MMM-AlexaControl or MMM-AlexaOn/Off setup

sdetweil

@Michael-Schw said in MMM-AlexaControl or MMM-AlexaOn/Off setup:

restart Spiegel pm2
spiegel refresh
Spiegel Monitor
stop Spiegel pm2

these names are device names.

remember these are plugs, so the command is alex turn on (device name) , or alexa turn off (device name)

there is a file in the translations directory for changing the device names… and language

mine looks like

{
    "PAGE": "page ",
    "REFRESH": "refresh mirror",
    "RESTART": "restart mirror",
    "STOP": "stop mirror",
    "REBOOT": "reboot mirror",
    "SHUTDOWN": "shutdown mirror",
    "MONITOR": "mirror"
}

my extension to this was to put the name between any 2 words
reboot mirror = reboot [name] mirror

my mirrors are named,
office, hall, desk, desktop, catalina, nano

I changed Monitor to Mirror
(and also provided deviceName:??? in config)

so I can say

alexa turn off hall mirror

U would say (unless u change the translations file, and redo disocvery, I think u have to delete the devices to get new name used)
alexa turn off spiegel monitor

alexa turn on spiegel refresh

some of the verbiage is hard, but best u can do with on/off switches

sdetweil

@Michael-Schw said in MMM-AlexaControl or MMM-AlexaOn/Off setup:

[2020-08-10 17:29:59.025] [LOG] Please configure the option vcgencmd
[2020-08-10 17:31:37.427] [LOG] Please configure the option vcgencmd
[2020-08-10 17:31:42.434] [LOG] Please configure the option vcgencmd
[2020-08-10 17:32:02.023] [LOG] Stopping PM2 process: mm

do pm2 status
the name there is the name of the pm2ProcessName: config option

my config , on mirror system ‘desk’

		{
			module: "MMM-AlexaControl",
			disabled: false,
			position: "bottom_left",
			config: {
				deviceName: "desk",
				image: false,
				pm2ProcessName: "MagicMirror",
				vcgencmd: "hide",
				monitorToggle: true,
				startPort: 16000,
				reboot: true,
				shutdown: true,
				stop: true,
			},
		},

sdetweil

from the README.md


### Control devices
These are configured devices you can use. If you want to change their name you must edit the translation file inside `/translations/en.json`. You can also add languages. 

| Option            | Description
| ----------------- | -----------
| `refresh`         | This refreshs your Mirror. <br> ***Default value:*** `true` <br> ***Possible value:*** `true` and `false`
| `restart`         | This restarts your Mirror with PM2. So make sure the `pm2ProcessName` is right. <br> ***Default value:*** `true` <br> ***Possible values:*** `true` and `false`
| `stop`            | This stops your Mirror with PM2. So make sure the `pm2ProcessName` is right. <br> ***Default value:*** `true` <br> ***Possible values:*** `true` and `false`
| `reboot`          | This reboots your Pi. <br> ***Default value:*** `false` <br> ***Possible values:*** `true` and `false`
| `shutdown`        | This shutdowns your Pi. ***Note:*** When you shutdown the Pi your devices aren't available. So you must start your Pi manually. <br> ***Default value:*** `false` <br> ***Possible values:*** `true` and `false`
| `monitorToggle`   | This can switch your monitor on and off. Make sure the used command work for you. Look at the option `vcgencmd` <br> ***Default value:*** `true` <br> ***Possible values:*** `true` and `false`

devices not found

1. Devices not found: <br>
    * Make sure that your Alexa and Pi are in the same Wifi. I had also the problem that my Pi was in the 2.4GHz Wifi and my Alexa in the 5GHz Wifi. It's only a problem when you discover the devices. To solve the problem disable one of the Wifis for a moment or turn the Wifi on your Pi on and off till it works.

    * Have you used the port before? Try every devices from the mirror. Probably the name is wrong. If that happen delete the device and discover for new devices. Define yourself ports for notification and custom devices to prevent this problem.

NOT in the readme

the startPort MUST BE different for each MagicMirror device

the discovery records the ip address and port for each device, when an action is required, alexa send a web request to that ip and port. (which the module handles)

Michael Schw.

@sdetweil thank you for the help btw!!!

ok i figured out that my tv which i use as the display (Samsung LE-32 C530) has HDMI-CEC so i tried it with that and it works after i installed the cec module.
its just a shame that the tv needs 15 seconds to boot (EVERYTIME!!) and i cant disable the pop up on start which shows the source and the hdmi port used.

