Alexa complaining that it can't find a device, but it can!

Me: "Alexa, turn on the Dining Room Desk"
Alexa: "Dining room Desk isn't responding. Please check its network connection and power supply."

And then the dining room desk light turns on!

I suppose this is better than Alexa actually not being able to turn the light on. But it's a bit irritating. Any idea what is going on

Here is the log.

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   Alexa Debug                     request:
{"directive": {"header": {"payloadVersion": "3", "correlationToken": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "namespace": "Alexa.PowerController", "name": "TurnOn", "messageId": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpoint": {"scope": {"token": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "type": "BearerToken"}, "cookie": {}, "endpointId": "774440020"}, "payload": {}}}
   Alexa                           turning on 'Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk'
   Alexa Debug                     reply:
{"event": {"header": {"payloadVersion": "3", "correlationToken": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "namespace": "Alexa", "name": "Response", "messageId": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpoint": {"scope": {"token": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "type": "BearerToken"}, "cookie": {}, "endpointId": "774440020"}, "payload": {}}, "context": {"properties": [{"timeOfSample": "2022-05-13T17:25:53-07:00", "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 500, "namespace": "Alexa.PowerController", "name": "powerState", "value": "ON"}]}}
   Z-Wave                          sent "Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk" on
   Trigger                         Dine-Desk On/Off: match Kit-ExitR to Dine-Desk (1m)
   Trigger                         +Dine-Desk On: increment DiningCount
   Trigger                         Dine-Desk Level: match Kit-ExitR to Dine-Desk (1m)


[jay (support)]

That message is from Alexa, not from Indigo - how long between the time you ask it to control the light until you see that first line in the Event Log? Indigo is performing the action and replying immediately with the correct new value (ON).

I was hoping a could send you a movie so you could watch it happening in real time, but this web site doesn't seem to support that.

0:00 - 0:05. Alexa, Turn on the dining room test
0:09: Alexa starts to respond with the message about not responding.
0:10: A bunch of lines print out on the log, and the light turns on. This happens almost instantaneously, while Alexa is talking.

Log is again below.

I seem to get the message about once every half hour or so. If I try turning these lights (or any lights) on or off, everything will work fine. But if I try again later, I will get the same error message again.

May 14, 2022 at 10:47:19 PM
Alexa Debug handle_smarthome_request API call received
Alexa Debug request:
{"directive": {"header": {"payloadVersion": "3", "correlationToken": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "namespace": "Alexa.PowerController", "name": "TurnOn", "messageId": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpoint": {"scope": {"token": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "type": "BearerToken"}, "cookie": {}, "endpointId": "774440020"}, "payload": {}}}
Alexa turning on 'Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk'
Alexa Debug reply:
{"event": {"header": {"payloadVersion": "3", "correlationToken": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "namespace": "Alexa", "name": "Response", "messageId": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpoint": {"scope": {"token": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "type": "BearerToken"}, "cookie": {}, "endpointId": "774440020"}, "payload": {}}, "context": {"properties": [{"timeOfSample": "2022-05-14T22:47:19-07:00", "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 500, "namespace": "Alexa.PowerController", "name": "powerState", "value": "ON"}]}}
Z-Wave sent "Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk" on
Trigger Dine-Desk On/Off: match Kit-ExitR to Dine-Desk (1m)
Trigger +Dine-Desk On: increment DiningCount
Trigger Dine-Desk Level: match Kit-ExitR to Dine-Desk (1m)
Alexa Debug deviceUpdated: Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk
Alexa Debug original device type: DimmerDevice, updated device type: DimmerDevice
Alexa Debug IndigoDeviceEndpoint.__init__ called with device: 774440020 (Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk)
Alexa Debug IndigoDeviceEndpoint.__init__ called with device: 774440020 (Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk)

this is a long shot but worth a try. I had a similar issue where Alexa failed returning a variable when the value contained an ampersand. You might try removing the "/" in the device name and resync to see if that makes a difference.

[jay (support)]

Unfortunately, your times aren't enough: I need to know when you made the request, when Indigo receives the request from Alexa, etc., so that we can see if there's a time gap between when you say something and when we get the request or if there's a time gap between when we turn on the device and the time that Alexa says it's not responding.

