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New GearVR service: screen flickering in dev mode

Ser3nity
Honored Guest
Hi!

I just installed the new version of the Gear VR Service (Version MA784596-211504235), and suddenly my phone screen is constantly flickering (low persistence mode) when the service is running in developer mode. I don't think this is intentional. The flickering disappears after disabling the developer mode, but that's a big step back. I kept my phone running in dev mode all the time, now I have to switch it on and off just to make the flickering go away. Turning the dev mode off has been made a bit easer, but turning it back on hasn't.

Anyone else having that issue?

Best Regards,
Claus
9 REPLIES 9

spolsh
Honored Guest
Positive, I have the same issue with same Gear VR Service version. Spotted after last update.

Ser3nity
Honored Guest
Is there an official way to file this as a bug report to Oculus?

WoodSummer
Honored Guest
where to download this gear vr service?
I accidentally uninstalled it and want it back, thanks!

mkeblx
Explorer
Can confirm, seeing the same issue. Makes dev cycle slower.

mkeblx
Explorer
An update. I'm not sure what I did if anything but I am now able to be in dev mode without low persistence screen flickering. Maybe power cycling and toggling dev mode fixed.

cybereality
Grand Champion
Yes, this can happen. If you're testing your apps docked in the headset, you should turn off dev mode.
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jkimovr
Honored Guest
How is dev mode enabled / disabled right now? You should be going to the same location to toggle this functionality. Not sure why it would be more difficult to enable versus disable?

The flickering is intended on an S6. It's possible this functionality made it's way to the Note4 as well. In order to provide similar performance characteristics while developing/iterating "un-docked" (not connected to the headset), Samsung have provided straight video mode when dev mode is enabled. This will cause flickering due to various VR optimized display options - low persistence as you mention Ser3nity and mkeblx. If you've seen this disappear, I'm going to assume you're on a Note4 and could be a side effect of dev mode there. The workaround of toggling dev mode on/off should fix the flickering. If you still see the flickering, it shouldn't cause any adverse problems while you continue to run in dev mode. Can you explain why this makes your dev cycle slower?

Gear VR Service is automatically updated / downloaded when you dock the device to the headset. If you unintentionally removed it or need an update, dock your phone to the headset with a functioning wifi or data connection. As cyberreality mentioned already, please turn off dev mode when testing inside the headset. This would give you the most accurate end user performance results (we've seen drops in performance with dev mode enabled). It should only take about 5 seconds to go to that setting and disable dev mode before docking. As far as I know, there is no need to power cycle.

Ser3nity
Honored Guest
Power cycling did not change the behaviour, it's still flickering in dev mode. Yes, I'm working on the Note 4. The new GearVR service made it faster to turn the dev mode off, but turning it back on is as complicated as before.

Suggestion to Oculus: Keep showing the Oculus icon on the launcher even when the dev mode is off. This way turning the dev mode on and off would be much faster. Currently it's only shown when the dev mode is on, but it disappears when it's off.

I'm using the dev mode regularly because i like to test my updates on the phone before I put it in the headset, i.e. without unplugging USB. But because the flickering is unbearable for normal phone use, now I have to turn it off. Turning it off an on all the time is just a bit annoying.

Best Regards,
Claus

wsudlets
Honored Guest
I just encountered this issue when using the Note 4 in developer mode without the headset. I was able to fix the issue by disabling developer mode on the GearVR service, force stopping the service, and then enabling debugging mode again. This will enable the brightness to be set by the Android UI, and still run GearVR applications without the headset.

However, the issue reappears every time the device is restarted.