#(SteamVR on Linux) Failed to connect to headset display: Error 496

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

long ocean
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system information:

Gentoo Linux
AMD CPU+GPU
amdgpu + mesa latest versions for my distribution
problem occurs with latest and beta version of steamVR
KDE with Wayland
Quest 2 headset with client installed on headset
ALVR v20.13.0, installed from .tar.gz

two warnings in ALVR logs:

Make sure you have put the following line in your SteamVR launch options and restart it:
/home/@absyn.th/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command%
(i have put this in launch options)

Failed to unblock ALVR driver: /home/@absyn.th/.local/share/Steam/config/steamvr.vrsettings does not exist
(i checked, that file is not there, and reinstalling/relaunching steamvr does not put it there)

error in steamvr:

Failed to connect to headset display
Your headset might not be connected, or your desktop environment might not support SteamVR. (496)

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full ALVR log:

21:06:55.128 [INFO] Driver name: radv
21:06:55.128 [WARNING] Make sure you have put the following line in your SteamVR launch options and restart it:
/home/absynth/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command%
21:06:55.133 [INFO] GPU Encoder vendor: Mesa Gallium driver 25.0.5 for AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (radeonsi, navi22, LLVM 19.1.7, DRM 3.61, 6.14.5-gentoo-dist)
21:06:55.133 [INFO] AV1 profile does not contain encoding entrypoint.
                Your gpu may not suport encoding with this. If you're not using this encoder, ignore this message.
21:06:55.145 [WARNING] Failed to unblock ALVR driver: /home/absynth/.local/share/Steam/config/steamvr.vrsettings does not exist
21:06:57.738 [INFO] Server connected
wooden galleon
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use hevc instead

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add options from wiki to support wayland

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also make sure to disable igpu if its a desktop

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if its a laptop add hybrid options

long ocean
long ocean
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same issue after changing all the applicable settings:

image.png
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19:41:00.968 [INFO] Driver name: radv
19:41:00.968 [WARNING] Make sure you have put the following line in your SteamVR launch options and restart it:
/home/abby/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command%
19:41:00.973 [INFO] GPU Encoder vendor: Mesa Gallium driver 25.0.5 for AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (radeonsi, navi22, LLVM 19.1.7, DRM 3.61, 6.14.5-gentoo-dist)
19:41:00.973 [INFO] AV1 profile does not contain encoding entrypoint.
                Your gpu may not suport encoding with this. If you're not using this encoder, ignore this message.
19:41:00.984 [WARNING] Failed to unblock ALVR driver: /home/abby/.local/share/Steam/config/steamvr.vrsettings does not exist
19:41:03.657 [INFO] Server connected
19:41:27.094 [INFO] Initial socket buffer size: send: 87040B, recv: 131072B
19:41:27.123 [INFO] Initial socket buffer size: send: 212992B, recv: 212992B
19:41:27.123 [INFO] Set socket send buffer succeeded: 2097152
19:41:27.123 [INFO] Set socket recv buffer succeeded: 8388608
19:41:27.124 [INFO] Render Target: 4288 2336
19:41:27.124 [INFO] Refresh Rate: 72
19:41:27.124 [INFO] CEncoder::Run
19:41:27.124 [INFO] CEncoder Listening
19:41:27.243 [INFO] Received new playspace with size: [1.7080789, 1.1509223]
19:42:01.628 [INFO] Client disconnected. Cause: Broken pipe (os error 32)
📎 session.json
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i most certainly have the launch option set

image.png
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and steamvr still creates no such file steamvr.vrsettings in such directory

image.png
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issue persists on both beta and stable branches of steamvr

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i was checking my files and found that on the debian native version of steam, the steamvr.vrsettings file is produced, while no such file has ever been produced by my gentoo system. i can try making a debian KDE install on this hardware and see if ALVR functions on that.

wooden galleon
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that error is spurious

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check that flatscreen steam is working ok

long ocean
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flatscreen steam does work fine, i'll try lowering resolution in ALVR server

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same error "failed to connect to headset display" even at minimum resolution and 60hz, i can keep trying different combinations if needed

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black screen inside the headset

compact mangoBOT
long ocean
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(and i'm on the .tar.gz version of alvr, with the vrmonitor fix in launch options)

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(and the wayland fix)

wooden galleon
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bl ack screen means you have typo or something, try run this find $HOME -name vrmonitor.sh

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and check your encoding options, try hevc 150mbit constant

long ocean
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because i used that command and copy pasted the result 😭

wooden galleon
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where is the qt option stuff?

long ocean
wooden galleon
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did u test flatscreen steam games?

long ocean
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i can run them fine, vrchat will even open in flatscreen mode

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whenever i try to connect alvr, the headset display never connects, everything else in steam is fully functional

wooden galleon
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what do you mean exactly by never connects?

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is there firewall or something stopping it?

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vpn can also cause problem

long ocean
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i have no firewall at all. the error is above: Failed to connect to headset display (Error 496)

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no vpn

wooden galleon
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how is pc connected to headset?

long ocean
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it's a quest 2, it's a wireless headset, but in wired mode with the usb cable it fails to pair

wooden galleon
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use wireless only, wired has its own special stuff

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is your pc using ethernet? and is igpu disabled?

