Confused on Steam Play and Proton? Be sure to check out our guide.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

With the Valve Index now out, Valve continue to make quick improvements to SteamVR with the latest Beta now available.

For SteamVR, they've changed how games are launched from SteamVR Home to avoid a possible hang, changes to hopefully avoid "error 308" on startup, automatic firmware recovery for the Valve Index and Vive Pro and a fix for a rare spontaneous shutdown of vrserver caused by very briefly connected pipes.

SteamVR Input had quite a few changes on this round, including new options for global rotation values and global deadzone value for thumbsticks. A new screen to test the input from any controller supported by SteamVR and more.

Lighthouse got a change to device discovery to reduce the impact of misbehaving USB drivers and devices and the Index Controllers got updated default input bindings for legacy applications that don't have specific configs set along with improvements for applications built for trackpads.

For those using VR kit on Linux, there's these fixes just for you:

  • Fixed Index HMD always notifying a firmware update is available.
  • Fixed being unable to re-start SteamVR after vrserver is killed/crashes ( aka LfMutexUnlockRobust crashes).
  • Fixed vrwebhelper crashing the Steam client.
  • Fixed 'psychedelic' colours in the Steam client caused by exiting SteamVR.
  • Fixed 'Restart SteamVR' prompts exiting SteamVR but not restarting it.
  • Various vrcompositor crash fixes.
  • Fixed 'ioctl(GFEATURE): Broken Pipe' spam in stdout

If you're using the Vive or Index on Linux, do let us know how you're getting on in the comments. Would certainly love to hear about it. Is it worth it?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
11 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
24 comments
Page: «2/3»
  Go to:

beniwtv Jul 9, 2019
#2 shouldn't really impact you, PulseAudio should remember the output for each game you set it to, at least does for me.

#3 would be nice to have but I solved that with home automation :P

#4 To be honest never noticed anything like that, I don't even know what's missing :S:

#5 Never used them, so have no need, but I guess it would be nice for Valve to fix that
slaapliedje Jul 9, 2019
Ha, yeah I used the front facing camera on the Vive, but haven't used it at all on the Vive Pro or Index. I'll have to test that out.

It's been working really well for me, though newer Proton has had some regressions apparently (like Arizona Sunshine no longer working)

Also Hotdogs, Horseshoes and Hand grenades don't detect the controllers under Linux.
Vash63 Jul 9, 2019
View PC info
  • Supporter
Quoting: beniwtv#2 shouldn't really impact you, PulseAudio should remember the output for each game you set it to, at least does for me.

#3 would be nice to have but I solved that with home automation :P

#4 To be honest never noticed anything like that, I don't even know what's missing :S:

#5 Never used them, so have no need, but I guess it would be nice for Valve to fix that

#2 absolutely impacts me, are you sure it doesn't for you? What VR headset have you tested this with? Steam adds and removes the device when you open and close SteamVR which wipes pulse's defaults away from it on my system. Maybe it's because I switch my entire default output to the HMD instead of per-faucet, but having to switch every single game on first run is still really annoying.
#3 is an expensive and inelegant workaround compared to Steam just handling power management itself, and really not suitable for a consumer product IMO unless Valve ships the remote outlets with the kit
#4 Specifically a lot of the remapping options and even the 'Exit VR' button from within VR were disabled. This may be fixed with the new beta, or at least probably soon will be as you can enable them with a variable but it was disabled to prevent crashes.

In other news, Nvidia support gave me a way to force off gsync (since it was removed from the nvidia-settings gui) and that resolved my tearing issue:
nvidia-settings -a CurrentMetaMode="DPY-3: 2560x1440_144 @2560x1440 +0+0 {ViewPortIn=2560x1440, ViewPortOut=2560x1440+0+0, AllowGSYNC=off}"

Substitute your MetaModes from nvidia-settings -q CurrentMetaMode and just add in the AllowGSYNC block if you're impacted, it's confirmed to fix the tearing/stutter issues for me and makes games actually playable.
beniwtv Jul 9, 2019
Quoting: Vash63#2 absolutely impacts me, are you sure it doesn't for you? What VR headset have you tested this with? Steam adds and removes the device when you open and close SteamVR which wipes pulse's defaults away from it on my system. Maybe it's because I switch my entire default output to the HMD instead of per-faucet, but having to switch every single game on first run is still really annoying.

