I have the same issue, it works well with linux pc to android phone.

I have the same issue, I can stream from my Linux desktop to my android phone but my quest 2 cannot find my desktop during setup.

yup, same issue here. shows up on a phone but not on the quest 2

Intended, see the FAQ
Hope this is not a wontfix and will be implemented

yeah, I really hope Linux support will come

+1 for penguin support :penguin:

Hoping for Linux support myself. Just received a Quest 2 and are eager to get it working with Linux :-).

What's the reason that this isn't supported, as others have mentioned, streaming from linux works fine to another phone or computer. Why is it any different for quest devices?

What's the reason that this isn't supported, as others have mentioned, streaming from linux works fine to another phone or computer. Why is it any different for quest devices?

i'd assume something to do with nvidia drivers

It seems Linux PC is simply blacklisted on the Quest side of things for the time being.

I just bought Quest 2 because of Steam Link app. I have SteamDeck and Linux gaming PC. Imagine my surprise when I found out Linux is not supported. "SteamLink supports Quest" is borderline false advertising when your PC is running Linux or SteamOS for that matter.

Yeah, this sucks. Bought a quest 3 mainly because I already use steam link with my steam deck.

The latest version of SteamLink for the Quest now does detect Linux PCs, but then it clearly states that VR streaming from that PC isn't supported. So, that's progress I guess.

The latest version of SteamLink for the Quest now does detect Linux PCs, but then it clearly states that VR streaming from that PC isn't supported. So, that's progress I guess.

Just checked, I can see my computer now but can't connect. Hopefully we can get linux support soon but I do appreciate that they're making progress.

bought a quest 3 2 weeks ago and returned it because the steam link application in the headset did not display my linux pc, I will get it again when it works.

You guys do realize alvr exists

You guys do realize alvr exists

very very laggy on linux, maybe just me - i've never been quite sure if the lag comes from steamvr or alvr, but had no way to test, this new steam link feature seemed like a good way to check that

You guys do realize alvr exists

ALVR won't run properly on Debian 12. Nvidia drivers are too old 😅. I'm waiting for a fix from Valve. In the meantime I'm booting Windows, hoping they'll fix it soon.

I dug into it a little while ago. The windows branch has "driver_vrlink.dll" at "/SteamVR/drivers/vrlink/bin/win64" but the Linux version has no such file. The directory still exists though, with all the other files being the same. It looks like the Linux branch needs an equivalent ".so" (linux64/driver_vrlink.so) that isn't there/developed (yet?). On top of that, I'm not sure if something needs to change on the steam installation itself (with steam remote play/steam link), or if it will "just work" with a *.so drop in.

I also tried using proton on SteamVR, but I could not get it to launch at all. Not sure if games will be able to communicate with the openxr runtime with proton anyways

You guys do realize alvr exists

very very laggy on linux, maybe just me - i've never been quite sure if the lag comes from steamvr or alvr, but had no way to test, this new steam link feature seemed like a good way to check that

Well there a easy way to check join our discord server and I'll help you out or someone else

Oh I guarantee you one way or another it's Valve's fault(unless you're config was just awful) aka then not implementing a damn interface we've been asking for 3 damn years now

why is this thread so toxic?
a feature is missing, Valve so far expressed genuine interest in supporting Linux, I expect it to come soon enough (in Valve time)

Oh I guarantee you one way or another it's Valve's fault(unless you're config was just awful) aka then not implementing a damn interface we've been asking for 3 damn years now

doesn't change the fact that atm im forced to reboot to windows to play, and steam link was a viable solution :/

Like I said join our discord and I can show you how viable it can be

You guys do realize alvr exists

HAHAHA thats fucking hilarious try setting it up on ubuntu.

I'm over at a friend's house to play VR for Christmas Eve. We have spent all of almost all of our expected playtime troubleshooting his alvr installation which broke again for the 3rd time now.

Well if you joined the discord or the matrix chat, I could probably tell you why it's because SteamVR changed the runtime to sniper in some parts which uses a container you have to build ALVR in the container else SteamVR won't run with ALVR. The workaround is to use steam play none. Like I said you guys really aren't giving alvr a chance down vote me all you want, but it doesn't change reality

You guys do realize alvr exists

HAHAHA thats fucking hilarious try setting it up on ubuntu.

