How can I “Take Control” of my Voice PE in ESPHome Builder if it’s not auto-discovered to add GROVE

[rose yoke]

Hi, I have a Voice PE all working fine and on a separate iOT VLAN. My Home Assistant install can reach it and use it just fine. However, it is not auto-discovered in ESPHome Builder.

This has been find for other ESPHome devices I've built - I just put this in the config and they are reachable no problem:

wifi:
  ssid: "[My iOT SSID]"
  password: "[iOT Wifi password]"
  manual_ip: 
    static_ip: 192.168.x.x
    gateway: 192.168.x.x
    subnet: x.x.x.x

I added the yaml file for the voice PE in ESPhome builder (https://github.com/esphome/home-assistant-voice-pe/blob/dev/home-assistant-voice.yaml) and I've added the config above.

It can see the Voice PE and says it's online, but it's not got a "take control" option like in the documentation...is it ok to flash it with this yaml configuration?

Ultimately, I want to add a couple of sensors to the GROVE port and so need to edit the config. Will this method work?

I feel a bit bad making a similar post to previous posts, but I'm wondering if geteting the Voice-PE working across VLANs is possible if you use the right yaml in ESPhome builder.

[high nimbus]

Haven't played with esp home...
but I just set routing rules to allow my pe's OUT of the IoT vlan TO the HASS server, (and also to the router IP for time/DNS/dhcp) and also rebroadcast the VP's zeroconfig broadcasts onto the servers VLAN (just to enable auto-discover)

Oh, and allow the HASS server out of servers VLAN to IoT vlan haha.

[cosmic ruin]

in general vlans are "unsupported" however:

across vlans it wont auto discover because mdns doesnt work across vlans. however if you manually add a device in the builder with a manual ip address then you should be able to flash the device (assuming vlans are configured to allow)

unless you are activly modifying whats already there then i would suggest just calling the vpe package instead of copying it in. that way you get updates as it goes. you can still add addition devices or overwrite sections if needed when doing this.

[rose yoke]

Was playing in OPNsense to try and make that work and it was being recalcitrant. However, with manual ip's it's fine (with appropriate firewall rules). Cheers for the ideas.

[rose yoke]

Worked just fine, and cheers for the tips of calling the VPE package, that's done the trick. All worky now. In the end I added it to my regular lan and flashed it with the manual ip details for my iOT vlan and all was fine when restarted.

[high nimbus]

I think "reflector" was the mdns re-broadcast service

[rose yoke]

I was using os-mdns-repeater, but I just ended up doing it manually. No biggie really.

[cosmic ruin]

yeah, mdns rebroadcasting tends to be a bit flakey tbh.

[high nimbus]

Mikrotik's rebroadcast is amazing. Used that on a worksite this year.
Very seriously considering replacing my onsite Unifi kits with mikrotik just based on that alone, and also the poe flexibility

[rose yoke]

I think for anyone coming across this in the future, having a template for the required yaml might be helpful...

substitutions:
  name: <DEVICE NAME>
  friendly_name: <DEVICE NAME IN HASS>
packages:
  Nabu Casa.Home Assistant Voice PE: github://esphome/home-assistant-voice-pe/home-assistant-voice.yaml
esphome:
  name: ${name}
  name_add_mac_suffix: false
  friendly_name: ${friendly_name}
api:
  encryption: <Your Encryption key>

wifi:
  ssid: "<SSID>"
  password: "<PASSWORD>"
  manual_ip: 
    static_ip: <Required IP>
    gateway: X.X.X.X
    subnet: X.X.X.X

Learning the manual ip stuff was a game changer, I was using the cli tool on my mac to flash esphome on devices, now can do it using esphome builder. A bit easier in general. The manual ip stuff made me not really miss the auto discover stuff. Cheers all for the help.

[cosmic ruin]

no worries, yeah manual ip makes things easier on more complicated networks. you just gotta remember if you change your network layout etc... you may have some issues with first writing.

@rose yoke out of curiosity what sensors are you looking to add?

[rose yoke]

Just a PN532 nfc sensor. I didn't realise that Seeed studio made one all pre-wired with a GROVE port, so I'll have to solder to the board I have but I figure it should be ok. Want to 3d print this bad boy - https://makerworld.com/en/models/1169821-home-assistant-voice-pe-fabric-enclosure#profileId-1177901 but extend it with the nfc reader for my kid to play stories in his room.

I have an esp32 powered temp/humidity/air quality sensor in his room already that I pondered also integrating into the box, but it's not i2c and modding the 3d print design is a bit beyond my skill anyway.

[cosmic ruin]

m5stack make a WS1850S designed for prove port usage. not sure if that will work for you? if its just rfid tags then could work?
I believe there is also some spare pins on the board on a header which you could use for other types of connection potentially

this is the 3d printed housing I made for my setup:

[rose yoke]

That's a sexy bit o' kit there boss

[cosmic ruin]

I have a write up of the setup here - https://gist.github.com/MichaelMKKelly/5033dec56c5ab6ee6b7db52f690b84e0

it definitely tidied stuff up a bit

[rose yoke]

I've already got the pn532 board, so I'm not so bothered soldering it to the GROVE connector cable I've got. I've used one in another nfc reader esphome project in the living room (again for the child in the home). I got wooden cubes, nfc stickers and then pictures of his favourite tv shows on top and used an automation with kodi so he can play what he wants by placing the cube on a certain side on the reader...which was pointless as he only wants to watch Disney's Cars movie over and over and over again.

It needs to be super simple and relatively cable free as he's only 3 years old.

I was thinking about amplifying the speaker, but his room is so small I'm not sure it'd make a difference. Interesting write-up, I didn't know about audio isolation transformers.

[cosmic ruin]

if you are going to add an additional speaker to the vpe then the 3.5mm jack is definitely the easiest way to do it. keep in mind its line level though so needs to be an active thing your plugging in. but if its only being used for voice output in a small room theres probably not much point. the built in speaker is fine for that. its only if you try to play music etc... that it becomes an issue.

[rose yoke]

Pretty much just voice output for now, it's just for stories etc. It's the second VPE in the house, it's just to shift him away from TV a bit and listening to kids audiobooks.

Because if I see anymore of the Cars film I'm going lose my mind.