To help with explicit timings, open the plugin's log file:

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/Library/Application Support/Perceptive Automation/Indigo 2022.1/Logs/indigoplugin.alexa/plugin.log


Then line up when you speak to Alexa and when you receive any responses. For instance, here is a standard exchange to turn off a light in my house:

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***12:05:00 [Said "Alexa, turn off stair lights"]***
2022-05-15 12:05:02.863   DEBUG   Plugin.handle_smarthome_request:   handle_smarthome_request API call received
2022-05-15 12:05:02.863   DEBUG   Plugin.handle_smarthome_request:   request:
{"directive": {"header": {"messageId": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "namespace": "Alexa.PowerController", "name": "TurnOff", "payloadVersion": "3", "correlationToken": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpoint": {"scope": {"type": "BearerToken", "token": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpointId": "1112712023", "cookie": {}}, "payload": {}}}
2022-05-15 12:05:02.865   INFO   Plugin.turn_off:   turning off 'Stair Lights'
2022-05-15 12:05:02.866   DEBUG   Plugin.handle_smarthome_request:   reply:
{"event": {"header": {"messageId": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "namespace": "Alexa", "name": "Response", "payloadVersion": "3", "correlationToken": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpoint": {"scope": {"type": "BearerToken", "token": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpointId": "1112712023", "cookie": {}}, "payload": {}}, "context": {"properties": [{"namespace": "Alexa.PowerController", "name": "powerState", "value": "OFF", "timeOfSample": "2022-05-15T12:05:02-05:00", "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 500}]}}
***12:05:03 [Alexa replied "OK" and the light turned off, hard to say which happened first]***


Me: Alexa, "turn on the dining room ceiling"
Almost immediately, the following appears in the log (I used "tail -f" so I could see changes to the log as it happened) and the light turned on.
Maybe half a second later, Alexa told me she couldn't find the device.

Code: Select all

{"directive": {"header": {"payloadVersion": "3", "correlationToken": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "namespace": "Alexa.PowerController", "name": "TurnOn", "messageId": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpoint": {"scope": {"token": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "type": "BearerToken"}, "cookie": {}, "endpointId": "1950801506"}, "payload": {}}}
2022-05-15 11:19:59.767   INFO   Plugin.turn_on:   turning on 'Kit-Entry2-WallR/Kit-Ceiling'
2022-05-15 11:19:59.768   DEBUG   Plugin.handle_smarthome_request:   reply:
{"event": {"header": {"payloadVersion": "3", "correlationToken": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "namespace": "Alexa", "name": "Response", "messageId": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpoint": {"scope": {"token": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "type": "BearerToken"}, "cookie": {}, "endpointId": "1950801506"}, "payload": {}}, "context": {"properties": [{"timeOfSample": "2022-05-15T11:19:59-07:00", "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 500, "namespace": "Alexa.PowerController", "name": "powerState", "value": "ON"}]}}
2022-05-15 11:19:59.917   DEBUG   Plugin.deviceUpdated:   deviceUpdated: Kit-Entry2-WallR/Kit-Ceiling
2022-05-15 11:19:59.917   DEBUG   Plugin.deviceUpdated:   original device type: RelayDevice, updated device type: RelayDevice
2022-05-15 11:19:59.918   DEBUG   Plugin.__init__:   IndigoDeviceEndpoint.__init__ called with device: 1950801506 (Kit-Entry2-WallR/Kit-Ceiling)
2022-05-15 11:19:59.919   DEBUG   Plugin.__init__:   IndigoDeviceEndpoint.__init__ called with device: 1950801506 (Kit-Entry2-WallR/Kit-Ceiling)
2022-05-15 11:21:25.686   DEBUG   Plugin.handle_smarthome_request:   handle_smarthome_request API call received
2022-05-15 11:21:25.687   DEBUG   Plugin.handle_smarthome_request:   request:




[jay (support)]

You didn't follow my instructions exactly, but from what I see it looks like it's not an Indigo issue: Indigo receives the request, performs the action, and replies correctly within milliseconds. So without a more complete description of the dialog and timing of all events, there's not much else I can say.

Alexa has some very odd and persistent caching issues. I wonder if it thinks you have two different devices with the same name somehow. The only other thought I have at this point is to start over - you can follow steps 2 on from the Full Switch section of the docs to clean out everything on the Alexa side and then re-discover.

Okay. I made a video with the Mac's clock visible while I talk. This let me get reasonably accurate times:

2022-05-15 19:22:37: Finish the command to Alexa.
2022--5-15 19:22:41: Alexa tells me she can't find the device.
Everything in the log happens after Alexa starts talking.

