Homepod stereo pair broken since update to mac os 15 Catalina

Question

Level 1

9 points

Homepod stereo pair broken since update to mac os 15 Catalina

Dear Community,

I updated my iOS devices to iOS 13 and my iMac to Catalina. Before the update I could play stereo music from iTunes or my iOS devices to my 2 (stereo paired) HomePods sitting on my desk. After updating only one HomePod will play the music. The other stays silent. What I already tried:

Cancelled the pairing and paired the HomePods again. Same result.
Deleted the HomePods and set them up as new devices
During this process my iOS device told me my network does not support peer2peer traffic
In my Firewall/Router access-rules I allowed both HomePods all traffic to any VLAN and any Interface; although playing on the devices was possible before the update from iMac and iOS devices. in the same network environment
I paired the devices again, same result, only one device plays the music, the other remains silent.
when I tap on the silent HomePod it plays a random title.

Any ideas?

Regards,

Rainer

Posted on Oct 12, 2019 5:07 AM

Reply

Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

279,957 points

Oct 12, 2019 7:03 AM in response to rainer272

Does your router have more than one radio network? Some have as many as four, e.g. 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz radios with both regular and guest networks. Sticking to a 2.4 GHz non-guest network may give the best results, in which case it can help if that is the only network your setup device (and iCloud Keychain) has the credentials for. You don't want access to any other local Wi-Fi networks either.

tt2

Reply

Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

279,957 points

Oct 14, 2019 7:06 AM in response to rainer272

Power cycle both HomePods and then see if they'll work properly as a pair again.

tt2

Reply

Answer 3

Oct 13, 2019 4:50 PM in response to rainer272

Yes it appears stereo HomePods are broken under Catalina. They appear as separate speakers.

In iOS they are correctly grouped and I can play to them as a stereo pair. I unpaired and repaired them but no difference.

Apple Music is a bit of mess, as it forgets the location of my server location for my library every time I launch it as well. Didn't have the issue with iTunes.

Reply

Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

279,957 points

Oct 13, 2019 3:20 AM in response to rainer272

As long as each of the devices connects to the same VLAN then they ought to be able to communicate with each other.

tt2

Reply

Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

279,957 points

Oct 14, 2019 3:53 AM in response to Greg Bastug1

Just to be clear iTunes should be able to see paired HomePods as a single device. macOS sees two individual speakers.

tt2

Reply

Answer 6

Oct 14, 2019 5:08 AM in response to turingtest2

To be clear, Apple Music, which has replaced iTunes, once sees individual homepods, not the stereo pair that exists

either Catalina or the new music application is broken in this regard

Reply

Answer 7

rainer272 Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 12, 2019 9:24 PM in response to turingtest2

First of all, thank for Your answer. I have a network with a central Cisco router. Is has 4 VLANs.. The HomePods are in a VLAN together with the iOS Devices. The WiFi Networks (WLAN) are communicated with 2 radios, 2,4 GHz and 5GHz. There are 4 WiFi Networks for the 4 VLANs communicated from a few Cisco Access-points. Changing this setup is extremely cumbersome.

BUT - it was working perfectly fine before I updated my devices to iOS 13 and Mac OS Catalina.

Reply

Answer 8

Oct 14, 2019 3:03 AM in response to Greg Bastug1

They appear on my Mac running Catalina as a stereo pair

Reply

Answer 9

turingtest2

Level 10

279,957 points

Oct 14, 2019 5:15 AM in response to Greg Bastug1

Meant to say iTunes/Music. Music on Catalina for me sees the pair, but the OS doesn't, same as with Mojave. iTunes for Windows won't see stereo pairs either. I think you have a local issue.

tt2

Reply

Answer 10

Oct 14, 2019 7:25 AM in response to turingtest2

They already work properly as a pair from iOS

Reply

Answer 11

turingtest2

Level 10

279,957 points

Oct 14, 2019 7:55 AM in response to Greg Bastug1

I was making the suggestion to rainer272.

tt2

Reply

Answer 12

rainer272 Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 14, 2019 6:43 AM in response to turingtest2

As a matter of fact iTunes shows the Stereo-Pair, Mac OS only the single speakers. I just tried to play stereo from Mac Music App and ONLY ONE of the HomePods played the song.

Then I stopped, switched the Music-App Output back to the iMAC, and back to the HomePods. The App could not find the stereo pair at first, then after a few second, it found the speakers AND the song PLAYED on BOTH speakers.

Paused the Music, while writing this post. When playing again, the music plays from only ONE SPEAKER. Paused and started again, ONLY one HOMEPOD, but the other one.....

Reply

Homepod stereo pair broken since update to mac os 15 Catalina

Similar questions