samsungctl

========== samsungctl

samsungctl is a library and a command line tool for remote controlling Samsung televisions via a TCP/IP connection. It currently supports both pre-2016 TVs as well most of the modern Tizen-OS TVs with Ethernet or Wi-Fi connectivity.

Dependencies

• Python 3
• websocket-client (optional, for 2016+ TVs)
• curses (optional, for the interactive mode)

Installation

samsungctl can be installed using pip <(https://pip.pypa.io/>_:

::

# pip install samsungctl

Alternatively you can clone the Git repository and run:

::

# python setup.py install

It's possible to use the command line tool without installation:

::

$ python -m samsungctl

Command line usage

You can use samsungctl command to send keys to a TV:

::

$ samsungctl --host <host> [options] <key> [key ...]

host is the hostname or IP address of the TV. key is a key code, e.g. KEY_VOLDOWN. See Key codes_.

There is also an interactive mode (ncurses) for sending the key presses:

::

$ samsungctl --host <host> [options] --interactive

Use samsungctl --help for more information about the command line arguments:

::

usage: samsungctl [-h] [--version] [-v] [-q] [-i] [--host HOST] [--port PORT]
                  [--method METHOD] [--name NAME] [--description DESC]
                  [--id ID] [--timeout TIMEOUT]
                  [key [key ...]]

Remote control Samsung televisions via TCP/IP connection

positional arguments:
  key                 keys to be sent (e.g. KEY_VOLDOWN)

optional arguments:
  -h, --help          show this help message and exit
  --version           show program's version number and exit
  -v, --verbose       increase output verbosity
  -q, --quiet         suppress non-fatal output
  -i, --interactive   interactive control
  --host HOST         TV hostname or IP address
  --port PORT         TV port number (TCP)
  --method METHOD     Connection method (legacy or websocket)
  --name NAME         remote control name
  --description DESC  remote control description
  --id ID             remote control id
  --timeout TIMEOUT   socket timeout in seconds (0 = no timeout)

E.g. samsungctl --host 192.168.0.10 --name myremote KEY_VOLDOWN

The settings can be loaded from a configuration file. The file is searched from $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/samsungctl.conf, ~/.config/samsungctl.conf, and /etc/samsungctl.conf in this order. A simple default configuration is bundled with the source as samsungctl.conf <samsungctl.conf>_.

Library usage

samsungctl can be imported as a Python 3 library:

.. code-block:: python

import samsungctl

A context managed remote controller object of class Remote can be constructed using the with statement:

.. code-block:: python

with samsungctl.Remote(config) as remote:
    # Use the remote object

The constructor takes a configuration dictionary as a parameter. All configuration items must be specified.

=========== ====== =========================================== Key Type Description =========== ====== =========================================== host string Hostname or IP address of the TV. port int TCP port number. (Default: 55000) method string Connection method (legacy or websocket) name string Name of the remote controller. description string Remote controller description. id string Additional remote controller ID. timeout int Timeout in seconds. 0 means no timeout. =========== ====== ===========================================

The Remote object is very simple and you only need the control(key) method. The only parameter is a string naming the key to be sent (e.g. KEY_VOLDOWN). See Key codes_. You can call control multiple times using the same Remote object. The connection is automatically closed when exiting the with statement.

When something goes wrong you will receive an exception:

================= ======================================= Exception Description ================= ======================================= AccessDenied The TV does not allow you to send keys. ConnectionClosed The connection was closed. UnhandledResponse An unexpected response was received. socket.timeout The connection timed out. ================= =======================================

Example program

This simple program opens and closes the menu a few times.

.. code-block:: python

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import samsungctl
import time

config = {
    "name": "samsungctl",
    "description": "PC",
    "id": "",
    "host": "192.168.0.10",
    "port": 55000,
    "method": "legacy",
    "timeout": 0,
}

with samsungctl.Remote(config) as remote:
    for i in range(10):
        remote.control("KEY_MENU")
        time.sleep(0.5)

Key codes

The list of accepted keys may vary depending on the TV model, but the following list has some common key codes and their descriptions.

================= ============ Key code Description ================= ============ KEY_POWEROFF Power off KEY_UP Up KEY_DOWN Down KEY_LEFT Left KEY_RIGHT Right KEY_CHUP P Up KEY_CHDOWN P Down KEY_ENTER Enter KEY_RETURN Return KEY_CH_LIST Channel List KEY_MENU Menu KEY_SOURCE Source KEY_GUIDE Guide KEY_TOOLS Tools KEY_INFO Info KEY_RED A / Red KEY_GREEN B / Green KEY_YELLOW C / Yellow KEY_BLUE D / Blue KEY_PANNEL_CHDOWN 3D KEY_VOLUP Volume Up KEY_VOLDOWN Volume Down KEY_MUTE Mute KEY_0 0 KEY_1 1 KEY_2 2 KEY_3 3 KEY_4 4 KEY_5 5 KEY_6 6 KEY_7 7 KEY_8 8 KEY_9 9 KEY_DTV TV Source KEY_HDMI HDMI Source KEY_CONTENTS SmartHub ================= ============

Please note that some codes are different on the 2016+ TVs. For example, KEY_POWEROFF is KEY_POWER on the newer TVs.

References

I did not reverse engineer the control protocol myself and samsungctl is not the only implementation. Here is the list of things that inspired samsungctl.

• http://sc0ty.pl/2012/02/samsung-tv-network-remote-control-protocol/
• https://gist.github.com/danielfaust/998441
• https://github.com/Bntdumas/SamsungIPRemote
• https://github.com/kyleaa/homebridge-samsungtv2016