[SlimDevices: Plugins] ANNOUNCE: Alexa voice control (development thread)

[meep]

Following discussions in 'this thread'
(http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?106149-Alexa-and-LMS-new-lease-of-life&highlight=alexa)
and having built a proof-of-concept as well as figuring out a few issues
around security, I'm pleased to announce the start of development proper
on an Alexa Skill and companion LMS plug-in that will allow voice
control of Squeezebox devices through Amazon Echo.

The ambition is to get a basic set of commands implemented in a robust
manner and to get it through Amazon certification in a timely fashion.
I'll be following a KISS philosophy - implementing basic playback
control facilities initially, the thinking being that complex tasks such
as configuring playlists or managing sync groups are probably best done
through the LMS UI rather than via voice control. (of course, these
features may be added later). The first version will be English only.
Again, language support can be added in the future.

This thread will be used to discuss development issues etc. Once we get
to release stage, I'll start another thread. If you have thoughts or
ideas, please share them here. If you feel you can help with coding,
testing, translations etc., send me a PM.

I'll also be blogging regularly on the 'project homepage'
(http://www.hab-tunes.com) - probably the best place to get a clean feed
of where the project is at.

Here's to the adventure!

Peter



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox
Controller/Receiver

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[meep]

-reserved for release announcements



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox
Controller/Receiver

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[philippe_44]

meep wrote:
> -reserved for release announcements

Like that!



LMS 7.7.5 - 5xRadio, 3xBoom, 4xDuet, 1xTouch, 1 SB2. Sonos 2xPLAY:1,
PLAY:3, PLAY:5, Marantz NR1603, JBL OnBeat, XBMC, Foobar2000, XBoxOne,
JRiver 21, Chromecast Audio, Chromecast v1, Pi B2, Pi B+, 2xPi A+,
Odroid-C1, Cubie2
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[castalla]

Congrats!

You requested a list of device names to build-in to the app ...

As I commented elsewhere, given the wide user base, I fear this could
become a very large listing (of weird & wonderful names!).

How about starting in the dev. version with a limited list of
'recognised' squeezebox variants? Eg,:

Touch
Radio White
Radio Black
Radio Red
Duet
Boom
Squeezeplay



Touch, Logitech Radio, Logitech UE Radio, O2 Joggler + SqpOS
UPnPBridge - 2 paired Sonos Play1 speakers; Rocki - Sony SRS-BTM8
speaker; Pioneer WX-SMA1 speaker; - PURE One Flow internet radio: PURE
Jongo S3x ; Jongo T2; Libratone Zipp
Castbridge - Chromecast 1 + Chromecast Audio
AirplayBridge - Loewe Airspeaker
SB Player - Fire TV
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[meep]

castalla wrote:
> Congrats!

Thanks!

castalla wrote:
>
> You requested a list of device names to build-in to the app ...
>
> As I commented elsewhere, given the wide user base, I fear this could
> become a very large listing (of weird & wonderful names!).
>
> How about starting in the dev. version with a limited list of
> 'recognised' squeezebox variants? Eg,:
>
> Touch
> Radio White
> Radio Black
> Radio Red
> Duet
> Boom
> Squeezeplay

Agree that I should keep it as simple as possible, though I'd also need
to add in room names / locations I think as well.

Here's the current list. Further thoughts appreciated.

(Remember, even if a device name is not on the list, the skill is smart
enough to make a good guess so it's not critical that ALL names are
here.)


Touch
Radio
White
Black
Red
Boom
Boombox
Transporter
Duet
Kitchen
Bedroom
Bathroom
Playroom
Livingroom
Lounge
Den
Sunroom
Conservatory
Dining Room
Family Room
Chromecast
Libratone
Jongo
Loewe



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox
Controller/Receiver

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[castalla]

Just signed up for an amazon dev. account. .... so, geared up for
testing!



Touch, Logitech Radio, Logitech UE Radio, O2 Joggler + SqpOS
UPnPBridge - 2 paired Sonos Play1 speakers; Rocki - Sony SRS-BTM8
speaker; Pioneer WX-SMA1 speaker; - PURE One Flow internet radio: PURE
Jongo S3x ; Jongo T2; Libratone Zipp
Castbridge - Chromecast 1 + Chromecast Audio
AirplayBridge - Loewe Airspeaker
SB Player - Fire TV
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[meep]

castalla wrote:
> Just signed up for an amazon dev. account. .... so, geared up for
> testing!

Send me your e-mail address in a PM so I can add you when I have
something to test....



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox
Controller/Receiver

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[Heuer]

Please add to device names - 'Garage' - I have a Boom in there which I
listen to when tinkering with my Classic cars. Ditto 'Office' where I
have a another Boom.

Thanks


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[meep]

Heuer wrote:
> Please add to device names - 'Garage' - I have a Boom in there which I
> listen to when tinkering with my Classic cars. Ditto 'Office' where I
> have a another Boom.
>
> Thanks

Done!



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox
Controller/Receiver

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[ftlight]

How about adding Chromecast to the device list?


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[castalla]

ftlight wrote:
> How about adding Chromecast to the device list?

Read above
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?106569-ANNOUNCE-Alexa-voice-control-(development-thread)&p=869228&viewfull=1#post869228



Touch, Logitech Radio, Logitech UE Radio, O2 Joggler + SqpOS
UPnPBridge - 2 paired Sonos Play1 speakers; Rocki - Sony SRS-BTM8
speaker; Pioneer WX-SMA1 speaker; - PURE One Flow internet radio: PURE
Jongo S3x ; Jongo T2; Libratone Zipp
Castbridge - Chromecast 1 + Chromecast Audio
AirplayBridge - Loewe Airspeaker
SB Player - Fire TV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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[ftlight]

castalla wrote:
> Read above
> http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?106569-ANNOUNCE-Alexa-voice-control-(development-thread)&p=869228&viewfull=1#post869228
Missed seeing it there!


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[rederikus]

This is really interesting. It is a shame it does not work yet.
:confused: I read hab-tunes.com. A quote from Thomas Edison seems
appropriate here: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that
won't work." To the end of that sentence I would add the word "yet."

I am told that Santa may be bringing me an Echo Dot for Christmas. Yay.
I would love to get this working with my Raspberry Pi based LMS. I use
a combination of PiCorePlayers and Logitech boxes to mainly play Pandora
stations and my own music collection. I have players in various places
and I hope that places like Workshop, Office, Garage, Whole-House can be
incorporated.

I am more an old school hardware guy than a Linux hacker but I will
happily test stuff for you guys if asked.


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[meep]

rederikus wrote:
> This is really interesting. It is a shame it does not work yet.
> :confused: I read hab-tunes.com. A quote from Thomas Edison seems
> appropriate here: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that
> won't work." To the end of that sentence I would add the word "yet."
>
> I am told that Santa may be bringing me an Echo Dot for Christmas. Yay.
> I would love to get this working with my Raspberry Pi based LMS. I use
> a combination of PiCorePlayers and Logitech boxes to mainly play Pandora
> stations and my own music collection. I have players in various places
> and I hope that places like Workshop, Office, Garage, Whole-House can be
> incorporated.
>
> I am more an old school hardware guy than a Linux hacker but I will
> happily test stuff for you guys if asked.