Ok, when I get home from Christmas I'll set it up in a day I'll let you know when I get back hell I'll even record it for you

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-1868779061

well it's great for you that you seemingly have the perfect computer, setup, and knowledge to set it up in a day, shame other people sadly do not come born with this knowledge and hardware

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-1868848733

Hmm I wonder where I got that knowledge of only there was a place to receive help(hint your not helping your case by refusing help), also no I don't have a perfect PC at least no more perfect than your's

And this is where I stop if you're not willing to receive help there's nothing I can do and you're a waste of my time. Have a Merry Christmas of course ;)

Well if you joined the discord or the matrix chat, I could probably tell you why it's because SteamVR changed the runtime to sniper in some parts which uses a container you have to build ALVR in the container else SteamVR won't run with ALVR. The workaround is to use steam play none. Like I said you guys really aren't giving alvr a chance down vote me all you want, but it doesn't change reality

I shouldn't have to check your discord to determine if it's safe to go play at my friend's house that day. I get that you really like alvr, but right now advocating for steam link support for linux seems more productive.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-1868859001

Fair enough fun fact, the same API ALVR uses on windows that makes it so easy is also the API steamlink uses. We've been asking for this API on linux for about 3 years now. You're talking to a brick wall. The good news is they're planning on adding it but sadly it's not because of user demand else it would've been addressed two years ago. Given the recent-ness of steamlink even after the API is added you're probably still going to have a better time once alvr adds it which I will assume happens a little later as well... we can only add support once it's publicly available.

So I just tried ALVR and it seems great... But in the process I had to create a FrankenDebian, with Nvidia drivers from Nvidia Developer. I didn't get sound working. I didn't get ALVR working through Distrobox.

I gave up after about four hours and had to spend 1,5 hours fixing my beloved FrankenDebian.

If I were running a different distro... But I'm not willing to rid myself of Debian.

So I'm also opting and really hoping for Valve fixing this.

@Vixea people are here for Steam Link, not for ALVR

Yes but there's also just people who want to move to Linux and VR is holding them back why not tell them there's already something out there. Also @Svampebob1 until we get pipewire sorted out we have a script you can run and with a little knowledge of pipewire you can get audio working

Yes but there's also just people who want to move to Linux and VR is holding them back why not tell them there's already something out there. Also @Svampebob1 until we get pipewire sorted out we have a script you can run and with a little knowledge of pipewire you can get audio working

I think I'll need help with that. I'll wire a post at Discord later.

Yes but there's also just people who want to move to Linux and VR is holding them back why not tell them there's already something out there. Also @Svampebob1 until we get pipewire sorted out we have a script you can run and with a little knowledge of pipewire you can get audio working

Honestly people who wants to move to linux won't even understand all you have to do to get it working... it's not really easy and also the final quality is kinda bad with ALVR on a lot of configurations.

I hoped SteamLink VR would fix that but since it's not even available...

@MiMillieuh funny that the problem was it was a bug(introduced by me) :( it's fixed now though I forgot if that fix made it into the latest release

Edit:
Yea the fix is in the latest release

Another edit:
If you're just talking about the pipewire stuff than yea.... BUT it's why we have a discord so that people can get help good luck with that with Valve

Regardless of ALVR, is Linux support planned at some point?

So I just tried to get it working for me.

On windows 11 no Problem (of course)
but on cachy os it won't.

On the quest store , you can select the public beta, but it did no difference. Very unfotunate, but I hope Valve will add support to linux

Has anyone heard an actual response from any valve official? I've heard "they have confirmed it" from multiple places, but never actually found a confirmation from valve themselves. It would be nice to hear any sort of confirmation from them at all of "it's being worked on" or "it's not happening"

I asked Steam Support about Steam Link support on GNU/Linux and the response was:

Steam Support has no details on future updates or feature additions.

I asked Steam Support about Steam Link support on GNU/Linux and the response was:

Steam Support has no details on future updates or feature additions.

Darn.

I asked Steam Support about Steam Link support on GNU/Linux and the response was:

Steam Support has no details on future updates or feature additions.

