Echo Devices (Alexa) as Media Player - Testers Needed

Stumbled my way through this forum. Finally got the captcha working on the main page. First time I try to use it, I dont get a picture, like some earlier in here. I just put some answer down and second try usually gets a captcha to see.

Now, after multiple time of trying, i cant seem to get past that.

I just get the half box afterwards. Anything I’m missing?

I’ve got a more general question: maybe I am overlooking something, but is having your amazon password in cleartext in your config file a good idea?

I know abot two factor auth, but will this heal this?

No this is a bad idea! Please read the docs on secrets.

storing it in secrets doesnt change anything.
thats still a plain text file.

the only difference it that you can share your configuration without modifying it.
if you never share your config the secrets file is rather useless.

but your config should not be exposed in any way normally. the plain text risk comes only up when you start reading your configfile outside your own network, or when you open up your network so that the file can be reached.

Forgot to mention, that I already use the secrets.yaml file. Nonetheless: a hacked Home Assistant setup would disclose your amazon password.
@ReneTode was faster :wink:

I have the same problem. Had this running for months and one day got the captcha back and have since been in the dreaded endless captcha loop. I gave up on it and removed it from config file and periodically check the forum for an update as that fixed it for me once.

A solution would be very much appreciated as I miss the add on greatly, also many of my scripts and automations just don’t work without it.

Hello, I use this for a few things - dinner time announcement and doors left open, and haven’t noticed any trouble with it. However my logs are filled with warnings. I ignore them - expected?

Update of media_player.living_room_dot is taking over 10 seconds

Thanks!

Hello guys,

for me this works pretty well but only a few hours… After this time ha get’s no updates from my alexa devices. (no volumes, no playing titles).

When I reboot my ha, it’s working again without a captcha.

Any fix ?

Thanks!

I know you said you now do things differently but is it possible to post the config for how you did this (without using Node-Red)?

I’ve also noticed that too! Can be days before it stops working, but at some point it definitely stops and needs a restart.

@msauto @treaddy

Here is a link to a google doc that has the node red sequence that is above.

Node Red Sequence

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It involves setting up a sensor called last_alexa. The sensor will contain the name of the last echo that you used. Here is the link to how to do it:

Alexa_remote_control.sh for hassio

Its a bit of pain to get it working but the value of being able to refer back to the echo you last spoke to, is invaluable.

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You’re an absolute champ, thanks very much mate.

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Feeling really stupid about now. I have been trying to get this to work for a couple of hours and I get no response of any sorts from HASSIO that even resembles that I have added anything. I created the alexa.py file in the media_folder and copied the version 0.9.5 information into that file then added the media_player information into the configuration file without using quotes. Got no errors but also have no Alexa still. Am I missing something pretty obvious?

I’m not sure why, but mine did that also. It just seemed like a couple of full reboots got mine going. Tho, I’m stuck at the captcha part now…

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What version of the file are you using? The message you’re getting is from an older version before we made substantial improvements to the configuration. The latest version is VERSION 0.9.5.

@lessmann
Please make sure the alexa_media.pickle is deleted. If you enable debugging logs for alexa_media_player it should give you more information on where your login fails. It probably is a 2 factor authentication issue. If you do pull logs, you can message me directly with a private gist to store your logs (scrub password/email) and I can try to help.

I knew it was something that I over looked. I had ver .7 not .95. I just tried installing this couple days ago. Not sure how I got older version.

Thank you! Seems to be working not

One more question mate, what part of the flow sets what you can ask Alexa? Meaning the “Is the garage door open?” question. Or is that defined somewhere else? Cheers.

Another question, what do I need to set

Tts:
-platform:

Right now it’s set to google. Alexa doesn’t like that. Lol

if i understand correct the questions are set inside the alexa app in the section routines.

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