Alexa tts for beginners...help needed baby steps

Configuration
1

I am a newbee at this home assistant stuff…
Now i am trying to get alexa tts working , but no succes at all…
I create the files from loetzimmer… alexa_remote_control.sh and alexa_wrapper.sh in my config directory, abd now i am stuck , i ambot a programmer at all , so how do i get to make them executable… And how do i do that? I read chmod+x alexa_remote_contrl.sh , but this is chinese to me…
Can someone explain how to do this in small steps , i also read stuff like make a script and run as an app in appdaemon…
I just want some small steps to get this setup , as it looks like everyone in the forum is a specialized person and i am getting lost in the topics… A videotopic would be graet if you ask me…
Thx for the help in advance

2

Use this instead…

Much easier to get going and more features.

There is also this thread if you have problems with it:

2 Likes
3

Here is a direct link to the installation & configuration instructions for the alexa_media_player to get you started. I just worked through this and also use it to control am Amazon Plug with Home Assistant through Alexa.

I could not get the alexa_remote_control to work either. :frowning:

4

thx everyone , I installed the files , i adjust the config.yaml , i know my echo’s name , but i cant start routines , cant get her to say a message , nothing she does… what goes wrong???

5

Do i need the cloud active to get this working or is it directly true the ap it works?

6

I use Duckdns to do it.

7

Follow this format as a script to test things out. You will need to change your echo device name but other than that, it should work for you as is:

dash_button_test:
  alias: Dash Button Test
  sequence:
  - service: notify.alexa_media
    data:
      target: media_player.406_living_room_echo_dot
      message: Hi Fifke, how is your programming going?
      data:
        type: tts
4 Likes
8

Will try tomorrow , thx in advance.

9

So i ad it to my sripts.yaml?
And then i need to somehow insert it in automations.yaml?

Or can i test it any other way?

10

yes

no.

you can go to the dev-states page and look for “script.dash_button_test” then click on the weblink icon to the left and click execute in the box that pops up.

11

tried it…no succes… i had the captcha screen , filled in the captcha , i see my echodot in the mediaplayer lists… but no succes to send something… pfffff

12

{
“entity_id”: “media_player.guest_room”,
“media_content_id”: “BBC one”,
“media_content_type”: “TUNEIN”
}
calling this services true the json did work , so i am on the wright way…
dindt knew it was playing because my echo volume was low… just saw it when i opened my media player in home assistant that it was on bbc… so i guies i am doing something wright , now i would like to be able to start a routine… i want to run a routine dinig light on… and then lateron create a button on my dashboard to start this…will have to try that later tough…
thx everyone

13

Kool! You may want to look at this additional code I added yesterday after spending way too much time trying to adjust echo volume ahead of the event. (Hint: that 2 second pause is there for a reason):

dash_button_test:
  alias: Dash Button Test
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.406_living_room_echo_dot
      volume_level: 0.8
  - delay: 00:00:02
  - service: notify.alexa_media
    data:
      target:
        - media_player.406_living_room_echo_dot
      message: Hi Fifke,,, how is your programming going?
      data:
        type: tts
14

Thx , will try tomorrow , bit attention to the lady now :wink: , i see i am getting closer… Hope alexa isnt going to start playing bbc radio tonight as it seemed she just paused when i asked her to stop… I set her state to off now , so i hope she stayes quiet tonight… I am getting closer…

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15

i just tried the script , when i switch the button on my echo lights up , makes a sound to set the volume i guess , but she doesnt speak the message… is there something wrong in the code ?

16

i can get her to speak with this :
{“entity_id”: “media_player.myechodot”, “message”: “Test message”} using the media_player.alexa_tts service… now how to write that in yaml…? And still how to start a routine?

17

because of theprevious post i tried changing the dash_button_test to this:
dash_button_test:
alias: Dash Button Test
sequence:

  • service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
    entity_id: media_player.myechodot
    volume_level: 0.5
  • delay: ‘00:00:02’
  • service: media_player.alexa_tts
    data:
    entity_id: media_player.myechodot
    message: “Hi Fifke, how is your programming going?”
    data:
    type: tts

but still no succes…
she setst the volume , but there is no text comming?

18

I have the notify part working but i cant seem to manage to get the routines working , any help is apreciated…

19

This works now , but the routines don’t… The problem was that i didnt have the notify component in my config , should i ad something in the config to make routines working? An example of config would help…

20

I hate to bring this thread back up, but the other main thread is being withdrawn. I have been struggling hard with this for the past two days and I cant seem to get the service to run.

All I am doing is testing through the Developer Tools->services using notify.alex_media

Here is the log info…

raise ServiceNotFound(domain, service) from None
homeassistant.exceptions.ServiceNotFound: (ServiceNotFound(…), ‘Service notify.alexa_media not found’)

Here is my config:

alexa_media:
  accounts:
    - email: email
      password: password
      url: amazon.com
      debug: True
      include_devices:
      - "Computer Room Echo Dot"
      
notify:
  - platform: alexa_media
    name: alexa_media

Copied the files into the correct folder using raw format. Completely baffleled and feel like a total idiot because the instructions seem so simple.

Anyone have any ideas?Capture