Yamaha YNCA

Announcement: I have replaced my receiver with a new one which is not a Yamaha.

What does that mean for this integration? In practice probably not a lot. There is usually not a lot of maintenance needed, so I intend to keep the integration working, do small fixes and answer questions, but won't do big reworks anymore. To make it easier for others to contribute and submit PRs I documented some details about the development.

Minimum required Home Assistant version is: 2025.10.0

• About Yamaha (YNCA)
• Working models
• Supported functionality
  • Entities
  • Volume (dB) entity
  • Presets
• Data Updates
• Known Limitations
• Downloading
  • Home Assistant Community Store (HACS)
  • Manual download
• Configuration
• Options
• Removal
• Actions
  • Action yamaha_ynca.store_preset
  • Action yamaha_ynca.send_raw_ynca
• Q & A

Description

Yamaha (YNCA) is a custom integration for Home Assistant to support Yamaha AV receivers using the YNCA protocol over serial or network connections.

This integration can be used to control your receiver in automations. E.g. to turn on/off other equipment when the receiver turns on/off or to set specific sound modes depending on the content that is playing (content details need to be provided by other integrations).

For issues or feature requests please submit an issue on GitHub

Working models

The table of working models below is based on reports from users and info found on the internet. Model years were taken from the Yamaha AVR model history page.

Based on this information, receivers in the mentioned series from 2010 onwards are likely to work. So even if your model is not listed, just give it a try. It has been confirmed that older receivers like the RX-V3900 from 2009 do not work with this integration (it uses a different protocol). This repo has some templates/automations that might help with those older models.

If your receiver works but is not in the list, please post a message in the discussions so it can be added.

Supported functionality

The integration has full UI support for adding devices.

Each zone on the receiver is exposed as a separate device in Home Assistant which can expose the following entities if supported by that zone.

Entities

Button

• Scene buttons to activate scenes like the buttons on the front panel. If the amount of buttons is incorrect it can be changed in the integration options.

Mediaplayer

The mediaplayer entity supports:

• Power on/off
• Mute/Unmute
• Volume control (there is a separate number entity with Volume in dB if you prefer the dB unit)
• Source selection
  • Source names are taken from the receiver if possible (only on older models)
  • External inputs: AUDIO, AUDIO1-AUDIO5, AV1-AV7, CD, COAXIAL1-COAXIAL2, DOCK, HDMI1-HDMI7, LINE1-LINE3, MULTI CH, OPTICAL1-OPTICAL2, PHONO, TV, USB, V-AUX
  • Media sources: AirPlay, Bluetooth, Deezer, iPod, iPod (USB), MusicCast Link, Napster, NET RADIO, Pandora, PC, Rhapsody, SERVER, SIRIUS, SIRIUS InternetRadio, SiriusXM, Spotify, TIDAL, TUNER (AM/FM or DAB/FM), UAW, USB
  • Other: Main Zone Sync
• Soundmode selection
• Control playback state (depends on source)
• Provide metadata like artist name, album name, song name (depends on source)
• Exposes extra attribute "preset" when one is active

Number

• Initial volume
• Max volume level
• Volume in dB
• Headphone bass (default disabled)
• Headphone treble (default disabled)
• Speaker bass (default disabled)
• Speaker treble (default disabled)

Select

• HDMI Out
• Sleep timer
• Surround Decoder selection
• Speaker pattern selection

Sensor

• Source (default disabled)

The normal way to automate on the source of the receiver is through the source attribute on the media_player entity. But the source on the Main zone can also be changed with the remote control even when the receiver is Off. This is useful when you sometimes use audio from the TV and from the receiver at other times. Home Assistant hides the source attribute on the media_player entity when the receiver Off, so it can't be used in automations. This sensor is added for the specific use-case of automating on source changes when the receiver is Off.

Switch

Following switch entities allow enable/disable of the related feature.

• Adaptive DRC
• CINEMA DSP 3D mode
• Compressed Music Enhancer
• Direct / Pure Direct
• Extra Bass
• HDMI Out
• Party mode
• Subwoofer (default disabled)
• Surround:AI

Remote

The remote entity supports the following commands. Note that this command list does not take receiver capabilities into account. It just means there is a known remote control IR code for that command.

on, standby, receiver_power_toggle, source_power_toggle, scene_1, scene_2, scene_3, scene_4, info, on_screen, option, up, down, left, right, enter, return, display, top_menu, popup_menu, stop, pause, play, rewind, fast_forward, previous, next, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, +10, ent, hdmi1, hdmi2, hdmi3, hdmi4, hdmi5, hdmi6, hdmi7, av1, av2, av3, av4, av5, av6, av7, audio1, audio2, audio3, audio4, audio5, phono, program+, program-, straight, movie, music, classical, live_club, entertainment, surround_decode, stereo, pure_direct, enhancer

More remote control IR codes exist, but for now the commands included are the ones that are not available on the other entities or that are potentially useful in other ways. E.g. sending scene_1 can be used as a workaround for unsupported scene command on some receivers and commands like play are forwarded over HDMI-CEC so it allows you to control devices that do not have an API otherwise. HDMI, AV and Audio commands can be used to switch inputs when the receiver is Off (which cannot be done with the media_player entity). More commands can be added later if more use cases are discovered.