Darn.

doesn't mean that they don't plan to add it, more so that the steam support team doesn't actually know about that side of things

Yes but there's also just people who want to move to Linux and VR is holding them back why not tell them there's already something out there. Also @Svampebob1 until we get pipewire sorted out we have a script you can run and with a little knowledge of pipewire you can get audio working

@Vixea sure, but ALVR can be very weird, at least on AMD hardware from my exp and especially on low-end setups

Beat Saber ran no problem on an RX 560 under Windows, but due to some driver bugs under Linux, it just wasn't able to encode the same resolution video on Linux

+ the point was that you were talking about ALVR a little too much for a Steam streaming thread imo

That is sadly true by the issue's nature nothing ALVR can do we can't ask users to compile an unreleased kernel version to solve the issue. And even then because of how ALVR works even to allow Wireless Streaming in Linux, the requirements do not allow this patch to take its code path.

Now I don't know what version that was in but I would always recommend testing a newer version as we are always improving, please do realize the restrictions Valve puts on us cause issues impossible to solve without workarounds and discard them ie (https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime/issues/633)

I argue ALVR fits perfectly in this issue thread, people who want a SteamVR(look at the repository you are in) streaming application which is exactly what this issue is about at its core. ALVR solves that problem I'll be it not perfectly because of restrictions again caused by Valve's complete lack of care for SteamVR on Linux for three years.
It took people like us in the open source space to finally deal with the huge stutter issue that plagues any Linux VR Runtime. (https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/-/issues/10101) A person who works at Valve submitted the patch not Valve itself(side note on giving companies credit that should only be done if this was done by official means which this was not) because sadly the people who helped discover the root cause do not have the documentation for such an act and or skill.

Since this thread went off topic and is now mostly about ALVR, let me share my experience with it. Tried it on latest Fedora with latest everything and it requires old version of x264 codec which is not available on Fedora anymore. I managed to get the codec installed, but even then, out of 4 launches, SteamVR crashes 3 times with ALVR.
I did my testing on Xorg because with Wayland nothing worked (not sure if it was SteamVR issue or ALVR) and I don't have the time to deal with the small bits.
That one time, when it all worked, the gameplay was a bit laggy and a bit nauseating. I have Quest2, RX 6700XT GPU and was using WiFi6 and managed to get a decent framerate only with the lowest resolution.

I am not saying it does not work, just that it is complicated to setup (you have to sideload ALVR client to Quest too) and that one time it worked, it was kind of OK, but overall, I lost many hours to this and would not recommend "wireless VR on Linux" as a serious option at this point in time.

Seriously. I am contemplating you would get much better experience by running Windows in a VM on a Linux host with GPU passthru and in that case you could probably use Steam Link directly.

And you were using the VR power profile it's required ALVR or not with amd?
Oh and might I add all the stutter issue have nothing to do with ALVR but are simply because of the steamvr runtime being heavy and unable to use the compute path with tunneling which has only been added in Linux 6.8

So Don't equate Linux VR issues in general with ALVR

Seriously. I am contemplating you would get much better experience by running Windows in a VM on a Linux host with GPU passthru and in that case you could probably use Steam Link directly.
@kimec

I do just that. It's a much better experience than what's currently available on linux, which is why I'm hoping steam link and whatever other fixes needed come to Linux. Hopefully then ALVR will improve with those fixes too. I've tried Air Link, VD, Steam Link, and ALVR and steam link seems to have the least amount of fuss and the best quality I've seen. Steam Link has that "just works flawlessly" factor that's a big selling point.

Granted, I mostly use PCVR for a specific scenario (no mans sky) and I have a high end PC (5700x, 3090 ti). No mans sky has a huge issue with VR performance, yet I was able to get a really good experience out of it with steam link (VD was acceptable but not quite on the level I was looking for). I've tried ALVR a few times, and every time it just didn't work well/at all. Recently I've found the AppImage builds are pretty good at delivering good latency, yet the image quality looks subpar. Maybe I'm not supposed to use an AppImage, or I'm supposed to do this and that to rebuild it to my situation, but in all honesty steam link in a VM just seems like an easier option, as much as I love Linux.

If you are looking for a starting place, this guide helped me out with setting up a single GPU passthrough VM (though be aware this can do bad stuff to your hardware): https://github.com/QaidVoid/Complete-Single-GPU-Passthrough
fyi you may need to add /dev/ inputs to the AppArmour profile (this stopped mine from working and it took forever to figure out)

update for all you nerds
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-1874972102

update for all you nerds

Is that steam link on Linux?