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or is it a laptop?

long ocean
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i already answered these questions above: #1368756553192050799 message i am on a desktop and i do not have an igpu, my cpu has no integrated graphics

wooden galleon
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must be a gentoo problem so - i cant see anything wrong - unless you forgot the ethernet

long ocean
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i use wifi on both my headset and desktop🤷

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no ethernet in my house

wooden galleon
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ok this is your problem

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just plug cable in and everything will be fixe

long ocean
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so i have to move my desktop next to the router and run an ethernet cable to use alvr?

wooden galleon
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or you can put the router next to the pc or whatever

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or get a second router

long ocean
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is this on the wiki? i read all the troubleshooting i am aware of and never encountered this

wooden galleon
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your router is likely doing client isolation, and double dipping on wifi is terrible anyway

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it says to use ethernet on wiki, this is #1 most common mistake

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wireless vr only refers to the headset

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you can try to setup infrastructure mode on your wifi adapter but thats a seperate topipc

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this is how you would make the pc directly talk to headset

long ocean
wooden galleon
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even worse if you have a mesh network

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this is not on alvr wiki because nobody does this - everyone has ethernet because of course

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you can buy a router for 20 bucks and put it next to the pc

long ocean
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this seems ridiculous, especially since a quest 3 is obviously going to be using wifi anyway because it has no ports that support ethernet 😭

wooden galleon
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the headset is wireless yes - but the pc should use ethernet

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otherwise both of them are fighting for bandwidth

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and then there is the client isolation thing

long ocean
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i get 100 gigabytes per second on the pc with the quest 2 turned on...

wooden galleon
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thats pathetic

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if you plug ethernet in you will get double and everything will work

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modern router would give 1600+, and you would still want to use ethernet

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the headset can take 800 of h264, or 150-200 of hevc

long ocean
wooden galleon
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yes because noone gets that figure

long ocean
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i reliably have over 1000 megabit per second on wifi

wooden galleon
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great, so once you plug ethernet in it will be fantastic

long ocean
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if i put a router next to my computer, it would connect to the ISP's cable box wirelessly anyway, since there is no feasible way for me to route wires to my PC from the isp's cable box

wooden galleon
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this is not relevant - internet has nothing to do with your local network

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so not used for vr streaming between pc and headset

long ocean
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i see, i can put a repeater in my room then

wooden galleon
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no

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that will just make things worse

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repeater is just another device fighting for bandwidth - extends range but halves bandwidth

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pc -> ethernet -> router -> wireless -> headset

long ocean
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i suppose my only option is to move my entire setup to the router since routing an ethernet cable is not feasible. it's shocking to me that this is necessary since i have reliably been able to stream 4k video and transfer files at many hundreds or thousands of gigabytes per second on my local network, even over wifi

wooden galleon
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client isolation messing with connection

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so yeah either that or gentoo bad

long ocean
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i personally set up the security and network topology on my router and i know that client isolation is not relevant here

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i expected the answer to be that gentoo doesn't support alvr, which is unfortunate, but makes more sense

wooden galleon
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there is probably some fix - but needs some gentoo user to find it

long ocean
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i may raise an issue on gentoo's official forums

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i can get in contact with other users and brainstorm about this

wooden galleon
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no linux is rly support so lol

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i get this but everything works fine

long ocean
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i was previously told that "that error is spurious and it works fine even with it"

wooden galleon
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its some unicode error in new steamvr version

long ocean
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as far as i am aware, it is running natively

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i've just checked and found no indication that it's running in proton

long ocean
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well, i will be shocked if ethernet to my pc fixes this, but i will test it, since it should not be too complex to set this up, just having to move my pc to the router and run a short cable. if that fails, i can try running the same on an ubuntu machine i have available with similar hardware and seeing if all functions

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it will be the first time i have ever had my current local network be insufficient in bandwidth for any task, and i am not light on bandwidth 😅

long ocean
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just for you, @wooden galleon , i have confirmed it: i get the same issue on ethernet, on the same pc. (and speeds on ethernet are scarcely faster - maybe 30 megabits per second at most, on a 1000 megabit connection!)

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i'm sorry that my wi-fi caused us any confusion, but we can now cease any concern that it had anything to do with this.

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ethernet is so close in speed that the difference might be down to traffic on the connection, rather than any advantages of the cable to the modem 🤷

wooden galleon
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you cant really test the speed unless you are streaming vr - or put a second demanding load on network - and internet speed test is not relevant because internet is not used

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but anyway try x11 or somthing to fix the steamvr problem

long ocean
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i'm just astonished that you had the gall to imply i was stupid:

this is not on alvr wiki because nobody does this - everyone has ethernet because of course
thats pathetic
especially since, as i just confirmed by plugging my computer into ethernet for real and trying to start steamvr, you were wrong about the whole thing
i'll try x11 i suppose

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i did confirm that my wifi was disabled and i was actually using the ethernet. i did really pair my quest while my computer was on ethernet. and i did get the same error as i have been saying i had since the title of this post, even on ethernet. and no, my speed was not "double" and no,

just plug cable in and everything will be fixe
was not true

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nor were either of these things you said

it says to use ethernet on wiki, this is #1 most common mistake

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you could just say you were out of ideas instead of making wrong assumptions about my network quality...

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and lying about the contents of the wiki

wooden galleon
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or install arch

long ocean
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i've just tested on a linux mint cinnamon computer (also on wifi, side note) and it worked immediately. no further help is needed. thanks all

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it was a gentoo issue