i moved some bulbs around today and renamed some bulbs. I noticed that alexa had duplicates listed so i told it to forget everything and rediscover. but it seems like it held on to some groups and things. any idea why? I think i will try to figure out which is the correct thing and just forget that particular thing but the groups i am unsure how to fix or what I am missing. when I tried to add laundry room again it said that group already existed but it really does not it was just on old group i had before i told it to forget everything.
also all my things look right in the ide device list
actually it looks like echo is picking it up from ST on a discover. BUT the device ide looks right.
If the bulbs are connected to a hue bridge they can easily get added as duplicates if you also authorize them from SmartThings.
Essentially you are telling echo to add them twice, once from Hue and once from SmartThings.
The easiest way to address this issue is to not authorize any device connected to the Hue bridge from SmartThings. Just leave the Hue devices unchecked when you are asked to authorize devices from SmartThings.
Then when you discover devices the bulbs will be listed only one time, and hue will show as their controller. You will still be able to add them to an echo group that includes both bulbs with Hue listed as their controller and other devices with smartthings listed as their controller, so you won’t lose any functionality.
You will still be able to control the hue bulbs with SmartThings routines and smart apps.
You will still be able to control the hue bulbs through an echo command.
And as mentioned you will be able to include the hue bulbs into an echo group with other devices, so you’ll still have group functionality.
Basically anything which can connect directly to echo without SmartThings (but while still integrated with SmartThings) should be included to echo through its native controller. That way you don’t get the duplicate entries.
follow up question.
so if i tell alexa to turn on the hue bulbs she does and ST still shows them as off. is that normal? obviously i can look and see if they are on in hue app just confirming its normal and not something i have done
Smartthings polls the Hue Bridge about every five minutes to get Bulb status. So the status should catch up pretty quickly. If it doesn’t, notify support.
Hmmmm…I haven’t had that problem. Have you tried disconnecting from the Samsung hub in Echo, deleting all the offending lights and adding them again? Are they repeated in the Samsung things list? Until you figure it out, are you rediscovering very often? Sorry…I’m not being helpful here. I guess I’m basically saying recheck everything, then recheck again. Usually when this stuff happens to me, the problem is me.
We’ve already discussed both the cause and the solution upthread.
Since a hue bridge can be independently connected to echo, bulbs which are on the Hue bridge can get connected twice if you also authorize them from smartThings.
bamarayne
(Jason "The Enabler" as deemed so by @Smart)
11
@JDRoberts is 100% correct on this particular issue. It is not a new issue and has been discussed at length prior to this thread. Following his steps exactly will fix the problem.
As he said, ant device that connects to is own hub, integrated into ST and echo, should not be checked in the ST Alexa app. Doing so causes the duplication problem.
Just letting you know, the accurate solution Wes posted and explained. There are a whole lot of new users to ST in the forums over the past couple of months. JD is one of the most respected members of the forum. I’ve only seen him proven wrong once lol.
We all make our contributions. As someone who is quadriparetic, I rely very much on voice control, so I’ve spent more time getting things wrong in echo than most people. Consequently, I’ve seen most of the problems before, which makes it easier to pass along possible solutions.
yep you were correct i was just not waiting long enough for the polling to happen so that the state matched and once i removed access in ST to Alexa all was well.
If anyone needs to remove the Hue hub from accessing the Echo directly (meaning going through ST for everything instead of the native Hue integration), this can be done.
Here’s a link to the Reddit thread discussing it.
I have personally done this and can confirm it worked on a v1 Hue hub.
I think this only happens when you have 2 hubs running that Alexa can see. IE i have the ST hub and Hue hub running at the same time. But some of the other more experienced members may can provide better info
i should have said its only when Alexa can utilize both hubs that’s what created a duplicate for me i had the bulbs in ST and HUE and Alexa saw it as duplicates that’s not the best explanation but that’s what happened to me
you can still use all features in both apps. just DONT go into ST>smart apps > amazon echo and put a check mark next to each “thing” by doing this echo will not find them twice.
if you do that then alexa can control the bulbs through the Hue hub and ST can run routines and such as usual.
I dont really understand all of the workings but it works with out issue (so far)
I am terrible about giving short explanations but if you need more explanation ill try to explain more in depth
2 Likes
bamarayne
(Jason "The Enabler" as deemed so by @Smart)
19
Follow these steps ~
Step one:
Go into the ST mobile app. Tap your way over to the market place and find the Hue Connect app.
Market Place --> Things --> Lights and Switches --> Light Bulbs --> Phillips --> Phillips hue light bulb.
Tap on that and it will take you through the process of linking your Hue Bridge to your ST hub.
Step two:
In the Amazon Echo mobile app, you will link your Echo to your ST account. When you do that you go through the authorization process. You first choose the name of your location - probably home.
Next you click on a drop down menu, this will be the list of devices that are currently connected directly to your ST hub. In this list you will check every device that you want Echo to control.
Here is the important part ------
If there is a device connected to its own hub (not directly to the ST hub) you will NOT check the box for those devices. LEAVE THEM UNCHECKED. These will be any and all bulbs that are connected to your Hue hub. Also, things like Wemo devices - there is not a hub for these, but they are wifi and Echo will see them.
Now tap your way out to complete the process.
Step Three:
Ensure that your Phillips Hue Bridge and your Amazon Echo are on the same wifi network. When you discover devices on Echo it will find the devices that are connected on your Hue Bridge.
Conclusion:
You can now control your Hue Bridge connected devices (bulbs) with the ST app, the Hue App, and Echo.
You can now control your ST connected devices via the ST app and Echo
If you have duplicate devices on your Echo, go back and follow the directions I just typed out. You did it wrong the first time.
PS.
Don’t think to hard about it. It works, it works good and no one knows or cares why. We’ve tried that idea already. Plus, you’re going to spend more time keeping your ST automations working than you will have to worry about trying to figure out another way to do what your read above.
Consequently, I’ve seen most of the problems before, which makes it easier to pass along possible solutions.