WTH Why is it so difficult to setup Torque (OBDII) in HA?

Archive Month of "What the heck?!" 2022
1

I tried to setup the Torque (OBDII) integration in HA, but never got it to work. Even workarounds on Youtube with an extra Android app (Automate) doesn’t work.
Could this be made easier to setup?

2

try using the torque intent system with the companion app

https://wiki.torque-bhp.com/view/PluginDocumentation

Either register for events using the last update sensor or control the app using command_activity or command_broadcast_intent

3

Thanks for your reply. Still doesn’t seem easy to me to setup, but I’ll have a look at it

4

yeah… intents is not easy for us users @dshokouhi
this was the same suggestion you gave me in github, over a year ago.
i never was able to get it working.
please write a tutorial, or add the simple fix posted in github and the bottom of this post

also

I HAVE AN EASY FIX

home assistant companion app.
have it search local storage for logs in the torqueLOGS/ folder.
parse the log file for sensor data.

no need to run a javascript server,
no need to run tasker
no need to setup intents.
no workaround at all.

install companion app. it looks for torque logs automatically. DONE

5

I do have the companion app installed (Android).
How do I have it search for the torqueLOGS/ folder?

6

You could’ve hoped on discord or requested extra help on the forums, anyone else could also offer assistance. We are always happy to help but you need to ask for it :slight_smile: Writing a tutorial for each and every app is insufficient but there is already a big intent post in teh forums that cover this topic too.

So lets say for example you want to get data from torque.

In the last update sensor you need to add an intent to the setting: https://companion.home-assistant.io/docs/core/sensors#last-update-trigger-sensor

So on the torque page; https://wiki.torque-bhp.com/view/PluginDocumentation

where it says Torque also sends an intent when an Alarm PID is triggered:

you need to register for the following intent to get the data sent back as an event into Home Assistant

org.prowl.torque.ALARM_TRIGGERED in the table where htis intent is mentioned you also see what variables are provided. You can use the trigger template sensor to save that data: https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/template/#trigger-based-template-binary-sensors-buttons-numbers-selects-and-sensors

The first code block also contains 4 intents you can register for and 1 intent to control.

To control the intent org.prowl.torque.REQUEST_TORQUE_QUIT you need to use command_broadcast_intent https://companion.home-assistant.io/docs/notifications/notification-commands#broadcast-intent

      - service: notify.mobile_app_<your_device_id_here>
        data:
          message: "command_broadcast_intent"
          data:
            intent_package_name: "org.prowl.torque"
            intent_action: "org.prowl.torque.REQUEST_TORQUE_QUIT"
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7

that feature doesnt exist yet.
im asking for that feature.

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8

reading that makes my head spin. ill need at least 3 more coffees to attempt to follow that.
please update the torque documentation to match your method.
the method in torque docs has been broken for years.

IMO
if its not in the documentation, you should not be telling users to do it.

I completely agree that writing a tutorial for each integration would be very annoying…
but most are being integrated for simple setup. this is not a simple setup.

maybe i am missing the point of the WTH sub-forum
i thought it was to point out and make the annoying things easier.

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9

This is part of the companion docs and not the torque integration so I am not sure why you had filed a bug report like that. The torque integration is separate from the companion app and so it should not be updated with those steps.

The method I laid out is indeed in the companion app documentation so I am correct in telling you to do that. I tried to be helpful and provide real examples along with linking you to the documentation. I am not sure what more I can do to help you out.

My comment was meant to guide you in the right direction.

10

Thank you for attempting to help but it seems like you only work on the companion app, this request thread is to fix the integration.

This was not meant to be a support thread.

I know you’re trying to help, but it’s not as easy for other people… Which is the point of the WTH subform… pointing out the pain points for users. I thought

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11

@dshokouhi I really appreciate your help! I tried to add it as a sensor worker to the companion app. It still doesn’t work. Obviously I’m doing something wrong. On the other hand I wrote this post as a reaction on the WTH, trying to make things easier/better for all the users. As I see this as a pain point.

12

UPDATE: I’ve finally got it working with the native OBD integration of HA itself.
This is the only version I got working.
Works like a charme. All thanks to @skyborgff who fixed the torque webserver URL.
See:

@skyborgff: Thank you very much! It’s highly appreciated!

13

Would it be possible to get the DTC’s (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) in Home Assistant?

14

Is this fix somehting that can be pushed to main codebase so that all users benefit from the fix?
It sounds like right now there’s an ‘official’ integration documented in HA which is broken. Or am I mistaken?

Thanks.

PD: I understand Torque integration MUST and can ONLY be used with Paid Torque, right? Free version has no ‘bearer token’ setting or anything like that.

15

If you are having trouble getting Torque to work with default HA integration, I have put together a comprehensive tutorial that breaks down the instructions provided in this github article into smaller and more visually understandable steps. I don’t have all the answers but that’s what worked for me.

1 Like