Google Home fails to link to homeseer

[TeleFragger]

Sweet.. ill try this soon.....

[TeleFragger]

So i disabled voice on all. Removed then readded. It added every device... still can control from home app but not voice

[jjwatmyself]

I'm on HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.313 (Linux) and having problems. Google Home won't add HomeSeer successfully. Just keeps exiting. Disabled voice on all the devices as well as all but one and it did not help. I am thinking maybe the version of HomeSeer might be an issue seeing that others have recently not had the issue. I am running in a Docker container at the moment and need to do a couple things prior to upgrading the HS version after which I will try again. Any tips on this issue would be appreciated. Thanks.

[jvm]

.... I am running in a Docker container at the moment and need to do a couple things prior to upgrading the HS version after which I will try again. Any tips on this issue would be appreciated. Thanks.

I'm not sure upgrading will help you.

I'm on HS 3.0.0.478 (Windows) with beta Z-Wave plugin 3.0.1.248 and can get a *few* of my devices to sync (maybe 2 dozen), but not reliably. Right now, it seems that for anybody with more than a small network of devices, the frustration of trying to get it to work far outweighs the benefit.

[TeleFragger]

I'm not sure upgrading will help you.

I'm on HS 3.0.0.478 (Windows) with beta Z-Wave plugin 3.0.1.248 and can get a *few* of my devices to sync (maybe 2 dozen), but not reliably. Right now, it seems that for anybody with more than a small network of devices, the frustration of trying to get it to work far outweighs the benefit.

but the ones you did get in... can you get "voice" to work?

for me I used to be able to yell out ... hey google... turn off the kitchen lights and it did it... said ok turning 2 lights off... and done..

now it says it is doing it but doesn't...

so then I go to my phone.. same deal... BUT if I launch the home app and click the mic in there... and talk.. that works... its like the home app google voice is different than the normal google voice...

I'm getting ready to count out my switches to get rid of my x10 ones and go all zwave plus, which will also replace some zwave switches.... so 30 switches... and would love voice again...

[jvm]

but the ones you did get in... can you get "voice" to work?

.

Yes.

[TeleFragger]

Yes.

what device? my google home and google mini cant be used for voice. have to use my phone, home app.... grrrrrrrrrrrr

[jvm]

what device? my google home and google mini cant be used for voice. have to use my phone, home app.... grrrrrrrrrrrr

I have a range of them -- Google Speaker, Home Hub, mini, phone. All can control the few devices that linked, but I've basically given up on HomeSeer and Google HOme.
If we don't hear of a fix soon, my next attempt will be to try and add a secondary controller that works with Google Home and use the secondary controller for that function -- I haven't jumped into this yet because I'd have to manually change the hub associations on all my Z-wave devices so they report to both hubs on each change so I imagine that would be quite time consuming.

[dannieboiz]

I have a range of them -- Google Speaker, Home Hub, mini, phone. All can control the few devices that linked, but I've basically given up on HomeSeer and Google HOme.
If we don't hear of a fix soon, my next attempt will be to try and add a secondary controller that works with Google Home and use the secondary controller for that function -- I haven't jumped into this yet because I'd have to manually change the hub associations on all my Z-wave devices so they report to both hubs on each change so I imagine that would be quite time consuming.

This isn't a bad idea, but how were you going to do this? A 2nd controller that talks to HomeSeer then link that to GH?

[jvm]

This isn't a bad idea, but how were you going to do this? A 2nd controller that talks to HomeSeer then link that to GH?

The idea is pretty simple, but there are a lot of steps. It probably works best with networks that are primarily Z-Wave Plus. Here's the thought

1. First, you need another Z-Wave controller / Z-Wave stick that supports inclusion as a secondary controller and which also has Google Assistant linking capability. As further explained below, this secondary controller can actually be just different Z-Wave software and a second Z-Wave stick on the same computer as HomeSeer - that's how I'm setting mine up.

2. From HomeSeer, you would then do a "Send Network Information to Another Controller" operation, and at the secondary controller, you would receive the information

3. Step #2 leaves you with two controllers on the same network, both of which can communicate with your nodes. One time consuming thing is that your secondary controller will only have "basic" information about the devices - names, rooms, etc. aren't transferred so if you want the proper names, you'll have to edit the names on your secondary controller. You'll want to pick something that will match how you want it to appear on the Google Assistant

4. Now, you'll have a synchronization problem. That is, if you change something on HomeSeer, it won't immediately change on the secondary controller and if you physically change a switch, it will only be reported to HomeSeer.

5. To Fix #4, you need to add the Secondary controller as Group 1 Association to each of your devices (this is added in HomeSeer from the Z-Wave Tab for each root device). The Group 1 Association is typically set to "HomeSeer' - now you'll have it set to HomeSeer plus the secondary controller.

6. Once a device has its associations set to both controllers, each time the device changes, it reports to both controllers. This is what fixes problem #4

7. Then you connect to Google through the secondary controller. Each time you make a change from Google it will be communicated via the the secondary controller which changes the device, and then the device's association to HomeSeer reports the change to HomeSeer.

