Internet Of Things / IoT / Connected Home / Smart Houses

Thanks both - yep, it's the harmony connect remote with the hub.

Unfortunately it looks like the desktop software is no longer being supported and 32-bit only so not compatible with Catalina or above. But I have the iOS app which seems to do the same thing.

Cool, I'll spend a sunday afternoon mucking about, thanks for the tips x

Depending on who is using it I'd still think about adding a touch remote if you can get one cheap. The customisable touch screen part means you can have buttons with custom labels.

I had heard that the desktop version doesn't work with Mac. It's still fully supported on Windows if you have access to a Windows PC or a virtual machine.

So I got the logitech hub and remote. 20 mins to set it up. It’s awesome. But here’s the thing, I actually only needed the hub. Amazon echo takes care of turning on the tv and soundbar together as well controlling volume. Anything else happens on the existing tv remote or the ATV remote when i get one.

Logitech remote has gone back in the box, at least until the ankle-biters are older.

we have a very old, the most basic lumie SAD lamp, it’s my saving grace in winter, but is technically garbage.

its not configurable at all which means it only gets used on weekdays (you cant set it on ‘go to sleep’ sequence without enabling the ‘wake up’ sequence for the next morning, you also need to remember to set it before sleeping every day you do want to use it.

there are obviously more modern and functional lumie models, but can the same be achieved with general good smart lighting? or is the lumie bulb something special..?

I've tried to do exactly this (with different Hue bulbs) but none of the ones I've tried can get to the level of dimness(?) that my wife's lumie thing can. So the whole lamp is now on the lower shelf of my bedside table and that sort of works but doesn't quite fully wake me up.

I'm new to all this having just inherited a Google Home unit that my youngest left here when he moved in with his gf last month.

I'm struggling with playing music. It plays a radio station of my choice okay (Radio Jackie, yeah I know) and even plays random YouTube music okay (I don't have a paid YT subscription so can't select specific tracks hence the random tracks).

I do however have a free Spotify membership but it tells me its not linked and I need to link it in the app despite clearly being linked as per screenshot below.

Suggestions?

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Click Unlink... link again.

Sometimes the linking of accounts is messy, can also happen when ownership of a device or the payment plan of a linked service is modified.

Unlink... link again.

Then once linked, "OK Google, play Pink Floyd" and it should do what you want.

"OK Google, play Pink Floyd"

Sure, check out this YouTube station based on Pink Floyd.

Gaaaaaaahhhh! Okay will try unlinking and linking again and again

try a reset on it? (little flush button by the power cord) and re set up?

Bingo!

I think it was confused by some settings that my son must have set up versus what I'm trying to do.

Currently listening to some CSN.

https://youtu.be/lh67x9iDCjg

Cheers all

I got a Samsung Frame TV a while ago to put in my kitchen. It's hidden away deep in the specs that the 32" doesn't have a motion sensor so doesn't automatically turn on which makes the displaying artwork part a bit rubbish as you need to turn the tv on first.

However, managed to use Home Assistant to turn on the TV when motion is detected on a Hue motion sensor which was pretty nice.

Has anyone used IKEA smart lighting? I just got some of their LED lighting which uses ZigBee and seems to work fairly well.

I'm now thinking I'd like to incorporate my main ceiling light(s) into this system, but IKEA don't seem to do standalone smart light switches.

I guess the solution is to use smart bulbs? Could get expensive given the main living room light takes about 12 bulbs

.

We use a smartthings hub and then have Aurora a-one dimmer controllers for the rings of downlighters, but use smart bulbs for individual lights. This seemed to be the most cost effective solution for us.

That looks ideal - I'll check it out cheers

Heeeeellllllllppppppp.

I bought some LOHAS LED smart bulbs. They have their own proprietary app (TuyaSmart).

So I understand I have to use the Tuyasmart app to connect them first before getting Google Home involved.

