tidal from my phone no problem, so I don’t believe there are any network issues.
I’ve restarted my Roon docker, checked everything is up to date, so not sure what to think really, much less useful if I can’t stream to Sonos OR my KEF’s to be honest :frowning:

Hey @Josh_H,

So we can better understand what you’re experiencing here, may I ask that you please describe your network configuration/topology, including any networking hardware currently in use, so we can have a clear understanding of how your devices are communicating.

I’d also like to propose a test that will allow us to confirm that the Open vSwitch setting is causing all of the issues here. If you have another machine that you can temporarily use as a Roon Core, are you able to see these devices with the same network setup?

Thanks!
Dylan

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Thanks Dylan, I’m off for the weekend but will put this together and do some testing and get back to you :+1:

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Hi Dylan.

Here is a quick diagram of my network set up;


I should note that my Home Assistant Docker container (same network configuration using the Host network option as the Roon container) can see my Sonos speakers (though no plugin for the KEFs that I know of) amongst other IoT devices on my network (not shown)

Tomorrow I’ll try to set up Roon Core on my Laptop and see what happens.

Question - if I set up a new core on my laptop, I need to use my Roon credentials.
What happens to the old server core? I know I can’t use two at once. Will I be able to switch back to that one with no loss of data etc?

Hey @Josh_H,

I appreciate the details here!

I definitely think this would be a great test — Knowing if the same behavior occurs on a different Core would be a great data point.

You can transfer your license between Core machines pretty easily, as mentioned in our KB.You can only have one Core active at a time, but you can switch back and forth freely without issue.

When you run this test let me know if you’re able to use the SONOS device from this Core.

-Dylan

OK on my laptop everything is available as expected under networked.

Back to my NAS Docker Core -

I can see errors in the docker log that relate to the network and might mean something, or might just be a consequence or coincidence;

This error appears basically daily, some times 3 times per day.

Also I can run a terminal from within the docker container.
I’m not a Linux wiz but if you know some commands I could run for network debugging, it is possible.
I was able to ping my Sonos Play 5 successfully;

Thanks for the details here, @Josh_H!

Knowing that things work okay with the Windows Core definitely helps narrow things down a bit.

If you connect one of the SONOS devices to the switch as opposed to the access point is there any change on the NAS?

-Dylan

OK, so with one of my Play 3’s connected directly to the switch - still nothing appears under Networked;


(this is a screen shot out of the my network management system showing the live topology)

Thanks for giving that a try, @Josh_H. This test seems to confirm that the issue is stemming from the NAS Core as opposed to network difficulties, so we know where to look next.

So we can further narrow things down, if you use Roon from the NAS but not from a Docker container? Does doing so yield any different results?

-Dylan