Question to Valve Index owners - please help!

Deks · 2 Dec 2019 at 20:51

Hi all,

I received my Valve Index today and have had a nightmare and need some advice.

Apart from the horrible whinning noise coming from both base units (lighthouses) I set up the lighthouses in my computer room with both the lighthouses pointing at my head I put my headset on and get a lovely image of being in a room for about 5 seconds then I lose the image and everything goes bright grey with no image for maybe a few seconds then I get the proper image back then all goes bright grey again with no image. I have tried everything, updated the firmware, even set on of the lighthouses pointing straight at the headset in front of my face.

This bright grey total light and no image is this what happens if you lose tracking? This is my first question, or does it sound like it could be another fault like with the cable to the headset or something. Any comments or help would be appreciated

Thanks

Deks/Mike

VincentHanna · 2 Dec 2019 at 21:36

Can the lighthouses see each other? That's the key.

If your body blocks them what you are describing might happen.

By the way, there is setting you can change to tur the base stations off completely when you exit steam VR. I have just done this with mine and it's great now. No more annoying noise and it doesn't interfere with my Harmony remote now either.

Deks · 2 Dec 2019 at 22:00

Thanks for the reply vincent. I read somewhere that you can use just one lighthouse. Ie so each are independent? But I would say they could see each oth but i'll try again tomorrow.

What I dont understand is why why i would get a grey screen if tracking got lost? Wouldnt the picture still be sent via the graphics card?

lokiss · 3 Dec 2019 at 06:41

It's the tracking if your getting grey screens. I've had this but only in the summer when strong sunlight bursts through the curtains, light sources could be one problem, or mirrors.

One lighthouse would work, but I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than seated games, you won't get 360 coverage. If it's not hardware related, I suggest installing steam VR again and go through the setup process, making sure you pair up the stations correctly and whatnot.

Deks · 3 Dec 2019 at 15:25

Thanks for the reply. I was reading up on the nightmare some people have had with the grey screen and it ended up having to RMA the headsets and the replacement ones being fine.

Anyway this morning I tried 2 things. Firstly I swapped from a usb3.1 port to a 3.0 port but the other thing I thought of was I use Bluetooth wireless mouse. I unplugged this and inserted a wired mouse. Since doing this I havnt had a drop out of signal since. It's just a shame the damned base stations are so noisy. I guess I have to put up with this.

Right I need to get back to landing on the moon in the Apollo HD thing I bought on steam.

lokiss · 3 Dec 2019 at 18:32

Nice, glad you got that sorted. Usb was causing me issues not relating to the tracking, more a wireless and powering down requirement when I first got one that required flicking my ports around. The base station noise I find intriguing, is it an isolation issue with the V2 boxes? My originals have been up on the walls for about 40 months and are totally silent to me. My finger is always on the trigger for the day they finally pack up, and it'll be a case of V2's

Ohh and the decent to the moon in the lander remains one of the most immersive experiences there is imho, just brilliant, enjoy VR.

drakulton · 3 Dec 2019 at 23:00

Deks said:
Right I need to get back to landing on the moon in the Apollo HD thing I bought on steam.

I don't know if this would even work with the index as well as it does with the Rift, but it's an accurate simulator of the Apollo 11 Lunar module in its flight characteristics.
Still a very early beta but it handles like the real thing..... which was not great!

http://www.eaglelander3d.com/downloads/ELVRF3.zip

Deks · 3 Dec 2019 at 23:55

Hi Lokiss, the decent to the moon is amazing. I still haven't succeeded and have killed Buzz Aldrin about 10 times so far

. It really makes you think how amazing an achievement the first moon landing was. I'm a real space nut and VR has really brought this home. I loved the last bit where you are in total dark and then see some light and its daybreak as as you orbit the moon. It all starts to light up and your whole screen is then taken up up by the surface of the moon. It was about £3 or so on steam last week and worth every penny.

drakulton · 4 Dec 2019 at 23:14

Apollo 11 VRHD is a visually stunning experience, as can be seen by the attention to detail of the scenery during the descent compared to the actual filmed footage.

I contacted the dev at Immersive Education about the LM flight dynamics and controls after the release of the lo-def version, but it seems that visual realism was more of a priority.