Yes, I am quite positive - in fact, the Vive audio device appears for me as soon as the Vive is plugged in, not just when SteamVR starts / quits. With the Valve Index audio is handled via DisplayPort, and appears "connected" as soon as you turn the Index on.

EDIT: I should mention here that I currently have switched to Jack Audio - due to streaming VR on Twitch, so there this doesn't apply (I basically have to click a button for it once when I start playing, to get the audio output to the headset).

Quoting: Vash63#3 is an expensive and inelegant workaround compared to Steam just handling power management itself, and really not suitable for a consumer product IMO unless Valve ships the remote outlets with the kit

Yep, agree, but hey at least I can somewhat control it now in the meantime :P
On the other hand, I am not sure I would want them on standby all the time, consuming power.

Quoting: Vash63#4 Specifically a lot of the remapping options and even the 'Exit VR' button from within VR were disabled. This may be fixed with the new beta, or at least probably soon will be as you can enable them with a variable but it was disabled to prevent crashes.

I am not sure I follow there - what remapping? Also - what is "Exit VR"? If you gonna stop playing VR, wouldn't you take off your headset anyway?

EDIT: I have to say here that I never played VR in Windows - so I don't even know that any of that exists - or doesn't work/is disabled in Linux :)

Quoting: Vash63nvidia-settings -a CurrentMetaMode="DPY-3: 2560x1440_144 @2560x1440 +0+0 {ViewPortIn=2560x1440, ViewPortOut=2560x1440+0+0, AllowGSYNC=off}"

That's nice to know if anyone asks me why VR is stuttering on his Nvidia, seems easy enough. Possibly a bug with the EDID of the headset reporting it could do Gsync or something?


Last edited by beniwtv on 9 July 2019 at 6:12 pm UTC
Sil_el_mot Jul 9, 2019
i just started it now and didn't hat to change any settings like reprojection anymore. even runs at 90hz now. but there aren't a lot of games that run on linux right now. thats a bummer.
beniwtv Jul 9, 2019
Quoting: Sil_el_moti just started it now and didn't hat to change any settings like reprojection anymore. even runs at 90hz now. but there aren't a lot of games that run on linux right now. thats a bummer.

To be honest I am more concerned about the lack of good VR games for ANY platform on Steam. There are only a handful, most of the VR titles on Steam aren't really games or good. Not sure how the situation is on 'Viveport' or platforms like that, couldn't get that to work in Proton or Wine yet.

Good Proton/Wine and native VR games already mostly work for me, so I have plenty to play. Probably more than I will have time to.


Last edited by beniwtv on 9 July 2019 at 6:22 pm UTC
Sil_el_mot Jul 9, 2019
Quoting: beniwtvTo be honest I am more concerned about the lack of good VR games for ANY platform on Steam. There are only a handful, most of the VR titles on Steam aren't really games or good. Not sure how the situation is on 'Viveport' or platforms like that, couldn't get that to work in Proton or Wine yet.

Good Proton/Wine and native VR games already mostly work for me, so I have plenty to play. Probably more than I will have time to.


i don't think so. there are a lot of good games, that are well made for vr and are a lot of fun. that you can't do games the same way like 2d should be known.
i put more than 200h in Beatsaber, would never tell anyone this isn't a good game.
i played onward a very lot, because the mechanics are good and it is a lot of fun.

i don't know what you hope to play, but games like CoD xx wouldn't work in vr. and it would be to much for nowadays gpus.
beniwtv Jul 9, 2019
Quoting: Sil_el_moti don't think so. there are a lot of good games, that are well made for vr and are a lot of fun. that you can't do games the same way like 2d should be known.
i put more than 200h in Beatsaber, would never tell anyone this isn't a good game.
i played onward a very lot, because the mechanics are good and it is a lot of fun.

i don't know what you hope to play, but games like CoD xx wouldn't work in vr. and it would be to much for nowadays gpus.

