Adding deeper voice control of a Bose Lifestyle 30 with Amazon Alexa

chughes65

This question is about adding deeper voice control of a Bose Lifestyle 30 from1998.  I need more voice control than offered by an Amazon Alexa Input on the grounds of severe physical disability.

in particular, I went to be able to turn the Bose on/off and select sources by voice commandsI.

I am new here and wondering if anyone would know how to make all this possible but through Amazon Alexa not Google Assistant as per this YouTube video...

YouTube Bose voice control video

I encourage you to watch the video as it is proof of concept though I do acknowledge it is challenging.

I have the Bose service manual with the serial codes referred to in the video. My Bose Lifestyle 30 music centre has a serial port as per the video.  The author of the video says he has put the code he used on Github harrylepotter - Overview

The Amazon Echo Input i use at the moment which is connected to the Bose by the Aux port does not offer enough voice control. In particular I want to be able to power the Bose on and off by voice commands and select source by voice commands. Also, include those functions in Alexa routines. Don’t need the Apple TV functionality referred to in the video. Only deeper voice control of my Bose music centre.


I don’t want to consider other newer music centres. My Bose Lifestyle 30 cost £3,500 twenty years ago. It is a high quality system still in good working order and a new equivalent that would have Alexa integration would cost more. My existing 5 speaker Bose system also has all the speakers professionally installed under floorboards so would be a lot of upheaval to move to a new system.

The other option is if the Bose can be reprogrammed in some way to always power on in AUX mode by default and not CD mode as at present this would fix my problem.  I
have the Bose connected to a smart plug but as soon as power is added it defaults to CD.  My Echo Input is connected to Aux.

The Bose Lifestyle 30 is no longer manufactured and supported so Bose cannot help.

I have tried the Bose Soundtouch wireless adapter. This allowed me to stream music but not turn my Bose on and off or select the source.

Apart from the option covered in the YouTube video above another option is a device by Audio Authority that converts IR codes into RF to control the Bose. The problem is this Audio Authority device is no longer manufactured and I can’t find one on the second hand market.  It anyone has one you no longer needit please let me know.

if anyone out there readng this with Amazon Alexa and computer coding experience, Raspberry Pie knowledge thinks they can help me I would be eternally grateful!

Please note the Lifestyle 30 is Bose propriety RF and universal remotes like Harmony and Broadlink do not solve my issue.

mushii

There are several easy ways that you can do this but all will cost quite a lot. AMX, Crestron and Control 4 all have serial control software for the Lifestyle 30. All 3 also have Alexa interfaces. unfortunately BOSE chose not to release its serial protocols to the wider world and I am guessing that these companies paid dearly for the privilege. This is typical of BOSE unfortunately. Maybe somebody out there has a copy of the serial commands.

Once you have these you would need a serial controller that you could control with Alexa.

This link will let you do Alexa to  RS232-TTL using an arduino board

Voice Activated Media Appliances Using Alexa

If you can find the Bose serial protocol you are home and dry-ish.

chughes65

Thank you so much for your helpful reply. I have the Service Manual (not the only the user guide) and I am fairly sure this contains the serial protocol. I will read more into what you have supplied.  Thanks again. Appreciated

mushii

YVW

RBZ5416

Maybe try a wanted ad for the Audio Authority device in the classifieds here. Might be something someone has sitting at the back of a drawer.

Jamie

A quick Google seems to suggest that while the remote may not use it the system can be controlled with infrared.
                                                                                                                                                                                                        Harmony Companion & Lifestyle V30                                                                                                        Trying to connecvt a harmony companion remote to my V30...with no success whatsoever.   Any suggestions?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                community.bose.com                                                                               
If that's indeed true then surely a Harmony hub (and possibly a matching remote) would be the way forward.
I'm not massively familiar with Bose gear so if I hope I've got the right bit of kit.