I purchased a Hue HDMI sync box when Best Buy had them on sale recently. I like it, but my wife not so much. She would prefer to have the Sync off when she's watching tv, and doesn't want to use an app to switch inputs. Is there a driver or app out there that would allow the hubitat to control the Hue sync?
Since it's bluetooth based, I'd say there is absolutely no chance for it. A telling sign is that even the Hue official app can't control it.
Good luck with that thing, I got terrible results from it to the point where it sits in my TV console unplugged.
Interesting. I would have thought it could be controlled via the Hue Hub as well. If it isn't currently, I assume that is how it will work with the new update that enables voice assistant control.
You set it up with BT, but it’s WiFi.
@dan.t has provided additions to my CoCoHue Hue Bridge integration that may do what you're looking for. I've just been too lazy to look at them and merge them in. The pull request on GitHub probably has everything.
1 Like
I need to post some updates to that... hopefully I can do that tomorrow
2 Likes
I haven't tried CoCoHue yet, simply because I haven't run into anything I wanted to do which the built in app can't do. I figured I would eventually, and this might be the time.
It sounds like I should wait for @dan.t to take another look at it first. Maybe it will be a good project for me to work on this weekend.
I also have a standalone driver. With that one the registration has to be done manually, not a big deal for anyone that has ever used Postman or something similar
@NeighborGeek
I have uploaded my standalone driver here:
I still have to look why my CoCoHue integration doesn't work the way I want it.
Here is what you need to do to get it working:
- Install the driver in Hubitat
- Add a new virtual device with this driver
- Add your Hue Sync Box IP address (NOT the Hue Bridge, the Sync Box) in the settings and hit save. I would reserve the IP address for the box in your router
- Don't enter an API Key
- Turn your TV on (for some reason that is required during the registration)
- In the driver, press the "Register Hue Sync Box" command, the driver will now initiate the pairing
- Go to your Hue Sync Box and press the power button for 2 - 3 seconds until the light turns green
- The driver will now link with your box
Once linked, the driver will automatically update and you can communicate with the Hue Sync Box. Please note, the Hue Sync Box responses are slow, like 2 - 3 seconds. This is not Hubitat, that is really the box.
Give it a try and let me know if it works for you.
EDIT: Just as FYI, I use this driver to automate my ambiance lighting with the Hue Sync Box. I have a power outlet connected to my TV. The ambiance lighting only comes on when the TV is on and the outdoor luminescence is below a certain value. Has been working like a charm. I did see once or twice that the Hue Sync Box just hang, but that was during development when I was polling that box from three different Hubitats every few seconds.
3 Likes
Better late than never, I just finally got around to setting up this driver. It took me a couple of tries to get it registered & working, but I'm not sure if it actually didn't register at first, or if it was all due to my confusion. I was clicking the on and off buttons expecting to put the sync box in standby mode, and finally realized when the lights behind the TV went bright white for the second or third time that I was turning on and off the sync, not the box.
So, that brings me to my first feedback item - Would it be possible to add support for turning the box itself on and off?
Next - I'm guessing you don't have 4 sources connected to your sync box. Neither do I, but I did notice that the set input drop down offers options for input 1, input 2, input 3, and input 3.
I was also going to ask whether it was possible to pull the custom input names from the sync box, or at least to enter custom labels on the hubitat side, but on second thought that is probably not all that useful. Hopefully I'll get things set up once, and not have to go back into the device settings on a regular basis.
One last question... What is the difference between the Set Mode button and the Mode parameter of Set Intensity?
Thanks!
I can certainly do so but you will lose all control of the box. No updates and no way of turning it back on unless you use their app (it uses Bluetooth fro turning it on) or pressing the physical button. That is why I didn't implement it. Let me know if you still want it and I add it.
Oooop, I posted an updated to my git repo to change that to input 4
AFAIK, Hubitat currently doesn't support a variable list of names for drop down in a driver. I would happy to do it if anyone knows how to supply a variable list to a command ENUM
The intensity is really tight to the mode. The hue box has 4 modes (3 really)
- passthrough
- video
- game
- music
Passthrough is "off" and has no intensity. But each of the other modes have their own intensity. You could have a subtle intensity for the video more and a intense for the game mode.
