GH and X10 no longer working as expected

Chris Kunze · Mar 18, 2019, 5:58 PM

Hello. About 6-8mo ago I followed the tutorial to set up a custom command.json file to run various commands through my x10 modules and Google Home. Up until late January everything was working perfectly. However, now certain commands give the voice response "say something like run calculator on office pc".

The command file hasn't changed and I can successfully initiate the action through the batch file I created and also through the triggercmd web interface. Additionally, some of the commands still work as expected through voice command.

Any suggestions? I looked to see if anyone else was having the same symptoms, but didn't see anything that was related. I can copy/paste any info needed to diagnose.

Russ · Mar 18, 2019, 10:48 PM

@chris-kunze, what exactly are you saying to your Google Home?

I say, "Ask TRIGGER C M D to run calculator" when I use the normal google action.

When I use Google Home with SmartThings, I say "turn on calculator".

Chris Kunze · Mar 21, 2019, 3:59 PM

I typically say "hey Google, turn on kitchen lights". I have a few phrases I can use because I set up routines in Google Assistant to "tell triggercmd to run kitchen lights on" (which is the triggercmd command) when I say several variations of "turn on kitchen lights" or "turn kitchen lights on".

I've also said "hey google, tell triggercmd to run kitchen lights on on mainpc" to eliminate any possible conflict with the google home routine. Still no luck.

The odd thing is that saying "hey google, turn kitchen lights off" still works, along with about 1/2 my other commands. The other half (that don't work) give the me the response "say something like run calculator on office pc". I'm trying to figure out why this has stopped working for about 1/2 my commands. Like I said, for about 6mo, no issues at all.

Russ · Jun 9, 2019, 1:21 AM

@chris-kunze, aah, your description helps. I think I know the problem.

Google Assistant has always had a hard time interpretting "voice" field values that end with " on", like "kitchen lights on". You're better off using "kitchen lights" for turning things on, and "kitchen lights off" for turning them off.

The issue is, I'm already using the word "on" to separate the command voice text from the computer voice text.

I'm hoping to address this on/off use case soon by making a Google Action that works like the new TRIGGERcmd Alexa Smart Home skill: https://www.amazon.com/VanderMey-Consulting-LLC-TRIGGERcmd-Smart/dp/B07P1MMFRP

With that, your commands will become Smart Home switches so you can say, "Hey Google, turn on kichen lights" or "Hey Google, turn kitchen lights on" etc without having to use routines. SmartThings users already have this option, but this will be simpler to setup and won't require a SmartThings hub.

EDIT 6/8/19: I created and submitted the Google equivalent of the Alexa TRIGGERcmd Smart Home skill but Google won't approve it until I get some reviews on the Alexa skill and I can show them daily active users. Basically it's not worth their time.

Chris Kunze · Mar 25, 2019, 5:36 PM

This makes a lot of sense (because most of the "on" commands are the ones experiencing issues. I'm at work now, but will modify the commands when I return home and post the results. Thanks again for your assistance.

UPDATE: The issue is resolved. Removing the "on" from the end of the voice field fixed the problem. Thanks again!