Couple of Questions about HA and MA

Configuration
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I have a couple of questions mostly about HA, but also MA.

I do not currently have either an HA or MA server. However I am hoping both are better options then I currently have

First HA

  1. Will HA allow turning off (or turning on devices) regardless of whether Internet is up?
  2. Is there an option that smart plugs, switches etc. default to their last state. IE if they were on before a power failure when power is restored they come back one, if they were off they remain off
  3. I have both Alexa and Google assistants. Does HA have better options for creating routines than either Alexa or Google? For example I have a switch controlling driveway lights that come on in the morning at 5 am and off at sunrise, on again at sunset and off at 12 am. with Alexa his takes four routines. Is it possible to take that down to two. I would much rather have an option where one routine would turn the lights on at 5 am OR Sunset, then a second to turn them off at sunrise OR 12 am. One routine to turn them off or on at the appropriate time would be even better
  4. Is it possible to run a routine on every weekday, unless any particular weekday is any one of a list of holidays? Is it possible to select which holidays the routine runs or not?

For my questions pertaining to devices, most if not all of my devices are Gosund or at least use the Go Smart APP. I realize that chances are that these device doing what I mention above aren’t possible. What brand will allow what I mentioned

For MA

  1. Will MA reach out to what ever server and retrieve the media data for each song, album and / or artists?
  2. I realize MA has a streaming option, however is their any option to copy all of a music library to mobile phone?

For both is it possible to run both from the same system or is it advisable to run them on separate systems. I will most likely run them from a Lenovo Tiny PC, the only question is if I need one or two.

I have 25+ years experience in IT. However IoT is not one of my strengths, I am sure at least not as strong as some of the people in this community.

Thank you for the time of all who take the time to read my post and respond!

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Ok, I’ll step into it… What is “MA”? Use your words.

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HA Questions:

  1. As long as the devices in question do not require cloud connection.

  2. Yes, if the device has that ability built in. It would be possible to have an automation that turns devices back on following a restart, but there isn’t any direct, built-in method to retrieve the previous states.

  3. I can’t speak for Google Home, but definitely “Yes” in regards to Alexa routines. What you have described can easily be put into 1 automation (or 2 if that’s what you prefer).

  4. Yes, there are multiple ways to do that including using a calendar, or the workday sensor integration or a number of other ways.

  5. You may be able to continue using your Gosund devices by using the custom integration Tuya Local.

MA Questions:

  1. Files must contain proper ID3 tag information. If your files are untagged, or you are not sure whether they are tagged, you can use MusicBrainz to scan and tag them.
  2. I don’t know, but my guess would be probably not. I’ve read the MA docs pretty extensively and I don’t remember any mention of that functionality.

You probably only need 1, but it’s really going to depend on how extreme your HA instance is. I run HA OS on a Dell mini PC (6th gen i5) and use the Music Assistant add-on without any issues.

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HA:

  1. Yes if the device does not depend on cloud.
  2. Varies from device to device. Some do some don’t. ESPHome based devices can have this feature to remember state programmed.
  3. Yes automations and scripts are better in HA and they can be triggered by Alexa and Google too.
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More MA info:
Music assistant
The people that are watching that thread are all either interested. users of, or authors of Music Assistant.
They are likely your best resource.
Also there is a Discord: Music Assistant

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MA = Music Assistant

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MA is not meant for this I don’t believe

It purpose is to serve as home music server.
Multi room - control and listen from anywhere
Multi source - get from any source
Multi device - send to any device

It’s not like plex or Jellyfin but can serve your local files in same since but it is much more

It is to music what home assistant is to IOT, pulling all the music ecosystems, devices and providers into a single place to be controlled.

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To be clear, HA can not change the behaviour of the device, only correct it after it after the device has executed it.

If the device is set to turn on after a power outage, then it will turn on and HA can do nothing about that, because the device will at that time not be connected to HA yet.
Once the device is connected to HA then HA can turn it off again.

It is the device itself that needs to have a configuration for this behavior. HA can not help here.