Sony Binding [3.2.0;3.9.0)

This binding is for Sony IP based product line including TVs, BDVs, AVRs, Blurays, Soundbars and Wireless Speakers. It should work with openHAB version 3.1 or higher.

See Sony Devices Binding for OH3 for the history of the binding and its related discussions.

Supported Things

The following are the services that are available from different Sony devices.
Please note they are not exclusive of each other (many services are offered on a single device and offer different capabilities).
Feel free to mix and match as you see fit.

Scalar (also known as the REST API)

The Scalar API is Sonyā€™s next generation API for discovery and control of the device.
This service has been implemented in most of the Sony products and has the same (and more) capabilities of all the other services combined.
If your device supports a Scalar thing, you should probably use it versus any of the other services.
The only downside is that itā€™s a bit ā€˜heavierā€™ (depending on the device - will likely issue more calls) and is a bit more complicated to use (many, many channels are produced).

This service dynamically generates the channels based on the device.

For specifics - see Scalar

Simple IP

The Simple IP protocol is a simplified version of IRCC and appears to be only supported on some models of Bravia TVs.
You must enable ā€œSimple IP Controlā€ on the devices (generally under Settings->Network->Home Network->IP Control->Simple IP Control) but once enabled - does not need any authentication.
The Simple IP control provides direct access to commonly used functions (channels, inputs, volume, etc) and provides full two-way communications (as things change on the device, openHAB will be notified immediately).

For specifics - see SimpleIp

IRCC

Many Sony products (TVs, AV systems, disc players) provided an IRCC service that provides minimal control to the device and some minimal feedback (via polling) depending on the version.
From my research, their appears to be 5 versions of this service:

  1. Not Specified - implemented on TVs and provides ONLY a command interface (i.e. sending of commands).
    No feedback from the device is possible.
    No status is available.
  2. 1.0 - ???
  3. 1.1 - ???
  4. 1.2 - ???
  5. 1.3 - implemented on blurays.

Provides a command interface, text field entry and status feedback (including disc information).
The status feedback is provided via polling of the device.

Please note that the IRCC service is fully undocumented and much of the work that has gone into this service is based on observations.

If you have a device that is reporting one of the ā€œ???ā€ versions above, please post on the forum and I can give you directions on how we can document (and fix any issues) with those versions.

Please note that Sony has begun transitioning many of their products over to the Scalar API and the latest firmware updates have begun to disable this service.

For specifics - see IRCC

DIAL

The DIAL (DIscovery And Launch) allows you to discover the various applications available on the device and manage those applications (mainly to start or stop them).
This will apply to many of the smart tvs and bluray devices.
Generally you need to authenticate with IRCC before being able to use DIAL.
A channel will be created for each application (at startup only) and you can send ON to that channel to start the application and OFF to exit back to the main menu.

For specifics - see DIAL

Bluray Players

Please note that somy Bluray players have only a limited, partial implementation of SCALAR. If you have a bluray player and scalar seems limited, you should try the DIAL/IRCC services as well.

Application status

Sony has ā€˜brokenā€™ the API that determines which application is currently running regardless if you use DIAL or Scalar services.
The API that determines whether an application is currently running ALWAYS returns ā€˜stoppedā€™ (regardless if itā€™s running or not).
Because of that - you cannnot rely on the application status and there is NO CURRENT WAY to determine if any application is running.

Both DIAL/Scalar will continue to check the status in case Sony fixes this in some later date - but as of this writing - there is NO WAY to determine application status.

Device setup

To enable automation of your device may require changes on the device.
This section mainly applies to TVs as the other devices generally are setup correctly.
Unfortunately the location of the settings generally depend on the device and the firmware that is installed.
Iā€™ll mention the most common area for each below but do remember that it may differ on your device.

Turn the device ON!!!

When a sony device is off, there are a number of ā€˜thingsā€™ that get turned off as well.
You best action would be to turn the device ON when you are trying to set it up and bring it online for the first time.

  1. IRCC/Scalar on Blurays will not be auto discovered if the device is off (however DIAL will be discovered).
    Both these services are turned off when the device is turned off.
  2. Audio service on certain devices will either be turned off or limited in scope.

