I use a Teufel Cinebar One soundbar as the speaker for my Windows PC, which runs in a Proxmox virtual machine. This setup allows me to integrate it with Home Assistant using the Proxmox HACS integration for automation. If you are running a normal bare metal Windows PC you can simply use the ping service or something like the HASS-agent.
The issue is that the soundbar automatically goes into standby mode when no audio is played, and unfortunately, this feature cannot be disabled. My workaround is to use a Zigbee IR blaster that has learned a remote command (I use a random bass EQ setting that doesn’t affect the sound), which is sent every 14 minutes. This is the only reliable way I’ve found to prevent the soundbar from going into standby, as methods that play inaudible sounds don’t work with this model.
While I was setting this up, I also created an automation that powers on the soundbar when the Windows VM starts, so I rarely need to use the physical remote anymore.
To make the solution more robust, I added a trigger for when Home Assistant restarts, so the automation loop (based on a while true) continues running even after a reboot.
alias: Teufel IR Blaster
description: >-
Turns on Teufel Cinebar One at OS (Proxmox VM) startup and keeps it from going
into standby as long the VM is running. Another trigger makes sure that the
while true loop continues if HomeAssistant is restarted.
triggers:
- type: running
device_id: 74d33f8ed5a70d11a8aee6e470555742
entity_id: a0cb8ac10cfb2d66dd5a132f06d19db7
domain: binary_sensor
trigger: device
id: win-started
- trigger: homeassistant
event: start
id: ha-start
conditions: []
actions:
- if:
- condition: trigger
id:
- win-started
then:
- action: mqtt.publish
data:
evaluate_payload: false
qos: "0"
retain: false
topic: zigbee2mqtt/AZ_IRBlaster/set
payload: >-
{"ir_code_to_send":
"BVkjlhE5AkABA4UGOQLgDwHAG0AH4A8DQAHgAxvgBwFAG+ADAQuFBjkChQY5AoUGOQI="}
alias: Turn on when VM has started
- alias: >-
Initialize keep awake loop when VM started or HA is restarted while VM is
running
if:
- condition: or
conditions:
- condition: and
conditions:
- condition: trigger
id:
- ha-start
- type: is_running
condition: device
device_id: 74d33f8ed5a70d11a8aee6e470555742
entity_id: a0cb8ac10cfb2d66dd5a132f06d19db7
domain: binary_sensor
alias: Continue loop even after HA restart
- condition: trigger
id:
- win-started
then:
- delay:
hours: 0
minutes: 0
seconds: 10
milliseconds: 0
- repeat:
sequence:
- action: mqtt.publish
data:
evaluate_payload: false
qos: "0"
retain: false
topic: zigbee2mqtt/AZ_IRBlaster/set
payload: >-
{"ir_code_to_send":
"BU8jlhE5AkABA4UGOQLgDwHAG0AH4BcDQAFAI+APAcAbQAfAAwcWnE8jxgg5Ag=="}
alias: Trigger bass eq button to keep speaker awake
- delay:
hours: 0
minutes: 14
seconds: 0
milliseconds: 0
while:
- type: is_running
condition: device
device_id: 74d33f8ed5a70d11a8aee6e470555742
entity_id: a0cb8ac10cfb2d66dd5a132f06d19db7
domain: binary_sensor
enabled: true
mode: restart
Edit 1: changed mode to restart because vm start trigger is used twice.
Edit 2: added descriptions