It does work - you just have to have to set up on EXACTLY my development
system ;)

Thanks for the offer of help. Send through your e-mail on a PM and I'll
add you to the teamwork portal.

Making good progress with the issues uncovered in v0.1.1 testing and,
Turkey permitting, ill have the next version really quite soon.



ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
Personal HA BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[Kyle]

You have my utmost encouragement for this project. I got my Dot for
Christmas. This would be huge!



Regards,
Jim
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[hawsey]

Just received a Echo and Dot off Santa , this thread is great news keep
up the good work


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[dizzysnakepilot]

Just got an Echo Dot 2 and it sure looks like I can see the music for my
Squeezebox server on the Alexa app; I did no setup for this. I started a
recording from the app I thought would not be available on a streaming
service (old opera recording) and it played. Then I asked what was
currently playing and she correctly told me. I started playing a
different recording by voice control.

Alexa could not tell me what the source of the audio was.

Is this really somehow magically playing from my 10+ year old Squeezebox
setup, or are these mirrored from streaming services somehow?

Anyone know what's going on?

Not that I expect this to replace the Transporter for sound quality, but
smart voice control of music via the 3.5mm out into the stereo sounds
attractive.


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[EricBergan]

dizzysnakepilot wrote:
> Just got an Echo Dot 2 and it sure looks like I can see the music for my
> Squeezebox server on the Alexa app; I did no setup for this. I started a
> recording from the app I thought would not be available on a streaming
> service (old opera recording) and it played. Then I asked what was
> currently playing and she correctly told me. I started playing a
> different recording by voice control.
>
> Alexa could not tell me what the source of the audio was.
>
> Is this really somehow magically playing from my 10+ year old Squeezebox
> setup, or are these mirrored from streaming services somehow?
>
> Anyone know what's going on?
>
> Not that I expect this to replace the Transporter for sound quality, but
> smart voice control of music via the 3.5mm out into the stereo sounds
> attractive.

Probably what is happening is that it is finding what you asked for in
your Amazon My Music Library, and streaming from Amazon. About half my
albums do match up with Amazon, but others don't. But if it is somehow
interacting with your Squeezebox server directly, I'd sure like more
information about your configuration!


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[Heuer]

If you have sync'd your music to Amazon Drive Alexa will play from
there. Voice commands work like Amazon Music e.g. "Alexa, play The
Beatles from John's music". I have used named artists along with
'shuffle'. If it can't find an artist in your Library it will go to
Amazon Music.


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[amcluesent]

Sounds like a great addition to the Squeezebox ecosystem.

I was looking to see if anyone has done an Alexa-DLNA integration;
there's House Band (US only) which is designed to work with J River
Media center. I see some people have then bridged J River to Sonos.


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[Clabs1]

Hi, first time post so can't send a PM just yet. I've been following the
forum on and off for a few years but never got that involved.

I've got a couple of pis running squeezelite and a couple of duet
players which I've been using for years. I just got an echo dot for xmas
and am really interested in what you're working on. I'd love to be
involved as a tester and will send you an e-mail at the admin address
you've provided. I'm not particularly experienced with coding but can
certainly provide a bit more hardware variation for you. My brother will
likely also be interested; squeezebox user who has just got a dot too;
he is experienced in coding and working on his own home-automation too -
I'll include his e-mail address too.

Cheers,
Rich


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[tomvamos]

Hi there,
Definitely keen to get involved but probably only useful for testing.
I've been a s/w dev for years but not sure if PHP with Oracle is going
to help much here. I set up an Amazon dev account a couple weeks back to
get Alexa going on an RPi but then bought an Echo anyway. I run 4
devices - Kitchen, Living Room, Bedroom & Maisie's Room all on Raspberry
Pi's. I guess the day-to-day commands I would use are based around
playing favourite radio station or items in my Favourite's section,
Spotify, and music stored on my NAS but, as you rightly suggest on your
website - KISS.

Very happy to help ... Tom


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[dizzysnakepilot]

I'm interested in testing/using this also. My email is logitech aht
softwarevirtuoso doht com. I've been a professional software developer
for 30 years in many languages and environments. This morning I created
my first custom Alexa skill for an Echo Dot, and ran the skill from my
laptop using ngrok/Python and also AWS Lambda/node.js. Very cool
technology!

I use LMS hosted on on OSX machine to play uncompressed FLACs to my
Transporter.

I need to retain access to uncompressed music, but voice control of a
music collection is clearly a great method.

Count me in, if needed!

(And to my earlier question, I now think Alexa was finding music from
Prime and not my collection)


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[meep]

Thanks all. I know I keep saying this but the next version is almost
ready. I've been battling with the proxy service this week and migrated
to a different httpd which has taken a bit of time. I'm now testing on a
few different platforms in advance of writing some test scripts etc.
V0.1.2 here we come....



ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
Personal HA BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[amcluesent]

I'm ready!

[image:
https://ekgardening.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/wp_20161231_17_57_12_pro.jpg]


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[meep]

amcluesent wrote:
> I'm ready!
>
>

Nice! Always wanted a transporter.



ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
Personal HA BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[Clem Fandango]

Hi. Not posted before - but I got a Dot for Christmas and using it to
control my Squeezeboxes was one of the first things I thought of. I
checked here and found this thread. Would love to be involved although
I have no technical expertise at all. I have, however, set up an Amazon
developer account. If it helps, I have 3 Classics (one of them from the
old Slim Devices days and all still providing sterling service), 1 Duet
and a Boom.


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[meep]

ftlight wrote:
> How about adding Chromecast to the device list?

Already added:
http://www.hab-tunes.com/index.php/9-development/4-device-names



ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
Personal HA BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[drewl]

Dear Peter,

Well done and best of luck with the development, whilst I have no app or
perl programming skills I am into home automation and Slim Devices
technology.Re: Names, could you include the following;

Library
Study
Bathroom 1
Bathroom 2
Bathroom 3
Courtyard
Pool
Meals
Garage
Lounge
Transporter
Slimp
Apartment
Headphones
Bedroom 1
Bedroom 2
Bedroom 3
Bedroom 4

If I can be of any help please ask, I have registered with Amazon
Development as suggested. Also happy to contribute.

Kind regards,


Drew Lean
Melbourne, Australia

4 x Slimp3, 4 x Squeezebox3, 3 x SB Touch, 3 x SB BoomBox, 1 x SB
Transporter


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[anjenaire]

Maybe it was already listed or perhaps this is only a New England thing,
but could you add the name "Basement" to your list? I have a
piCorePlayer running as my player into my receiver in the basement. My
server resides on a WD NAS so I am not sure it has a name but should be
always on.


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[Kyle]

Also, "Fortress of Solitude"? 😜



Regards,
Jim
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[meep]

Kyle wrote:
> Also, "Fortress of Solitude"? 😜

Ok. Was hoping to keep it to standard room/location/device names and let
Alexa work out the rest, but just because you asked nicely!



ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
Personal HA BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[meep]

Just a quick update for the few on this thread who are not taking part
in the testing ;)

I've released version 0.1.2 to a limited sub-section of the testers to
determine if the issues with the previous version are resolved. The good
news is that, largely, they seem to be in that people can now install
and initialize the plug-in and one person even managed to control his
Squeezeboxes from his echo. Yay!

There's still a long way to go though and there are still a few
blockages with some peoples set ups that I need to get to the bottom of
before releasing the next version to the full test team.

Good progress though (as in the plugin is no longer breaking peoples LMS
installs!!!)



ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
Personal HA BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[get.amped]

Nice work!

Yes, I'm quite interested in how your efforts are progressing and look
forward to having Alexa control some basic functions in the not so
distant future.



Home: Win7Pro(x64)[3.3Ghz i5, 8GB RAM, 120GB SSD system, 15TB storage],
LMS 7.9.0 -> Logitech Squeezebox Classic V.3 -> Cambridge Audio DacMagic
-> NAD C160 -> 2 x NAD C272 -> Quad 22L2
Portable: FreeNAS 9.3 [HP Microserver Gen8, 10GB RAM, 16GB flash boot,
120GB SSD for LMS 7.9.0 in FreeBSD jail, 5 x 4TB WD Red HD ZFS RAIDZ1]
-> Logitech Squeezebox Classic V.3 -> Cambridge Audio DacMagic: XLR out
-> Soundmaster Diamond 12-2 mixing board -> P.A.
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[threej]

Not a coder, happy to test. Use a premium Spotify account heavily on
these, if that matters. Signed up for Amazon Developer. Using Logitech
Media Server on a Mac feeding eleven Squeezebox devices (twelfth in
reserve), named as follows:

Bedroom
Duet
Duet 2
Kitchen
Smart Radio
Radio Left
Radio Right
Garage
Classic
Basement
Deck
Extra


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[meep]

threej wrote:
> Not a coder, happy to test. Use a premium Spotify account heavily on
> these, if that matters. Signed up for Amazon Developer. Using Logitech
> Media Server on a Mac (have machines running Sierra, Snow Leopard,
> Leopard) feeding eleven Squeezebox devices (twelfth in reserve), named
> as follows:
>
> Squeezebox Bedroom
> Squeezebox Duet
> Squeezebox Duet 2
> Squeezebox Kitchen
> Squeezebox Smart Radio
> Squeezebox Radio Left
> Squeezebox Radio Right
> Squeezebox Garage
> Squeezebox Classic
> Squeezebox Basement
> Squeezebox Deck
> Squeezebox Extra

If you PM me the email associated with your Amazon developer account,
I'll get you set up for testing the next version. Do bear in mind, we're
in the very very very early stages with this - don't expect it to be
plug and play for a few more versions! The other thing is, this hasn't
been near a mac yet, but I'll try to ensure it works on OSX for next
version as you're our second Apple user.

Interested in your device naming - is the word 'squeezebox' actually
included in the device name?

I ask because there's a discussion at the moment as to what the skill
invocation name should be. Right now it's 'Alexa, ask squeeze bot
to....'. Now, this is a bit clunky and even more so if the sentence
needs to be 'Alexa, ask Squeeze Box to pause Squeezebox Classic'. Not
only is this repetitive, but it's actually against Amazon
recommendations to re-use the invocation name later in the command
string.

I'm hunting for the best invocation name. Someone suggested 'Alexa, ask
Slim Server to....' as an option and echo of the squeezebox past.

All input on this appreciated.



ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
Personal HA BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[castalla]

meep wrote:
>
>
> I don't like Slim Server - sounds a bit shady - like Slim Jim. On the
> other hand, single syllable names are easier to enunciate, so maybe Slim
> Jim isn't too bad!



Touch, Logitech Radio, Logitech UE Radio, O2 Joggler + SqpOS
UPnPBridge - 2 paired Sonos Play1 speakers; Rocki - Sony SRS-BTM8
speaker; Pioneer WX-SMA1 speaker; - PURE One Flow internet radio: PURE
Jongo S3x ; Jongo T2; Libratone Zipp
Castbridge - Chromecast 1 + Chromecast Audio
AirplayBridge - Loewe Airspeaker
SB Player - Fire TV
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[Paul Webster]

castalla wrote:
> I don't like Slim Server - sounds a bit shady - like Slim Jim. On the
> other hand, single syllable names are easier to enunciate, so maybe Slim
> Jim isn't too bad!

The current Skill invocation phrase is "squeeze box" ... which I suspect
is why Pete questioned the names above .... just in case it would cause
something odd to happen.



Paul Webster
http://dabdig.blogspot.com
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[get.amped]

El Em Ess is not an actual word (in English anyway). Don't know how you
would train the skill to understand the pronunciation though.



Home: Win7Pro(x64)[3.3Ghz i5, 8GB RAM, 120GB SSD system, 15TB storage],
LMS 7.9.0 -> Logitech Squeezebox Classic V.3 -> Cambridge Audio DacMagic
-> NAD C160 -> 2 x NAD C272 -> Quad 22L2
Portable: FreeNAS 9.3 [HP Microserver Gen8, 10GB RAM, 16GB flash boot,
120GB SSD for LMS 7.9.0 in FreeBSD jail, 5 x 4TB WD Red HD ZFS RAIDZ1]
-> Logitech Squeezebox Classic V.3 -> Cambridge Audio DacMagic: XLR out
-> Soundmaster Diamond 12-2 mixing board -> P.A.
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[ralphpnj]

get.amped wrote:
> El Em Ess is not an actual word (in English anyway). Don't know how you
> would train the skill to understand the pronunciation though.

Alexa understands English letters since letters are used when requesting
a specific broadcast radio station, for example "Alexa play WKCR-FM". So
using "LMS" (el em ess) as the Skill invocation phrase should work.



Living Rm: Transporter-SimAudio pre/power amps-Vandersteen 3A Sign. &
sub
Home Theater: Touch-Marantz HTR-Energy Veritas 2.1 & Linn sub
Computer Rm: Touch-Headroom Desktop w/DAC-Aragon amp-Energy Veritas 2.1
& Energy sub
Bedroom: Touch-HR Desktop w/DAC-Audio Refinement amp-Energy Veritas 2.0
Guest Rm: Duet-Sony soundbar
Garage: SB3-JVC compact system
Controls: iPeng; SB Controller; Moose & Muso
Server: LMS 7.9 on dedicated windows 10 computer w/2 Drobos
'Last.fm' (http://www.last.fm/user/jazzfann/)
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[threej]

My use of "Squeezebox" ahead of each device name was intended to allow
Alexa to differentiate these units from Hue lights and iDevices switches
and sockets in some of the same locations -- said devices now operated
with location-based names set up in Alexa.

If the term "Squeezebox" will be used to activate these devices, then it
can safely be removed from each of my named units to avoid an awkward
redundancy. Easy enough for me to do, -and I will do that-.