If the audio service is off, you will either see no audio channels (volume, etc) or will be missing audio channels (like headphone volume for Bravias)

Wireless Interface

If you are using the wireless interface on the device, you will likely lose the ability to power on the device with any of the services.
Most sony devices will power down the wireless port when turning off or going into standby - making communication to that device impossible (and thus trying to power on the device impossible).
As of the when this was written, there is no known way to change this behaviour through device options or setup.

Wake on LAN

To enable the device to wakeup based on network activity (WOL), go to Settings->Network->Remote Start and set to ā€œONā€.
This setting will cause the device to use more power (as it has to keep the ethernet port on always) but will generally allow you to turn on the device at any time.

Note: this will likely not work if your device is connected wirelessly and generally only affects physical ethernet ports.

Enabling Remote Device Control

To enable openHAB to control your device, youā€™ll need to set the device to allow remote control.
Go to Settings->Network->Home network setup->Renderer->Render Function and set it to ā€œEnabledā€.

Setting up the Authentication Mode

There are three major ways to authenticate to a Sony Device:

  1. None - No authentication is needed (and openHAB should simply connect and work)
  2. Normal - when openHAB registers with a device, a code is displayed on the device that needs to be entered into openHAB
  3. Preshared - a predetermined key that is entered into openHAB

You can select your authentication mode by going to Settings->Network->Home network setup->IP Control->Authentication and selecting your mode.
I highly recommend the use of ā€œNormalā€ mode.

Please note that their is a rare fourth option - some AVRs need to be put into a pairing mode prior to openHAB authentication.
This pairing mode acts similar to the ā€œNormalā€ mode in that a code will be displayed on the AVR screen to be entered into openHAB.

Also note that generally AVRs/SoundBars/Wireless speakers need no authentication at all and will automatically come online.

See the authentication section below to understand how to use authenticate openHAB to the device.

Discovery

This binding does attempt to discover Sony devices via UPNP.
Although this binding attempts to wake Sony devices (via wake on lan), some devices do not support WOL nor broadcast when they are turned off or sleeping.
If your devices does not automatically discovered, please turn the device on first and try again.
You may also need to turn on broadcasting via Settings->Network->Remote Start (on) - this setting has a side effect of turning on UPNP discovery.

Enabling/Disabling services

By default, only the scalar service is enabled for discovery.
You can change the defaults by setting the following in the conf/services/runtime.cfg file:

discovery.sony-simpleip:background=false
discovery.sony-dial:background=false
discovery.sony-ircc:background=false
discovery.sony-scalar:background=true

Authentication

Normal Key

A code request will request a code from the device and the device will respond by displaying new code on the screen.
Write this number down and then update the binding configuration with this code (FYI - you only have a limited time to do this - usually 30 or 60 seconds before that code expires).
Once you update the access code in the configuration, the binding will restart and a success message should appear on the device.

Specifically you should:

  1. Update the ā€œaccessCodeā€ configuration with the value ā€œRQSTā€.
    The binding will then reload and send a request to the device.
  2. The device will display a new code on the screen (and a countdown to expiration).
  3. Update the ā€œaccessCodeā€ configuration with the value shown on the screen.
    The binding will then reload and ask the device to authorize with that code.
  4. If successful, the device will show a success message and the binding should go online.
  5. If unsuccessful, the code may have expired - start back at step 1.

If the device was auto-discovered, the ā€œRQSTā€ will automatically be entered once you approve the device (then you have 30-60 seconds to enter the code displayed on the screen in the PaperUI Configuration->Things->the device->configuration->Access Code).
If the code expired before you had a chance, simply double click on the ā€œRQSTā€ and press the OK button - that will force the binding to request a new code (and alternative if that doesnā€™t work is to switch it to ā€œ1111ā€ and then back to ā€œRQSTā€).

If you are manually setting up the configuration, saving the file will trigger the above process.

Pre Shared Key

A pre-shared key is a key that you have set on the device prior to discovery (generally Settings->Network Control->IP Control->Pre Shared Key).
If you have set this on the device and then set the appropriate accessCode in the configuration, no additional authentication is required and the binding should be able to connect to the device.

