Before I had HE, I had my fans and lights controlled by Alexa using Bond's native Alexa skills. Since I have HE and I wanted to put some rules in place, I removed the Bond skill, removed the devices and added those back through HE's Bond integration. With the native bond app never had a problem with Alexa responding. Now with the HE integration, Alexa tells me "I'm not quite sure what went wrong" but it still manages to turn on the fan. In the Alexa app, I see the device status pops up as not responsive if I try to turn the fan on or off, but it does actually work.
This may the tied to another thread I found related to the GE fan control but this is happening with Bond so I wasn't sure if I should create a new thread - but here it is.
Any suggestions on troubleshooting this is much appreciated. Thanks!
Instead of linking your fans from Bond <--> HE <--> Alexa, you can go back to using the Bond Skill in Alexa; Bond <--> Alexa. There is an extra step in the process when HE gets involved. Either works but make sure not to do both. If you do both, you will have duplicate devices in Alexa.
Up until the latest update (I believe), if you did the Bond <--> HE <--> Alexa method, you could only turn fan off/on, not set speed. I think that changed in ver 2.2.3.
I'm new to HE and HA in general. If my device is not connected through HE would I be able to integrate it using the rule engine. I plan on putting in a motion sensor so that the fan turns off after X minutes if there's no one in the room.
If you want to use Alexa, Hubitat, and Bond all playing nice, there are 2 things you must do. Install the Bond integration for Hubitat and the Amazon Echo Skill App in HE.
Bond Integration that will allow you to use your motion sensors with Bond in rules like you describe:
Amazon Echo Skill App in HE that will allow you to control all of the selected devices in HE with Hubitat:
What you have to decide is if you want to control the Bond devices thru Hubitat by Alexa or directly by Alexa. If you want to go thru Hubitat, then click the check boxes for your fan(s) in the Amazon Echo Skill App in HE.
If you want to install the Alexa Bond skill in the Alexa app instead and go that route, then leave that box for fan(s) unchecked.
If you do both, you will have 2 devices in HE for same fan.
Thanks for the details. I had the 2 devices showing problem initially but then I removed the Alexa Bond skill, made my fans talk to Bond through hubitat and after some config changes I could get that to work.
I am not sure I understand the workflow without HE in the middle. How would I create a workflow if HE does not have access to the fan? Does HE see devices that are configured through a different skills app such as Bond Alexa skill app?
If you want Alexa to communicate to your fans, you have 2 options.
Alexa talks directly to the fans using Alexa's Bond skill. HE still has access to the fans but is not involved in any voice commands that you give Alexa.
Alexa talks to HE who then talks to Bond app using the Bond integration.
No matter what you do, you HAVE to use the Bond integration created by @dman2306 referenced in post #4 in link above if you want HE to communicate to Bond whether you use Alexa or not. That integration allows HE to send commands w/out Alexa's involvement. You don't need Alexa to control Bond devices with HE.
Thanks, Stephen. I have the Bond integration from @dman2306 set up but the problem is with the way Alexa responds with "I'm not quite sure what went wrong". This does not happen if the communication is directly through Alexa's Bond skill. Seems like this is a new bug based with the integration.
Alexa is handled but Hubitat, if the device works using in the commands on the device page then I don’t think it’s the integration. It might be an issue with the Alexa app. I believe they changed the way fans work in 2.2.3? Perhaps a bug?
You are probably right that it's a bug with Alexa because as you said the integration works perfectly from the dashboard, it's only a problem when you use the voice commands.
This does not appear to have been fixed yet. I am on 2.2.4.156 . During winter in NE I am not expecting to use the fan but I always hope that after some updates this is magically fixed
Hi. So this error kind of drives me crazy. So I tried your suggestion. In my case I have an retractable awning called Sunshine. (Because then we can say "turn on the sunshine" and the awning retracts etc.). Anyway, I renamed it "Actual-Sunshine" and then created a group called Sunshine. I still get an error from Alexa. She now says "Sorry, Actual Sunshine is not responding." It works properly, but still get the error. Doublechecking your meaning. I used the HE Groups App. That's what you meant, right? See pic.
That's correct. In my case my Bond was controlling "Master bedroom fan" and "Master bedroom fan light". Alexa would always respond as you mentioned. I later discovered that a ceiling fan that I have called "Fan" which was controlled by a zwave wall switch would also have Alexa saying "something went wrong" despite starting the fan properly anyway.
I ended up discovering that Alexa had an issue with both fans because they were speed adjustable. When I use the group and effectively turn my fans into a simple switch without speed control, this was still able to turn the fan off and on without the offending "something went wrong" response. So, basically associate your awning with a simple on and off switch and share that switch with Alexa. I am betting that the awning device has something like a control to retract it halfway and that is analogous to the speed control on my fans. Give Alexa a simple on off switch and life is good.
Thank you!! Somehow I missed this reply and read it just this morning. Reading it over very carefully I was able to fix this. I created a virtual switch called Sunshine and created two rules that turn on/off Actual Sunshine. Exposed the virtual switch to Alexa and success! Thank you again.
