Kodi Community Forum
Release Kanzi: Amazon Alexa skill for Kodi - Printable Version

+- Kodi Community Forum (https://forum.kodi.tv)
+-- Forum: Support (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=33)
+--- Forum: Supplementary Tools for Kodi (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=116)
+--- Thread: Release Kanzi: Amazon Alexa skill for Kodi (/showthread.php?tid=254502)



RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - T800 - 2017-02-21

(2017-02-21, 21:18)thismustbeok Wrote: Hi All,
this is my first post and i have read countless posts on here before posting my question. I am really stuck here and any help would be very welcome.

I have followed all the steps using Lambda and aws etc etc , i have opened a port as instructed and i have also created the app (kodi) as i can see it in my "skills". the issue i have is when i say my trigger word (alexa ask Living Room) alexa replies with "you can ask me to play movies, tv shows or control media playback etc, etc. but when i say alexa "ask living room to open kodi" the blue light comes on and flashes on and off for a few minutes before answering me with "there was a problem communicating with the required skill"

PLEASE HELP ME.... i feel i am almost there!!

I could be waaaaaaaayyyy off here as I've struggled to get this right but as far as I know this particular skill is made for controlling Kodi via it's web server. If Kodi is not running there's no web server to connect to so it wouldn't "open" Kodi.


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - thismustbeok - 2017-02-21

Hi T800,

i have typed my ip address and port number into the address bar and it did recognize it as the kodi address. I really appreciate your quick reply but please be patient with me as this is my first go at anything like this Smile


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - T800 - 2017-02-21

(2017-02-21, 22:40)thismustbeok Wrote: Hi T800,

i have typed my ip address and port number into the address bar and it did recognize it as the kodi address. I really appreciate your quick reply but please be patient with me as this is my first go at anything like this Smile

You're wanting to start/open kodi via this skill or just control it while it is running?


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - thismustbeok - 2017-02-21

control it while it is running
i.e."alexa ask kodi to play brooklyn nine nine season one episode 1". pause, play, play last episode etc etc


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - T800 - 2017-02-21

Ahh okay, you said "ask living room to open kodi".

When you type a test the the service simulator does it work?


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - thismustbeok - 2017-02-21

no


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - thismustbeok - 2017-02-21

also the custom slot generator doesn't work... the error says Please validate your server information and try again. i understand that may give the exact reason as to why it doesn't work, but to me that means nothing


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - jingai - 2017-02-22

@thismustbeok, there is probably something wrong with the URL you're providing then if the slot generator doesn't like it.

Also, what did you populate the slots with if you can't get that to work? It's not a good idea to just skip steps on this.


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - thismustbeok - 2017-02-22

Hi jingai

i didn't skip the slots i added them manually


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - Gregg The Bakers - 2017-02-22

Thismustbeok,

It sounds to me that the computer/device you have installed kodi on is not accessible to the outside world (which is a prerequisite to allow the amazon server to interface with it)

This could be due to a number of potential issues.

Ensure You have either defined your external IP address rather than an internal IP address that is only known within your home network, or you have successfully set up a dns which is usually done through your router. Unfortunately, the setup process for this is dependent on your router and difficult to walk you through. If you have used an IP address in the slot generator, does it start with the number 192?

Also make sure you have port forwarded an external port to the home network IP address for the computer/device that has kodi installed. Again this is depend the on the router hardware so it is difficult to walk you through.


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - jingai - 2017-02-22

Get the slot generator working first, as it's connecting to Kodi the same way, but it's a much simpler application.

Have a good look at the URL you are providing. Since I can't verify it for you without seeing it, you'll need to make sure it's correct yourself.


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - thismustbeok - 2017-02-22

Hi,

i typed my ip address and port number into the address bar and it stated .. the server myipaddress is asking for your user name and password the server reports that it is from xbmc, does that help?


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - Gregg The Bakers - 2017-02-22

I strongly suspect you are using a local IP address explaining why using this IP address/port combo works in a web browser on your home network, but the slot generator is finding it difficult to talk to it. Without giving to much away, does the IP address you are using start with 192? If it is then you are using an IP address only known on your home network. If you go to www.whatismyipaddress.com, this will tell you the IP address to use.


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - thismustbeok - 2017-02-22

if this helps i am trying to do this on a fire tv box and i have 2 ip addresses
1 - the fire tv ip address (this is also the one i used for port forwarding)
2 - the kodi ip address

i used the fire tv box ip address as that is the address i used to set up the remote control app on my ipad


RE: Amazon Echo skill for Kodi - jingai - 2017-02-22

(2017-02-22, 00:18)thismustbeok Wrote: i typed my ip address and port number into the address bar and it stated .. the server myipaddress is asking for your user name and password the server reports that it is from xbmc, does that help?

It tells me that you can access Kodi's web server via a browser from your own LAN (assuming that's where you are right now).

You need to verify that your address and port are configured correctly in the .env file (and likewise for the slot generator) and that you can access it from outside of your LAN.