I have a Google speaker group, which includes a Chromecast plugged into my Denon AVR. I am trying to create two rules to control the AVR power/input based on the status of the Chromecast - one that triggers when it begins playing, and one for when it has stopped playing for some amount of time. I can see and control all of the devices as expected, however the status of the Chromecast never seems to change from "idle."
I am currently using the built-in drivers for both my Denon AVR and the Chromecast. I gave both devices static IP addresses and updated accordingly under the "Preferences" tab. I also tried changing the Chromecast's Type from "Chromecast Video" to "Chromecast Audio." Last night when I did this, it seemed like more/different state variables appeared, however today (when I tried to create the rules) I'm getting very limited variables (see screenshot below).
I have read some other posts about this topic but I haven't been able to make any progress. I'm new to Hubitat and have been able to get things going with the Community's help up to this point, so any suggestions would be welcome and appreciated!
Look at the Events tab. Mine shows "buffering" "playing" and "idle" under "Status" for when Chromecast Integration is actually playing one of my announcements. Because those announcements are short, most of the time, it is "idle." Also, look at the "Logs" tab. It should reflect the same status changes.
Hi @StephenH, thanks for the response!
I reinstalled everything from scratch after creating the post, and now I am at least getting events from the "Media Source" field. Status and Transport Status are still "idle" all the time. I'm sure it's a configuration somewhere, where it's just not pulling that field?
Also, simply pausing Spotify does not seem to change the media state, at least not after 5 minutes so far. My assumption is that the source is still set to Spotify, it's just not playing. Eventually, maybe it will switch to "none." The events shown below were created when I manually changed Spotify casting to a different speaker, as opposed to simply pausing it.
Some further searching revealed the following thread, where others are reporting that the status never changes (Chromecast Beta Dead?). For a workaround, someone suggested creating a virtual switch in HE, exposing it to Google Home, and creating a GH automation that sets the switch based on whether the Chromecast is playing. However, the new Google Home automations editor currently says "Support coming soon" when I try to use the Chromecast as a trigger.
For now, I created two rules based on the "Media Source" state of the Chromecast. This state appears to update immediately once I begin casting, and eventually back to "none" after a significant (but acceptable) delay. So far, the rules appear to be working, so I'll test this for a little while. And make a backup of the HE config 
Good that you got it figured out. A backup is always advisable. 
2 Likes