Thank you for the response, and of course for sharing this and all of your other work in the first place. Your contributions to the hubitat community have helped many people.
I didn't realize that the box wouldn't respond to network requests when in standby. If that's the case, I may need to adjust my settings. Currently it powers off when the TV does, but it doesn't always seem to turn back on with the TV. I was thinking network/hubitat control would help work around that. I'll have to play with it to try and figure out what's actually going on there.
As I said, after I thought about the input names, it's not really a big deal unless you want to pull input control into a dashboard or something where it would be used regularly.
Let me see if I understand what you're saying about mode & intensity... Each of the 4 modes stores it's own value for intensity. Passthru is always "off", but the other 3 can be changed from the default. When you change the intensity value for a mode, I gather that it stores the new value for when it's in that mode?
So the Set Mode button is to switch between modes, while the set intensity button configures the intensity value for each mode. Does the set intensity button not actually switch modes?
Thanks again!
You got that 100% correct!
Yes, it was a surprise to me too. I disabled turning off the box when the TV turns off. I plugged my TV into a power reporting zigbee outlet and created a rule that puts the Hue Sync Box into passthrough (turning off the ambient lights) when the power falls to the TVs standby power consumption level. Works pretty well. I also turn on (video mode) the sync box when the TV turns on and the outside luminosity is below a certain threshold. I don't need ambient lighting during the bright times of the day.
Recently I stumbled upon the Hue Sync Box hanging up every 7 - 9 days. No response to commands nothing. I had to power cycle the box. I implemented the reboot command in the driver and reboot the Sync box every 3 days. That solved that problem.
I really like the Sync Box, it does some pretty good amibent lighting. For the price though I would consider it a gimmick and not a must have.
1 Like
Definitely not a must have. I got suckered into buying the Hue Play bars when they were on sale at Best Buy before christmas, and using the gift card I got from that to buy some hue bulbs. Then a few weeks ago the sync box was on sale with a $50 gift card, and since I already had the play bars... The sync box is neat, but expensive for what it does. Since I've already put the money in though, I want to get the most out of it that I can.
I like the idea of using the smart outlet to monitor the TV power, I'll consider that. The down side is that where the TV is placed, there's no electrical outlet, I have an extension cord coming through the wall and running behind the crown molding, then down to the back of the TV. The cord has 3 sockets, with the TV and the Hue lights plugged into it, and there's not a lot of room between the TV and wall to put a smart outlet back there for the TV. I guess I could put it on the other end of the extension, I'd just have to account for the Hue lights and sync box also going through it. Hmm...
That should be fine, all you need to find is the threshold when the hue sync box and play bars are on and the TV is off. The TV should generate enough of a swing to identify it. I never turn the plug itself off, I just use the power monitoring feature
Hello Dan,
I'm using your driver for my new Hue Sync HDMI box and it works just fine. Thank you for putting this together!!!
I was wondering if there's a way to select different Entertainment Areas? To start, I've set up two areas which I'd like to use depending on time of day. For example: If daytime, the TV backlights are enough, but at night, many other lights provide a much fuller experience. So I have two areas: Day and Night.
I could not find anything that would allow me to switch these areas other than using the Hue Sync App. I did try turning on the groups from the Hue Hub driver, but I could not get that to work. Hue Sync still defaults to the last area manually selected from the Hue Sync app.
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
hi @dan.t
First off thanks for this.
If you would consider adding brightness control to the driver?
Could the input names be supplied as attributes so they could be used in dashboards?
Thanks again for this great work.
My main irritation with this box (well, actually Hue's policy on lights for Entertainment Areas) is that its not possible to use anything but Hue lights into the Sync set up. I was hoping to use other cheaper strips and lamps in my set up. Not possible.
Boo to Hue 
Hello, Is this driver no longer available. the link here get a 404 now. This is exactly what I've been looking for.
Thanks,
This link works
2 Likes
