Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Alexa not discovering - Google Home working ok

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Alexa not discovering - Google Home working ok

    Hey there,

    The Echo was released in Australia a few months back and I just got one to compliment our existing Google Home.

    We have had the Google Home for about 6 months and it sees all the HomeSeer devices and generally works fine.

    I fired up the new Alexa thinking that the more mature device should be a breeze to setup but - not so.

    Enabled the HomeSeer skill (there was only one available) "HomeSeer Smart Home" - Account linking seemed to go fine, got a success message.

    The process goes on to discover devices - that never discovers any devices.

    I have checked:
    - Software is up to date HS3 ZEE S2 Edition 3.0.0.435
    - JSON and ASCII control is enabled in setup
    - Control is on the default port 11000
    - I have enabled _all_ devices for voice control
    - I have also enabled some devices "Is Light"
    - Have disabled/removed the Alexa skill and re-enabled & linked
    - Have power cycled the Alexa device
    - Have tried all steps from the Web version https://alexa.amazon.com.au
    - Observed during discovery that nothing appears in my HomeSeer Log, so assume the communications isn't getting through MyHS?

    I really expected the Alexa experience to be better than Google Home because it has been around longer - but it appears to be totally borked

    Any suggestions appreciated.

    Cheers,
    James.





    Profile:

    Current Date/Time: 5/22/2018 9:13:42 PM
    HomeSeer Version: HS3 ZEE S2 Edition 3.0.0.435
    Linux version: Linux HomeTrollerZeeS2V2 4.1.19-v7+ #858 SMP Tue Mar 15 15:56:00 GMT 2016 armv7l GNU/Linux System Uptime: 2 Days 5 Hours 24 Minutes 45 Seconds
    IP Address: 192.168.69.249
    Number of Devices: 154
    Number of Events: 21
    Available Threads: 391
    HSTouch Enabled: True
    Event Threads: 0
    Event Trigger Eval Queue: 0
    Event Trigger Priority Eval Queue: 0
    Device Exec Queue: 0
    HSTouch Event Queue: 0
    Email Send Queue: 0
    Anti Virus Installed:

    Enabled Plug-Ins
    3.0.1.190: Z-Wave

    #2
    Hi

    Same here for me in New Zealand. Alexa was officially released here at the same time as Australia (language shows as English AU).

    - Homeseer Smart Home skill installed
    - Account links fine
    - No devices or scenes discovered


    I have tried all the same steps as James listed above from other threads in the forum.

    The main reason for getting an Alexa device was for Homeseer.

    Hoping someone has some ideas to try



    Cheers
    Luke

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by zer0bot View Post
      Hi

      Same here for me in New Zealand. Alexa was officially released here at the same time as Australia (language shows as English AU).
      Do you guys have Google Home over there?

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by JBoman32768 View Post
        Do you guys have Google Home over there?
        Yeah, a few places sell it here now. I chose between the two and got the Echo. Probably should get a Home to try out.

        How do you find it? Sounds like it works with Homeseer which is a good start

        Comment


          #5
          I have the same issue has been working for a long time and it stopped a few months ago once it actually got released in Australia.

          I've got Google Home but prefer and feel the Echo was better at answering with normal noise around the house or with the TV on.

          Anyone have any suggestions?

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by zer0bot View Post
            How do you find it? Sounds like it works with Homeseer which is a good start
            Yeah - Google Home is good. Upside is it works with HomeSeer as opposed to Alexa, downside is Google Home needs you to reallocate devices to rooms everytime you do a rediscovery/add a new device - and also personally for me if you have an Outlook calendar Google Home can't connect to it.

            I saw the info HomeSeer had posted on their website for Google Home - and at the time (6 months ago) Alexa was not available, and Google Home was - so the choice at that time was easy. Got the Alexa because I thought I could get all the benefits of Google Home with my Calendar working as well - not so.

