Bose soundtouch create_zone

jasebob · February 2, 2019, 8:34pm

I’ve been following some of the other bose soundtouch threads from the likes of @juan11perez @bigmike @jones. There isn’t too much traffic actually.

I am looking to see if anyone can get the multi-zone features working reliably.

I’ve been trying to get soundtouch.create_zone to work and I find it very intermittent. Sometime it only adds some of the slaves, other times it appears to add them (media players say they are working) but no sound is coming out. It occasionally works, say 5% of the time.

Then soundtouch_add_zone_slave seems to pause all the other players for me and do nothing like its supposed to. I certainly can’t work out a procedure to create a zone of two and start adding more slaves.

The only thing I can get to work reliably is soundtouch_play_everywhere and then set the volume to 0 on anything I don’t want on. Kind of a kluge!

Sharing any scripts that work would be appreciated.
This is what I have

play_bose:
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.play_media
    data_template:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_stairs
      media_content_id: 6
      media_content_type: PLAYLIST
  - service: media_player.soundtouch_play_everywhere
    data:
      master: media_player.bose_stairs
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_stairs
      volume_level: 0.35
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_lounge
      volume_level: 0.40
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_family_room
      volume_level: 0.30
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_back_deck
      volume_level: 0.00
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_master_bedroom
      volume_level: 0.00

initial_bose_zone:
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.play_media
    data_template:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_stairs
      media_content_id: 6
      media_content_type: PLAYLIST
  - service: media_player.soundtouch_create_zone
    data:
      master: media_player.bose_stairs
      slaves: media_player.bose_lounge
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_stairs
      volume_level: 0.35
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_lounge
      volume_level: 0.40
      
add_family_room_bose:
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.soundtouch_add_zone_slave
    data:
      master: media_player.bose_stairs
      slaves: media_player.bose_family_room
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_family_room
      volume_level: 0.40
  
remove_family_room_bose:
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.soundtouch_remove_zone_slave
    data:
      master: media_player.bose_stairs
      slaves: media_player.bose_family_room
  

stop_bose:
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.turn_off
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_stairs
  - service: media_player.turn_off
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_lounge
  - service: media_player.turn_off
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_family_room
  - service: media_player.turn_off
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_master_bedroom

play_bose: works, its the work-around
initial_bose_zone: works intermittently with two, but is very unreliable with more slaves
add_family_room_bose: starts playing on family room, everything else started with initial_bose_zone pauses

jones · February 3, 2019, 4:14pm

Hey, I also use only soundtouch.play_everywhere. It’s quite sad that there is not real UI for zoning so far. I think the development behind lib soundtouch has stalled. I really love my soundtouch devices but I still have to use Bose’s crappy app for all thing regarding multiroom audio. You should reach out to @CharlesBlonde for anything regardig libsoundtouch. I have requested multiroom state feature in his issue tracker on github but so far nothing has happened. He probably doesn’t have the time.

salzmret · February 5, 2019, 1:25pm

Hi everyone

Does anyone know how to add the new bose speakers? Like the soundbar 700 or homespeaker 500?
I do not mean the soundtouch series. I think bose stopped the soundtouch line…

Would be great if anyone can help me! it would be a distinguished thing because with these new bose speakers alexa would be perfectly implemented to homeassistant.

Hopefuly someone can help me!

jasebob · February 6, 2019, 4:10am

Thanks for the replies.

I only have soundtouch devices - I am not surprised if they are discontinuing, they never got the software right. its a shame because the sound it great after you fumble around the app.

BTW - Does everyone else have trouble with their home-assistant log filling up?

ranunculales · April 27, 2019, 3:14pm

I have four Soundtouch speakers (a 20, and three 10s); by and large they work great. But I have noticed that they have a difficult time staying online/available. I have noticed this in HA as well as in the SoundTouch application. I’ve done some tracking via HA history and dug into my Wireless controller logs (Unifi); I believe the SoundTouch speaker itself is disconnecting itself from the network at various times and therefore being unavailable for HA which generates the log item that it could update said media_player. Then, when the speaker comes back online, seeing that it starts working in HA again.

