One of the most used lines of headsets for SteamVR, is quest.
I'm still, and always will be baffled by Meta ignoring that section of their audience entirely.
Link, isn't a great experience and the Rift S home from 5 years ago ( that has had TONS of features removed) needs to be scrapped or reworked in favor of letting folks choose to launch into an update dash made for quest 2 and 3, or directly into steam VR, and support itself needs to be reworked entirely. The dash needs an overhaul for LINK, specifically ( no i don't care if you prefer airlink or VD and if those work flawlessly for you. I'm talking specifically about LINK and how pcvr is handled by Meta)
The MQL app on pc needs to be updated to show newer cards as being supported, such as 30 and 40 series cards It's weird that on different systems that include a 3060ti, a 3080, and even on a 4070 ( all with cpus that pair well with those systems) it still says its below min specs for VR on all 3 systems, and there's tons of issues while using link, caused by this, such as all 3 of the systems mentioned freezing entirely and requiring restarts at one point or another over multiple sessions, stuttering, visual artifacts, and more. When I had a 2060 super, several years ago, the app worked flawlessly, pcvr was fine and there were no issues, but the quality on newer hardware has somehow seen a decline in user friendliness and overall quality. There'd quite literally be no competition in the vr space, when looking at the price of a quest 3 unit, if the PCVR side of things were clean, and just WORKED, as one would expect. The app needs to be updated to just support and work more efficiently and seamlessly over link. When using OCULUS KILLER, to launch exlusively into steam vr and skip the oculus dash/ prevent it from running, almost all issues are resolved entirely, outside of some games prefering MQL as the default runtime. Though that last issue is easy to fix as well by switching steam vr to the runtime or changing it's default launch options.
Airlink, is horrible unless you've got a top tier internet connection, and it barely functions as a feature. Virtual desktop is better than airlink, but also no different if you don't have the internet required for use.
The quest 3 could be the perfect headset for PCVR when wired or wireless( for those with strong internet) if Meta would just choose to support that side of/ and clean up that portion of their software ( which hasn't seen an update in almost 6 years outside of removing features, because they update everything else instead)
All that needs to be done in order to give users an option of launching into Steam VR, or OCULUS RIFT S home when using a link cable is a LITERAL CHECK, to see if steam is running on the pc. At that point they could just provide an option to skip the oculus dash entirely ( such as an A, or B choice for oculus dash or steam vr). Oculus killer, Proves this by letting users skip the oculus dash, but it would be nice if Meta could officially support pcvr players by either letting us choose outright, or by reworking and updating their currently barely functioning link process.
Our headsets themselves should check to see if steam is running on the connected pc, in the same way it checks to see if the MQL app is running before allowing a direct connection. This could entirely avoid having to let the mql app idle in the background, and allow for more choice for end users in general. I'd much prefer if I could skip using the meta quest link app, since I don't purchase or use anything through meta aside from the headset itself., and only play through SteamVR using a link cable. I'm sure many others would also prefer to skip using the MQL app on pc as well.
If the boot loader was unlocked, or allowed to be unlocked like on quest 2, I would just modify the entire thing myself with the help of a few friends, to just load into steam Vr and I'd replace the entire horizon operating system ( yes i know id have to write drivers and so on for it if that was possible)
The reason I'm so pressed over this is because I want to invest more into customizing my quest 3 since i use it for pcvr so often but using it for pcvr is always a headache since it isn't a smooth experience, and I've been shopping for new vr options and the options are always like this ;
" a few hundred dollars more for display port connective headset but lower resolution and worse overall tracking * most HTC sets) " "several thousand dollars for this one, no issues, pcvr, not dealing with meta, but it's SEVERAL THOUSAND because I'd need to buy several external tracking units for exterior tracking ( Index)"
"this one looks like an amazing fit, though pricey and having to buy each portion of the vr experience seperately no IPD adjustment and sending it back and waiting months, if the company gets my IPD wrong ( big screen beyond)"
" better tracking, eye tracking, near the same resolution, and pcvr only, but last gen processor and fresnel lenses and a thousand dollars for a last gen processor + fresnel( HTC focus vision) "
" this one looks like it would terrific, but I can't purchase a new strap because the one it has it built onto it, and there's no much customization for it in other areas either (DPVR e4)" "nah im good ( pimax) "
"The true perfect experience, pcvr, good resolution, tracking, compatibility, 5x way too expensive ( every single HMD made by Varjo) "
having a quest 3 is like having an almost perfect option for pcvr , that would be near perfect if it were even 10% better but the developers have no interest in making it even 2%-5% better, and would actually enjoy removing features instead gradually over time.
