Alexa can’t find movie in library - RESOLVED

Hi everyone,

I’m new to Serviio and I want to use the Alexa Skill to play movies on my Sony Bravia KDL-55W829B TV. If I access the Serviio server manually using my TV remote I can play all my movies no problem but, if I say “Alexa ask Serviio to play [movie name] all I get is I am sorry, I didn’t find [movie name] in your Serviio library.

I have rebooted Serviio on my PC and rebooted my Amazon Echo but I still get the same response.

Thanks in advance for any help

[atc98092]

Is it doing it for multiple titles, or just one or two? I know Alexa has issues with movie titles that have something besides just letters in the name. It requires a very specific pronunciation with those types of titles. What is an example title that it can't find?

Thanks for the reply.

It’s happening with multiple titles, As an example. “Alexa, ask Serviio to play Friday” Alexa responds with: I’m sorry, I didn’t find Friday in your Serviio library. I’ve tried several different titles and I get the same response on all of them.

[atc98092]

But what is the exact title name? Is that it, Friday? I've never tried using my Echo to control Serviio, but perhaps there's a different way to phrase it. Have you seen the Alexa info page on the Serviio web site? https://www.serviio.org/alexa Perhaps it can give you some additional ideas.

Yes Friday is the title. The example video request commands on the Serviio support page is: “Ask Serviio to play Avatar” I have also tried this exact command and Alexa still gives the same response: I am sorry I didn’t find Avatar in your Serviio library.

I specifically purchased the pro version of Serviio to be able to control Serviio with my Echo so I’m hoping there is a solution to this.

I have just tried this with several different audio files and Alexa can’t find them in the Serviio library either.

[atc98092]

Zip is going to need to comment on this. Since he is the developer, he knows exactly how it's supposed to work.

No worries. Thank for trying to help

I have now tried installing Serviio on my Synology NAS but every time I use the command “Alexa, ask Serviio to play [movie name] on Sony TV” I get the response: “Sony TV is not active on your network, try re-naming your device in the Serviio console”

I have uninstalled and reinstalled Serviio on my PC but Alexa still cant find any movies or music in my Serviio library.

Do the Serviio devs actually use the forums? The lack of support from Serviio staff is worrying, I wouldn't be as concerned if I was just using the free version but I purchased the pro version so I could use Alexa and there doesn't seem to be any support from Serviio.

I've enabled DEBUG logging and all movie files are showing as being added to the library. There does not seem to be anything in the logs relating to Alexa at all. If I use the command "Alexa, ask Serviio whats new" Alexa responds with "there are no movies in your Serviio library yet".

I'm starting to get pretty annoyed that I've spent £25 or so on the Pro version and there is no support at all from the Serviio devs and there doesn't seem to be any other way of getting support other than this forum.

I have finally solved this issue. I had to tick the 'users with access' box on the library assign a user to the playback device.

[atc98092]

Yes, the new Users settings have caught a few users off guard, and I forget about it when trying to help someone. Glad you found it!

[zip]

Yes, another way to troubleshoot this is to try to search for the movie in MediaBrowser, using the same user that you use to connect with Alexa.

Thanks zip, good to know. The only other slight issue I have is that sometimes if I say Alexa, ask Serviio to play [movie title] Alexa doesn't seem to recognize the command at all and just makes a short sound. The workaround I have found is to say Alexa, open Serviio, then allow Alexa to go through the options and once she says what do you want to do now? ask to play a move title, this works with every movie I have tried so far.