Universal Group Player

[AndroX55]

What version of Music Assistant has the issue?

2.9.b1

How is the MA server installed?

Home Assistant OS Addon

Mandatory: Carefully read the Troubleshooting FAQ and confirm that

• I have examined the logs and tried to resolve this issue
• I have fixed any errors or warnings in the logs that relate to tags
• I am not running MA across a VPN, VLAN, subnet, behind a firewall, or using local SSL or have any other complex network setup
• I am not using or have disabled tools such as AdGuard, Pi-hole or pfSense and retested
• I have checked my network setup to ensure mDNS/multicast is not being blocked
• I have reviewed the Open and Closed Issues and Discussions
• I have reviewed the applicable player or music provider documentation
• I have reviewed the MA Status Page
• I have tried restarting MA and rebooting the host

As Applicable: Carefully read the Troubleshooting FAQ and confirm that

• If using HA, I have confirmed the internal URL is set correctly
• I have tried a wired connection for issues related to interrupted or poor playback quality
• If the problem relates to a device then I have checked the device settings
• If it is a frontend issue, I have tried a different widely used browser
• For voice problems, I have sought help elsewhere before returning here
• For playback problems, I have recycled power to the physical device

The problem

I updated Music Assistant from version 2.8.0b13 to newer versions incrementally, up to the latest version (2.9.0b1). After the update, the Universal Group Player (UGP) is no longer able to play music.

When I try to play audio through the UGP, it appears to start playing briefly, but then stops without producing any sound on my players. None of the grouped players output any audio.
My UGP setup includes a combination of a Squeezelite player and a Chromecast player (Xiaomi Smart Speaker).

For debugging, I also tried simplifying the setup by using only a single player in the UGP:
Only one Chromecast speaker (without Squeezelite), and
Only Squeezelite (without Chromecast)

However, in both cases, the UGP still fails to play any audio.
If I revert back to version 2.8.0b13 (or earlier), the UGP works normally again.

How to reproduce

Steps to reproduce:
Update Music Assistant from 2.8.0b13 to 2.9.0b1
Create a Universal Group Player (UGP)
Add players (Squeezelite and/or Chromecast)
Attempt to play music

Expected behavior:
UGP should play audio normally across all grouped players.

Actual behavior:
Playback starts briefly, then stops with no sound from any player.

Music Providers

i have tried Tidal, Radio playlist

Player Providers

Chromecast player (Xiaomi Smart Speaker)
2x Squeezelite players
3x web browser

Full log output

music-assistant.log

Additional information

No warning shows

What version of Home Assistant Core (if used) are your running

2026.3.2

What type of installation are you running?

Home Assistant OS

On what type of hardware are you running?

Proxmox

Have you included ALL of the information specified in the Troubleshooting FAQ or explained why you cannot

• Yes

[hnrkgrln]

I am experiencing the same issue with version 2.8.1.

[marcelveldt]

This issue should be fixed in the next patch release 2.8.2 this weekend

[OzGav]

2.8.2 has been released. Please confirm this has been fixed.