            Pro Tip for the Google Home integration: It fails mysteriously depending on if it doesn't like your device/room/floor names. Start small by only having one device flagged for voice control in HomeSeer - get it working. Then repeat the linking process gradually expanding the number of devices flagged for voice control renaming them as you go to ensure the Google Home keeps discovering devices.

            Unfortunately the same strategy didn't work with Alexa - with only one device flagged for voice control it still didn't do anything.
            - I also tried it with the root device enabled for voice control as well as the individual switch. Also enabled "Is Light" flag specifically for Alexa but nothing.

            At this point since everyone in APAC is having the same experience I am assuming that this is just a case that HomeSeer hasn't prepared their skill to be available in this region.

            The HomeSeer documentation appears to highlight that the Alexa Integration only works in US, Canada, and GB - and sadly this may well be the case. Would be great if we could get Sgt. Schultz to comment on this, perhaps give an ETA on support for other countries.

            J.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by JBoman32768 View Post
              Yeah - Google Home is good. Upside is it works with HomeSeer as opposed to Alexa, downside is Google Home needs you to reallocate devices to rooms everytime you do a rediscovery/add a new device - and also personally for me if you have an Outlook calendar Google Home can't connect to it.

              I saw the info HomeSeer had posted on their website for Google Home - and at the time (6 months ago) Alexa was not available, and Google Home was - so the choice at that time was easy. Got the Alexa because I thought I could get all the benefits of Google Home with my Calendar working as well - not so.

              Pro Tip for the Google Home integration: It fails mysteriously depending on if it doesn't like your device/room/floor names. Start small by only having one device flagged for voice control in HomeSeer - get it working. Then repeat the linking process gradually expanding the number of devices flagged for voice control renaming them as you go to ensure the Google Home keeps discovering devices.

              J.
              Great thanks, that's good information. Sounds like it works but with some issues. Kind of a step forward and a step backward. I think i'll wait until i see a special somewhere.

              Originally posted by JBoman32768 View Post

              At this point since everyone in APAC is having the same experience I am assuming that this is just a case that HomeSeer hasn't prepared their skill to be available in this region.

              J.
              This is something i was wondering about. Is there anyone in Australia or New Zealand that is successfully using the skill? If there isn't then at this point we would know to stop trying for now. Would be good to hear from any others out there...

              Originally posted by JBoman32768 View Post

              The HomeSeer documentation appears to highlight that the Alexa Integration only works in US, Canada, and GB - and sadly this may well be the case. Would be great if we could get Sgt. Schultz to comment on this, perhaps give an ETA on support for other countries.

              J.
              Wondered this too but thought as it was shown in the store for this region then it must be available officially so I expected it should work. I could be wrong but it would be nice to know.


              Luke

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Duc998 View Post
                I have the same issue has been working for a long time and it stopped a few months ago once it actually got released in Australia.

                I've got Google Home but prefer and feel the Echo was better at answering with normal noise around the house or with the TV on.

                Anyone have any suggestions?
                Interesting you should mention. I had this working at one point as well. I never had the Homeseer SmartHome Skill working properly (just account linked) but when it didnt work I tried adding the HomeSeer Home Automation Skill at the same time. I hear you are supposed to use one or the other but I had nothing to lose. This then found all my devices and I was able to use them as though they were exposed through the SmartHome skill ("Alexa, turn on X" instead of "Alexa, ask Homeseer to turn on X").

                For a while things were working and all was good.

                What changed was a couple of weeks back I purchased an eBook through Amazon. When I logged in to my account to complete the purchase there was a message which from memory was asking me to change my account region to AU/NZ. I assumed this was because my Amazon account was created before they were in the region. The only way forward looked to be to accept the changes. The next day all of the skills on Alexa had disappeared and needed installing again. Unfortunately only the SmartHome skill was available and not the Home Automation skill which made things work last time. So it was back to square one for me
                Also, changing language on the Echo hasn't helped.

                Comment

                Working...
                X