Deactivation

If you have used the Normal Key authentication and wish to deactivate the addon from the TV (to either cleanup when uninstalling or to simply restart an new authentication process):

  1. Go to Settings->Network->Remote device settings->Deregister remote device
  2. Find and highlight the openHAB (MediaRemote:00-11-22-33-44-55) entry.
  3. Select the Deregister button

If you have used a preshared key - simply choose a new key (this may affect other devices however since a preshared key is global).

Thing Configuration

IP Address Configuration

Any service can be setup by using just an IP address (or host name) - example: 192.168.1.104 in the deviceAddress field in configuration.
However, doing this will make certain assumptions about the device (ie path to services, port numbers, etc) that may not be correct for your device (should work for about 95% of the devices however).

If you plan on setting your device up in a .things file, I recommend autodiscovering it first and copy the URL to your things file.

There is one situation where you MUST use an IP address - if your device switches discovery ports commonly - then you must use a static IP address/host name.

Common Configuration Options

The following is a list of common configuration options for all services

Name Required Default Description
deviceAddress Yes (1) None The path to the descriptor file or the IP address/host name of the device
deviceMacAddress No (2) eth0 The device MAC address to use for wake on lan (WOL).
refresh No (3) 30 The time, in seconds, to refresh some state from the device (only if the device supports retrieval of status)
checkStatusPolling No 30 The time, in seconds, to check the device status device
retryPolling No 10 The time, in seconds, to retry connecting to the device
  1. See IP Address Configuration above
  2. Only specify if the device support wake on lan (WOL)
  3. Only specify if the device provides status information.

Set to negative to disable (-1).

refresh is the time between checking the state of the device.
This will query the device for itā€™s current state (example: volume level, current input, etc) and update all associated channels.
This is necessary if there are changes made by the device itself or if something else affects the device state outside of openHAB (such as using a remote).

checkStatusPolling is the time between checking if we still have a valid connection to the device.
If a connection attempt cannot be made, the thing will be updated to OFFLINE and will start a reconnection attempt (see retryPolling).

retryPolling is the time between re-connection attempts.
If the thing goes OFFLINE (for any non-configuration error), reconnection attempts will be made.
Once the connection is successful, the thing will go ONLINE.

Ignore these configuration options

The following ā€˜configurationā€™ options (as specified in the config XMLs) should NEVER be set as they are only set by the discovery process.

Name Description
discoveredMacAddress Donā€™t set this - set deviceMacAddress instead
discoveredCommandsMapFile Donā€™t set this - set commandMapFile instead
discoveredModelName Donā€™t set this - set modelName instead

Advanced Users Only

The following information is for more advanced usersā€¦

Low power devices (PIs, etc)

This addon will try to only query information for the device to fulfill the information for channels you have linked.
However, if youā€™ve linked a great deal of channels (causing alot of requests to the device) and are running openHAB on a low power device - the polling time should be adjusted upwards to reduce the load on the PI.

Separating the sony logging into its own file

To separate all the sony logging information into a separate file, please edit the file userdata/etc/log4j2.xml as follows:

  1. Add an logger appender definition (including the log file name)
  2. Add a logger definition referencing the appender defined in step 1

Example for logging all INFO logs into a separate file sony.log under the standard log folder:

<Appenders>
...
    <!-- Sony binding appender -->
    <RollingFile fileName="${sys:openhab.logdir}/sony.log" filePattern="${sys:openhab.logdir}/sony-%d{yyyyMMdd-HHmmss}.log" name="SONY">
        <PatternLayout pattern="%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%-5.5p] [%-36.36c] - %m%n"/>
        <Policies>
            <OnStartupTriggeringPolicy/>
            <SizeBasedTriggeringPolicy size="16 MB"/>
        </Policies>
    </RollingFile>
</Appenders>
<Loggers>
...
    <Logger additivity="false" level="INFO" name="org.openhab.binding.sony">
        <AppenderRef ref="SONY"/>
    </Logger>
</Loggers>

Changelog

Version 3.2.1

  • Fixed CERS header based authorization issue for IRCC protocol
  • Fixed issue with non-refreshing items
  • Optimized reconnect/offline handling

