Did you follow the guide as described in the docs? What build of openHAB are you using? Is there something in the logs?
yes I did it as in the doc and i am using openhab 2.1
as you can see under “Beschreibung” the light is shown as Switch.
Which Information do you have under " Beschreibung"
Ok. It seems we’re using the same stuff, but I got different configuration in Alexa:
I don’t use hue emulation (at least I’m pretty sure…!). Gotta check in the afternoon.
In the mean time, please post your configuration of addons.cfg and your items. We can then compare this.
yes please check this - my screenshot shows “Verbunden über” Openhab - so i am using the openhab skill and i think you are using the hue emulator
Just some tips for working with the Hue Emulation Binding and some issues I ran into:
- If you add a new item and tag it [“Lighting”] or ["Switchable’] I had to go to var/lib/openhab2/hueemulation and delete the file “items”. Then restart OpenHAB and it will re-generate the file. I don’t know if this was fixed in the release but the original version would not overwrite the existing file on changes. You might need to verify that the issue was resolved. It most likely was fixed.
- Even if it was fixed, if you create a new item and tag it as above, or if you change the tag on an existing item you must go to the Alexa app, forget the item that you changed the tag of, and run the discovery again. The Alexa app does not look for changes in the OpenHAB items unless you run discovery. Make sure you “forget” the items you change in OpenHAB BEFORE running discovery for those changes to take affect in the Alexa app. There is currently no way around that.
As a hint - if you need to forget large amount of items go to Alexa.amazon.com and do it from the web app. It’s much easier. Hopefully this helps.
Just checked: My lighting-elements are also recognized as “switch”. But it works, if i say “Alexa, Licht!” or Alexa, Licht auf 10 Prozent".
Argh… I thought it worked… but it doesnt. All Echos react on “Alexa, licht an”… and they do it in the same group, even if they dont belong to that group.
Which version of Alexa App are you using, and can someone confirm if it also works for the hue emulation? And can skill and emulation be installed at the same time?
Its on my todo list of things to implement…
So, first of all
- I’m using the Hue Emulation apparently (I got the hue Emulation Addon still in my config)
- after disabling the Hue Emulation I got some ERRORs in my Log, as Alexa scanned my network for devices (must investigate this one later)
So, I can confirm, that using the Hue Emulation and the newest Alexa App, it works.
You’re sure, you don’t have a openHAB Item or Group called “Licht”?
Thanks for this.
I would not be happy to use the Hue emulator because it is not suitable for all devices, who can tell me if the Openhab skill will be further developed and if it is expected to be improved here in the future
That’s why I am also a bit surprised. As my Thermostat items work with Alexa (they shouldn’t with hue Emulation I guess). I’ll have to dig deeper into the ERRORs and Alexa support.
But to answer your question: My understanding is, the openHAB skill is stil the one solution to go and it will be further developed and improved. The Hue Emulation was a workaround for all items (not only hue)- but is still active for the ones at least using Hue - and as designed you could use it for other items (but you’re limited to the hue’s limited alexa Keywords.)
Hi,
If I’m reading the thread correctly.
If you have more than 1 Alexa:
- You can link/bind lights, thermostats and an Alexa to a room using Alexa Enabled Groups (https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/0a55ae8a-1f39-411f-a3ca-6a19be80b2f3/now-available-routines-alexa-enabled-groups-and-smart-home-device-state-in-the-amazon-alexa-app).
This allows you to say “Lights On” and any lights in that Alexa Enabled Group will turn on.
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If you use Hue Emulation to connect your openhab lights to Alexa, this will work fine. However, this is not the strategic way forward - The recommended approach is to use the Alexa Openhab Skill.
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The Alex Openhab Skill presents the lights as Switches (not lights) to Alexa, so Alexa does not treat them as lights when they are in an Alexa Enabled Group.
From my own playing around this seems to be the case. If I connect my Alexa directly to my Hue lights the Groups work as expected, if I connect them via the Openhab Alexa Skill they do not.
My cursory look at the Alexa Openhab Skill code seems to imply the skill is doing the correct thing. I would guess the next thing to do it determine why the Alexa Skill isn’t presenting the lights as Lights?
@colinfitzpatrick:
There is an issue in GitHub Bug Tracker which is fixed but not released yet: https://github.com/openhab/openhab-alexa/pull/52
see also this:
Thank you. That’s why the code looked correct.
It is deployed now. And it is running fine. You just have to rediscover your devices in Alexa APP. Many thanks to @digitaldan 