Running a simple check to see if steam is running and adding an alternative option ( that we could hover over) to choose for link if it's running is the quickest, easiest, and most viable option for Meta to add. There's no need for having the MQL app running our pc's at all and this is proven by the oculus killer mod* (which is only 186 lines of code total btw META, when y'all read this) , implementing a simple check, testing it, and releasing, could be done in literal HOURS should they every choose to do so. It's the easiest for them to implement and the best solution overall.
My post is mainly just to vent and ponder why Meta refuses to actively support all of it's community in the features the give us and allowing for choice..
Running a simple check to see if steam is running and adding an alternative option ( that we could hover over) to choose for link if it's running is the quickest, easiest, and most viable option for Meta to add. There's no need for having the MQL app running our pc's at all and this is proven by the oculus killer mod* (which is only 186 lines of code total btw META, when y'all read this) , implementing a simple check, testing it, and releasing, could be done in literal HOURS should they every choose to do so. It's the easiest for them to implement and the best solution overall.
My post is mainly just to vent and ponder why Meta refuses to actively support all of it's community in the features the give us and allowing for choice..
When I had a 2060 super, several years ago, the app worked flawlessly, pcvr was fine and there were no issues, but the quality on newer hardware has somehow seen a decline in user friendliness and overall quality.
SAME!!i also had rtx 2060 super and PCVR work flawlessly. I saved up some money and upgraded to RTX 4070 thinking that itll boost my VR experience to the next level, only to find out that all games that i purchased on the quest app for PC either lags or stutter every 5 sec. especially when walking forward, those games are ARIZONA SUNSHINE remake and 2, WDSNS 1 and 2 . even if i lower the graphics to the lowest. and this is after it auto updated on this latest v72. the bricking update!!! although it didnt brick my headset, it made all my games unplayable even having a decent graphic card!
I did everything i can find solutions in the net just to fix this but still no luck. still lags and stutters. Meta doesnt care about PCVR, theyre focusing on their standalone games wich sucks!!
"we care" * ignores entire post to single out a user who's suffering from your bad softwware. your software is the problem. it thinks tons of cards are unsupported and causes plenty of issues.
At this point why would they even offer pcvr as an option. It's so puzzling, the experience is horrid most of the time and Meta doesn't support or care about it. They can say they do, but their actions in regards to updating, refining, and making the experience GOOD, say otherwise. They've done nothing to improve the overall experience in literal years.
as I said, I already done everything from twaeking your stupid oculus tool, from setting up your stupid app to the lowest possible settings, from reinstalling my win 11, I even go back to win 10. revert my graphic card driver to the oldest. before v72 its working good. its not my cable! not my graphic card! I spent lots of money just to upgrade my rig thinking that I will have better " EXPERIENCE " on VR gaming. but I just have frustartions from this.
Its already a month going to 2 months that I search for fix and I see there are a lot of unsolved problems about this. and as I search I stumbled to the OPs post and somewhat the same as my frustration about your software.
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Meta’s PCVR experience definitely needs some updates. It has been a while since any major improvements were made. Hopefully, they will roll out something new soon to enhance performance and features.
I have been suggesting this in other post. Are you adjusting the monitor display refresh rate equal or just below the Quest refresh rate? This did work for me and I’m running seamlessly on steam vr.
Adjust my monitor resolution to what gives me best gpu performance, for me is 1080p. Monitor image color to fps and temperature cool. I have been turning off hdr as well but not sure of any effect yet, still adjusting setting to find what works.
Then reset the pc after making those adjustments, I prefer to load games on the pc. I use the link cable but not the app I am connected but don’t link it in the quest just connect to steam vr.
