The Computer "..."Cannot be Found

[ratty]

A few users have stumbled over this type of issue. It's usually pretty obvious because the ISP has laid down the rule that "you shall only be able to attach X devices" (X being a very small number).

Fortunately you have an ISP which offers an option to allow the router to behave as a regular gateway router. Some don't, and in such circumstances one needs to add one's own router.

[gusbell]

Hi

I'm getting the same problem as everyone else. I did submit a support request but got a reply asking me to phone a number in Germany, so I thought I'd try here.

My computer name only has alphanumerics, I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the software, enabling Internet sharing, switching off the firewall, without success. In My Network Places I don't see the Sonos Bridge, though I'm not sure whether I should. I'm on Windows XP.

I submitted a diagnostic with confirmation number 2067714.

Any help gratefully appreciated.

Kind regards
Angus

[ratty]

Welcome to the forums.

Sonos doesn't appear in MS Network Places. Please describe your network for us. Include everything, and say how it connects (wired, wireless, etc).

[gusbell]

Originally Posted by ratty

Welcome to the forums.

Sonos doesn't appear in MS Network Places. Please describe your network for us. Include everything, and say how it connects (wired, wireless, etc).

Hi ratty, thanks for you reply.

I'm on Virgin Media cable which enters via the WiFi cable router they supplied. Both my PC and the Sonos ZoneBridge are plugged into the router with ethernet cables. A Sonos:5 speaker is attached as a wireless component.

Thanks
Angus

[ratty]

Internet Connection Sharing has no place here, so disable it.

A bit of background please: what firewall do you have, and are you using any kind of VPN software?

I take it that you've downloaded the installer for the Desktop Controller and have installed it afresh. Is the problem that you can't see the Play:5 in the controller, or are you having difficulty with adding a shared folder to the library containing your local music?

Eliminate the Sonos wireless temporarily by wiring your Play:5 to the Bridge's second port, and then please report back.

[gusbell]

Originally Posted by ratty

Internet Connection Sharing has no place here, so disable it.

A bit of background please: what firewall do you have, and are you using any kind of VPN software?

I take it that you've downloaded the installer for the Desktop Controller and have installed it afresh. Is the problem that you can't see the Play:5 in the controller, or are you having difficulty with adding a shared folder to the library containing your local music?

Eliminate the Sonos wireless temporarily by wiring your Play:5 to the Bridge's second port, and then please report back.

Hi ratty

Thanks for your help. I will try again to resolve this issue when I return from holiday. (I tried to send you a private message to this effect but my Post Count didn't qualify me.)

Thanks anyway
Angus

[joegordon]

Hi.
I have the same problem as the rest of you guys.
Have tried removing special characters from my computer name, turning off firewall, sharing the D:drive where my music is, moving a copy of my music to my c:drive and trying to Add the music from there... nothing worked.
My PC is connected via WIFI so I wonder is that a factor?
Please help!

[ratty]

Originally Posted by joegordon

My PC is connected via WIFI so I wonder is that a factor?

It certainly could be, and in fact Sonos won't officially support a WiFi-connected music library owing to WiFi's variable streaming performance. Despite this many use such an arrangement successfully. Improve your chances by noting the recommendations about keeping WiFi and SonosNet apart in this earlier post.

[gusbell]

Originally Posted by ratty

Internet Connection Sharing has no place here, so disable it.

A bit of background please: what firewall do you have, and are you using any kind of VPN software?

I take it that you've downloaded the installer for the Desktop Controller and have installed it afresh. Is the problem that you can't see the Play:5 in the controller, or are you having difficulty with adding a shared folder to the library containing your local music?

Eliminate the Sonos wireless temporarily by wiring your Play:5 to the Bridge's second port, and then please report back.

Hi ratty

I am using Windows firewall, and I have checked that Sonos is selected in the application exceptions list. I have also tried disabling Windows firewall altogether.

I do have VPN software installed, but I'm not currently running it.

My problem is that I cannot add any of my music folders to the music library, either on the local C: drive or on an external USB hard drive. In all cases, I get the error mentioned earlier in this thread, that my computer cannot be found. The folders seem to be shared correctly as fas as I can tell.

I've tried connecting the Sonos:5 player to the second port of the bridge as you suggest, but that didn't make a difference. Having said that, I couldn't seem to remove the room it was in before from the Desktop Controller, so I don't know if it's still trying to communicate wirelessly. But, in my opinion, this seems to be unrelated to the problem, which is the Bridge being unable to see my computer.

Kind regards
Angus

[ratty]

Originally Posted by gusbell

I've tried connecting the Sonos:5 player to the second port of the bridge as you suggest, but that didn't make a difference. Having said that, I couldn't seem to remove the room it was in before from the Desktop Controller, so I don't know if it's still trying to communicate wirelessly.

This is peculiar and suggests some network problems. Did you simply plug the P:5 into the Bridge, or did you add it again by pressing Mute/Vol+?

But, in my opinion, this seems to be unrelated to the problem, which is the Bridge being unable to see my computer.

There are two sorts of network communication between your computer and Sonos: from the Desktop Controller to the player(s), and from the player(s) to the shared folders containing your music. They are entirely independent of one another and I'm trying to see which exactly is failing. The picture I have thus far is that it's a bit of both.

1/ Is File and Printer Sharing ticked in the Windows Firewall exceptions list?

2/ Sonos doesn't get on terribly well with VPN software. If it's not in use try removing it entirely. Simply disabling it usually leaves the driver loaded.

3/ Give your network a full restart. Power everything off, start the router then work outwards. Wait for each device to boot fully before moving on to the next.

If this still brings no joy, submit a new diagnostic after another failure and file a support request quoting the confirmation number.