Strange Issue with Alexa Routine invoking Insteon Scene

[Lerxst]

Hi All,

I have just migrated my Insteon devices from the Insteon Hub to an ISY. Nearly everything went smoothly and I'm loving the upgrade so far. I have run into a strange hitch with an Alexa routine, however.

I have a very basic "Alexa, good night" routine setup to do two things, first it turns off the TV & other entertainment center devices via a Harmony Hub. Second, it turns off an Insteon Scene called, "All Indoor Lights" which should be self explanatory.

It works as expected, *except* that there are several lights in the scene which flash on to full brightness just prior to shutting off, whether or not they were on when I run the routine. To add to the mystery, if I turn off the scene by voice by just saying "Alexa, turn off all indoor lights", the scene works perfectly. This is only happening when running the routine.

Another thing to note is that I had the same scene and Alexa routine setup when I was using the Insteon Hub, and it worked perfectly. I have also noticed that when I ran the routine prior to migrating to the ISY, Alexa gave a verbal "OK" response, but that isn't happening now.

I should also add that when I migrated to the ISY I cleared the Link Tables of all devices, so there shouldn't be anything funky going on with that.

Any insight on this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[bmercier]

Turning off the insteon scene from an Alexa routine is identical to turning off the scene from the admin console, web interface or Agave.

Is it possible that you have something else being triggered by having the TV or other device being turned off?

I would first try the routine, by editing the routine, and using "Play routine". This is just in case Alexa does something else related to the goodnight.

I would try the routine, without turning off the scene.

I would try the routine, with only the scene in it.

Benoit

[Lerxst]

Thanks for the reply. I tried all that you suggested, also creating new routines, etc., but I'm still having the issue.

What it really seems like is happening, is that when the routine invokes the scene, it turns on all the lights in that scene before it turns them off. I didn't previously notice that it was actually all scene members flashing on. And to confirm, it works just fine when I turn off the scene outside of the routine. Very frustrating, because it worked with the Insteon Hub, and I'm quite surprised nobody else has encountered this.

[bmercier]

5 minutes ago, Lerxst said:

Thanks for the reply. I tried all that you suggested, also creating new routines, etc., but I'm still having the issue.

What it really seems like is happening, is that when the routine invokes the scene, it turns on all the lights in that scene before it turns them off. I didn't previously notice that it was actually all scene members flashing on. And to confirm, it works just fine when I turn off the scene outside of the routine. Very frustrating, because it worked with the Insteon Hub, and I'm quite surprised nobody else has encountered this.

When you manually "Play routine", you still see the problem?

When you try the routine without turning off the scene, your lights are unchanged, correct?

When you try the routine with only the scene in it., you still have the problem?

Perhaps you have another good night routine, turning on the scene?

Could you try the same routine, but have it turn on the scene instead of having it turn off. Just in case there is an Alexa but which would turn it on first.

After trying all of this, please PM me your UUID and scene address, I will check the logs, just to make sure the scene is only turned off. I can't see why Alexa would turn it on first, but I would check.

Benoit

[dbuss]

20 minutes ago, bmercier said:

When you manually "Play routine", you still see the problem?

When you try the routine without turning off the scene, your lights are unchanged, correct?

When you try the routine with only the scene in it., you still have the problem?

Perhaps you have another good night routine, turning on the scene?

Could you try the same routine, but have it turn on the scene instead of having it turn off. Just in case there is an Alexa but which would turn it on first.

After trying all of this, please PM me your UUID and scene address, I will check the logs, just to make sure the scene is only turned off. I can't see why Alexa would turn it on first, but I would check.

Benoit

Benoit, I have a similar situation with a routine that has a scene in it. The routine turns the scene off. If the scene is turned on when the routine is run, it turns off the scene as its supposed to. If the scene is off when the routine is run, the scene will flash on and then turn the scene off. When adding the scene to the routine, it will not allow the scene to be turned off. Instead, it can only be dimmed to 1%. It makes no difference if I run the routine manually or through Alexa, the results are the same.

Edited October 8, 2018 by dbuss

[bmercier]

8 minutes ago, dbuss said:

Benoit, I have a similar situation with a routine that has a scene in it. The routine turns the scene off. If the scene is turned on when the routine is run, it turns off the scene as its supposed to. If the scene is off when the routine is run, the scene will flash on and then turn the scene off. When adding the scene to the routine, it will not allow the scene to be turned off. Instead, it can only be dimmed to 1%. It makes no difference if I run the routine manually or through Alexa, the results are the same.

Thanks, I tried it and I'm able to reproduce the problem.

Let me find a solution.

Benoit

[bmercier]

Please try again.

Now you should be able to turn off a scene in a routine, as long as the percentage is < 50%. (Recommended is 1%)

Let me explain what is happening. Interestingly, when you have a scene in a routine, there are 2 commands sent in the sequence below:

When turning On: Activate Scene, then Set Brightness.

When turning Off: Set Brightness, then Deactivate Scene.

So, when turning off, a Set Brightness was sent, and the minimum value you could choose was 1%. Because this is a scene, the brightness can't really be set, so any value >0 had the effect of turning on the scene. So, the whole process turned on the scene, then turned it off.

When you turned on a scene in a routine, the above had the effect of turning on the scene twice, which was not noticeable.

The Set Brightness for a scene has been changed such that any value>50 will turn on the scene, and <50 turn it off.

Benoit

[dbuss]

2 minutes ago, bmercier said:

Please try again.

Now you should be able to turn off a scene in a routine, as long as the percentage is < 50%. (Recommended is 1%)

Let me explain what is happening. Interestingly, when you have a scene in a routine, there are 2 commands sent in the sequence below:

When turning On: Activate Scene, then Set Brightness.

When turning Off: Set Brightness, then Deactivate Scene.

So, when turning off, a Set Brightness was sent, and the minimum value you could choose was 1%. Because this is a scene, the brightness can't really be set, so any value >0 had the effect of turning on the scene. So, the whole process turned on the scene, then turned it off.

When you turned on a scene in a routine, the above had the effect of turning on the scene twice, which was not noticeable.

The Set Brightness for a scene has been changed such that any value>50 will turn on the scene, and <50 turn it off.

Benoit

It works perfectly now Benoit!! Thank you!!

[Lerxst]

Also fixed it for me. That's what I call a great response! Thanks Benoit!

[Tuckerdude]

Just Re-tried this functionality as well...working great!

Thanks Benoit!

I don't know about others, but for me...this new functionality is a game changer. Having Alexa actually speak when things are happening around the house opens up a lot of possibilities. Some things still feel a little rough around the edges, but I'm sure it will get smoother with time and usage.

Today I'm going to try and get my garage door and driveway (IO Linc) based devices to register. I've tried already, but so far no joy.

Coincidentally, the new Alexa  app (just rolled out today 10/8/18) has moved quite a bit around and the discover devices option is no longer a "Discover-All" function, but rather at a catagory/brand level now. Not sure if it's better or worse, or purely cosmetic at this stage. Will continue to experiment!

[Lerxst]

Yeah, I noticed the new Alexa app this morning as I quickly wanted to rediscover my ISY devices and try Benoit's fix before leaving for work. Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled about not being able to find the 'Discover-All' button, but then I had the bright idea to ask Alexa to "discover my devices", which worked.