I would love to use the same command inside my Alexa system for switching channels like I do for turning on TV.
At the moment, I say through Alexa routines “Alexa, Channel 1” and Alexa will switch to HDMI1. But if the TV is not powered on I have to say “Alexa, turn on TV” beforehand. Would be cool to have it all combined without the need of saying something extra (goal: “Alexa, Channel 1” powers on the TV and then switches to HDMI1 if the TV wasn’t powered on).
I am using emulated hue switches in my Alexa routines.
My scripts use the Logitech Harmony Hub and they send commands rather than starting activities. I stayed away from the Harmony activities because they don’t work well if I accidentally turned off the TV with the real remote (so it is still “on” inside the Harmony activities and can’t “turn on twice”).
So I need a way to
make an appropriate if-condition in this
find a way to let HASS check if my TV is on [Samsung Smart TV].
Do what anyone with a Harmony should do and lock the device remotes away and then use Activities properly
I check my TVs status by detecting when it joins or leaves the network but mine is one of the last few that has a proper power button and that may not work with the now normal always on standby type.
The esp8266 connected to the TV usb port is flashed with esp easy I just use it to connect to my wifi and use ping sensor in Hass since I cant figure out a better outcome for him
Before having the esp connected to the TV, I used Kodi to update the status, since we use Kodi to watch television 99% of the times Kodi is off or idling for long time the TV is off or nobody watching it, my Kodi’s are installed in Android box and running 24/7 so I had automations looking for Kodi status change to update the TV.
But I find the ping sensor much more accurate.