pymitv

A Python 3 based control of the Mi Tv 3(s)

Introduction

This package was developed to interface with the Xiaomi TV 3 series through their local HTTP API using Python. The package has both the ability to discover TVs and control them. The TV lineup in question is this one. It should be noted, that all the TV logic and hardware is in the soundbar. Thus, if you have a soundbar that looks identical to the one in the picture, you should be golden with this library.

Supported models

• Mi TV 3s (all sizes)

Not sure if supported models

• Mi TV 4A (all sizes)
• Mi TV 4c (all sizes)

Installing

Easy as pie! Just use pip.

Most systems

pip install pymitv

Or if you have multiple Python versions

python3 -m pip install pymitv

Usage

The package includes three modules: Discover, Control and TV. Each have their role, as implied by their names.

Discovering TVs

Discover.scan()

This method is used to scan the local network for TVs.

Arguments

Name	Required	Default value	Purpose
stop_on_first	No	True	Whether or not the method should continue scanning for TVs after finding its first one. Only needed for people with multiple Xiaomi TVs.
base_ip	No	0	Instead of looking for the base IP, you can give it to the function in the format of 192.168.0.

Example usage

import Discover from pymitv

discover = Discover.scan()
print(discover)

Discover.check_ip()

Used by Discover.scan() to check if a TV is present at the IP.

Arguments

Name	Required	Default value	Purpose
ip	Yes	None	The IP to check.

Example usage

import Discover from pymitv

print(Discover().check_ip('192.168.0.45'))

---

Controlling TVs

This is where the Control class comes in handy. The class has a bunch of predefined keystrokes:

• turn_on
• turn_off
• sleep
• wake
• up
• down
• right
• left
• home
• enter
• back
• menu
• volume_up
• volume_down

Control.send_keystrokes(ip, keystrokes)

Sends a set of keystrokes to a TV at ip

Arguments

Name	Required	Default value	Purpose
ip	Yes	None	The IP of the TV to send keystroke(s) to.
keystrokes	Yes	None	Keystroke(s) to send. E.g. Control.sleep

Using the wait keystroke

Using this keyword in a sequence of keystrokes will make the method sleep for 0.4 seconds which is the effective time it takes for the TV to listen to new keystrokes.

Example usage

import Control from pymitv

Control().sendKeystrokes(Control.sleep)

TV as a class

There is a class representation of the TV which will take an IP address. It has a range of control functions, and will keep track of on/off state (provided the script running is kept alive).

Example usage

from pymitv import TV

tv = TV('192.168.0.41')

tv.is_on() #Return False
tv.wake() #Will wake the TV
tv.up() #Will press key up

All keystrokes from the Control class are available with the exception of turn_on. This is because, you can't actually turn on the TV if it's completely off. Instead, use wake and sleep.

Accessing the local API exposed by the TV

This can be useful if you don't wish to use the Python package (this one), but you'd rather implement your own version. Below you'll find everything you need.

Finding the TV IP

To find the IP of your TV you need to scan your network for clients. You can use an application like Advanced IP Scanner for Windows and LanScan for MacOS. Both these applications resolves the MAC address to give you the name of the manufacturer. However, if you have multiple Xiaomi products it can still prove difficult to find the right one. Fear not! The MAC address should start with 00:9E:C8.

Check TV status

To check if the TV is on, use the following request: http://TV_IP:6095/request?action=isalive

The above will return something along the lines of:

{
	"status": 0,
	"msg": "success",
	"data": {
		"devicename": "客厅的小米电视",
		"ip": "TV_IP:6095",
		"feature": ["power"],
		"url": ["http:\/\/bilibili.kankanews.com\/video\/av\\d+\/", "http:\/\/www.bilibili.tv\/video\/av\\d+\/"],
		"platform": 606,
		"build": 1381,
		"version": 16777500
	}
}

BEWARE! If the TV is in standby mode, this request will still return as if it were on. Currently there is no way to check if the TV is actually on.

Send keystroke

To send a keystroke use the following request: http://TV_IP:6095/controller?action=keyevent&keycode=KEYCODE

Instead of KEYCODE, you should write an actual keycode. These are the available ones:

Key/button	keycode	action
On/off toggle	power	Turns the TV on or off
Up	up	Goes up
Down	down	Goes down
Left	left	Goes left
Right	right	Goes right
Enter	enter	Affirms selection
Home	home	Returns to home screen
Back	back	Goes one step back
Menu	menu	Opens options menu
Volume up	volumeup	Increases volume by 1
Volume down	volumedown	Decreases volume by 1