The thing is i cant for the life of me get them to connect. The process is:

• open app
  
• add device
  
• this is where the first query arises. See pic below; what kind of device do I select? I'm assuming it is lighting and then Light Source (Wi-Fi) or am I wrong?
  
• if this is correct I then select add manually and the bulb starts flashing to indicate it is in pairing mode
  
• however despite doing this numerous times it never connects
  
• I have tried auto scan and again it doesn't find the bulb
  
  

there have been some messages about ensure connected to wifi and the phone is connected to wifi and the bulb in the same room as the router.

similarly another message re ensue only 2.4ghz enable and not 5 ghz and I have set router to match but again no joy.

any suggestions?

#buycheapbuytwice

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this is where the first query arises. See pic below; what kind of device do I select? I'm assuming it is lighting and then Light Source (Wi-Fi) or am I wrong?

Light Source (Wi-Fi)

if this is correct I then select add manually and the bulb starts flashing to indicate it is in pairing mode
however despite doing this numerous times it never connects

Click on the top-right icon to put your phone in "Non-EZ" pairing mode, where the light will create its own WiFi access point and you'll need to momentarily connect your phone to set it up. You'll need to power cycle a few times to get the other (faster blinking?) pairing mode on the bulbs though.

I have tried auto scan and again it doesn't find the bulb

Yes, EZ-mode never worked for me (2 Lohas and 3 other brand but similar app ("Smart Life") lightbulbs and a power socket so far)

One of the LOHAS bulbs (I had a pair of them conveniently installed in the hood extractor) started making noise and failing (sounds like a capacitor issue) after few months and had to return them... So keep an eye (or an ear?)

Older tuya stuff can be flashed ota with tasmota, which works with google etc... if that's your bag.

Newer tuya stuff has the wrong chip (i.e not esp8266) i think

Click on the top-right icon to put your phone in "Non-EZ" pairing mode, where the light will create its own WiFi access point and you'll need to momentarily connect your phone to set it up. You'll need to power cycle a few times to get the other (faster blinking?) pairing mode on the bulbs though.

Thanks for the full answer. I have tried the AP mode but my phone won't find the bulb's Wi Fi access point or rather the bulb network (SL-XXX or SmartLife-XXXX or SmartLife-XXX or LOHAS-LED) doesn't show up on my list of available networks.

That looks like English but I don't understand a word of it #sheepish

One of the FAQ's in the booklet/online suggests this only work with 2.4GHz on the router and not 5GHz, so I have disabled this too but still no joy.

What do you mean by flashing and I'm not sure what ota or tasmota are?

Maybe the bulb is not in the "other" mode, blinking in a different speed (sorry can't remember if it was supposed to be faster or slower) than default? In the app check the blinking pattern to see if it matches what the bulb is doing. If it doesn't match then you need to power cycle few more times :)

Yes you are correct.

I was trying to connect in the AP mode with the bulb flashing fast in the EZ mode.

I reset and the bulb now flashed in the slow mode for AP and partial success in that I found and connected to the WiFi (Smart Life) however I now get a new error message below

(so the phone is connected to the Smart Life WiFi but the LOHAS app doesn't continue the connection)

EDIT: Image now added

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What do you mean by flashing and I'm not sure what ota or tasmota are?

Tasmota is chip firmware that you can use in the place of tuya, which is on the bulbs at the moment.

Tasmota is a much friendlier than tuya, and is a piece of piss to integrate directly with most smart home platforms (whereas tuya needs its own proprietary closed source gubbins).

OTA just means over-the-air - as in, you can flash (install) tasmota wirelessly, without having to open things up and solder wires and whatnot.

https://tasmota.github.io/docs/Tuya-Convert/ is teh software tht I've used to play with some tuya-based plugs

It didn't work for me, as the plugs has an HP chip, rather than the nice & friendly ESP2866 chips.

ok, thanks for the explanation although looks a bit too complex for me

Me too, to be fair.