Today marks 6 years since Valve decided to change everything, especially for Linux fans, with the announcement of Steam Play Proton. Thanks to it, the Steam Deck and Desktop Linux gaming have continued to thrive.
First of all, I use a Valve Index, which has native Linux support. The HTC Vive does too and wireless headsets like the Quest can be used with ALVR.
I currently have to use X11 for VR but the next GNOME version (47) will have VR working with Wayland too. I think on KDE VR already works on Wayland.
You also need something like CoreCTRL to manually set your GPU profile to “high”, otherwise performance will be shit.
Other than that, it’s just install and start SteamVR and start the game.
There’s also an older version of SteamVR specifically for Linux (you can use it by switching to the beta version with the fitting name) but then your VR games have to run in Proton 5 and some games don’t work on that Proton version. I recommend just using the latest SteamVR version.
I got a Quest 3 that I use with a USB-c cable. Price is great but having to fiddle around with video compression settings on top of all other VR settings has proven to be a bit tedious. I’m still trying to figure out what pcvr headset to go for that won’t complete drain my bank account (there’s probably tons of used ones out there).
Glad to hear VR is possible and getting better on Linux though!
I understand having to fiddle with the compression settings can be annoying (I did that for my brother who has a Quest 2) but it’s also something you only have to do once. And you can do a lot of trial and error without knowing exactly what the settings do. Quest 2 is probably best bang for your buck but you can get a used HTC Vive for around the same price. Advantage of the HTC Vive is that it just works with Linux and you don’t need a Facebook account but disadvantage is that it’s not that good. I had one too before I bought the Vive. While the resolution was pretty low, it was fine but the controllers really suck.
Yeah the issue is I wouldn’t want to compromise quality too much. But I might just start saving up now for whatever valve is cooking up next :) Another issue with using a quest is that you have to run the occulus app (when wired), eating up some of that sweet precious VRAM.
I really hope another headset from Valve is coming, specifically because of eye tracking. The oculus app is only needed if you’re not using ALVR. It’s also not available on Linux, which is why ALVR is the only option there.
Have you tried Envision/Monado on your Index? I have a Vive Pro and the performance is significantly better, albeit you lose controller rebinding feature and OpenVR (games which require SteamVR) compatibility is meh
I have, actually and it’s great. I only used it for things like racing games (I also have a USB steering wheel with force feedback) because it doesn’t show you the borders of your play space (yet). The thing is just that I installed Envision from the AUR back then and it just worked and now that I’m on Fedora, I used distrobox to install it from the AUR again. When I try to build a profile tho, it tells me that dependencies are missing that simply aren’t in the package manager or the AUR. That’s why I currently don’t have Monado working. I’d really like to get it working again tho. Wish it just had a Flatpak.
It’s a shame DRM leasing doesn’t work for flatpak but maybe it will in the future. I tried the AppImage but it’s the same issue, I can’t build a profile because the dependencies are missing.
That would be nice but I’m gonna try if I can get it working by myself first. Haven’t tried it in quite a while, so maybe it works now for some reason.
First of all, I use a Valve Index, which has native Linux support. The HTC Vive does too and wireless headsets like the Quest can be used with ALVR.
I currently have to use X11 for VR but the next GNOME version (47) will have VR working with Wayland too. I think on KDE VR already works on Wayland.
You also need something like CoreCTRL to manually set your GPU profile to “high”, otherwise performance will be shit.
Other than that, it’s just install and start SteamVR and start the game.
There’s also an older version of SteamVR specifically for Linux (you can use it by switching to the beta version with the fitting name) but then your VR games have to run in Proton 5 and some games don’t work on that Proton version. I recommend just using the latest SteamVR version.
I got a Quest 3 that I use with a USB-c cable. Price is great but having to fiddle around with video compression settings on top of all other VR settings has proven to be a bit tedious. I’m still trying to figure out what pcvr headset to go for that won’t complete drain my bank account (there’s probably tons of used ones out there).
Glad to hear VR is possible and getting better on Linux though!
I understand having to fiddle with the compression settings can be annoying (I did that for my brother who has a Quest 2) but it’s also something you only have to do once. And you can do a lot of trial and error without knowing exactly what the settings do. Quest 2 is probably best bang for your buck but you can get a used HTC Vive for around the same price. Advantage of the HTC Vive is that it just works with Linux and you don’t need a Facebook account but disadvantage is that it’s not that good. I had one too before I bought the Vive. While the resolution was pretty low, it was fine but the controllers really suck.
Yeah the issue is I wouldn’t want to compromise quality too much. But I might just start saving up now for whatever valve is cooking up next :) Another issue with using a quest is that you have to run the occulus app (when wired), eating up some of that sweet precious VRAM.
I really hope another headset from Valve is coming, specifically because of eye tracking. The oculus app is only needed if you’re not using ALVR. It’s also not available on Linux, which is why ALVR is the only option there.
Have you tried Envision/Monado on your Index? I have a Vive Pro and the performance is significantly better, albeit you lose controller rebinding feature and OpenVR (games which require SteamVR) compatibility is meh
I have, actually and it’s great. I only used it for things like racing games (I also have a USB steering wheel with force feedback) because it doesn’t show you the borders of your play space (yet). The thing is just that I installed Envision from the AUR back then and it just worked and now that I’m on Fedora, I used distrobox to install it from the AUR again. When I try to build a profile tho, it tells me that dependencies are missing that simply aren’t in the package manager or the AUR. That’s why I currently don’t have Monado working. I’d really like to get it working again tho. Wish it just had a Flatpak.
Flatpak doesn’t support DRM leasing so software can’t access the displays of the headset. Envision is also available as an AppImage: https://gitlab.com/gabmus/envision/-/pipelines?ref=main&status=success
It’s a shame DRM leasing doesn’t work for flatpak but maybe it will in the future. I tried the AppImage but it’s the same issue, I can’t build a profile because the dependencies are missing.
Are you interested in receiving assistance with your issue?
That would be nice but I’m gonna try if I can get it working by myself first. Haven’t tried it in quite a while, so maybe it works now for some reason.