Firewall Blocking Spotify Error Code auth:16

[mattyg88]

Plan

Free/Premium

Country

United States

Device

MacBook Pro, Mid 2012

Operating System

macOS Mojave

My Question or Issue

As I've seen many people posting about here, I too seem to have fallen to the "firewall may be blocking Spotify" problem that many others are having.

I started off by deleting the app, clearing all cache and other Spotify files in Library, restarted, then tried to do a fresh install from Spotify's website. From there, I continuously got a "Download Failed" followed by an "Installation Failed" message. After searching through the forums, someone else posted a .dmg file that could be downloaded, and that at least worked to get the app reinstalled.

From the fresh install, I got the same firewall auth:16 message again. I then tried changing the Firewall settings to no avail, tried changing the "host" file to no avail. I have restarted and reinstalled at least six times.

Anybody from Spotify actually going to help us out with this? I have been a Premium member for years and this is making me want to cancel because you clearly don't care about customer service. 

[mattyg88]

No, this did not help for me at all. Is there anything else you did to get working again?

[Elena]

Hey there @mattyg88!

Thanks for reaching out to us.

We'd recommend starting off by clearing your hosts files with these steps:

1. Open Finder and, in Finder’s menu bar, select Go > Go to Folder. In the box, type the following location: /private/etc/hosts and press return
2. A new Finder window will open and your Mac’s hosts file will be selected. Click and drag it out of the Finder window and drop it on your desktop
3. To open it, simply double-click and it will display the file’s contents in TextEdit 
4. Check for any entries with Spotify in the address
5. If you do find any lines with Spotify, please remove them
6. Save your changes and restart Spotify

If your issue persists, you can try connecting your desktop to the internet via a mobile hotspot. Should the app work through it, consult with your router's manufacturer.

Hope this info helps. We'll be here if you have any other questions.

[mattyg88]

Sorry, no this did not do anything. I did not have any instances of Spotify within the "host" file.