Next to sending the predefined commands it is possible to send remote control IR codes directly in case you need to send something that is not in the commands list. The Yamaha remote control IR commands are NEC commands and consist of 4, 6 or 8 hexadecimal digits. For example the on command for the main zone has IR code 7E81-7E81. The separator is optional. Because each IR code includes the zone it applies to it is possible to send an IR code through any of the remote entities.

Sending the commands and IR codes is done through the remote.send_command action offered by Home Assistant. For manual experimentation, go to the Actions tab of the Developer Tools in Home Assistant. Select the device or entity, enter the command or IR code you want to send and perform the action. The hold option is not supported because the protocol does not support it.

Example:

action: remote.send_command
target:
  entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
data:
  command: receiver_power_toggle

To create buttons on a dashboard that mimic remote control layout, use the code below as a starting point. It uses only standard built-in Home Assistant cards, so it should work on all configurations.

type: vertical-stack
cards:
  - square: false
    columns: 2
    type: grid
    cards:
      - show_name: true
        show_icon: false
        type: button
        name: 'ON'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: 'on'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: STANDBY
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: standby
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: RECEIVER POWER
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: receiver_power_toggle
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: SOURCE POWER
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: source_power_toggle
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
  - square: true
    columns: 4
    type: grid
    cards:
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: SCENE 1
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: scene_1
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: SCENE 2
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: scene_2
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: SCENE 3
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: scene_3
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: SCENE 4
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: scene_4
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
  - square: false
    columns: 3
    type: grid
    cards:
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: ON SCREEN
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: on_screen
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        icon: mdi:arrow-up-bold
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: up
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: OPTION
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: option
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        icon: mdi:arrow-left-bold
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: left
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: ENTER
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: enter
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        icon: mdi:arrow-right-bold
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: right
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: RETURN
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: return
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        icon: mdi:arrow-down-bold
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: down
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: DISPLAY
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: display
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
  - square: false
    columns: 2
    type: grid
    cards:
      - show_name: true
        show_icon: false
        type: button
        name: TOP MENU
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: top_menu
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: POPUP MENU
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: popup_menu
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
  - square: false
    columns: 4
    type: grid
    cards:
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: INFO
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: info
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        icon: mdi:stop
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: stop
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        icon: mdi:pause
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: pause
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        icon: mdi:play
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: play
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        icon: mdi:rewind
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: rewind
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        icon: mdi:fast-forward
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: fast_forward
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        icon: mdi:skip-backward
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: previous
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        icon: mdi:skip-forward
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: next
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
  - square: false
    columns: 4
    type: grid
    cards:
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: '1'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: '1'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: '2'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: '2'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: '3'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: '3'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: '4'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: '4'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: '5'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: '5'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: '6'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: '6'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: '7'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: '7'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: '8'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: '8'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: '9'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: '9'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: '0'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: '0'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: '+10'
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: '+10'
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote
      - type: button
        show_icon: false
        name: ENT
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: remote.send_command
          data:
            command: ent
          target:
            entity_id: remote.rx_a810_main_remote

Volume (dB) entity

The "Volume (dB)" entity was added to simplify volume control in Home Assistant. It is a number entity that controls the volume of a zone, like the volume in the media_player, but using the familiar dB unit instead of the percent numbers.

Presets

Presets can be activated and stored with the integration for sources that support it. The AM/FM or DAB radio input seems to work for all models. Other sources that may support presets on some models include: Napster, Netradio, Pandora, PC, Rhapsody, Sirius, SiriusIR, and USB. Presets for these sources seem to work only on pre‑2012 models. The integration will auto‑detect whether presets are supported for available sources.

Presets can be selected in the mediabrowser of the mediaplayer or in automations with the media_player.play_media action. When selecting a preset, the receiver will turn on and switch input if needed.

Due to limitations on the protocol the integration can only show the preset number, no name or what is stored.

For AM/FM/DAB tuner the current preset is available as an attribute on the media_player entity. The attribute will not be there if no preset is active, e.g. manual tuning.

Manage presets

Some presets can be managed in the Yamaha AV Control app (e.g. Tuner presets). But you can also store them from within Home Assistant with the store_preset action

Media content format

In some cases it is not possible to browse for presets in the UI and it is needed to manually provide the media_content_id and media_content_type.

The media_content_type is always "music". The media_content_id format is listed in the table below. Replace the "1" at the end with the preset number you need.

Data updates

The receiver pushes updates directly to Home Assistant so entity states will update instantly.

Known limitations

The receiver can only accept 1 connection for the YNCA protocol that this integration uses. This means that is not possible to connect to the same receiver from multiple Home Assistant instances at the same time.