Deks · 4 Dec 2019 at 23:47

Absolutely stunning. I still cant believe we landed on the moon without a disaster. Seeing it in VR for me is amazing something no DVD of bluray I own could ever comd close to. I"m still stunned at it all

drakulton · 4 Dec 2019 at 23:57

Deks said:
Absolutely stunning. I still cant believe we landed on the moon without a disaster. Seeing it in VR for me is amazing something no DVD of bluray I own could ever comd close to. I"m still stunned at it all

Well, apart from the lack of comms (data dropout) and the overload of un-synced data from the rendezvous radar.... everything seemed to go great!

drakulton · 4 Dec 2019 at 23:59

Is it possible to run standalone VR apps on the index?

Ravenger · 5 Dec 2019 at 10:08

drakulton said:
Is it possible to run standalone VR apps on the index?

Index is a PC VR headset only. All the processing is done by the PC.

The only decent standalone headset currently is the Oculus Quest.

GBRusty · 5 Dec 2019 at 10:37

drakulton said:
Is it possible to run standalone VR apps on the index?

Yes. I assume you mean, download something to your hard drive and run it from there?
I have a few apps from itch.io that you can just double click on the .exe file and it will boot up steamVR, start up the hedset and you can start playing.

drakulton · 5 Dec 2019 at 11:14

GBRusty said:
Yes. I assume you mean, download something to your hard drive and run it from there?
I have a few apps from itch.io that you can just double click on the .exe file and it will boot up steamVR, start up the hedset and you can start playing.

Yes, the dev who created the VR lunar module simulator stressed that it primarily works with the rift, but some have got it working on the vive using revive. Sounds like it may work.

GBRusty · 5 Dec 2019 at 12:03

Revive is a different kettle of fish but good luck

lokiss · 5 Dec 2019 at 12:34

GBRusty said:
I assume you mean, download something to your hard drive and run it from there?
I have a few apps from itch.io that you can just double click on the .exe file and it will boot up steamVR, start up the hedset and you can start playing.

I was reading it the same. There's a few things kicking about, hacked in games like NOLF2, some neat demo's, and a favourite of mine Visual Pinball.

drakulton · 5 Dec 2019 at 22:13

lokiss said:
I was reading it the same. There's a few things kicking about, hacked in games like NOLF2, some neat demo's, and a favourite of mine Visual Pinball.

Any budding astronaut index owners willing to give Eagle Lander VR a bash to see if it works?

http://www.eaglelander3d.com/downloads/

The latest version is the ELVRF3 zip. You'll need to hit F3 to reset the viewpoint, as the sim starts with the view in the pilot's footwell.

lokiss · 5 Dec 2019 at 23:15

Ill try it tomorrow, finish early on Fridays.

drakulton · 6 Dec 2019 at 02:46

lokiss said:
Ill try it tomorrow, finish early on Fridays.

Nice one!

If it does work, here are the current flight controls. Also as it's a very early beta, sometimes the virtual cockpit joystick controls (roll, pitch, yaw) may be reversed. Good luck.

IN VR MENU
----------

RESTART + VERIFY = Reset scenario

RESET HEAD POSITION + VERIFY = Reset view in VR

SPOT VIEW + VERIFY = external view

PAUSE = Start flight / Pause flight

STOP/START MUSIC = Restarts music, does not stop it.

OCULUS TOUCH
------------

First and second finger triggers on both hand controllers. = 'Rate of Decent' (ROD) DOWN..... Slows your rate of descent by 1 fps.

Right hand controller 'B' button = Rate of Descent (ROD) UP..... Increases your rate of descent by 1 fps.

Both first finger triggers depressed at the same time, and the Touch controllers moved closer together zooms in on the LM

Both first finger triggers depressed at the same time, and the Touch controllers moved away from each other zooms in on the LM

Right trigger finger depressed and controller moved left/right/up/down to pan left/right/up/down

OCULUS button = Exits the sim

OCULUS REMOTE
-------------

SELECT button. ('A' button, centre disk) = 'Rate of Decent' (ROD) down... that is, it slows your descent by 1 fps.

BACK button ('B' button) = 'Rate of Descent' (ROD) up..... that is, it increases your rate of descent by 1 fps.

MINUS (-) button = Volume down

PLUS (+) button = Volume up

OCULUS button = Exits the sim

KEYBOARD
--------

KEY 'F3' = Reset head position

KEY 'F5' = Reset scenario

KEY 'P' = Start flight / Pause flight

KEY '+' = 'Rate of Decent' (ROD) down... that is, it slows your descent by 1 fps.

KEY '-' = 'Rate of Descent' (ROD) up..... that is, it increases your rate of descent by 1 fps.

KEY '1' = Cockpit View

KEY '7' = External view

KEY 'K' = Kill Engine

KEY 'A' = Abort Stage.. separates ascent and descent stages.

KEY 'X' = X-pointer toggle