Rift works in extended, but not in direct (Optimus laptop)

[zorque]

LATEST UPDATE:
This problem (at least for most people having this problem) has been identified as resulting from the Optimus technology. The high performance GPU is not actually connected directly to any of the display ports (not the monitor, not the DP, not the HDMI). So even with Optimus disabled, you are still running through the low-power card to get to your displays... This is something the Oculus display driver has not taken into account. Unfortunately, there seems to be no ETA, if ever, on a fix for this. We'll have to wait and see if the Oculus devs can mod the driver to account for Optimus setups. Meanwhile, the recommendation is to develop on a desktop with a dedicated graphics card. Sigh.

I am creating this thread to track people having issues with THIS EXACT PROBLEM:
* Rift works normally in extended mode (blue LED, video, rot & pos tracking work fine)
* In direct mode, the LED stays orange and no video appears on the Rift HMD.
However, the 'mirror' window does show up on the display and the positional and rotational
tracking both work when you launch a game or demo in direct mode.
PLEASE do not post here if you have a "similar" problem. That only clutters the thread and impedes progress.

Objective of this thread:
* Get an idea of how many people are affected by Direct mode not working.
* Determine 100% whether this is a laptop / Optimus / NVidia problem
* See if the community has (or can) come up with a workaround.

Notes:
* It doesn't matter if you use HDMI or the DVI adapter
* This seems to be a problem with Optimus.
* It has been suggested that the Rift direct-mode driver is sending the video signal directly to the NVidia chipset,
which we can't see because (even with Optimus 'disabled') the final monitor output still goes through the Intel chipset.
* I have tested with Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 on Dell and MSI hardware (both with NVidia/Intel/Optimus),
and have the exact same problem.
* Oculus support has (mostly) acknowledged that this is likely an Optimus issue, but has said they don't
know when (or even IF) this will be addressed. We need to keep this thread clear and concise to both
show them the problem needs to be addressed, and to give them a head start on troubleshooting.

OK, here we go. If you're posting here, please include:
* Brief description of your rig (no cfg files needed to start). i.e. the rigs I am testing on:
MSI GT70,I7, 24G RAM, SSD HDD/SATA secondary, NVidia GTX780m, Win8x64
Dell XPS L502X, i5, 8G RAM, SATA, NVidia GT540m, Win7x64
Dell XPS L502X, i5, 8G RAM, SATA, NVidia GT540m, Win8.1x64
* also indicate whether you're willing to help troubleshoot, and to what degree
(driver uninstalls, system OS wipes / reinstalls, etc)

Thanks, everybody, and I hope we can all help each other out.
-Mike

[wredhyn]

Thanks for starting this thread zorque. I have the same issues.

ASUS N76VZ
NVidia GeForce GT 650M (Optimus) running 335.23
Intel Core i7-3610QM @ 2.30 GHz
8GB RAM
Windows 8 x64
SATA 250GB SSD + 500GB HD

I hope the team adds support for Optimus cards because I think there are a lot of laptops out there that need it including mine.

[mrred]

same issue msi gt70

[Anonymous]

Having the same problem myself. MSI GT60 2PC with an 870M. When I try to run in Direct Mode I get the error:

There is a problem with your Rift configuration.
The Rift is plugged into a different GPU than the one the application is rendering with.

Rift on GPU: 0, Rendering on GPU: 1

This is on Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Intel Core i7 4810MQ 2.8GHz
8GB RAM
Intel HD Graphics 4600
Nvidia GTX 870M

Nvidia Driver Version: 346.09
Intel Display Driver Version: 10.18.10.3621

[ArkMileStar]

I'm having the same issue as well:

There is a problem with your Rift configuration.
The Rift is plugged into a different GPU than the one the application is rendering with.

Rift on GPU: 0, Rendering on GPU: 1

Nvidia Optimus
Intel HD 4000
Nvidia 650m

Any update on this?
A lot of friends & family have Optimus enabled laptops & its caused me many wasted hours throughout the years even getting non VR games to work with it. You'd think that because it's so widely implemented that there would be significant support for it.

[runerhyme]

Same problem here. Wish I had done more research before I got a machine with optimus. Especially since it was purchased primarily for the Rift. 😞

I also get the "Rift on GPU: 0, Rendering on GPU: 1" error message.

MSI GT70 with NVIDIA Geforce GTX880M (and the Intel card)

[asteele]

Over the holidays we purchased a Lenovo y-50 touchscreen laptop. Windows 8.1 with i7 quadcore and Nvidia 860M - I thought we'd have plenty of computing/graphics power to use our DK2. But we have the same problem as others in this thread. Most demos not running at all or only on laptop screen with no signal to Rift.

Just today in going through the forums it's becoming clear this probably all relates to Nvidia Optimus software that is "deciding" whether to allocate tasks to Intel HD GPU or to Nvidia GPU.

Cybereality - this is a big headache! Should we pack up our laptop and take it back to BB for refund? Or will there be a solution for the apparently many of us with Optimus systems.

I understand this isn't really an Oculus caused problem but WHY did Lenovo (and other laptop manufacturers) bother to add a powerful Nvidia GPU to their laptop only to have it be overridden by the much less powerful built-in graphics???? And without providing a clear simple way to disable the built-in graphics. Can Oculus ASK/LEAN on Nvidia to FIX or UPGRADE the Optimus software. If the Intel HD GPU is hardwired to the HDMI port maybe it's IMPOSSIBLE to fix?

Finally, any chance that a USB (2.0 or 3.0) output to HDMI device (for example see this link http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-SuperSpeed-Adapter-Windows/dp/B00ANTCU9M/ref=pd_cp_pc_2) could provide an alternative output that might solve this - has anyone tried this?

Thanks to all!

[cybereality]

The Optimus thing is a hardware issue, and I'm not sure it can even be fixed with a software patch. That is why I always tell people NOT to buy laptops for VR, as many laptops use Optimus. There are only a select few laptops that will even work well, so it's better to just use a powerful desktop machine.

[enzedda]

"cybereality" wrote:
The Optimus thing is a hardware issue, and I'm not sure it can even be fixed with a software patch. That is why I always tell people NOT to buy laptops for VR, as many laptops use Optimus. There are only a select few laptops that will even work well, so it's better to just use a powerful desktop machine.

Hey Cybereality..You can scream that from the rooftops and even shirt-front these guys about it!
It won't make any difference. They will still buy laptops and still complain.
So many "gamer" threads about this sort of thing, It must drive you mad?
I mean..seriously..an Optimus for the Rift??
Where do they come from!

[Mike1101]

Yes but I think it should be made more clear when you try to order a rift that it probably won't work on a laptop.

[Mike61704]

Just bought a y-50 with optimus and it works fine in direct to rift mode. Actually get really great performance out of the thing with the DK2. Was this fixed recently or something?

Lenovo y-50 Touch with 4k
Intel i7-4700HQ 2.4 haswell
Ram: 16gb ddr3
Intel HD 4600 / Nvidia GTX 860m 2GB