At the same time that HA says it cannot update a media_player, opening up the SoundTouch App shows the same speaker as “disconnected.” A deep dive in the Bose forums returns results that this is a known bug with the SoundTouch and Bose as ignored cries for a solution for well over a year. This happens to my wired speaker, and the ones on Wireless.

This has led me to believe that it’s a Bose problem, not an HA problem. It’s been an issue so long that I have abandoned any advanced configuration of my Bose speakers in HA beyond the basics. My plan is to just use the App until I can figure out (and afford) replacement with another brand of speaker.

juan11perez · April 27, 2019, 3:26pm

You can resolve the dropping issue by assigning static IPs. I experienced the same problem initially and static IPs fixed it.

Regrettably that’s the only good news. The bose app/system is extremely poor. I regret having bought into the system; the sound quality is what you’ve come to expect from Bose, but the “smartness” is just not there.

The system is years behind Sonos and unfortunately I only learned that after I’d bought them.

Any smart integration into HA requires lots of tinkering and they (bose) just don’t talk to anything else. Plex, etc

Even the amazon Alexa skills are substandard.

ranunculales · April 27, 2019, 3:42pm

Yeah, I assigned IPs and set up the media_player statically (as opposed to auto discovery); I still experience the occasional unavailability issue. My network in general is very stable. I’ve soured on Bose at this point, their software support has been pretty lackluster.

I’m in the same boat as you though; had I known Bose wouldn’t invest as much into a solid solution as SONOS did, I would have gone the SONOS route. How unfortunate… but, first world problems, they work, just not how I want them to with HA.

I’ve followed several of your (@juan11perez) Bose posts, guides and examples and such; thanks for that by the way.

juan11perez · April 27, 2019, 3:48pm

Ok, I see you also use ubiquity so I think not much to improve there. I use AC PRO access points and I don’t have the dropping issue.

ranunculales · April 27, 2019, 4:52pm

I guess I should qualify; the disconnect issue definitely improved and stabilized in HA after I assigned IPs and such. The speakers themselves though still experience disconnects, which leads me to believe the problem is more on Bose than HA.

I’ve got a USG-3, SW-150 and two UAP-AC-PROs with the Unifi controller running on my Intel NUC. Solid as a rock.

jasebob · May 5, 2019, 8:18pm

General agreement on the network reliability of the Bose SoundTouch.
But (IMO) the sound is better. I have 6 systems (went all in before realizing the SW issues) and they fill the house beautifully with sound when they work.

To that end, I have found that the (poorly written) phone apps and the (out of date) HA component are partly to blame for the problems. The speakers themselves contribute but are not 100% responsible.

I have been experimenting with the raw BOSE API, sending it rest commands.
I am having very good success with these little automations

- id: GroupAfterKitchen
  alias: Group after Kitchen
  initial_state: true
  trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: media_player.bose_kitchen
    from: 'off'
    to: 'playing'
  action:
  - service: rest_command.bose_add_stairs
  - service: rest_command.bose_add_lounge
  - service: rest_command.bose_add_family_room

So I use the HA Component here to detect when the speaker starts playing. This seems to be reliable for me.

and then I use these rest commands as the actions.

rest_command:
  bose_add_stairs:
    method: POST
    url:  http://192.168.2.180:8090/setZone
    payload: '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?><zone master="000C8AC06D11"><member ipaddress="192.168.2.182">A81B6A53F41B</member></zone>'
  bose_add_lounge:
    method: POST
    url:  http://192.168.2.180:8090/setZone
    payload: '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?><zone master="000C8AC06D11"><member ipaddress="192.168.2.181">08DF1F0DC6E0</member></zone>'
  bose_add_family_room:
    method: POST
    url:  http://192.168.2.180:8090/setZone
    payload: '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?><zone master="000C8AC06D11"><member ipaddress="192.168.2.183">B0D5CCD8F1C5</member></zone>'
  bose_add_back_deck:
    method: POST
    url:  http://192.168.2.180:8090/setZone
    payload: '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?><zone master="000C8AC06D11"><member ipaddress="192.168.2.186">EC24B8E5CF0E</member></zone>'
  bose_add_master_bedroom:
    method: POST
    url:  http://192.168.2.180:8090/setZone
    payload: '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?><zone master="000C8AC06D11"><member ipaddress="192.168.2.185">F45EAB5367D7</member></zone>'

I created the payload by using Postman and playing with the API reference
https://developer.bose.com/guides/bose-soundtouch-api/bose-soundtouch-api-reference

Basically, make a zone with the phone app, then call getZone with Postman to get the strings you need for the rest_command payloads.

