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sonos controller dropped

hifinutt

hifinutt

hifinutt
what an absolute pain... little old dinosaur here uses the sonos controller daily and apparently its going to be dropped . just had this email

Today we say, “goodbye” to the CR100 – our first controller. Due to its aging technology, the CR100 will no longer connect to your Sonos from April 2018.
We know the CR100 has been an important part of your Sonos experience. Even as we shifted to the Sonos app in 2009, bringing music control to the smartphones that never leave our side, the CR100 has lived on as a coveted, dedicated controller. But more than a decade after its release, the CR100 can no longer support many of the services and functions that are core to the Sonos experience.
More importantly, the controller’s hardware has reached the end of its lifespan.
The CR100 is a unique Sonos product, powered by an internal lithium ion battery. Across devices and industries, aging lithium ion batteries have the potential to overheat when left charging. For this reason, we can no longer continue to support the CR100, even in a limited way.

drat , now i have to find something else !!!!
 
I never even knew it existed! Cool looking piece of kit - I can see how one might get quite attached to it.
 
You could try the CR200 controller Phil, or it’s probably cheaper to buy an Apple iPod and use the Sonos App.....or your mobile assuming it’s not as old as the CR100 :)
 
ah thanks james , i think they dropped the cr200 too , and as i have no smart phone it will probabaly be an amazon fire hd tablet unless someone has any better ideas
 
I don’t think it’s exactly ethical to deliberately brick them, they weren’t free with the Sonos box. I understand that they can’t be fully supported anymore but you should be able to use it for core functions. If they’re concerned about ageing lithium batteries, they should supply new ones (at cost).
 
Sonos are offering CR100 owners a £100 credit against future Sonos purchases. Not sure if that's £100 per owner or £100 per CR100.
 
If you’re not into modern tech I’d go Apple. There are always iPads popping up in the classifieds here (a Mini would be ideal for you, id have thought).
 
linnfomaniac83 said:
I don’t think it’s exactly ethical to deliberately brick them, they weren’t free with the Sonos box. I understand that they can’t be fully supported anymore but you should be able to use it for core functions. If they’re concerned about ageing lithium batteries, they should supply new ones (at cost).
Click to expand...

Agreed. There can't be that many of them still in circulation either.
 
linnfomaniac83 said:
I don’t think it’s exactly ethical to deliberately brick them, they weren’t free with the Sonos box. I understand that they can’t be fully supported anymore but you should be able to use it for core functions. If they’re concerned about ageing lithium batteries, they should supply new ones (at cost).
Click to expand...

quite .... its a bit off really . its not as though you can use the sonos voucher [if it comes ] to buy anything near a replacement . thanks for suggestions re ipad
 
You could just switch off the automatic updates and stick with a version of Sonos that works with your controller. In my experience their “exciting new features” is just a euphemism for adding functionality to harvest personal data and bombard the user with intrusive advertisements.
 
Some smart arse will be along shortly to tell you tell you their 50-year-old turntable will still be working just fine after April.
 
thanks djw , i will try that . the volume control function on the controller is excellent with amps with no remote
 
I'll have a look at the CR100 manual, however, in the mean time, Sonos' e-mail notification seems to imply some confidence that they will stop it from functioning come April. Perhaps there isn't the option to turn off automatic updates. Or, if there exists the option, but it doesn't prevent the device from phoning home anyway, only from downloading/installing updates, then the battle line will have to be drawn at your network router. IOW, by blocking domains and/or IP address ranges at router level, one can securely fortify the embattlements before The Ides of March.
 
Ok, read the manual and the Controller 100 definitely isn't the brains of the operation.

Are you using a ZonePlayer 100 and/or Play:3 and/or Play:5?
 
Seems you are not alone in seeing this as an 'absolute pain'...

https://en.community.sonos.com/controllers-software-228995/save-the-cr100-6800510

The 'Best answer by Ryan S 2 February 2018, 19:08' appears to be from a Sonos representative offering the following two options...
  • Accept the upgrade, understanding that your CR100 will no longer connect. This is our strong recommendation for two reasons: 1) due the age of the battery in the controller, it has the potential to overheat when left charging for extended periods of time 2) you will continue to receive the latest features, bug fixes, and security updates. This is a far better solution for safety and performance reasons, but we realize you’ll need to transition to a new controller. We have resources available to help you get set-up on an alternate controller and are offering a coupon code to sonos.com to help make the transition easier (amount varies regionally, one per household).
  • Ignore future upgrades, leaving your Sonos system on its current version. We do not recommend this option. If you do go this route, you are acknowledging the risk of the aging lithium ion battery in your controller. Additionally, opting not to update means you will not receive any new features or future security patches for your entire system – not just the CR100. For example, being on an unsupported version means that you might lose connectivity to music services, as is already the case for Google Play Music on the CR100. It is necessary to configure your system in advance to avoid future updates. Any update applied to the firmware and/or to the app, even unintentionally, is irreversible.
I don't personally have a Sonos system, however, from what I gather updates are system wide meaning that if you upgrade your Sonos Connect post April you will also brick your Controller 100.

Another bit that caught my eye is that one contributor claimed to have replaced the lithium ion batteries in his CR100s. I suspect Sonos to be exagerating the battery risk to further the streamlining of their software development path (i.e. porting an app to different platforms vs. firmware updates for a discontinued piece of hardware); especially so, now that they'll have to incorporate voice command to stay relevant in the market.
 
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