Why do you have steamvr 2.3.0 I don't have this version in steamvr stable or beta.

For me it still not working. But like I said you have a newer version of steamvr for some reason.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-1874653726

This is a screenshot from the Linux Gaming Dev discord by someone who's working on it (I think they are a steam employee but I'm not sure)

I think this is a confirmed "its being worked on" 🎉

Replying to [#655 (comment)](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-1874653726)

This is a screenshot from the Linux Gaming Dev discord by someone who's working on it (I think they are a steam employee but I'm not sure)

I think this is a confirmed "its being worked on" 🎉

Oh that's great.

Now I can understand why this guy has a newer version of steamvr

Replying to [#655 (comment)](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-1874653726)

This is a screenshot from the Linux Gaming Dev discord by someone who's working on it (I think they are a steam employee but I'm not sure)

I think this is a confirmed "its being worked on" 🎉

I'm glad it's getting somewhere, I'm excited!

update for all you nerds

Super excited to see where this goes

a clarification no one outside of Valve has access , the purpose of just post the raw screenshot was because my internet is horrible and I was doing other bandwidth intensive things, sorry for any confusing this cause(update for you nerds was to say an update on the progress of implementation of it not that it was release or anything like that)

Oh and another thing just because it says 2.3 doesn't mean it's coming in 2.3

If you ever worked in software development you know why but for those who don't developers have this thing called a version control system it allows them to have thesr things called branches that branch off of the main development fork so unless you see them merged the branch into the "trunk" or main, etc you cannot know what release it might come in

developers have this thing called a version control system

I assume that was a joke given the site where you are posting this.

So Linux Gaming Dev discord you say??? Are you able to provide a link to such a place?

developers have this thing called a version control system

I assume that was a joke given the site where you are posting this.

So Linux Gaming Dev discord you say??? Are you able to provide a link to such a place?

not sure! I wasn't regularly invited so I don't know how restricted it is

I just installed windows 10 on my old gaming desktop (ryzen 5 1600af and rx 580) to take advantage of wireless VR I will keep my eye on this to know when i can purge windows from my life again.

+1 just to show my interest on this, I can't wait for there to be a proper(not ALVR) way to connect my quest 2 to my Linux desktop.
It'd be a dream come true. The final thing left before I can drop windows!

Replying to [#655 (comment)](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-1874653726)

This is a screenshot from the Linux Gaming Dev discord by someone who's working on it (I think they are a steam employee but I'm not sure)

I think this is a confirmed "its being worked on" 🎉

might actually be able to use linux properly if this is the case, the one thing holding me back was VR Support (was on Linux for a long time up until recently, because quest 2, lol.)
not as good as wired but better than nothing, cant wait to see where this goes <3

does anyone know if there is anything new with this?

@OzzyHelix When unsure, check the SteamVR news page. The posts go pretty in-depth. Don't just bump a thread, people like me are subscribed for actual info, not people asking about info.

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-1874659724

I think this is a confirmed "its being worked on" 🎉

Where's the indication that Linux support is being worked on? Because it was posted in a Linux gaming discord?

Actually, the name "Joshua Ashton" was really familiar and a quick search revealed why: He's one of the geniuses working on DXVK and VKD3D-Proton and other "gaming on Linux" projects.

So if he has an unreleased version of SteamVR, it's a strong hint that Linux support is being worked on... That would be incredible. Wireless VR gaming is the last thing my Linux OS can't do (and no, ALVR isn't polished enough even though it's a very cool community project).

@kisak-valve honestly just lock it at this point we all know that valve isn't going to do any updates in this mess of a thread

Replying to [#655 (comment)](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-1874653726)

This is a screenshot from the Linux Gaming Dev discord by someone who's working on it (I think they are a steam employee but I'm not sure)

I think this is a confirmed "its being worked on" 🎉

Any updates since this?

"flat" games works fine

This doesn't work for me. Error message is not helpful at all:

mb coz your version of steam link is older then mine?

Can confirm it works for me too, hopefully VR games are coming soon but this is still very much appreciated

By changing the release channel of Steam Link to publicBeta in the settings of Quest, I updated to v2.0.9.834, but after connecting, I just got a black screen (Steam Big Picture mode starts normally, the Quest controller can control the mouse, but there is no video stream image)

@glaumar I did the same and had the same problem, what worked for me is to switch the graphical session to Wayland before logging in.