How can i stop the standby mode for the raspberry pi? because if the screen is off for a certain time and i turn it on again it shows me a blank black screen until i press a button or mouve the mouse (which i don want to have connected later on).

How can i make the mirror to autostart on booting the raspberry?

I have no shutdown command. Can i safley turn off the pi with this? and if yes, how do i get it?

I really wanna make this thing work perfectly. i even thinking of adding an ir frame to make it touchscreen =)

sdetweil

@Michael-Schw if you don’t use pm2 you should, it will start at boot… if you didn’t install it with my scripted install, then use the fixuppm2.sh script from here
https://github.com/sdetweil/MagicMirror_scripts

just cut/paste that one line to run that script.

shutdown and reboot are commands built in to linux

sudo shutdown now (-r | -h, -r means reboot, -h means halt)
sudo reboot , is the same as sudo shutdown -r

turn off the pi screen saver, also see my screensaveroff script…
(again if you had run my script as part of install, it would have prompted and done all this for you.
my script is listed in the alternative install section of the MM doc)…

none of my tvs support cec, so I created my own module for sleep (using a webcam for wakeup), it just hides all the modules,
alexaControl supports that too (vgencmd:‘hide’)
MMM-SleepWake

my pis & tvs run 24x7

Michael Schw.

@sdetweil thank you…you are a genius😁

I installed that automated update now but how do i excactly turn the screensaver off…i cant find your script…do you have a link for that?

And how can i start the mirror automaticly on boot of the raspberry? And is there any posibillity that the pi reboots itself if he needs it or should i just say it sometimes to alexa? Because if i let it run 24/7 it will at some time become really slow i think.

So what do i have to add in the option pm2processname for the alexa module?
Because refresh and monitor toggle are working but stop and restart isnt.
And i dont have shutdown at my alexa devices for the mirror.

sdetweil

@Michael-Schw i’m sorry, I do not understand…

you do NOT ‘install’ anything from my scripts repo. you just execute the commands I have documented.

to turn off the screensaver you copy/paste this one line to a terminal window on the pi

bash -c "$(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sdetweil/MagicMirror_scripts/master/screensaveroff.sh)"

to setup for start at boot, you run the pm2 script, the same way

bash -c "$(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sdetweil/MagicMirror_scripts/master/fixuppm2.sh)"

then you can also stop/restart the process
pm2 status will tell u it anything is running

pm2 start number| name
will start that named process

pm2 restart, stop, show, list, are other commands

pm2 logs --lines=?? will show the terminal window output of the processes (?? is a number)

pm2 --help will give u the syntax

the alexaControl module needs the NAME of the pm2 process definition

 pm2 status
┌────┬────────────────────┬──────────┬──────┬───────────┬──────────┬──────────┐
│ id │ name               │ mode     │ ↺    │ status    │ cpu      │ memory   │
├────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼──────┼───────────┼──────────┼──────────┤
│ 0  │ MagicMirror        │ fork     │ 8    │ stopped   │ 0%       │ 0b       │
│ 1  │ smart-mirror       │ fork     │ 35   │ stopped   │ 0%       │ 0b       │
└────┴────────────────────┴──────────┴──────┴───────────┴──────────┴──────────┘

so for MM it would be whatever is listed for the name

to change the name, u need to delete the entry (see the pm2 help for the syntax here)
and create it again, after modifying the ~/MagicMirror/installers/pm2_MagicMirror.json file

then rerun my fixuppm2.sh script again.

the devices added by AlexaControl are defined in the translations/??.json file, here is the default en.json

{
        "PAGE": "page ",
        "REFRESH": "refresh",
        "RESTART": "restart pm2",
        "STOP": "stop pm2",
        "REBOOT": "reboot pi",
        "SHUTDOWN": "shutdown pi",
        "MONITOR": "monitor",
        "USB": "USB"
    }

so the devices are

 "refresh",
 "restart pm2",
 "stop pm2",
"reboot pi",
 "shutdown pi",
 "monitor"

remember these are electric outlet type devices, they can be on or off… that is all

so the alexa voice syntax is

alexa turn on (or off) device

alexa turn on refresh
alexa turn off monitor
alexa turn on restart pm2

etc