It is possible to have multiple Yamaha (YCNA) instances connecting to multiple different receivers in a single Home Assistant instance. The limitation is on the receiver side.

It is also still possible to use other protocols to control the receiver. For example the Yamaha AV Control App will still work at same time as this integration is active.

Downloading

Home Assistant Community Store (HACS)

Recommended because you get notified of updates.

HACS is a third-party downloader for Home Assistant to easily install and update custom integrations made by the community. See https://hacs.xyz/ for more details.

You can add the repository to HACS on your Home Assistant instance with the button below

If the button does not work, or you don't want to use it, follow these steps to add the integration to HACS manually.

Manual download

• Go to the releases section on GitHub
• Download the zip file for the version you want to install
• Extract the zip
• Ensure the config/custom_components/yamaha_ynca directory exists (create it if needed)
• Copy the files from the zip into the config/custom_components/yamaha_ynca directory
• Restart Home Assistant

Configuration

To add the Yamaha (YNCA) integration to your Home Assistant instance use this My button:

If the above My button doesn’t work, you can also perform the following steps manually

During configuration provide the following information depending on your connection method.

Serial

Serial port : Serial port device name e.g. /dev/ttyUSB0

Network connection

Host : IP address or hostname of the device e.g. 192.168.1.123

Port : The YNCA port for the receiver. The default is 50000 and rarely needs to be changed.

PySerial URL handler (advanced)

URL Handler : Any URL handler supported by PySerial. E.g. rfc2217:// when using a remote serial terminal server.

After the initial configuration use the integration options (see next section) to configure the integration to match the capabilities of your receiver.

Options

Options for the Yamaha (YNCA) integration can be used to configure capabilities of your receiver like available sound modes, inputs and more.

The integration options can be accessed via the cogwheel icon ⚙️ under Settings > Devices & Services > Yamaha (YNCA) > Your Receiver. The settings are organized in multiple screens providing the following options.

General settings

This screen provides general options.

Sound modes : Select the soundmodes supported by your receiver. These sound modes will be made available in the media_player entities for zones that support sound modes.

Surround decoders : Select the surround decoders supported by your receiver. This option is only shown if your receiver supports selecting surround decoders.

Main zone / Zone 2, 3, 4 settings

This screen provides options that apply to the specific zone. There is a screen for each zone supported by the receiver.

Inputs : Select the inputs supported by the zone. This option configures which sources are available in the media_player entity for the zone.

Number of scenes : Select the amount of scenes supported by the zone. This option defines the amount of scene buttons that will be created for the zone.

Removal

This integration follows standard integration removal. No extra steps are required.

Go to "Settings > Devices & Services". Select Yamaha (YNCA). Click the three dots ⋮ menu and then select Delete.

Actions

Action yamaha_ynca.store_preset

Store the currently playing media as a preset with the provided preset_id. This will only work for sources that support presets. See the Presets section for more details.

action: yamaha_ynca.store_preset
target:
  entity_id: media_player.rx_a810_main
data:
  preset_id: 12

Action yamaha_ynca.send_raw_ynca

This action allows sending raw YNCA commands. It is intended for debugging only.

action: yamaha_ynca.send_raw_ynca
data:
  config_entry_id: 84bcdb836062423ee2c8abd7a9ed444e
  raw_data: "@MAIN:INP=HDMI3"

Q & A

• Q: I get an error when setting up the integration
  There are a few things to check:

  • The receiver only allows 1 connection at the time. Maybe there is another piece of software connected already e.g. another home automation system.
  • Double-check the IP address and make sure it can be reached from Home Assistant. Especially if you have a complex network setup e.g. using VLANs.

• Q: Why are entities unavailable when receiver is in standby?
  The receiver does not allow changing of settings when it is in standby, so the entities become Unavailable in Home Assistant to indicate this.

• Q: Why does the integration not show all features mentioned in the README even when my receiver supports them?
  The integration tries to autodetect as many features as possible, but it is not possible for all features on all receivers. You can adjust detected/supported features for your receiver in the integration options.

  It can also be that your receiver does not expose that feature.

  You can open an issue on GitHub if you believe it is supposed to be supported on your receiver.

• Q: How can I stream audio from a URL?
  You can't do that with this integration because the protocol does not support that. You might be able to use the DLNA Digital Media Renderer integration that comes with Home Assistant.

• Q: Why are Scene buttons not working for my receiver?
  On some receivers (e.g. RX-V475) the command to activate the scenes does not work even though the receiver seems to indicate support for them. There might be more receivers with this issue, please report them in an issue or start a discussion.

  The non-working buttons can be disabled in the integration configuration by selecting "0" for number of scenes instead of "Auto detect".

  As a workaround the scenes can be activated by sending the scene commands by performing the remote.send_command action on the Remote entity.

action: remote.send_command
target:
  entity_id: remote.rx_v475_main_remote
data:
  command: scene_1