The word "Squeezebox" seems a good choice for skill invocation, btw --
it is clearly unique and I would guess unlikely to trigger anything else
accidentally.

meep wrote:
>
>
> Interested in your device naming - is the word 'squeezebox' actually
> included in the device name?
>
> I ask because there's a discussion at the moment as to what the skill
> invocation name should be. Right now it's 'Alexa, ask squeeze box
> to....'. Now, this is a bit clunky and even more so if the sentence
> needs to be 'Alexa, ask Squeeze Box to pause Squeezebox Classic'. Not
> only is this repetitive, but it's actually against Amazon
> recommendations to re-use the invocation name later in the command
> string.
>
> I'm hunting for the best invocation name. Someone suggested 'Alexa, ask
> Slim Server to....' as an option and echo of the squeezebox past.
>
> All input on this appreciated.


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[meep]

threej wrote:
> My use of "Squeezebox" ahead of each device name was intended to allow
> Alexa to differentiate these units from Hue lights and iDevices switches
> and sockets in some of the same locations -- said devices now operated
> with location-based names set up in Alexa.
>
> If the term "Squeezebox" will be used to activate these devices, then it
> can safely be removed from each of my named units to avoid an awkward
> redundancy. Easy enough for me to do, -and I will do that-.
>
> The word "Squeezebox" seems a good choice for skill invocation, btw --
> it is clearly unique and I would guess unlikely to trigger anything else
> accidentally.

Thanks for this.

Whatever we end up with as the invocation name, the skill will need to
come with a recommendation that this should not be part of any device
name in your ecosystem.

I'll try 'L-M-S' as the name on some future development test version and
see how it feels to work with.



ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com | Twitter: '#habtunes'
(https://twitter.com/search?q=%23habtunes&src=typd&lang=en)
Personal HA BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[meep]

anjenaire wrote:
> Maybe it was already listed or perhaps this is only a New England thing,
> but could you add the name "Basement" to your list? I have a
> piCorePlayer running as my player into my receiver in the basement. My
> server resides on a WD NAS so I am not sure it has a name but should be
> always on.

You can set the player name in LMS settings -> Player



ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
Personal HA BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[anjenaire]

meep wrote:
> You can set the player name in LMS settings -> Player

Yes my player's name is Basement.


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[meep]

anjenaire wrote:
> Yes my player's name is Basement. I would suggest the name "Squeezer"
> as a potential replacement for the Squeezebox invocation word but I am
> not opposed to any name as long as I would be able to control the
> squeezeserver via Alexa/Echo. Thank you for your efforts. I could even
> rename my player. I am finding that I have tried controlling my receiver
> in so many different ways that now Alexa (and me as well) is getting
> confused by which receiver I am trying to control. I will have to go
> back and delete some skills once the dust settles. So it makes sense
> having a good, strong, unequivocal invocation word.

Happy to be adding yet another plugin (YAP) to the mix!

'Squeezer' is neat but the invocation term can't be a single word
(unless it's a band name you own). It needs to be two words.



ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com | Twitter: '#habtunes'
(https://twitter.com/search?q=%23habtunes&src=typd&lang=en)
Personal HA BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[trouty00]

meep wrote:
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> Agree that I should keep it as simple as possible, though I'd also need
> to add in room names / locations I think as well.
>
> Here's the current list. Further thoughts appreciated.
>
> (Remember, even if a device name is not on the list, the skill is smart
> enough to make a good guess so it's not critical that ALL names are
> here.)
>
>
> Touch
> Radio
> White
> Black
> Red
> Boom
> Boombox
> Transporter
> Duet
> Kitchen
> Bedroom
> Bathroom
> Playroom
> Livingroom
> Lounge
> Den
> Sunroom
> Conservatory
> Dining Room
> Family Room
> Chromecast
> Libratone
> Jongo
> Loewe


Can you add
ShowerRoom
EnSuite

Ta
Stu



'Custom Squeezebox Touch Wall Mount's Available'
(http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?95114-Squeezebox-Touch-Wall-Mount-project-and-possibly-for-sale)
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[epoch1970]

More device names...
Squeezebox:
Classic
SB2
SB3
Silver (White and Black are already listed)
Controller

Libratone:
Zipp
Loop
(These come in a lot of colors)

and...
CD (to start playing a CD with bpa's plugin :)

Thanks!



3 SB 3 • Libratone Loop, Zipp Mini • iPeng (iPhone + iPad) • LMS 7.9
(linux) with plugins: CD Player, WaveInput, Triode's BBC iPlayer by bpa
• IRBlaster by Gwendesign (Felix) • Server Power Control by Gordon
Harris • Smart Mix, Music Walk With Me, What Was That Tune? by Michael
Herger • PowerSave by Jason Holtzapple • Song Info, Song Lyrics by
Erland Isaksson • AirPlay Bridge by philippe_44 • WeatherTime by Martin
Rehfeld • Auto Dim Display, SaverSwitcher, ContextMenu by Peter Watkins.
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[jmalin74]

I think all my player names have been covered with the exception of ...
Garden Room.

It would be handy if it could be added to the list.


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[pufnstuf]

meep wrote:
> ... I'm pleased to announce the start of development proper on an Alexa
> Skill and companion LMS plug-in that will allow voice control of
> Squeezebox devices through Amazon Echo.
>
> Here's to the adventure!
>
> Peter

Man, I am so excited about this! I have my Amazon Developer account and
I will be lining up to try this out.

Thank you and best of luck :)


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[meep]

pufnstuf wrote:
> Man, I am so excited about this! I have my Amazon Developer account and
> I will be lining up to try this out.
>
> Thank you and best of luck :)
>
> oh and also would you be able to add the following 2 names to the list:
> Office
> Hallway

no problem. Consider it done.



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox
Controller/Receiver

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[Furry]

Another device:

Zettaly

Another place:

Study



Living room: SB Touch, with coax to: Marantz PM7005, TDL RTL3 speakers.
Dining room: SB Boom.
Kitchen: SB Radio (1/3), with battery.
Bedroom 1: SB Radio (2/3), no battery.
Bedroom 2: SB3 (1/2), AE 2.1. speakers.
Bedroom 3: Slim Devices SB3 (2/2), Edirol MA-15D powered monitors.
Bathroom: SB Radio (3/3) (in white), with (and running on) battery.
Server: LMS v7.9.0 on WSE 2012 R2, HP Proliant Gen8 G1610T, 2.3GHz, 8GB.
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[franohern]

Happy to have found this thread. Very exciting!

A place name to add: porch

Looking forward to following the progress. Thanks for taking this on.


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[franohern]

Oh, and a device name: squeezeplayer


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[pippin]

Player names: iPhone. IPad, iPod, Bar, Receiver



---
learn more about iPeng, the iPhone and iPad remote for the Squeezebox
and
Logitech UE Smart Radio as well as iPeng Party, the free Party-App,
at penguinlovesmusic.com
*New: iPeng 9, the Universal App for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch*
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[meep]

Thanks Furry, franohern & pippin, I added in those suggestions.



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox Duet

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[jollybully]

For rooms where I have multiple players I would like to request the
addition of

Bed
Desk

Thanks!


Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk




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[creasymonster]

Hi Meep,

I have instances of Squeezelite and Squeezeslave running on XBMC and
Kodi, also more than one bedroom so please can the following be added:

Squeezelite
Squeezeslave
Kodi
XBMC
Front
Back
Garden
Arms

Cheers,

CreasyMonster...


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[meep]

Thanks

All captured so far.

Not much progress this weekend due to an Ikea trip and ensuing build of
stuff. Back to software this week hopefully!



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox Duet

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[John E Boy]

Hi Meep,

I'm happy to help out.

Devices I have:

- Boom
- Squeezebox
- Radio (red)
- Radio (black)
- Touch


Yes - I have two radios, one with a black case, one is red. So I've
ended up using the colours to differentiate between them.

Happy to help with testing/dev as required. I'm a c++ programmer by
trade but tinker with other languages from time to time although my perl
is pretty basic.

Thanks for your efforts.
John


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[meep]

I've set up a teamwork.com project to manage testing etc. and invited
anyone who'd PM'd me with their interest and details. (If you don't get
an invite, let me know)

Sorry to be introducing yet another site/portal to be logging in to but
I think it's the best way to keep everything contained and coordinated.



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox Duet

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[pippin]

@meep BTW, in case you don't check that often: I did send you a PM
today.



---
learn more about iPeng, the iPhone and iPad remote for the Squeezebox
and
Logitech UE Smart Radio as well as iPeng Party, the free Party-App,
at penguinlovesmusic.com
*New: iPeng 9, the Universal App for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch*
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[Bogg]

Please can you add Upstairs and Downstairs to your list.
I'm really looking forward to using this. Thanks for your work


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[meep]

Bogg wrote:
> Please can you add Upstairs and Downstairs to your list.
> I'm really looking forward to using this. Thanks for your work

Done, thanks for the input



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox Duet

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[Paul Webster]

How about "here" meaning the player on the same system as the voice
detection was done from e.g. 3rd-party device running Squeezelite (such
as RPi).

"Alexa, tell squeezeserver to play favourite 2 here."
Compared to.
"Alexa, ask squeezeserver to select kitchen"
"Alexa, tell squeezeserver to play favourite 2".



Paul Webster
http://dabdig.blogspot.com
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[meep]

Paul Webster wrote:
> How about "here" meaning the player on the same system as the voice
> detection was done from e.g. 3rd-party device running Squeezelite (such
> as RPi).
>
> "Alexa, tell squeezeserver to play favourite 2 here."
> Compared to.
> "Alexa, ask squeezeserver to select kitchen"
> "Alexa, tell squeezeserver to play favourite 2".

Hi Paul

Thanks for the suggestion. This raises a few points.

This is not quite like the other requests in that 'here' is not a named
/ addressable squeezebox device/instance.

If I'm reading it right, your proposal implies that the voice
capture/detection/processing is done via a a squeezebox device. That's
not the case. You need an amazon echo device to speak to which in turn
interfaces with your squeezeboxes via the skill/plug-in.

That being the case, 'here' could only mean the echo device itself.

Now, this is a feature I'd love to add and initial research indicates
that it may be possible (after all, this is how the Spotify / amazon
music content is implemented). Furthermore, there are specific commands
within the skill set-up to facilitate this. However, I need to do
further work to determine what audio formats are supported and whether
it would be worth implementing if the majority of typical users
libraries wouldn't play.

Right now, I envision something close to what you're suggesting but with
even more simplicity;

"Alexa, ask squeeze server to play favourite 2 in kitchen"

This would play the nominated playlist through the Kitchen squeezebox.
Then, you could further control that instance without having to nominate
the player any more;

"Alexa, pause"
"Alexa, play favourite 3"

Note: I'm not 100% we can get this level of simplicity. Note that
there's no invocation of the skill name in these examples. This is a bit
of a hack that I'm not sure )I will work and ii) will be permitted by
amazon for certification.

We shall see...



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox Duet

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[castalla]

meep wrote:
> Hi Paul
>
> Thanks for the suggestion. This raises a few points.
>
> This is not quite like the other requests in that 'here' is not a named
> / addressable squeezebox device/instance.
>
> If I'm reading it right, your proposal implies that the voice
> capture/detection/processing is done via a a squeezebox device. That's
> not the case. You need an amazon echo device to speak to which in turn
> interfaces with your squeezeboxes via the skill/plug-in.
>
> That being the case, 'here' could only mean the echo device itself.
>
> Now, this is a feature I'd love to add and initial research indicates
> that it may be possible (after all, this is how the Spotify / amazon
> music content is implemented). Furthermore, there are specific commands
> within the skill set-up to facilitate this. However, I need to do
> further work to determine what audio formats are supported and whether
> it would be worth implementing if the majority of typical users
> libraries wouldn't play.
>
> Right now, I envision something close to what you're suggesting but with
> even more simplicity;
>
> "Alexa, ask squeeze server to play favourite 2 in kitchen"
>
> This would play the nominated playlist through the Kitchen squeezebox.
> Then, you could further control that instance without having to nominate
> the player any more;
>
> "Alexa, pause"
> "Alexa, play favourite 3"
>
> Note: I'm not 100% we can get this level of simplicity. Note that
> there's no invocation of the skill name in these examples. This is a bit
> of a hack that I'm not sure i) will work and, ii) will be permitted by
> amazon for certification.
>
> We shall see...

I've no idea how flexible the 'phrasing' can be. I hope it's possible
to make requests as natural as can be: for example, above ' ... in
kitchen' sounds fine but unless there are options for 'in' (on, to,
etc.), then it gets clumsy.

'..... play in Touch' ???
' .... play in Red' ???
'..... play in Upstairs' ???

cheers



Touch, Logitech Radio, Logitech UE Radio, O2 Joggler + SqpOS
UPnPBridge - 2 paired Sonos Play1 speakers; Rocki - Sony SRS-BTM8
speaker; Pioneer WX-SMA1 speaker; - PURE One Flow internet radio: PURE
Jongo S3x ; Jongo T2; Libratone Zipp
Castbridge - Chromecast 1 + Chromecast Audio
AirplayBridge - Loewe Airspeaker
SB Player - Fire TV
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[meep]

castalla wrote:
> I've no idea how flexible the 'phrasing' can be. I hope it's possible
> to make requests as natural as can be: for example, above ' ... in
> kitchen' sounds fine but unless there are options for 'in' (on, to,
> etc.), then it gets clumsy.
>
> '..... play in Touch' ???
> ' .... play in Red' ???
> '..... play in Upstairs' ???
>
> cheers

Fortunately, there is great flexibility in this regard but that's a big
part of the challenge in constructing the skill - it's necessary to
pre-empt all the potential variations in phrasing and build them into
the skill so it works naturally.


There are some 3rd party tools that help with this but either way, you
quickly end up with hundreds of variants.



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox Duet

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[Paul Webster]

meep wrote:
> If I'm reading it right, your proposal implies that the voice
> capture/detection/processing is done via a a squeezebox device. That's
> not the case. You need an amazon echo device to speak to which in turn
> interfaces with your squeezeboxes via the skill/plug-in.