2022-05-15 19:22:41.324 DEBUG Plugin.handle_smarthome_request: handle_smarthome_request API call received
2022-05-15 19:22:41.325 DEBUG Plugin.handle_smarthome_request: request:
{"directive": {"header": {"payloadVersion": "3", "correlationToken": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "namespace": "Alexa.PowerController", "name": "TurnOn", "messageId": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpoint": {"scope": {"token": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "type": "BearerToken"}, "cookie": {}, "endpointId": "774440020"}, "payload": {}}}
2022-05-15 19:22:41.327 INFO Plugin.turn_on: turning on 'Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk'
2022-05-15 19:22:41.329 DEBUG Plugin.handle_smarthome_request: reply:
{"event": {"header": {"payloadVersion": "3", "correlationToken": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "namespace": "Alexa", "name": "Response", "messageId": "XXXXXXXXXXX"}, "endpoint": {"scope": {"token": "XXXXXXXXXXX", "type": "BearerToken"}, "cookie": {}, "endpointId": "774440020"}, "payload": {}}, "context": {"properties": [{"timeOfSample": "2022-05-15T19:22:41-07:00", "uncertaintyInMilliseconds": 500, "namespace": "Alexa.PowerController", "name": "powerState", "value": "ON"}]}}
2022-05-15 19:22:41.386 DEBUG Plugin.deviceUpdated: deviceUpdated: Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk
2022-05-15 19:22:41.387 DEBUG Plugin.deviceUpdated: original device type: DimmerDevice, updated device type: DimmerDevice
2022-05-15 19:22:41.387 DEBUG Plugin.__init__: IndigoDeviceEndpoint.__init__ called with device: 774440020 (Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk)
2022-05-15 19:22:41.389 DEBUG Plugin.__init__: IndigoDeviceEndpoint.__init__ called with device: 774440020 (Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk)
2022-05-15 19:23:41.851 DEBUG Plugin.deviceUpdated: deviceUpdated: Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk
2022-05-15 19:23:41.852 DEBUG Plugin.deviceUpdated: original device type: DimmerDevice, updated device type: DimmerDevice
2022-05-15 19:23:41.852 DEBUG Plugin.__init__: IndigoDeviceEndpoint.__init__ called with device: 774440020 (Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk)
2022-05-15 19:23:41.854 DEBUG Plugin.__init__: IndigoDeviceEndpoint.__init__ called with device: 774440020 (Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk)
2022-05-15 19:23:41.894 DEBUG Plugin.deviceUpdated: deviceUpdated: Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk
2022-05-15 19:23:41.896 DEBUG Plugin.deviceUpdated: original device type: DimmerDevice, updated device type: DimmerDevice
2022-05-15 19:23:41.897 DEBUG Plugin.__init__: IndigoDeviceEndpoint.__init__ called with device: 774440020 (Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk)
2022-05-15 19:23:41.899 DEBUG Plugin.__init__: IndigoDeviceEndpoint.__init__ called with device: 774440020 (Dine-Desk-WallD/Dine-Desk)

Additional info.
1. This seems to be recent. It happened after I updated the Mac to 10.15.7 and Indigo to 2022.2. Is it safe for me to rollback Indigo to 2022.1 to see if that maybe solves the problem?
2. It happens every 30 minutes or so.
3. It happens for any device I try to turn off or on. Two devices with the same name seem unlikely.

[jay (support)]

OK, that's exactly what I needed to see. As you can tell from your timings, Alexa doesn't even send the control command to Indigo until after it says it can't find the device (and there's a good 4 seconds before she starts her reply). This is clearly a problem on the Alexa side or potentially some odd internet connectivity issue on your end. Indigo is handling getting and replying to the request very quickly as you can see from the log, it's not involved in the process outside of that.

1. This seems to be recent. It happened after I updated the Mac to 10.15.7 and Indigo to 2022.2. Is it safe for me to rollback Indigo to 2022.1 to see if that maybe solves the problem?

We haven't released 2022.2 yet - I guess you mean revert to 2021.2? You can certainly try that - we don't uninstall previous versions so just make sure that you shut down the Indigo 2022.1 server and client then launch the Indigo 2021.2 client and server and give it a try.

2. It happens every 30 minutes or so.

I don't know what that might indicate. Who is your internet provider?

3. It happens for any device I try to turn off or on. Two devices with the same name seem unlikely.

Maybe so, but if somehow Alexa's cache has duplicates of all of your devices due to some weird caching issue (I've seen that happen before), that would explain it. I would still do a full reset on the Alexa side as that seems to me to have the best chance of clearing this up.

I did absolutely nothing and the problem went away. Alexa turns the lights on and off without complaining.

That pretty much lets Indigo off the hook.

[jay (support)]

That's exactly what happens when their cache issues resolve themselves...

[MODERATOR NOTE]: moved to the Alexa forum.

Just to bring some closure to this.

It turns out that this was the first sign of my router failing. Other minor problems starting happening in June, and then the router stopped talking to the WAN a week ago. I replaced the router, and all the problems disappeared.

Everything seems to be working perfectly. I now know that Alexa/Indigo is a canary in the coal mine, able to catch problems while they are still small.