I think you misunderstood me there :)

My point wasn't that there are no good VR games, far from it. Just that there aren't very many of them (still, there are more than I have time to play currently).

Beat Saber is an AMAZING game to me, it hooked me instantly. And it's beautiful for VR.

Right now my list of favourites are (with some upcoming ones):
- Arizona Sunshine
- Beat Saber
- Boneworks (will hopefully be good when it comes out, so I'll include it here)
- Budget Cuts (this SEEMS good, doesn't currently run for me tho)
- Elite: Dangerous
- Everspace
- No Man's Sky (will also hopefully be good when VR update comes out)
- Serious Sam VR games
- Star Citizen (if they ever finish adding Vulkan and VR)
- Star Trek: Bridge Crew
- Talos Principle
- The Gallery series
- The Solus Project

I'd love to know what everyone's favourite VR games are, maybe we can discover some hidden gems people are playing :)


Last edited by beniwtv on 9 July 2019 at 11:33 pm UTC
Vash63 Jul 10, 2019
View PC info
  • Supporter
Quoting: beniwtv
Quoting: Sil_el_moti don't think so. there are a lot of good games, that are well made for vr and are a lot of fun. that you can't do games the same way like 2d should be known.
i put more than 200h in Beatsaber, would never tell anyone this isn't a good game.
i played onward a very lot, because the mechanics are good and it is a lot of fun.

i don't know what you hope to play, but games like CoD xx wouldn't work in vr. and it would be to much for nowadays gpus.

I think you misunderstood me there :)

My point wasn't that there are no good VR games, far from it. Just that there aren't very many of them (still, there are more than I have time to play currently).

Beat Saber is an AMAZING game to me, it hooked me instantly. And it's beautiful for VR.

Right now my list of favourites are (with some upcoming ones):
- Arizona Sunshine
- Beat Saber
- Boneworks (will hopefully be good when it comes out, so I'll include it here)
- Budget Cuts (this SEEMS good, doesn't currently run for me tho)
- Elite: Dangerous
- Everspace
- No Man's Sky (will also hopefully be good when VR update comes out)
- Serious Sam VR games
- Star Citizen (if they ever finish adding Vulkan and VR)
- Star Trek: Bridge Crew
- Talos Principle
- The Gallery series
- The Solus Project

I'd love to know what everyone's favourite VR games are, maybe we can discover some hidden gems people are playing :)

You're missing Hotdogs, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades which is one of my favorites, as well as To The Top. I'd also throw Duck Season on the list, it's short but a really great and replayable experience.
Sil_el_mot Jul 10, 2019
Quoting: beniwtvI think you misunderstood me there :)

My point wasn't that there are no good VR games, far from it. Just that there aren't very many of them (still, there are more than I have time to play currently).

Beat Saber is an AMAZING game to me, it hooked me instantly. And it's beautiful for VR.

Right now my list of favourites are (with some upcoming ones):
- Arizona Sunshine
- Beat Saber
- Boneworks (will hopefully be good when it comes out, so I'll include it here)
- Budget Cuts (this SEEMS good, doesn't currently run for me tho)
- Elite: Dangerous
- Everspace
- No Man's Sky (will also hopefully be good when VR update comes out)
- Serious Sam VR games
- Star Citizen (if they ever finish adding Vulkan and VR)
- Star Trek: Bridge Crew
- Talos Principle
- The Gallery series
- The Solus Project

I'd love to know what everyone's favourite VR games are, maybe we can discover some hidden gems people are playing :)

Ok, i misunderstood you.

games that i also like a lot are:
- Moss
- Zero Caliber
- Tales of Glory (the new beta with campaign looks very promising!)
- Superhot VR (works also great on linux)
- Gorn (i destroyed a very expensive mirror while playing. but netherless i love this game)
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.