[BETA] Echo Speaks V4

[AverageJoe90]

Sorry my cookie still has not rest its almost 22 days old and actions will not run. Any advice or direction? I didnt want to uninstall and reinstall as a lot of my automations are set up with it?

[nh.schottfam]

That message suggests it cannot reach your echo speaks server.

So you want to investigate heroku or you local server (if it is up, configured properly, what are the settings in the Echo speaks app., network connectivity)

[AverageJoe90]

@nh.schottfam

heroku

Ah seems like heroku has decided to delete my application for some strange reason? Will redeploy tomorrow. Hopefully will be fixed, thanks for taking the time to assist me.

EDIT: Redeployed = All working now. Thank you.

[a4refillpad]

Still needing regular reboots to keep the voice working. Are we any closer to the root cause and can i help in any way to identify the issue?

[nh.schottfam]

Will need to provide logs in a private message.

Would be good to also run individual device commands for speak() with logs on for ES application.

[nh.schottfam]

So some of you have noticed some new things in the latest beta changes:

• most commands are now sent by the main ES app (so it can coordinate commands, parallelize commands, and control Alexa api throttling).

  • so if you are sending logs, do include logs from the main ES app

• a zone can create a virtual zone device

  • it does not have all commands, but it has many to make a zone usable by webCoRE, rules machine or other apps

• There is a new 'parallelSpeak' command

  • This sends speak commands in parallel

    • for example, if you have a list of devices, your application can loop thru and send parallel speak (vs regular speak). This will attempt to send the commands to all the devices at the same time and to ask Alexa apis to run them in parallel. It is important, you send the commands near the same time (ie in a loop for example), as if they are too far apart when they send, ES would have already sent some, then have to send more (which inherently would lose any coordination you intended).

    • The messages should not be too long, ~400 chars, as otherwise ES will have to break it up and things will not give the desired 'near simultaneous' output

    • this should work for zone device and regular device (I would not include the same device twice in a single 'timeframe')

    • Example:

      • I have 4 devices

        • I could send 4 speak() commands, they would be processed sequentially by Alexa. So device A would speak, then b, then c, then d. There may be a small bit of overlap, but you will hear them sequentially

        • I could send 4 parallelSpeak() commands, if I did this 'at the same time', ES will put them together and send a single command to Alexa with 4 subcommands, and ask Alexa to run them in parallel. The devices should speak near the same time (there may be some skew due to network or Alexa processing, but pretty close)

        • If I send 4 parallelSpeak commands, but they are timing skewed that they are actually issued 2, then say 1 second, then 2 more, you are likely to hear 2 speak together, then the other two speak together. So it is important they be sent 'back to back' or within a short time of each other

[CAL.hub]

@nh.schottfam

I could send 4 speak() commands, they would be processed sequentially by Alexa. So device A would speak, then b, then c, then d. There may be a small bit of overlap, but you will hear them sequentially

Thanks for this. In the case of a single Rule Machine speak command to multiple echoes, does the command parse to the above, i.e. four sequential ES Speak commands?

I'm thinking the (new) best practice would be to substitute the above single RM command to instead use successive Custom Actions using parallelSpeak commands to each echo. Am I getting the drift of how to use this capability?

[nh.schottfam]

Your simple choices are

ParallelSpeak to a zone virtual device or announcement to zone virtual device

From rm or webcore

If an action can do what you want it can also send to multiple zones in addition to a single zone

More complex:

• if you have your own set of devices, you can send parallel speak to each device (within a short time, and ES will combine them together if it can).

[toy4rick]

Wanted to pass along that I am still getting debug logging even though debug is disabled

[nh.schottfam]

Tony has pushed an update that fixes:

• race condition causing some commands to not execute
• further quieting of logging

[molepage]

Regarding Docker instructions, here's my post from v3, no changes need for v4: https://community.hubitat.com/t/release-echo-speaks-v3-actions/22879/1071. Don't forget to git pull origin the next time the server needs an update!

[tonesto7]

[RELEASE] Echo Speaks v3 + Actions

Notice Please refrain from using the documentation site until further notice!!!! I'm in the process of staging the new documentation site for v4 which I plan on releasing today. Please note that the doc site will be a work in progress and not all items images have been updated to reflect the new UI design and the additional commands/attributes. I will be updating them as time allows throughout the week.

[tonesto7]

Public version available

Those already running the beta build can just update to the latest beta to always have the current code.
I will still be using the beta branch to push out new features and fixes before pushing to master.

[RELEASE] Echo Speaks V4

RELEASE V4.1.0.0 After a couple of months of beta testing, I think it's time to release this!!! Note I've changed the file structure some so I recommend you use Hubitat Package Manager Those that are currently using the beta version can just update like normal. I will maintain the beta branch alongside the master repository. I highly recommend using Hubitat Package Manager to update your existing install. If you are using HPM now you will need to uninstall HPM and reinstall HPM again and …

[Budjik]

HPM Issue
Originally I had installed Echo Speaks master from github and then installed HPM. (HPM has certainly made this a lot easier to keep updated)
I found HPM offered me the Echo Speaks Beta (4.0) which I installed and has worked ok.
Now with this update I find it wants to update both versions. I chose to update the 4.0 to 4.1.
I cannot update both and I cannot uninstall one as they are both called "Echo Speaks" and I selected the first one which said a file was busy.
Any ideas how to end up with just Echo Speaks 4.1.0.0?

Echo Speaks v3.6.4.4 (app)
Echo Speaks - Actions v3.6.4.2 (app)
Echo Speaks - Zones v3.6.4.1 (app)
Echo Speaks Device v3.6.4.1 (driver)
Echo Speaks WS v3.3.1.1 (driver)

Echo Speaks v4.1.0.0 (app)
Echo Speaks - Actions v4.1.0.0 (app)
Echo Speaks - Zones v4.1.0.0 (app)
Echo Speaks Device v4.1.0.0 (driver)
Echo Speaks WS v4.1.0.0 (driver)
Echo Speaks Zone Device v4.1.0.0 (driver)

In the end I have updated both, but I really do not know which one is really being used.
Echo Speaks 4.1.0.0 is the "App" in the Hubitat interface.

[Budjik]

Perhaps my point is more obvious with an image.
maybe "Echo Speaks" and "Echo Speaks Beta" would be better labels?

[tonesto7]

I wish there was an easy way to handle this. Hopefully this won’t be an issue for much longer.

[Budjik]

Thank you for the reply

[AverageJoe90]

I am trying to Update to Version 4.1.0.0 but keep getting the error message of 'Unable to save to the hub, please try again and check if the hub is responding'?

[poelock]

Did Amazon change something with Echos and adjusting volume. I have a very simple use of Echo Speaks. If a door contact is opened, turn volume up to 8 play a blank announcement (just want the do do tone) on 2 dots, then restore volume to 3. Earlier this week, I started getting beeps for when the volume is adjusted. Never had that before...any way to remove?

[jkudave]

Try rebooting your hub before updating.