Device isn't responding to ping switch Wemo off and on

Configuration
1
  • action:
  • condition: state
    entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
    state: ‘off’
  • service: switch.turn_off
    entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
  • delay: 00:00:10
  • condition: state
    entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
    state: ‘on’
  • service: switch.turn_on
    entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
  • delay: 00:01:00
    alias: Pi2 dead turn Wemo Off and On
    condition: []
    id: ‘1504685086753’
    trigger:
  • entity_id: device_tracker.pi2
    from: home
    platform: state
    to: not_home

I can’t figure out where it goes wrong. It detects it’s down and triggers but doesn’t switch the WeMo on and off.

2

Can you make sure you use code blocks and syntax highlighting when pasting your code?
From what you posted I can’t figure out how many automations and how you built them

3

ha.yaml (492 Bytes)

Sorry, I tried but this editor isn’t the greatest. It’s the only automation there so far. See attached.

4

no worries.
Your automation isn’t built in the right order.
automations need to be structured into:

  • Trigger: what you need to monitor
  • Conditions (optional)
  • action: what you want done.

example:

automation:
  - alias: Check sensor value and show notification
    trigger:
      platform: numeric_state
      entity_id: sensor.random_sensor
      above: 10
    action:
      service: persistent_notification.create
      data:
        message: "Sensor value greater than 10"

in your example try something like that:

automation_check_if_pi2_unavailable_and_reboot:
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: device_tracker.pi2
    # unless you want to track multiple states, you don't need both from and to, one should suffice
    from: home
    to: not_home
  action:
    service: switch.turn_off
    entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
    delay: 00:00:10
    service: switch.turn_off
    entity_id: switch.wemo_switch

I’m not sure how you set your tracker for your Pi2, but I personally use the ping command. My device is listed as a binary sensor like this:

binary_sensor:
  - platform: ping
    host: 192.168.0.2
    name: Pi2

then the automation trigger is replaced with:

    - platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.pi2
      to: 'off'
5

Thanks for your help!

Below is what worked for me in the end. As soon as I moved that action block to the bottom it stopped working. Had to ssh to HA and delete the code out of automation.yaml.

I tried your block and it gave me this:
2017-09-08 20:29:28 ERROR (SyncWorker_0) [homeassistant.util.yaml] while parsing a block mapping
in “/config/automations.yaml”, line 3, column 5
expected , but found ‘-’
in “/config/automations.yaml”, line 4, column 5

- action:
  - service: switch.turn_off
    entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
  - delay: 00:00:10
  - service: switch.turn_on
    entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
  alias: Pi2 dead turn Wemo Off and On
  condition: []
  id: '1504685086753'
  trigger:
  - entity_id: device_tracker.pi2
    from: home
    platform: state
    to: not_home
6

It’s probably your copy and paste here but action comes after trigger. Cut an paste the code you have into the text box here and then highlight it with </>. It’s hard to tell you what’s wrong the way it’s pasted here.

7

Hey matust. That is exactly the way it is in automation.yaml. If I move the action after the trigger it doesn’t work. (no idea why)

8

try this. Also check wether you want it to turn on or off first

- alias: automation_check_if_pi2_unavailable_and_reboot:
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: device_tracker.pi2
    # unless you want to track multiple states, you don't need both from and to, one should suffice
    from: 'home'
    to: 'not_home'
  action:
    - service: switch.turn_off
      entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
    - delay: '00:00:10'
    - service: switch.turn_on
      entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
9 
core-ssh:/config# hassio homeassistant check
Success homeassistant/check
core-ssh:/config# cp automations.yaml automations.yaml.working
core-ssh:/config# vim automations.yaml
core-ssh:/config# hassio homeassistant check
Error on homeassistant/check: starting version 3.2.2
Testing configuration at /config
2017-09-09 11:36:24 ERROR (MainThread) [homeassistant.bootstrap] Unable to setup error log /config/home-assistant.log (access denied)
2017-09-09 11:36:24 ERROR (SyncWorker_0) [homeassistant.util.yaml] mapping values are not allowed here
  in "/config/automations.yaml", line 1, column 56
2017-09-09 11:36:24 ERROR (MainThread) [homeassistant.bootstrap] Error loading /config/configuration.yaml: mapping values are not allowed here
  in "/config/automations.yaml", line 1, column 56
core-ssh:/config# cat automations.yaml
- alias: automation_check_if_pi2_unavailable_and_reboot:
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: device_tracker.pi2
    # unless you want to track multiple states, you don't need both from and to, one should suffice
    from: 'home'
    to: 'not_home'
  action:
    - service: switch.turn_off
      entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
    - delay: '00:00:10'
    - service: switch.turn_on
      entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
core-ssh:/config# cat automations.yaml.working 
- action:
  - service: switch.turn_off
    entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
  - delay: 00:00:10
  - service: switch.turn_on
    entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
  alias: Pi2 dead turn Wemo Off and On
  condition: []
  id: '1504685086753'
  trigger:
  - entity_id: device_tracker.pi2
    from: home
    platform: state
    to: not_home
core-ssh:/config#
10

Just replying to myself as I didn’t want to ruin the pre-formatted text. Don’t know why your doesn’t work and mine does. Happy to keep trying stuff :slight_smile:

11

Are you using the automation editor?

12

I created it initially with that. Now I’m just using VIM + SSH

13

Do you have any other automations? I haven’t used the automations editor or VIM+SSH. I edit my YAML files with notepad++ and winscp. This should be quite a simple automation so I have no idea why it’s not working for you. If you don’t have any other automations could try trouble shoot with a simple automation like this as a test

#turn on wemo insight if turned off
- alias: 'Turn on wemo insight'
  initial_state: 'on'
  trigger:
    platform: state
    entity_id: switch.wemo_switch
    from: 'on'
    to: 'off'
  action:
    - service: switch.turn_on
      entity_id: switch.wemo_switch

This should turn your switch on when you turn it off (it’s pretty much a copy and paste from automation I use)