8. In theory what I've described in #7 will keep both Z-Wave controllers synchronized.

9. Most Z-Wave Plus device support 5 associations on Group 1 so this should be workable. I'm not sure of "older" z-wave devices

10. Watch out that your controllers aren't set to polling -- or use long poll periods (say an hour) because this will double polling traffic due to 2 controllers. For z-wave plus, you shouldn't need to poll as long as you set the associations as I've described. BUT, when the controllers first start up, they can be out of sync with the network. I have HomeSeer set up to poll all my nodes on startup. I'm trying to figure out if I can do something like that with my Secondary controller -- else, I'll have to set it to poll on some (log) schedule so it keeps in sync but without greatly increasing traffic.

11. If you experiment on this and then decide to remove he secondary hub, remember that you'll have to manually delete it from each device's Group 1 associations.


In my case, I already have a license to Axial Control's Z-Wave software which has a Google Home interface and I have a spare Z-Wave USB stick, so I plan to try with that. I am going to run both HomeSeer and its z-wave stick as well as Axial on the same laptop.


I've made some progress on steps 1-5 and have some devices working in sync across both HomeSeer and Axial.

[John245]

The idea is pretty simple, but there are a lot of steps. It probably works best with networks that are primarily Z-Wave Plus. Here's the thought

1. First, you need another Z-Wave controller / Z-Wave stick that supports inclusion as a secondary controller and which also has Google Assistant linking capability. As further explained below, this secondary controller can actually be just different Z-Wave software and a second Z-Wave stick on the same computer as HomeSeer - that's how I'm setting mine up.

2. From HomeSeer, you would then do a "Send Network Information to Another Controller" operation, and at the secondary controller, you would receive the information

3. Step #2 leaves you with two controllers on the same network, both of which can communicate with your nodes. One time consuming thing is that your secondary controller will only have "basic" information about the devices - names, rooms, etc. aren't transferred so if you want the proper names, you'll have to edit the names on your secondary controller. You'll want to pick something that will match how you want it to appear on the Google Assistant

4. Now, you'll have a synchronization problem. That is, if you change something on HomeSeer, it won't immediately change on the secondary controller and if you physically change a switch, it will only be reported to HomeSeer.

5. To Fix #4, you need to add the Secondary controller as Group 1 Association to each of your devices (this is added in HomeSeer from the Z-Wave Tab for each root device). The Group 1 Association is typically set to "HomeSeer' - now you'll have it set to HomeSeer plus the secondary controller.

6. Once a device has its associations set to both controllers, each time the device changes, it reports to both controllers. This is what fixes problem #4

7. Then you connect to Google through the secondary controller. Each time you make a change from Google it will be communicated via the the secondary controller which changes the device, and then the device's association to HomeSeer reports the change to HomeSeer.

8. In theory what I've described in #7 will keep both Z-Wave controllers synchronized.

9. Most Z-Wave Plus device support 5 associations on Group 1 so this should be workable. I'm not sure of "older" z-wave devices

10. Watch out that your controllers aren't set to polling -- or use long poll periods (say an hour) because this will double polling traffic due to 2 controllers. For z-wave plus, you shouldn't need to poll as long as you set the associations as I've described. BUT, when the controllers first start up, they can be out of sync with the network. I have HomeSeer set up to poll all my nodes on startup. I'm trying to figure out if I can do something like that with my Secondary controller -- else, I'll have to set it to poll on some (log) schedule so it keeps in sync but without greatly increasing traffic.

11. If you experiment on this and then decide to remove he secondary hub, remember that you'll have to manually delete it from each device's Group 1 associations.


In my case, I already have a license to Axial Control's Z-Wave software which has a Google Home interface and I have a spare Z-Wave USB stick, so I plan to try with that. I am going to run both HomeSeer and its z-wave stick as well as Axial on the same laptop.


I've made some progress on steps 1-5 and have some devices working in sync across both HomeSeer and Axial.

In my opinion this should not be the way forward.

HS should integrate with Google Home out of the box.

rjh are you curently looking into this issue. It seems a serious issue for a lot of users.


---
John

[jvm]

In my opinion this should not be the way forward.

HS should integrate with Google Home out of the box.

rjh are you curently looking into this issue. It seems a serious issue for a lot of users.


---
John

As an FYI - I did check with HS Support. HomeSeer confirmed that they are working with Google to fix the problem and HomeSeer's support has been very responsive when I've asked about it. It seems they are at the mercy of Google who has a bug in their API so the ball's in Google's court. So my (experimental, possible) solution is really for the impatient or someone like myself who has invested in a lot of Google Assistant devices and is looking for them to work now.

[John245]

As an FYI - I did check with HS Support. HomeSeer confirmed that they are working with Google to fix the problem and HomeSeer's support has been very responsive when I've asked about it. It seems they are at the mercy of Google who has a bug in their API so the ball's in Google's court. So my (experimental, possible) solution is really for the impatient or someone like myself who has invested in a lot of Google Assistant devices and is looking for them to work now.

Thanks for the update.

From your point of view I understand the temp solution.

I just purchased the google home device at black Friday so I'm not in a hurry.

---
John

[jvm]

Update - The concept I set out in post 85 for getting Google Home devices to work failed. At least for current HomeSeer devices (Dimmers and Switches), even if you set Group 1 to report to both controllers, it only does so when the device is change by a physical button. If you change the device remotely, it doesn't report to the controllers.

[djsaad1]

Still nothing new with this? I was depending on Alexa until this was fixed, but now Alexa isn't able to add new homeseer devices either.