Hue Essentials app finds and links diyHue bridge but it then diyHue bridge and Philips Hue bridge won't connect

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I’m running the diyHue bridge docker image in bridge network mode on a Synology DS418play. Port 80 in the container is mapped to port 82 (to avoid conflict with the Synology web interface) but otherwise the installation is vanilla.

I’ve linked the app and bridge as set out in the docs: using the “Connect manually” option on the app I entered 82 as the port with the IP address for the diyHue, and then clicked the Activate button at http://{IP_ADDRESS}:82/hue/linkbutton and it appears to work. The app finds the lights that I imported into diyHue from my physical Philips Hue bridge and says the app and diyHue bridge are connected.

But as soon as I try to switch the lights the app reports “Unable to connect: The the bridge cannot be reached” and disconnects. By which I understand that the diyHue bridge and Philips Hue bridge won’t connect. But it’s confusing as the app says “Philips hue” and then shown the IP address of the diyHue below it. Confused!

Screenshot_20210524-124318_Hue Essentials
Screenshot_20210524-124318_Hue Essentials1080×2220 146 KB

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

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You won’t be able to map to a different external port on your Synoligy. That is because everything that interacts with Hue uses port 80. So, when you try to connect to your physical bridge it will only use Port 80. You’ll want to run your container using MACVLAN mode. This will give the container a unique IP address so you can use Port 80.

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Thanks @ryan780

Maybe it says this somewhere in the documentation but I’ve missed it. Thanks. Now I need to get to grips with macvlan! Easy to forget that somewhere, way back, is something I was trying to achieve. Why do these “solutions” seem to somehow become the end in themselves …

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Setting up MACVLAN I’d been told could be tricky, but I found a step-by-step guide here:

https://servicemax.com.au/tips/pi-hole-in-docker-on-synology-the-best-way/

It refers to a different app, Pi-Hole, but the bit we’re interested in is the way to set up the alternative network. I found it simple enough, and my diyHue bridge is now working fine.

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I would have offered some help but the fact that I have MACVLAN working on mine is a complete miracle. I’ve documented my particular setup up the ying-yang so I can rebuild it but if I have to change anything…I doubt I could get it going again. Glad you got it working!!