The good news is that Amazon opened up the interface and then later
removed the restriction that 3rd-party devices had to have a physical
button ... meaning that it is possible to use RPi (or other things) as
an Echo. They don't get access to everything but I think that "Skills"
can still be used. As an example see
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-build-your-own-amazon-echo-with-a-raspberry-pi-1787726931

>
> That being the case, 'here' could only mean the echo device itself.
>

Yep - that was my thought ... but with the RPi as the Echo.



Paul Webster
http://dabdig.blogspot.com
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[meep]

Paul Webster wrote:
> The good news is that Amazon opened up the interface and then later
> removed the restriction that 3rd-party devices had to have a physical
> button ... meaning that it is possible to use RPi (or other things) as
> an Echo. They don't get access to everything but I think that "Skills"
> can still be used. As an example see
> http://lifehacker.com/how-to-build-your-own-amazon-echo-with-a-raspberry-pi-1787726931
>
>
> Yep - that was my thought ... but with the RPi as the Echo.

Ah. I see now where you were coming from. This is something of an edge
case in that the initial focus is on actual echo devices but I'll add it
to the feature request list and include it as a test case so we can at
least evaluate how this scenario works (or doesn't) out of the box.



Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Touch | Squeezebox Duet

BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
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[Paul Webster]

meep wrote:
> Ah. I see now where you were coming from. This is something of an edge
> case in that the initial focus is on actual echo devices but I'll add it
> to the feature request list and include it as a test case so we can at
> least evaluate how this scenario works (or doesn't) out of the box.

I just installed Alexa on RPi and found a USB mic (on a headset). It
works (Alexa) but, given the microphone technology, I can't call out
from the other side of the room to make it work ... but with the headset
on I can tell it to "play BBC Radio 4" etc and it works.
So would be happy to be a tester of the new "Skill".



Paul Webster
http://dabdig.blogspot.com
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[meep]

Paul Webster wrote:
> I just installed Alexa on RPi and found a USB mic (on a headset). It
> works (Alexa) but, given the microphone technology, I can't call out
> from the other side of the room to make it work ... but with the headset
> on I can tell it to "play BBC Radio 4" etc and it works.
> So would be happy to be a tester of the new "Skill".

Hi Paul

I had a look at the 'Alexa on Pi' link you sent through. Interestingly,
they say the piLexa (?) is almost a full echo except that it won't play
Spotify, amazon music etc. I wonder what's missing and would it affect
the ability of the in-development skill to stream. Only testing will
tell.

Send me your email in a PM and I'll add you to the project portal.



BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com

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[Paul Webster]

meep wrote:
>
> Send me your email in a PM and I'll add you to the project portal.

Done and am in.



Paul Webster
http://dabdig.blogspot.com
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[Soundslike]

I would love to help test this out. :)
Regards
/R


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[Kyle]

Following and very excited about the potential of this! Will we be able
to request specific music (artist, album, playlist, etc.) from our
collections? I'll help, if possible. I have an SB3 hooked up to a
whole-house audio system. Each room has a wall panel to cut the system
on in that location, but the ability to control play through my Echo Dot
is very exciting! It might require a couple more Dots in other
locations.



Regards,
Jim
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[meep]

Hi Jim

That's the plan, but first test is going to be general installation,
basic play/pause control and an assessment of the response times based
on the additional transactions necessitated by the improved security.

Got some more work completed recently so just need to tidy up code now
and add in a transaction timer and I'll be ready to release to the
testers who've signed up.



BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet | Squeezebox Touch
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[OklahomaGreyBeard]

I would absolutely love to be involved with testing this. I currently
have Alexa running on 2 RPi 2s and 1 RPi3 and have a Dot on the way.
Those Pi's are also acting as squeeze clients along with three other Pi
zeros. I also use OpenHab, Hue, Z-Wave, and some ESP8266 nodes around. I
found your app looking for the opposite control of having some of the
Hue and custom pixel strips I have change based on the song title that
plays (was hoping SB announced a new track starting). Allowing the
family more control of music around the house by voice would be
excellent..


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[meep]

OklahomaGreyBeard wrote:
> I would absolutely love to be involved with testing this. I currently
> have Alexa running on 2 RPi 2s and 1 RPi3 and have a Dot on the way.
> Those Pi's are also acting as squeeze clients along with three other Pi
> zeros. I also use OpenHab, Hue, Z-Wave, and some ESP8266 nodes around. I
> found your app looking for the opposite control of having some of the
> Hue and custom pixel strips I have change based on the song title that
> plays (was hoping SB announced a new track starting). Allowing the
> family more control of music around the house by voice would be
> excellent..

Send on your email by PM and I'll get you set up. You'll need an amazon
developer account as well to participate in pre-release testing.



BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet | Squeezebox Touch
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[meep]

Maybe some here will know before I dive in to the developers forum...

In working on the skill this week, I set up a softsqueeze instance to
test with (after a worrying episode where one of my Radios sizzled and
emitted archid smoke from the power connector :eek: - still working
though :confused:)

Anyway, I found that softsqueeze did not react to HTTP(JSON)
pause/resume commands. Only play/stop commands would work. Likewise,
they don't respond to clicking the pause button in the LMS UI.

Is this a thing? Any other devices behave like this. Pis?

Thanks



BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet | Squeezebox Touch
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[ralphy]

meep wrote:
> Maybe some here will know before I dive in to the developers forum...
>
> In working on the skill this week, I set up a softsqueeze instance to
> test with (after a worrying episode where one of my Radios sizzled and
> emitted archid smoke from the power connector :eek: - still working
> though :confused:)
>
> Anyway, I found that softsqueeze did not react to HTTP(JSON)
> pause/resume commands. Only play/stop commands would work. Likewise,
> they don't respond to clicking the pause button in the LMS UI.
>
> Is this a thing? Any other devices behave like this. Pis?
>
> Thanks

Just fired up softsqueeze (really?) and tested pause/unpause from the
lms (latest 7.9) gui and softsqueeze reacted by pausing and unpausing.

I can test the json as well if you can post the curl/wget command line
to try it.

I had to delete $HOME/.java/.userPrefs/org/titmuss/softsqueeze as it was
copied over from an old computer that died about 4 years ago...haven't
run softsqueeze since then.



Ralphy

*1*-Touch, *5*-Classics, *2*-Booms, *1*-Reverted UE Radio
'Squeezebox client builds'
(https://sourceforge.net/projects/lmsclients/files/) 'donations'
(https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=LL5P6365KQEXN&lc=CA&item_name=Squeezebox%20client%20builds&currency_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donate_SM%2egif%3aNonHosted)
always appreciated.
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[meep]

ralphy wrote:
> Just fired up softsqueeze (really?) and tested pause/unpause from the
> lms (latest 7.9) gui and softsqueeze reacted by pausing and unpausing.
>
> I can test the json as well if you can post the curl/wget command line
> to try it.
>
> I had to delete $HOME/.java/.userPrefs/org/titmuss/softsqueeze as it was
> copied over from an old computer that died about 4 years ago...haven't
> run softsqueeze since then.

