SteamVR requires newer nVidia drivers (I don't think it even works at all on AMD yet?) The ones in Debian Sid currently seem to work with it.

There are a few games that work great on it, namely the Serious Sam games. If I recall, the main things that went into 4.15 for VR were about the Vive not showing up as another monitor.

Edit: SteamVR requires Vulkan instead of DirectX or OpenGL in Linux. So even games such as AliceVR that say they support Linux and VR, don't display in the HMD due to lack of a Vulkan renderer.

I haven't tested it in a while, but I had created a thread with more information in it on this forum.

Lot has changed with SteamVR and linux, with a lot of hand holding, it does work though.. and yes, TF2 too :)

One of the biggest challenges I've run into is not so much technical as education. In both Windows and Linux you're basically given the SteamVR demo / setup boot camp and thrown into the abyss. They don't explain what directed mode is, different formats of VR, IPD alignment or really anything about VR in general. The two major sources of content labeled as VR don't help matters either. Porn for example appears mostly POV and meant to be 3D, certainly isn't VR. Same goes for "360 degrees", really being either 180 or some stretched 90 abomination. None of which have players in Linux that render the image onto a surface in VR with motion tracking.

Steam itself still has library problems with libdbus among others.

Ironically outside Steam there are some neat sandboxes. You don't need high quality textures on everything to make something "fun".

Regarding AliceVR btw:

QuoteAdditional Notes: Linux version does not support Virtual Reality mode

?

Maybe there is some hope that the next generation implementation through a wireless connection is easier to get going on Linux, but IMHO I am not holding my breath and even then WINE is probably our best bet at running more than a hand full of VR games on Linux :(

For now I guess Google's daydream platform is the most Linux like VR option (i.e. no significant vendor lock-in) with a somewhat decent line-up of games. Thus I am mildly interested in the Lenovo Mirage Solo, but lets see how that works out.

Quoting: devnullLot has changed with SteamVR and linux, with a lot of hand holding, it does work though.. and yes, TF2 too :)

One of the biggest challenges I've run into is not so much technical as education. In both Windows and Linux you're basically given the SteamVR demo / setup boot camp and thrown into the abyss. They don't explain what directed mode is, different formats of VR, IPD alignment or really anything about VR in general. The two major sources of content labeled as VR don't help matters either. Porn for example appears mostly POV and meant to be 3D, certainly isn't VR. Same goes for "360 degrees", really being either 180 or some stretched 90 abomination. None of which have players in Linux that render the image onto a surface in VR with motion tracking.

Steam itself still has library problems with libdbus among others.

Ironically outside Steam there are some neat sandboxes. You don't need high quality textures on everything to make something "fun".

Regarding AliceVR btw:

QuoteAdditional Notes: Linux version does not support Virtual Reality mode

?

Yeah, kind of silly that a game with VR in the title doesn't work in VR. I had previously thought that only games with a Vulkan renderer worked (had read that Valve was really only passing it through) so thought that it was no fault of the developers, but SteamVR in Linux itself. Someone posted otherwise, so now I think they just didn't use the Unreal Engine's built in VR rendering for Linux? Still weird.

Quoting: JuliusMaybe there is some hope that the next generation implementation through a wireless connection is easier to get going on Linux, but IMHO I am not holding my breath and even then WINE is probably our best bet at running more than a hand full of VR games on Linux :(

RF gives me headaches so I much rather be wired then wireless. Kind of amusing to hear people with wireless headphones or bluetooth enabled on the Vive, complain about the same thing. Doesn't occur to them it's the wireless, not VR. Thankfully at least the lighthouses are based on light not RF. There's the whole battery thing too.

Quoting: JuliusFor now I guess Google's daydream platform is the most Linux like VR option (i.e. no significant vendor lock-in) with a somewhat decent line-up of games. Thus I am mildly interested in the Lenovo Mirage Solo, but lets see how that works out.

Definitely still room for improvements by someone. If Google wasn't such a creepy company to begin with, Glass would have been more popular. If they could find a way to put the immersion of a Vive into a package like the Glass, it'd be golden. They also have some neat AR things like Tango and RTAB-Map etc. Throw VR onto of that and you end up with your own 3D Googlemaps.

Managed to get to SteamVR home a few times, but performance was always extremely poor. Then the performance suddenly got better, but I was unable to get to SteamVR home. Then after that I was unable to boot SteamVR again. Then after that I've been trampled by drivers locking my GPU, mainly on Vulkan applications (of which SteamVR is one), forcing a reboot. Feels like I was really close to something at one point, but then it's been straight downhill from there.

I just wanted to play McOsu VR until other, bigger games and applications arrive, but it seems I'll need the 4.15 kernel and Mesa 18.0.0 before I can try again with a Vega card. Channeling all my energy at the code warriors doing all the thankless heavy lifting for us.

Quoting: NinmiManaged to get to SteamVR home a few times, but performance was always extremely poor. Then the performance suddenly got better, but I was unable to get to SteamVR home. Then after that I was unable to boot SteamVR again. Then after that I've been trampled by drivers locking my GPU, mainly on Vulkan applications (of which SteamVR is one), forcing a reboot. Feels like I was really close to something at one point, but then it's been straight downhill from there.

What video card do you have?

Quoting: NinmiI just wanted to play McOsu VR until other, bigger games and applications arrive, but it seems I'll need the 4.15 kernel and Mesa 18.0.0 before I can try again with a Vega card. Channeling all my energy at the code warriors doing all the thankless heavy lifting for us.

Never heard of it .. You pretty much need 4.15+ at this point anyway (or one of the longterm release versions - 4.9.80, 4.4.115, etc.

I have RX Vega 64. But I got the new Kernel last night and everything seems to be going pretty smoothly, so maybe I'll give VR another shot later this week. Tried booting all my Vulkan games and no GPU lockups yet.