Has Virtual link failed already?

[bigmike20vt]

Or is it just a hardware issue with index?

I see Valve have pulled their VR Link adapter from sale stating it was not stable enough.... This is a real bummer imo. I dunno about you but I thought the VR Link on the nvidia gpus was actually a really nice thing to have which would hugely cut down on wires and what not for those who want to stick with fully tracked devices.

so what do you think, early teething issues or is it a dead duck already?

[Techy111]

I posted this in the index thread. Valve pulled it and now will NOT be available.

[Techy111]

@bigmike20vt here ya go fella =

https://uploadvr.com/virtuallink-index-cancelled/

[kojack]

The problem at the moment is no headset that I'm aware of actually has virtual link. It needs protocol support in the headset itself to do it properly. Those USB-C to DP/USB adapters people use aren't virtual link, they are USB-C alt display mode which is a less capable standard.

Valve's adapter means the headset is still non virtual link and needs the thicker cables. Once we get a real end to end virtual link headset with just a thin USB-C cable (no adapter) then we'll see how well it works.

[MowTin]

I think there aren't enough RTX cards to justify the added testing and support required. So, yes it's dead. 

My guess is Valve discovered some issues and it made more financial sense to recall then have to fix it with some firmware update. 

I"m also disappointed. I was ready to order. 

One thing: What's the difference between virtualLink and just plain USB-C? 

[kojack]

USB-C alt mode consists of display port and usb 2.0 over a standard USB-C cable.

Virtual Link has more display port lines and usb 3.1 over a USB-C cable that meets V1.3 (it won't work on older USB-C cables).

One fun fact is that while USB-C mirrors pins on each side so you can plug the cable in either orientation, Virtual Link actually puts different signals on each side, so the gfx card and headset need to auto-detect the plug orientation and change the signals. This is how it can get more data throughput than normal USB-C.

[kevinw729]

I do not stick a fork in it - just because of the Valve decision on Index.
We understand the Valve VR team is now super small for the issues they need to address and something had to give. It will be more important to see how the HTC Cosmos and new Samsung headset to see if VirtualLink will gain momentum.

[RuneSR2]

kevinw729 said:

I do not stick a fork in it - just because of the Valve decision on Index.
We understand the Valve VR team is now super small for the issues they need to address and something had to give. It will be more important to see how the HTC Cosmos and new Samsung headset to see if VirtualLink will gain momentum.

Agreed - if neither HTC nor Samsung can get VirtualLink to work then I'd consider it dead. 

[bigmike20vt]

Techy111 said:

@bigmike20vt here ya go fella =

https://uploadvr.com/virtuallink-index-cancelled/

Indeed. Sorry I didn't know there was already a thread. Whilst I know index is not supporting it my question is more, is this just an index thing or is it the end in general?

[DaftnDirect]

Do we know who developed virtual link? Wiki says it’s supported by all the major players but I have no idea what that means. It feels like a selling point to shift new cards without a foundation of testing having been done.