Spotcast - custom component to start playback on an idle chromecast device

fondberg · May 1, 2019, 6:14pm

In short the answer is that the only way to start spotify on a chromecast device is through this component nowadays. I’m on my phone so I will not detail it but it has to do with the token for the spotify media component is not powerful enough to start the app on chromecast.

phairplay · May 1, 2019, 9:13pm

sorry to be dumb, but could you please share a working script example?

i have your component working and it sees all my cast devices

fondberg · May 2, 2019, 8:21am

See Spotcast - custom component to start playback on an idle chromecast device

phairplay · May 2, 2019, 9:29am

I tried this

play_song:
  alias: 'Play a Spotify track on Chromecast'
  sequence:
   - service: spotcast.start
     data:
     device_name: 'Master Bedroom Speaker'
     uri: 'spotify:track:6xFXusME7FMMyMkPrIv2WJ'

yet checking config kicks up an error

fondberg · May 2, 2019, 12:45pm

You need to check the log for what error it is. I suspect that it is one of the following:

You have not installed spotcast correctly. Check in devtools-> dev-service if spotcast.start is listed as a service.
‘Master Bedroom Speaker’ is not an exact match for the chromecast device. Check the sensor.chromecast_devices for what devices are available
Your spotify username and or password is incorrect. These should be the same as when you login on https://open.spotify.com
You don’t have a premium subscription

phairplay · May 2, 2019, 1:10pm

1, Yes spotcast.start does appear in the dev tool list
2, ‘Master Bedroom Speaker’ was lifted straight from the devices_json:
3, it is correct because the sensor it populated with the list of devices
4, yes I do have a premium account

Capture

using the above I posted as a script I get the following error

Invalid config for [script]: expected dict for dictionary value @ data['script']['play_song']['sequence'][0]['data']. Got None
extra keys not allowed @ data['script']['play_song']['sequence'][0]['device_name']. Got 'Master Bedroom Speaker'
extra keys not allowed @ data['script']['play_song']['sequence'][0]['uri']. Got 'spotify:track:6xFXusME7FMMyMkPrIv2WJ'. (See /config/configuration.yaml, line 176). Please check the docs at https://home-assistant.io/components/script/

Emphyrio · May 2, 2019, 1:26pm

You need two extra spaces in front of the last 2 lines of your script. It is an indentation problem.

wrenchse · May 2, 2019, 1:26pm

Amazing! Haven’t been able to try it yet but it seems my two days foray of setting up and MPD instance and Icecast server simply to start playlists in spotify (which I have used a total of 2 times) was completely in vain!

fondberg · May 2, 2019, 1:29pm

Great! On a side note I am checking with core devs who owns media_player.py because I think these should merge. There is one problem in that the official spotify component in HA used normal clientId and client-secret from spotify dev site which is not powerful enough to initiate playback on chromecast devices (hence this small component).

If I am to take over maintenance of that I would be greatful if someone else would join me

phairplay · May 2, 2019, 2:13pm

you’re kidding me!
I fell foul of the blooming indentation ahhhh!
many thanks

@fondberg thank you for trying to help with my clear stupidity

it does work yet as already mentioned HA doesn’t detect that the google device is playing anything

capstan1 · May 2, 2019, 2:46pm

I also got some, probably silly error:

2019-05-02 16:35:00 ERROR (MainThread) [homeassistant.core] Error executing service <ServiceCall script.spotify2 (c:c1e75e9bf17d45d398378972b6daa38f)>
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/homeassistant/core.py", line 1147, in _safe_execute
    await self._execute_service(handler, service_call)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/homeassistant/core.py", line 1160, in _execute_service
    await handler.func(service_call)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/homeassistant/components/script/__init__.py", line 116, in service_handler
    context=service.context)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/homeassistant/components/script/__init__.py", line 174, in async_turn_on
    kwargs.get(ATTR_VARIABLES), context)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/homeassistant/helpers/script.py", line 131, in async_run
    await self._handle_action(action, variables, context)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/homeassistant/helpers/script.py", line 210, in _handle_action
    action, variables, context)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/homeassistant/helpers/script.py", line 299, in _async_call_service
    context=context
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/homeassistant/helpers/service.py", line 88, in async_call_from_config
    domain, service_name, service_data, blocking=blocking, context=context)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/homeassistant/core.py", line 1138, in async_call
    self._execute_service(handler, service_call))
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/site-packages/homeassistant/core.py", line 1162, in _execute_service
    await self._hass.async_add_executor_job(handler.func, service_call)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.7/concurrent/futures/thread.py", line 57, in run
    result = self.fn(*self.args, **self.kwargs)
  File "/config/custom_components/spotcast/__init__.py", line 73, in start_casting
    access_token, expires = get_spotify_token(username=username, password=password)
  File "/config/custom_components/spotcast/__init__.py", line 43, in get_spotify_token
    import spotify_token as st
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'spotify_token'

1, spotcast.start does appear in the dev tool list
2, ‘Wohnzimmer’ is a name used in chromecast.sensor:
3, the sensor it populated with the list of devices (does this mean my spotify credentials are correct?
4, yes I do have a premium account

My configuration.yaml:

spotcast:
  username: [email protected]
  password: hidden

My script:

(Please don’t ask me, why sometimes I cannot post here with proper intendation, hence the screenshot)

Sorry for these beginner questions! Thank you for providing this great component!

phairplay · May 2, 2019, 3:01pm

you need one more indent from - service down

spotify:
  alias: 'Spotify'
  sequence:
   - service: spotcast.start
     data:
       device_name: 'Wohnzimmer'
       uri: 'spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DX3yvAYDslnv8'

capstan1 · May 2, 2019, 3:07pm

Thanks for your reply!
Added the indents, but still getting the same error.

Emphyrio · May 2, 2019, 3:07pm

The ModuleNotfound error disappeared for me after an extra restart of HA.

phairplay · May 2, 2019, 3:08pm

@fondberg
looking at the media_player on Github there seems to be two contributors cgtobi & balloob

capstan1 · May 2, 2019, 4:01pm

I restarted several times now, but still getting the same errors.

JBS · May 2, 2019, 4:27pm

Succesfully added the custom component but when try to play something with the following service, I get the error below.

{
“device_name” : “Google Home Speelkamer”,
“uri” : “spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DX3yvAYDslnv8”
}

No module named ‘spotify_token’
18:21 custom_components/spotcast/init.py (ERROR) - message first occured at 18:16 and shows up 3 times

dwinnn · May 2, 2019, 4:28pm

awesome work man. I like your Spotify card and now this. I’ll start testing it soon and let you know of any issues.

fondberg · May 2, 2019, 4:45pm

Which version of HA are you running? I think my component requires 0.92 because the dependencies changed in that release to be specified in a manifest instead of in the python file.

If you are running 0.92 I would look in the logs for any errors importing spotify_token

@capstan1 ^^ you should also follow this

JBS · May 2, 2019, 4:46pm

0.91.4. Will try again after an upgrade to 0.92