Version 3.2.0-1

  • Changed feature name to avoid removal of binding by openhab feature installer on start-up

Version 3.2.0

  • Initial version for marketplace release

Resources

https://github.com/andan67/openhab-addons/releases/download/openhab-addons-sony-3.2.1/org.openhab.binding.sony-3.2.1.kar

7 Likes

Tried to install the biding from the marketplace, running latest build - on an RPI4.
It says ā€œinstallingā€ - and according to the ā€œbinding searchā€ is it installed. However, it does not turn up among installed binding, I cannot add things and the ā€œconsoleā€ does not list it as an installed binding.
I see nothing in the logs either.
If I install the binding manually, it works just fine.

The marketplace install works for me with the OH 3.2M3 release on RPI4 and Windows PC. What I did was to uninstall the manually installed binding first using the console. Have you also tried this?

I had success installing from the marketplace.

Just to 100% sure I manually installed the binding. Removed it from the console. Shut down openhab. Deleted the jar file. Deleted all traces of Sony configurations. Checked addons.config so it wasnā€™t listed there. Rebooted.
Still - no luck installing it from the marketplace. It says it installs it, but it goes way to fast. Just in the blink of an eye. This is what my system looks like.

runtimeInfo:
  version: 3.2.0
  buildString: "Build #2546"
locale: en-SE
systemInfo:
  configFolder: /etc/openhab
  userdataFolder: /var/lib/openhab
  logFolder: /var/log/openhab
  javaVersion: 11.0.12
  javaVendor: Raspbian
  osName: Linux
  osVersion: 5.10.63-v7l+
  osArchitecture: arm
  availableProcessors: 4
  freeMemory: 39002104
  totalMemory: 242221056
bindings:
  - astro
  - bmwconnecteddrive
  - deconz
  - harmonyhub
  - http
  - hue
  - ipcamera
  - mihome
  - miio
  - mqtt
  - networkupstools
  - samsungtv
  - shelly
  - smhi
  - sonyaudio
  - systeminfo
  - tellstick
  - tibber
  - unifi
  - upnpcontrol
  - verisure
  - zwave

Tellstick is just there for the Netty requirements btw.

Suggest that you try to install another binding from the community marketplace just to check whether your issue might be installation or version specific (e.g. the KNX binding that also comes as kar source).

Also, the latest OH version I used for testing was 3.2.0-SNAPSHOT - Build #2535

Good idea.
Tested the KNX ā€œJVersionā€ and it installed without any issues.

Was worth a try :wink:

I will run a further test with the latest SNAPSHOT version to check for any issues.

Iā€™ve also seen that you have installed the SonyAudio binding. I would assume that the Sony binding supports a superset of the services that are provided by the SonyAudio binding and thus would make the latter obsolete. At least I know from the history of the Sony binding that the original author has collaborated with the author of the SonyAudio binding to adopt at least some of its features. So is there any specifc reason for you to install both bindings in parallel (just for my curiosity)?

I have only one Sony device, a str-dn1080.
Iā€™ve been switching back and forth between the two bindings over the years (used to have a sony tv).
Thereā€™s always been some issues with either one of the bindings, depending on what build Iā€™ve been running.
The only channel I really need is the volume channel. I am watching the power state with a ā€œsmart plugā€ and sending on/off commands via the Harmony binding. The reason for it is that the receiver always (sooner or later) falls into some deep sleep and refuses to wake up on anything but IR commands. I believe itā€™s a bug is the EU version of the firmware (EU has some requirements on power consumption in standby mode). And since Sony opted out of the receiver market, I do not see this will ever be sorted.
I really hope this receiver last (the first one died after 2 years) since there isnā€™t many affordable alternatives left. (Seems like most people are satisfied with a soundbar these daysā€¦)

Iā€™ve successfully tested the marketplace install with the same 3.2 SNAPHSOT build. So it doesnā€™t look like a general issue. But it is strange that you donā€™t see any error logs.

Iā€™ve built a slightly changed version that fixes an issue with a missing dependency on the transformation map service (used for IRCC). Thus Iā€™d suggest that you re-try the marketplace installation with that updated version (after deletion of the current binding from the addons jar).

