Sonos control?

[Jay M]

I just learned that I can control Sonos with my Insteon Keypad.  This is great news now that Sonos no longer supports their own controllers.

I was able to use the Insteon hub to get some control, but it wasn't very reliable.  In most cases, ISY does things better, as it should considering the enormous cost difference.

I searched the forum, but I can't seem to grasp what steps are required to make Sonos control happen.

The control I would like is:

-play/pause button

-volume up button

-volume down button

-skip button

-favorite stations buttons

Is this even possible on the ISY?

As a bonus, it would be nice if I could also program my IR remote to control the Sonos through ISY and Insteon.

thanks,

~Jay

[Bumbershoot]

You can get there using all Network Resources, but I've found those to be a bit fragile in my installation, and proved to be too complicated to deploy and maintain.  If you're willing to move up to the latest/greatest that the ISY has to offer, then (IMHO) your Sonos functionality is easier to maintain and deploy, but the installation will have some requirements.  Those requirements include (and this list may be non-trivial if you're not at least somewhat comfortable with Linux and your ISY):

• Run the 5.x.x series of firmware on your ISY
• Run Polyglot and the Sonos nodeserver on an RPi
• For advanced features, you can also/alternatively run the Jishi API bridge on your RPi
• Write programs to make things happen when buttons on your KPL are pressed

It appears that the Sonos nodeserver in Polyglot will get you all of your requirements save the "favorites systems button", but that can be achieved in a limited way with the Jishi API bridge.

Below is a screenshot of what functionality the Sonos nodeserver gets you (all the functionality provided by the buttons are available to ISY programs).  Also, I've included the contents of a program that runs when a SwitchLink dimmer is switched "Fast Off", that utilizes both the nodeserver and Network Resources:

DiningFastOffDinner - [ID 00AF][Parent 000A]

If
        'Devices / dirKitchen / sldDining' is switched Fast Off
 
Then
        Set 'Scenes / scnDinner' On
        Wait  1 second
        Resource 'Sonos.Announce Dinner Music.Kitchen'
        Wait  3 seconds
        Set 'Devices / dirNodeServers / Sonos / Sonos Controller / Sonos Kitchen' Stop
        Wait  1 second
        Resource 'Sonos.Wes Montgomery Radio.Kitchen'
        Set 'Devices / dirNodeServers / Sonos / Sonos Controller / Sonos Kitchen' Volume 20%
        Set 'Devices / dirNodeServers / Sonos / Sonos Controller / Sonos Kitchen' Play
 
Else
   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')
 

Also, I've included screenshots of the contents of the Network Resources that are called in the above program -- one simply announces, via Text To Speech, "Playing jazz guitar", while the other specifies and plays a specific Sonos favorite, "Wes Montgomery Radio", which is a Pandora station.

The scene called in the first line of the "Then" stanza of the program adjusts a bunch of lighting in the house.

I haven't shown what's required to map your programs to your KPL buttons, or how to make those buttons behave in the manner you're desiring -- I don't use a KPL for this purpose -- but there are other resources on this forum for that.

Good Luck!

[Jay M]

WOW! that's a lot for me to digest.  Thanks for so much time and detail you gave.

I'll baby-step my way into it. 

My first concern, is that version 5 is still in beta. But maybe it's stable enough now?

My other concern is that my brain does not work like the brain of a typical computer programmer.  I can barely create simple programs to make my lights do what I want!

But, I use my Sonos every day, and it might be worth the effort to make it easier and more convenient for the whole family.

One I'm ready to tackle this, I'll be back with many questions.

thanks,

~Jay

 

 

[Bumbershoot]

28 minutes ago, Jay M said:

My first concern, is that version 5 is still in beta. But maybe it's stable enough now?

That's been debated a lot on this forum.  There are a few things to consider regarding the upgrade, but nothing much that I'm aware of regarding the stability and usefulness of the 5.x.x firmware.  I've been running the Alpha/Beta versions for a long time,  and they haven't killed my dog or orphaned my children.  Yet.  I think most people who've done the upgrade consider the current beta to be stable enough for normal use.  Poke around in this sub-forum a bit before you make the leap, however.