Zone 2 Pandora Control

Play Pandora stations on Yamaha RX-A1070 Zone 2 (whole-house audio). Searches for the requested station and starts playback.

Common Usage

User says: "Play Santana on Zone 2" or "Zone 2 Pink Floyd" or just "Santana"

The skill will:

1. Power on Zone 2 if it's off
2. Set input to Pandora
3. Search through Pandora stations for the requested name
4. Select and play the station

Yamaha API Endpoints

Base URL: http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl

All commands are XML POST requests.

Zone 2 Control

Power On Zone 2:

curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
  -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="PUT"><Zone_2><Power_Control><Power>On</Power></Power_Control></Zone_2></YAMAHA_AV>'

Set Zone 2 Input to Pandora:

curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
  -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="PUT"><Zone_2><Input><Input_Sel>Pandora</Input_Sel></Input></Zone_2></YAMAHA_AV>'

Get Zone 2 Status:

curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
  -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="GET"><Zone_2><Basic_Status>GetParam</Basic_Status></Zone_2></YAMAHA_AV>'

Pandora Station Control

List Stations (shows 8 at a time):

curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
  -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="GET"><Pandora><List_Info>GetParam</List_Info></Pandora></YAMAHA_AV>'

Navigate Down in List:

curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
  -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="PUT"><Pandora><List_Control><Cursor>Down</Cursor></List_Control></Pandora></YAMAHA_AV>'

Navigate Up in List:

curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
  -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="PUT"><Pandora><List_Control><Cursor>Up</Cursor></List_Control></Pandora></YAMAHA_AV>'

Jump to Line (select specific station by line number 1-8):

curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
  -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="PUT"><Pandora><List_Control><Direct_Sel>Line_2</Direct_Sel></List_Control></Pandora></YAMAHA_AV>'

Select Current Station (start playback):

curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
  -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="PUT"><Pandora><List_Control><Cursor>Sel</Cursor></List_Control></Pandora></YAMAHA_AV>'

Get Currently Playing:

curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
  -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="GET"><Pandora><Play_Info>GetParam</Play_Info></Pandora></YAMAHA_AV>'

Station Search Algorithm

The Pandora list shows 8 stations at a time, with a cursor position indicating where you are in the full list (e.g., line 2 of 33 total).

To find a station by name:

1. Get the current list
2. Search visible lines (Line_1 through Line_8) for fuzzy match
3. If found in visible lines, select that line directly using Direct_Sel
4. If not found, navigate down to see more stations
5. Keep searching until found or reach max_line
6. Once found, select the line, then send Cursor>Sel</Cursor> to play

Common Stations

Based on the list retrieved (33 total stations):

• Pink Floyd Radio
• Santana Radio
• Cardiacs Radio
• Owner's Prog Radio
• Budgie Radio
• The Merriest Hawaiian Christmas Radio
• It's Christmas, Baby, Please Come Home
• (and 25+ more)

Implementation Steps

When user requests a station (extract station name from their message):

1. Power on Zone 2:

   curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
     -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="PUT"><Zone_2><Power_Control><Power>On</Power></Power_Control></Zone_2></YAMAHA_AV>'

   Wait 2 seconds for zone to power on.

2. Set input to Pandora:

   curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
     -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="PUT"><Zone_2><Input><Input_Sel>Pandora</Input_Sel></Input></Zone_2></YAMAHA_AV>'

   Wait 3 seconds for Pandora to load.

3. Search for station:

   • Get list
   • Fuzzy match station name (case-insensitive, partial match)
   • Navigate if needed
   • Select when found

4. Start playback:
   Once the correct line is highlighted, send:

   curl -X POST http://10.0.0.128/YamahaRemoteControl/ctrl \
     -d '<YAMAHA_AV cmd="PUT"><Pandora><List_Control><Cursor>Sel</Cursor></List_Control></Pandora></YAMAHA_AV>'

5. Verify:
   Get play info to confirm the right station is playing.

Example Usage

User: "Play Santana on Zone 2"

Steps:

1. Extract station name: "Santana"
2. Power on Zone 2
3. Set input to Pandora
4. Get station list
5. Find "Santana Radio" on Line_3
6. Select Line_3 directly: Direct_Sel>Line_3
7. Confirm selection: Cursor>Sel
8. Report: "Zone 2 playing Santana Radio"

Fuzzy Matching

Match user input flexibly:

• "santana" → "Santana Radio"
• "pink floyd" → "Pink Floyd Radio"
• "prog" → "Owner's Prog Radio"
• Case-insensitive
• Partial match OK
• Match first result if multiple hits

Important Notes

• Always use Zone_2, never Main_Zone (that's for the TV)
• Allow time for state changes (2-3 seconds between power/input changes)
• The station list cursor position matters - Direct_Sel uses Line_1 through Line_8
• After using Direct_Sel to highlight a line, you MUST send Cursor>Sel to actually play it
• The list has 33 stations total, but only 8 visible at a time
• Navigation wraps around (going down from bottom goes to top)

Error Handling

• If station not found after searching all 33 lines, list available stations and ask user to clarify
• If Pandora is unavailable (network issue), report the error
• If Zone 2 is already playing the requested station, just confirm it's playing