Samsung Smart TV Support

Also, be aware that Samsung TVs do not offer any means to turn them on. When the TV is off, it does not respond to WOL commands.

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@imbrian is correct. Samsung TVs are not able to respond to network requests when they are off. I believe most people use IR blasters to turn them on.

Are you able to turn off the TV using a virtual momentary tile?

Your (good) options for power-on are limited to IR as @nickw says - but you can also use CEC (which is what I use). If you have an network connected device that supports CEC, the TV will respond to that power-on request.

Thanks, that clarifies things. I can indeed power it off, so it looks like it works as designed now. Thanks for the help to both of you.

@imbrian what cec device do you use?

Iā€™m wondering the same thing.

@ckossman @NickW - I use my PS3 to turn on my TV. I have a spoofed bluetooth dongle on a raspberry pi that runs an API that SmartThings can talk to. Hereā€™s a (very old) video showing some of the base functionality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zJVRXMuuE4

@bradbutner, What format for the MAC address should be used within the App?

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Love this idea - i wasabout to do a thread in summet similiar . . . Does this still work and what commands can you send the tv ? (Play/pause/mute/unmute/turn off/voule up n down etc?)

This works with every command that I know of. The only one (major) problem is that you cannot turn the TV on via any remote command. You have to use either IR or CEC for that.

https://github.com/imbrianj/switchBoard/blob/master/controllers/samsung.js#L41-L44

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Ill look into it now, ive solved the tv on solution eith a virtual tile and harmony integration :slight_smile: so thats not my issue its everythig else as the harmony api only allows activities not direct control

Ps: is this code for a custom device type or smartapp orrrrr ? (God i sound thick haha, im still learning slowly haha) but it seemed to error in both hahaha

IGNORE ABOVEā€¦

re-read whole post and remembered the use of a rasberry pi and javascript . . . which rules this out as a too complicated option for me :frowning: damn . . . wish there was a way to just build this into a smartapp.

That code was for an unrelated project written in Node JS. I just wanted to reference the array of possible commands the Samsung TV can accept (regardless of which app sends it). You can see in that list (hopefully) all the commands youā€™re interested in - and you can use the excellent SmartApp by @NickW to fire any of those commands to your TV via SmartThings.

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THANK YOU !!! :smile:

worked first time, massive thank you @imbrian & @NickW you have just opened a massive door for me :slight_smile:

Just a thoughtā€¦ but if you use a soundbar like a Sonos soundbar you might be able to use its IR to turn on the TV if it was off. I do not know if SONOS API allows this level of control. But was just a thought.

Thanks @NickW it is a very nice app. Iā€™m having only one problem. I created the virtual switch and I can power off my TV when I click on the app, but when I ask my Amazon Echo to turn it off, the virtual switch change to off but the TV doesnā€™t turn off. Do you know why?

Indeed when my (2013) Samsung Smart TV turns off it drops the physical Ethernet connection. There might be a setting/mode somewhere in the menu which will keep it ā€˜aliveā€™ while in standby like my A/V amp, will have a look.

Otherwise if thereā€™s a way to switch on my A/V amp (Sony STR-DN1040) via ST then CEC should turn on the TV as well which it normally does on the remote.

So definitely no way of getting the TV to leave the LAN connection active when itā€™s in standby and appears to be a very common complaint about Samsung Smart TVā€™s which is a shame.

I guess I could work out a way to transparently turn on via LAN which would in turn switch on the TV via CEC.

A way that Iā€™d like to turn on my TV is by remotely turning on the power to my Chromecast, thus waking the TV via CEC. However, this requires a separate power source for the Chromecast, which is now being powered via my TV USB port. If I use a separate power source, Iā€™d like my TV to be able to turn on the Chromecast, which would require SmartThings to monitor my TV and when it sees my TV switch on, it turns on the switch to the Chromecast power source. I wish there was a simpler way to do this.

Yeah, I just use my PS3 now to turn on my TV (using spoofed Mac address to connect to it via Bluetooth). I hammer my TV every 3 seconds with a garbage command to check itā€™s state (on or off). Far from ideal, but it works decently for my needs.

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