So now all I need to do is turn on the Kitchen Bose, best done with the remote / push buttons on the unit and then a few seconds latter the other speakers join the zone. And its reliable! The only unreliability is when HA does not see the state change of the speaker. This has only happened once over the past month for me (I use it every day) and rebooting the speaker fixed this.
(I plan to look into using rest_commands to reboot the speakers every night)

I have a similar automation on the Lounge Bose, but it creates a slightly different speaker grouping. And I exposed the “add_back_deck” rest_command to an Alexa routine so I can say “Alexa, add back deck”.

At the moment this is a messy cut and paste implementation because “zone_master” is hard coded into the rest commands. I need to template that so its more elegant. I’ll post it back here when I get around to it.

vandura231 · May 7, 2019, 8:07pm

Nice work! I’m not using zones yet. For now I would be happy if I could select a preset in a decent way in lovelace. I used the code of Juan perrez but it stopped working so I gave up for a while. But the sound is great.

jasebob · May 12, 2019, 5:51pm

Hmm, I am not doing anything special to get the presets to work.

input_select:
  bose_preset:
    name: Bose Preset
    options:
      - None
      - Preset 1
      - Preset 2
      - Preset 3
      - Preset 4
      - Preset 5
      - Preset 6
      
  bose_master:
    name: Bose Group Master
    options:
      - None
      - Kitchen
      - Lounge

Then these automations

- id: BoseStart
  alias: Start Bose
  initial_state: true
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: input_select.bose_preset
  condition:
    condition: template
    value_template: '{{ states.input_select.bose_preset.state != ''None'' }}'
  action:
    service: script.play_bose
- id: BoseStop
  alias: Stop Bose
  initial_state: true
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: input_select.bose_preset
    to: None
  action:
    service: script.stop_bose

and these scripts which just use the soundtouch component.
If you only have one master you could hard code the play_bose script and it would simplify to the point where you could just do it directly in the automation

play_bose:
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.play_media
    data_template: 
      entity_id: >
        {% if is_state('input_select.bose_master','Kitchen') %}
           media_player.bose_kitchen
        {% elif is_state('input_select.bose_master','Lounge') %}
           media_player.bose_lounge
        {% else %}
           media_player.bose_kitchen
        {% endif %}
      media_content_id: >
        {% if is_state("input_select.bose_preset", "Preset 1") %} 1
        {% elif is_state("input_select.bose_preset", "Preset 2") %} 2
        {% elif is_state("input_select.bose_preset", "Preset 3") %} 3
        {% elif is_state("input_select.bose_preset", "Preset 4") %} 4
        {% elif is_state("input_select.bose_preset", "Preset 5") %} 5
        {% elif is_state("input_select.bose_preset", "Preset 6") %} 6
        {% endif %}
      media_content_type: >
        PLAYLIST       

stop_bose:
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.turn_off
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_kitchen
  - service: media_player.turn_off
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_stairs
  - service: media_player.turn_off
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_lounge
  - service: media_player.turn_off
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_family_room
  - service: media_player.turn_off
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_master_bedroom
  - service: media_player.turn_off
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.bose_back_deck

vandura231 · May 16, 2019, 7:01pm

Thx for sharing your configuration, I will test it out as soon as I can.

Reedstrr · June 14, 2020, 1:01am

This is brilliant! Thanks for the tip. Works like a charm!

Hielke_Haan · August 29, 2020, 4:12pm

Dear Salzmret,

more than a year later there is still no answer for this issue.
did you perhaps find a solution?

vandura231 · August 30, 2020, 6:52am

I have a working setup, my system is SoundTouch compatible
I’m using the Mini media player
zones, presets all working now.

mathea · February 26, 2022, 3:43pm

Hi guys, cheers for your great job done!

