So, I have been playing with Home Assistant. It's an open source home automation software that runs locally without "the cloud", or proprietary servers. I control many, many devices with it.

I want to add my Vizio TV to the mix. The plan is, when I press PLAY, the movie will start, and my ZWave lights will dim. Pause? Lights go back to full brightness.

THEN, I get to the "how to" page. Basically, I wasn't sure what command prompt they were talking about. I thought "PIP" was picture in picture, and it was how I would enter the info to get the access token.

The How to page:  https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/vizio/#:~:text=An%20access%20token%20can%20be,through%20the%20Home%20Assistant%20frontend

I really thought it would be a , "click here, run this, write this down, " etc.  NOPE! Had to figure out that they were talking about Python.  I installed Python, and tried to copy/paste the code in. Got a bunch of, "Wrong syntax" errors.

Can anyone walk me through "Python 101" to get PIP installed, so I can plug in my tv's static IP address and port, and get the "access token"?

So, I just tried it again inside of Home Assistant. I put in the IP of the TV, and Home Assistant came back with, "YOu should see a pin on your screen. enter it now". I did, and I can now control my TV with my home automation system.

Feel like I should just delete all this.

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Have you tried using NodeRed?

Don't lock it. I'm glad to see you figured it out. But how about a little walkthrough/write-up of your system and what you're using?

I STARTED my home automation journey with the "SmartThings by ADT" system.  The hub was built inside of a wallmount touchscreen.  95% of the sensors were a proprietary standard.  I bought a LOT of sensors. I bought a LOT of ones from Lowes on clearance.  I had all the automations set up. I had all the sensors mounted.  I was happy. Then, I came home one day, and saw a message on the touchscreen:

"Thank you for buying all this proprietary crap. The Smartthings by ADT partnership is ending. the system will brick itself in 2 months. there's 2 things you can do about it: NOTHING and LIKE IT.  Thanks".  (Paraphrasing).

So, I was pissed.  I have then watched the Smartthings gen 1 hub, VREA (?), Revolv, Lowe's "IRIS" system, and Insteon get bricked.

Then, I looked at my smartphone. I had, like, 8 home automation apps.  (garage door control thermostats, voice assistants, fitbits....)

I started with a raspberry Pi, then upgraded to a NUC-like PC to run Home Assistant [HA].  I use a USB dongle to add Zigbee and ZWave connectivity from HA to my devices.

First fire-up of HA was fairly simple. I added it to my wifi, and it immediately found a BUNCH of devices. (All wifi devices.)  I then updated the USB dongle. It found all the zwave devices. I had to reset all the zigbee devices so the HA system would find it.

Once all the devices are added, you can make a "launch screen".  I use mine on a touchscreen.  

You can make automations with fairly straightforward, "If this, then do_______".

HA works locally. so, no bricking or servers to go down. Yes, your regular cloud-based things still need the internet.  My in-house automations (If the roku presses play while watching a movie on the local NAS, then dim the living room lights) continues to work.

Why use it? I COULD go buy an amazon hub, amazon panel Amazon plugs, etc.  Amazon decides to brick their stuff? You are SOL.  

An example of what my system does?  I can say, "Alexa, turn on the PATIO LIGHTS".  Alexa hears me, goes thru the cloud, connects to my NUC-like PC, sees a zwave outdoor module called "Patio lights", tells the NUC running HA to change the state of the zwave switch from off to on.  It enables different ecosystems to talk to each other.  

Where does it fall short?  Well, see the original post. Some of the developers and documentation are written by know-it-all basement dwelling coders that are not helpful, that will just tell you, "The answer is there. Read it again." Sometimes the best way to get an answer is to post a question, log out, login with a NEW account, and post the completely wrong answer/solution is a haughty tone. The basement dwellers will log in, and explain WHY they're wrong.  

(I'll post more when I get home).

Some of the devices I'm using:

Generic chicom NUC-like PC off amazon, running Ubuntu.  


About 14 ZWave outlets, switches, motion sensors, and dimmers.

3 Zigbee devices. Two are "SmartThings by ADT" flood sensors. I stuck them under the dishwasher and washing machine.

1 door sensor. (Zigbee)

2 "Shelly 1" relays. They are powered by either AC or DC 12 volt.

Google home screen thing.

Google home speaker.

Alexa 4th gen ball.  (Just a speaker. No embedded zigbee hub.)

Octoprint to my Ender 3 is connected to HA.

Vizio Smartcast is connected.

Roku is connected.

Asus router is connected.

Oral B toothbrush is connected.

ObiHai box connected.

When I say "Connected", I mean HA can monitor that device's status. So, my toothbrush.  If I "wanted" to, I could make a rule that says, "IF the toothbrush does NOT run between 7-8AM, THEN, send Mug a text through his obihai that says, "SOMEONE DIDN'T BRUSH THEIR TEETH!!!!"  AND" Play "you_didnt-brush-your-teeth.MP3" through the smart speakers when the front door opens between 7-8AM.

Some devices, like outlets, can be turned on and off.  

For the front door sensor, I use geofencing.  I have a rule, "IF Mug is NOT at home  AND front door opens, play, "RELEASING NEUROTOXIN IN 10 SECONDS with countdown.MP3 through smart speaker".

The system is 100% reliable 80% of the time. It is a work in progress ALL the time.