Thanks, must be something with my config. Will try again, and try
squeezeslave as well. Might share wget if I don't resolve. Not a high
priority but if some player types don't respond to basic transport
commands, I need to find out why....



BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet | Squeezebox Touch
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[ralphy]

meep wrote:
> Thanks, must be something with my config. Will try again, and try
> squeezeslave as well. Might share wget if I don't resolve. Not a high
> priority but if some player types don't respond to basic transport
> commands, I need to find out why....

May I suggest you just use squeezelite or squeezeplay; both softsqueeze
and squeezeslave are no longer being developed.



Ralphy

*1*-Touch, *5*-Classics, *2*-Booms, *1*-Reverted UE Radio
'Squeezebox client builds'
(https://sourceforge.net/projects/lmsclients/files/) 'donations'
(https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=LL5P6365KQEXN&lc=CA&item_name=Squeezebox%20client%20builds&currency_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donate_SM%2egif%3aNonHosted)
always appreciated.
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[meep]

ralphy wrote:
> May I suggest you just use squeezelite or squeezeplay; both softsqueeze
> and squeezeslave are no longer being developed.

Well, I'll eventually get around to testing them all. I have a soft spot
for squeezeslave as I used to run 4x instances outputting to an M-Audio
Delta 410.

I tried softsqueeze just now on a different system and it worked fine so
there must be something odd about the test system I was using.

Thanks for the time to feedback and set me on the right path.



BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet | Squeezebox Touch
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[Rstark]

As a current user of 3 raspberry pis in my home which all work great,
LMS on an echo/dot sounds awesome. I current run LMS on my symbology nas
and run squeezelite on the client side.

I just came into possession of an Amazon dot and immediately started
researching how to integrate this with my server.

I am very interested in helping test this, please let me know if this is
possible.

Thanks!


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[meep]

Rstark wrote:
> As a current user of 3 raspberry pis in my home which all work great,
> LMS on an echo/dot sounds awesome. I current run LMS on my symbology nas
> and run squeezelite on the client side.
>
> I just came into possession of an Amazon dot and immediately started
> researching how to integrate this with my server.
>
> I am very interested in helping test this, please let me know if this is
> possible.
>
> Thanks!


aich wrote:
> I'd be very happy to help with testing
>
> Cant send PM at mo but have developer account and dot at the ready
>
> I love this forum!

I suspect there's a limitation on the forum preventing people with
limited posts from sending PMs. (I think it's a fairly low limit though
so give me a shout when you reach it.) Alternatively, send a mail to
'admin' at the project domain (see my sig) and I'll add you to the
teamwork portal. (please reference your forum username and best to send
me the same email you use for amazon developer).

Cheers



BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet | Squeezebox Touch
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[meep]

I'm preparing to release the first basic technical test version of the
skill and plug-in to testers. If you have volunteered to help test and
have NOT yet received an invite or logged in to the project Teamwork
portal, drop me a PM.



BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com

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[twisted]

Hello,

It's great to hear about your progress. I am a keen node-red fan, and
recently got 3 dot's to play with. I have been currently focusing on
building skills for my home automation system, but it is slow progress
as I am no developer. That being said I have got a number of lights,
some basic hvac control and a few other bits running. I have tried using
amazon lambda, but currently I have secured and are running a local
node-red server exposed to amazon.

I had forked echo-sonos, as I was looking to manipulate that to fit my
purposes, but hearing your ideas and what you are doing, I am very much
intrigued in at least helping to test.

My setup:
All UK based setup, and config.
Currently operational amazon dev account, currently with 2 skills being
developed/worked on (1x HA, 1x generic, for testing and playing with
ideas)
Node-red on-prem
12x jogglers running squeezeplay around the house, (IIRC about 3-4 are
offline, no. of reasons)
3 dot's, if I get my HA skill fully working and streamlined enough I
will look to add another 3+

If you have any tester space left I would be very interested.

Many thanks

Matt


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[meep]

twisted wrote:
> Hello,
>
> It's great to hear about your progress. I am a keen node-red fan, and
> recently got 3 dot's to play with. I have been currently focusing on
> building skills for my home automation system, but it is slow progress
> as I am no developer. That being said I have got a number of lights,
> some basic hvac control and a few other bits running. I have tried using
> amazon lambda, but currently I have secured and are running a local
> node-red server exposed to amazon.
>
> I had forked echo-sonos, as I was looking to manipulate that to fit my
> purposes, but hearing your ideas and what you are doing, I am very much
> intrigued in at least helping to test.
>
> My setup:
> All UK based setup, and config.
> Currently operational amazon dev account, currently with 2 skills being
> developed/worked on (1x HA, 1x generic, for testing and playing with
> ideas)
> Node-red on-prem
> 12x jogglers running squeezeplay around the house, (IIRC about 3-4 are
> offline, no. of reasons)
> 3 dot's, if I get my HA skill fully working and streamlined enough I
> will look to add another 3+
>
> If you have any tester space left I would be very interested.
>
> Many thanks
>
> Matt

Hi Matt

Thanks for the offer of help.

You've got a very similar dev. set-up to my own. What are you running
Node-Red on, as a matter of interest? (I've got everything on my unRAID
server).

You have a low post count so won't be able to PM me. Please send an
email to admin@ the project domain (see my sig) and I'll get you set up
on the project portal.



BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[twisted]

Hi, tbh honest this is the first real reason to need to post, but I have
been a lurker for a number of years.

Currently I am running node-red on a Pi2, but have a Pi3 spare, or could
move it to a ESX install that I have running for other projects, if this
becomes a little under powered. I keep seeing posts on other forums with
people running unRAID setups, it seems very poplular, I haven't had a
chance to try it (and a little over committed to my current setup).

I'll pop over an email shortly, thanks


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[thomaswp]

I'm rpi'd up with max2play self built "touch" as server and player and
retropie with added on squeezelite and xsqueeze on kodi as interface of
I need it. My family have been complaining about the lack of remote
control for the new "touch" so an Echo voice control would be excellent.


I'd love to test it too, but you appear to have enough people. I'm just
posting to say I'm sure there will be a lot of interest. Good luck!

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk




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[meep]

thomaswp wrote:
> I'm rpi'd up with max2play self built "touch" as server and player and
> retropie with added on squeezelite and xsqueeze on kodi as interface of
> I need it. My family have been complaining about the lack of remote
> control for the new "touch" so an Echo voice control would be excellent.
>
>
> I'd love to test it too, but you appear to have enough people. I'm just
> posting to say I'm sure there will be a lot of interest. Good luck!
>
> Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

Theres about 20 signed up so far but Not everyone will be free to test
every release and I'm keen to see how this works on the wide range of
devices and setups people have.

If if you already have or don't mind setting up an Amazon developer
account, by all means pm me your email and I'll set you up.

i had a chance today to finalise the first release version and got
tripped up by a bug that only presented when a playing track had an
apostrophe in its title. Took a while to find and fix all seems to be
working now.

i just need to finalise test scripts and should be ready to circulate to
testers tomorrow.



BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com

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[thomaswp]

👍




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[Midnight]

Hi meep,

I'm also interested in trying this out and have sent PM.

I now have an amazon developer account and have named my boxes;

Squeezebox Radio Bedroom
Squeezebox Radio Livingroom
Squeezebox Touch Livingroom

Keep up this fab work :)


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[meep]

jburnhams wrote:
> I've just got an echo, it'd be great to try out your skill for it, could
> I be added please? My email is my username at gmail dot com. Thanks!

Invites sent



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[centerisl]

I'm interested in this too and was surprised that the skill wasn't
already there. But then I read the other thread and...ok, I can see it's
trickier than I first suspected.

The "here" concept would be very useful, but would be awkward to extend
to other systems. I only have one Echo (so far), but I have a 3 story
house and have LMS sound, HomeSeer automation, and webcams (along with
WAPs and routers) on each so am looking to add an Echo or two.

I've got most of the HomeSeer devices on the main floor hooked up to
Alexa through their "simple" interface that puts them into "Smart Home"
area so I can say "turn kitchen lights on" - but I have to configure
this for each device in HS (mostly "turn voice recognition on" and it's
a bit tedious, then tell Alexa to re-survey the devices. The alternate
"tell homeseer to turn the kitchen lights on" handles all devices and I
think that's the model you are working on.

So my first ask is...how about a simple skill that handles (for
instance) "turn squeeze1 on", "set squeeze1 to 20%", and "turn squeeze1
off" - on and off would probably be "play" and "pause" and the volume
percentage might require tuning.

And I don't really care about the music I have ripped to my server - we
play Pandora about 98% of the time - so (for me) the important content
is under "Favorites" or "Pandora | Your Stations". I'm fine with only
being able to select a favorite.:)

But the player - that's an issue. I can rename mine, but it's yet
another thing to remember in a command string. How about a default?

I haven't really thought about the security aspects of exposing my LMS -
is there a reason why the username / password is insufficient? I also
see a setting for "CSRF Protection Level" - no real idea what that
requires. In general, I'd suggest contributing to the LMS project if
additional security is required over creating a new local proxy.

I have an AWS account (not Developer) and would be interested in testing
this skill.


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[meep]

centerisl wrote:
> I'm interested in this too and was surprised that the skill wasn't
> already there. But then I read the other thread and...ok, I can see it's
> trickier than I first suspected.
>
> The "here" concept would be very useful, but would be awkward to extend
> to other systems. I only have one Echo (so far), but I have a 3 story
> house and have LMS sound, HomeSeer automation, and webcams (along with
> WAPs and routers) on each so am looking to add an Echo or two.
>
> I've got most of the HomeSeer devices on the main floor hooked up to
> Alexa through their "simple" interface that puts them into "Smart Home"
> area so I can say "turn kitchen lights on" - but I have to configure
> this for each device in HS (mostly "turn voice recognition on") and it's
> a bit tedious, then tell Alexa to re-survey the devices. The alternate
> "tell homeseer to turn the kitchen lights on" handles all devices and I
> think that's the model you are working on.
>
> So my first ask is...how about a simple skill that handles (for
> instance) "turn squeeze1 on", "set squeeze1 to 20%", and "turn squeeze1
> off" - on and off would probably be "play" and "pause" and the volume
> percentage might require tuning.

That's pretty much what I'm aiming for, initially!

centerisl wrote:
>
> And I don't really care about the music I have ripped to my server - we
> play Pandora about 98% of the time - so (for me) the important content
> is under "Favorites" or "Pandora | Your Stations". I'm fine with only
> being able to select a favorite.:)
>
> But the player - that's an issue. I can rename mine, but it's yet
> another thing to remember in a command string. How about a default?
>

There's a kind of default implemented. The first time you select a
player, it stays selected and you don't need to nominate it again unless
you need to change it. It might be an idea to allow users set a default
player in their plug-in settings - a kind of fall-back. I'll add that to
the wish list.

centerisl wrote:
>
> I haven't really thought about the security aspects of exposing my LMS -
> is there a reason why the username / password is insufficient? I also
> see a setting for "CSRF Protection Level" - no real idea what that
> requires. In general, I'd suggest contributing to the LMS project if
> additional security is required over creating a new local proxy.

I hadn't thought about it either until some people on here pointed out
that they would be reluctant to expose their LMS (stories of hackers
causing devices to play at full volume etc.)

Once I started thinking about it, it became all-consuming and altered
fundamentally the architecture of the solution. Now, all the skill does
over http is inform the LMS that there's a command waiting. Everything
else is then managed by the LMS over an authenticated HTTPS connection
to the skill server. This is the part that I've started testing.

centerisl wrote:
>
> I have an AWS account (not Developer) and would be interested in testing
> this skill.

Send me a PM and I'll add you to the test team!

centerisl wrote:
>
> Edit: I went to the blog and notice the top entry dated "SUNDAY, 8
> NOVEMBER 2020" - now THAT is forward thinking!

Indeed. That's my personal HA blog. This is how you get something set up
as a sticky in Blogger, apparently!



BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com
ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[centerisl]

meep wrote:
> That's pretty much what I'm aiming for, initially!
Um...I'm not so sure. For the "Smart Home" route you wouldn't have such
a problem with the name of the service (though you would have to support
their discovery system).

PM Sent


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[meep]

centerisl wrote:
> Um...I'm not so sure. For the "Smart Home" route you wouldn't have such
> a problem with the name of the service (though you would have to support
> their discovery system).
>
> PM Sent

I did kind of misread your suggestion but once I have the basic control
working robustly, I plan to investigate how I can use the media control
extensions of ASK to possibly spoof the kind of control you're talking
about - at least for ongoing transport such as play/pause, volume etc.
It may always be necessary to invoke the skill name to change devices
but the aim is to make it as easy to use as possible. Of course, to make
this happen without the discovery approach you suggest (there's already
device discovery built in to the skill) is a bit of a hack and either
may not work or may not pass certification by amazon.

Time will tell.

Right now my main concern is making the basic skill actually work on the
varied number of platforms users have!



ALEXA LMS SKILL: http://www.hab-tunes.com
Personal HA BLOG: http://mediaserver8.blogspot.com

Squeezebox | Squeezebox Radio x 2 | Squeezebox Duet
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[snoopy86]

I think "squeeze box" is cool and we are all used to this word by now so
why change it...




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[castalla]

snoopy86 wrote:
> I think "squeeze box" is cool and we are all used to this word by now so
> why change it...

I agree ...



Touch, Logitech Radio, Logitech UE Radio, O2 Joggler + SqpOS
UPnPBridge - 2 paired Sonos Play1 speakers; Rocki - Sony SRS-BTM8
speaker; Pioneer WX-SMA1 speaker; - PURE One Flow internet radio: PURE
Jongo S3x ; Jongo T2; Libratone Zipp
Castbridge - Chromecast 1 + Chromecast Audio
AirplayBridge - Loewe Airspeaker
SB Player - Fire TV
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[Heuer]

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