I do try to create zones with my Bose soundtouch speakers:

1x SoundTouch 20
2x SoundTouch 10
1x Soundtouch WiFi adapter

I struggle to get any zones / master / slaves setup.

Can anyone share your working configuration, so I can use that to work with mine?
@jasebob do you still use soundtouch system?

THanks

jasebob · February 28, 2022, 7:01am

Hello

Yes I still use but they are frustrating.

Here are some automation and scripts, they go with a input number helper. I try an mostly make this automatic, so when I hit the preset button in the kitchen it groups up automatically and sets the volume based on the time of day. I also use mini media player card which also works.

hope this helps

- id: '1613851664071'
  alias: Bose Create Kitchen Zone
  description: When kitchen starts playing, create a zone and start kitchen bar
  trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
    to: playing
  condition: []
  action:
  - service: soundtouch.create_zone
    data:
      master: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
      slaves: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen_bar
  - choose:
    - conditions:
      - condition: time
        before: 08:00:00
      sequence:
      - service: input_number.set_value
        data:
          value: 1
        entity_id: input_number.group_volume
    - conditions:
      - condition: time
        after: '20:00:00'
      sequence:
      - service: input_number.set_value
        data:
          value: 2
        entity_id: input_number.group_volume
    default:
    - service: input_number.set_value
      data:
        value: 3
      entity_id: input_number.group_volume
  mode: single
- id: '1615149883467'
  alias: 'Bose Group Lounge '
  description: Add Lounge to playing group after kitchen bar starts
  trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen_bar
    to: playing
  condition:
  - condition: state
    entity_id: media_player.samsung_q80_series_65
    state: 'off'
  action:
  - service: soundtouch.add_zone_slave
    data:
      master: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
      slaves: media_player.soundtouch_lounge
  mode: single
- id: '1615492950024'
  alias: Bose Volume Scripts
  description: ''
  trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: input_number.group_volume
  condition: []
  action:
  - choose:
    - conditions:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: input_number.group_volume
        state: '1.0'
      sequence:
      - service: script.soundtouch_volume_low
        data: {}
    - conditions:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: input_number.group_volume
        state: '2.0'
      sequence:
      - service: script.soundtouch_volume_medium_low
        data: {}
    - conditions:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: input_number.group_volume
        state: '3.0'
      sequence:
      - service: script.soundtouch_volume_medium
        data: {}
    - conditions:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: input_number.group_volume
        state: '4.0'
      sequence:
      - service: script.soundtouch_volume_medium_high
        data: {}
    - conditions:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: input_number.group_volume
        state: '5.0'
      sequence:
      - service: script.soundtouch_volume_high
        data: {}
    default: []
  mode: single

and scripts

soundtouch_volume_low:
  alias: Bose Volume Low
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
      volume_level: 0.15
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen_bar
      volume_level: 0.22
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_lounge
      volume_level: 0.2
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_master_bed
      volume_level: 0.15
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_office
      volume_level: 0.2
  mode: single
soundtouch_volume_medium_low:
  alias: Bose Volume Medium-Low
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
      volume_level: 0.2
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen_bar
      volume_level: 0.3
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_lounge
      volume_level: 0.25
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_master_bed
      volume_level: 0.2
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_office
      volume_level: 0.3
  mode: single
soundtouch_volume_medium:
  alias: Bose Volume Medium
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
      volume_level: 0.25
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen_bar
      volume_level: 0.4
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_lounge
      volume_level: 0.3
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_master_bed
      volume_level: 0.25
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_office
      volume_level: 0.3
  mode: single
soundtouch_volume_medium_high:
  alias: Bose Voume Medium-High
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
      volume_level: 0.3
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen_bar
      volume_level: 0.45
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_lounge
      volume_level: 0.35
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_master_bed
      volume_level: 0.3
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_office
      volume_level: 0.35
  mode: single
soundtouch_volume_high:
  alias: Bose Volume High
  sequence:
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
      volume_level: 0.45
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen_bar
      volume_level: 0.7
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_lounge
      volume_level: 0.5
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_master_bed
      volume_level: 0.45
  - service: media_player.volume_set
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_office
      volume_level: 0.5
  mode: single

mathea · March 5, 2022, 11:59am

Thanks jasebob!