In course of the testing Iā€™ve found an issue with the 3.2.0.M3 runtime (for details see here). I hope I can fix this issue shortly.

Re your Sony recevier: According to the discussion in Remotely powering up an EU model STR-DN1080? | Sonyā€™s Developer World forum it seems possible to wake up the receiver from a deep standby using a special procedure (multiple WOLs plus sending power on command). Are you aware of this potential option and if yes have you ever tried this?

Hi,
Still no luck for me using the marketplace
Uninstalled the other Sony binding. Cleared the cahce and rebooted twice.

I am probably some special ā€œedge caseā€ here, since it seems to work for others.
Increased the log levels, to TRACE and DEBUG, and indeed there are some entries about the installation. The logs fill out pretty quickly though, since all the running binding and scripts starts to message like crazy. :wink: I cannot really tell what the information from the install sequence actually means though. And I wonā€™t pollute the forum with extremely long longs.

I am fine with doing a manual install, and I do not want to waste anymore of your time - since it seems like I am the only one with this problem at the moment.

Weā€™re likely going to find out if this issues applies to anyone else, since it is documented in this thread.

Also, thanks for the link regarding the sleep/standby issue. I will look into that.

I also have the issue installing the Sony Binding through the marketplace. It says itā€™s installed, but does not show up, also not in KARAF bundle:list. It does work with the WLED beta binding, so I think my system should be ok. I did try and clear everything I can from the ā€˜oldā€™ manual install.

Anything I could try?

Unfortunately I have no good ideas what you could try.

For further analysis of the issue, it would be helpful if you could provide the following

  • Log messages produced during the time of the installation attempt
  • Your OH runtime version (including build number)
  • Output of console command bundle:list | grep Map

Also you could try to manually install the provided kar file by copying it into the addons folder.

So I tried putting the kar file and restarting OH (Iā€™m on 3.2.0 M4)

The bundles popped up upon startup (still Resolved not Active)

435 ā”‚ Resolved ā”‚  80 ā”‚ 3.2.0.202111060539    ā”‚ openHAB Add-ons :: Bundles :: WLed Binding
443 ā”‚ Resolved ā”‚  80 ā”‚ 3.2.0.202111081927    ā”‚ openHAB Add-ons :: Bundles :: Sony Binding
444 ā”‚ Resolved ā”‚  80 ā”‚ 3.2.0.202111070339    ā”‚ openHAB Add-ons :: Bundles :: Transformation Service :: Map
openhab>

but after a while, they were just gone again.

I could not find anything in the log that told me why.

435 ā”‚ Active ā”‚  80 ā”‚ 3.2.0.202111060539    ā”‚ openHAB Add-ons :: Bundles :: WLed Binding
openhab>

Hi i am on 3.2.4 M4 and i have configured my TV Scalar Thing in a .things file. I am wondering if it is normal that i have to uninstall and install the binding (with turned on tv) after every restart of openhab?

After restarting OH my TV Thing is just missing so i have to reinstall the binding. Maybe restarting the bundle also works, but i havenā€™t tried. Reinstalling might also be the reason the TV has to be on while initializing if the cache of the TV capabilites is cleaned when uninstalling.

I wouldnā€™t say that itā€™s normal but Iā€˜m facing the same issue.

I realised that the binding doesnā€™t show up in the binding list when Iā€™m trying to create a new thing. After uninstalling and reinstalling everything was back to normal.

1 Like

@andirs @DrRSatzteil

Does the observed behaviour only happen when the binding is installed via the marketplace?
Have you disabled discovery for the scalar service (discovery.sony-scalar:background=false)?

Indeed i had disabled discovery for the scalar service. But i removed that restarted and the binding/thing still does not show up. I can not really tell you if it is only because of the marketplace. I came from OH2 (where i did not have that problem) and only tested the marketplace now on OH3. I think we canā€™t compare that. Maybe @DrRSatzteil used both install methods on OH3?

Thank you for this information.

Iā€™ve just upgraded my system to OH 3.2.M4 and are now hitting the same issue. So I should be able to do some further analysis on my side. I will provide an update as soon as available.

1 Like

Just for completeness: I installed from the marketplace and did not disable auto discovery.