I started to use the mini media player now, it appears it may help me to get my soundtouch system to the some better functionality than Bose App on my iOS.

Unfortunatley the grouping (zones) gives the error as:

Failed to call service soundtouch/CREATE_ZONE. Unable to find service soundtouch.create_zone

any idea? I could not find any instruction in the documentation.

jasebob · March 5, 2022, 12:32pm

Make sure you use the platform option, you will need to edit in yaml
Soundtouch is a bit silly with its API, it makes you call create_zone to combine the first two speakers, then add_zone after that.

Here is the code from my screenshot, its moderately complex using template-card as well as mini-media player. But it should help.

type: entities
entities:
  - type: custom:config-template-card
    entities:
      - media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
    name: Templated SoundTouch
    card:
      type: custom:mini-media-player
      entity: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
      name: Kitchen Group
      artwork: full-cover
      group: true
      info: scroll
      hide:
        power: true
        volume: true
        source: true
      speaker_group:
        platform: soundtouch
        show_group_count: true
        entities:
          - entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
            name: Kitchen
          - entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen_bar
            name: Kitchen Bar
          - entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_lounge
            name: Lounge
          - entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_master_bed
            name: Master Bed
          - entity_id: media_player.soundtouch_office
            name: Office
      shortcuts:
        align_text: left
        columns: 2
        buttons:
          - icon: mdi:numeric-1-box
            id: 1
            type: playlist
          - icon: mdi:numeric-2-box
            id: 2
            type: playlist
          - icon: mdi:numeric-3-box
            id: 3
            type: playlist
          - icon: mdi:numeric-4-box
            id: 4
            type: playlist
          - icon: mdi:numeric-5-box
            id: 5
            type: playlist
          - icon: mdi:numeric-6-box
            id: 6
            type: playlist
  - entity: input_number.group_volume
    name: Volume Preset
  - type: divider
  - type: custom:mini-media-player
    entity: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
    name: Kitchen
    group: true
    hide:
      controls: true
      info: true
      source: true
  - type: custom:mini-media-player
    entity: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen_bar
    name: Kitchen Bar
    group: true
    hide:
      controls: true
      info: true
      source: true
    tap_action:
      action: call-service
      service: soundtouch.add_zone_slave
      service_data:
        master: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
        slaves: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen_bar
  - type: custom:mini-media-player
    entity: media_player.soundtouch_lounge
    name: Lounge
    group: true
    hide:
      controls: true
      info: true
      source: true
    tap_action:
      action: call-service
      service: soundtouch.add_zone_slave
      service_data:
        master: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
        slaves: media_player.soundtouch_lounge
  - type: custom:mini-media-player
    entity: media_player.soundtouch_master_bed
    name: Master Bed
    group: true
    hide:
      controls: true
      info: true
      source: true
    tap_action:
      action: call-service
      service: soundtouch.add_zone_slave
      service_data:
        master: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
        slaves: media_player.soundtouch_master_bed
  - type: custom:mini-media-player
    entity: media_player.soundtouch_office
    name: Office (L)
    group: true
    hide:
      controls: true
      info: true
      source: true
    tap_action:
      action: call-service
      service: soundtouch.add_zone_slave
      service_data:
        master: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
        slaves: media_player.soundtouch_office
  - type: custom:mini-media-player
    entity: media_player.soundtouch_office_r
    name: Office (R)
    group: true
    hide:
      controls: true
      info: true
      source: true
    tap_action:
      action: call-service
      service: soundtouch.add_zone_slave
      service_data:
        master: media_player.soundtouch_kitchen
        slaves: media_player.soundtouch_office
  - type: divider
  - entity: automation.create_kitchen_bose_zone
    name: Auto Group Kitchen
  - entity: automation.group_lounge_bose
    name: Auto Group Lounge