@glaumar I did the same and had the same problem, what worked for me is to switch the graphical session to Wayland before logging in.

This didn't work for me, I tried it on archlinux+kde wayland, steamdeck gamemode and steamdeck desktop mode, but it's still just a black screen.

Flat screen works fine for me KDE + Wayland, but I want support for VR. I really hope they'll add this soon.

1+

Non-VR streaming works for me without issues too on Arch + awesomewm + Xorg on GTX 1070. Recently wiped my windows partition so I'm hoping they add VR support soon too.

Now that mutter added DRM leasing, there is a hope that this would work one day in gnome:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/mutter/-/merge_requests/3746

Not sure what is needed more to support steam link with VR

Steamlink is not working with Quest 3.
Until then, I'm using Steamos Holo on normal PC + amdgpu + ALVR + SteamVR. That way I can also play VR games.

mb coz your version of steam link is older then mine?

Hello. Might I ask what version of SteamVR you're using? I'm using beta as per ALVR's suggestions but I still get the compatability error.

mb coz your version of steam link is older then mine?

Hello. Might I ask what version of SteamVR you're using? I'm using beta as per ALVR's suggestions but I still get the compatability error.

https://github.com/alvr-org/ALVR/wiki/Linux-Troubleshooting#fix

mb coz your version of steam link is older then mine?

Hello. Might I ask what version of SteamVR you're using? I'm using beta as per ALVR's suggestions but I still get the compatability error.

https://github.com/alvr-org/ALVR/wiki/Linux-Troubleshooting#fix

That's for ALVR... this issue si about Steam Link VR

@SolAZDev ALVR doesn't work with Steam Link. ALVR works with its own ALVR client app which you can get from the Meta store.

@SolAZDev ALVR doesn't work with Steam Link. ALVR works with its own ALVR client app which you can get from the Meta store.

Pardon my previous typos, but that's exactly the point. I'm interested in having Steam Link working on a Linux PC, if you scroll up a bit, a solution that was given (and quoted) is ALVR as opposed to Steam Link.

Prior to that, ergo3d suggested that Flat Game support might be with an updated Steam Link Quest app, I had asked what version they had as I didn't see the option to update the app on my quest. I apologize for any confusion

ALVR is currently the only solution for getting Quest headsets to work on Linux, as Steam Link doesn't support Linux yet. The work that the ALVR developers do to make SteamVR compatible with Quest headsets is truly impressive. If Valve could make the Steam Link software work on Linux, they would have an advantage over Virtual Desktop in this area. Many users, like me, want to use Linux to play their SteamVR games, but we haven't seen support from Valve for Linux yet, at least concerning Steam Link. It makes me wonder if they're waiting for something.

we bring up ALVR because its filling the hole that Steam Link is leaving in the Linux Communities desire for a Steam Link like program

believe me I want nothing more for Valve to just make Steam Link for Meta Quest just work on Linux because it would make my life a lot easier but idk if they are waiting for something or what but ALVR is the best I've got right now

if I seem frustrated it is because I am to an extension but I am trying to be professional about this

Not to reiterate SolAZDev's point, but I'm pretty sure ergo3d is using the Steam Link app and not ALVR, with ergo3d stating that "flat games work fine," stating that traditional "flat" computer games can be streamed to Meta Quest with one of the newer Steam Link apps on the Quest.
If I had to guess, it's probably because the functionality is in the beta channel for SteamVR on Linux, I could be wrong though, as I can not test this right now.

mb coz your version of steam link is older then mine?

Hello. Might I ask what version of SteamVR you're using? I'm using beta as per ALVR's suggestions but I still get the compatability error.

hi. i use last one stable SteamVR.
it workd only for non-vr 'flat' games and as i get, not for all pll
actyally, i just started version 2.0.10.1120 of steamlink and for now there is no option for launch non-vr games as before
don't know why maybe coz i switched on flatpack steam
no idea what you mean about ALVR, its thread about steamlink

Not to reiterate SolAZDev's point, but I'm pretty sure ergo3d is using the Steam Link app and not ALVR, with ergo3d stating that "flat games work fine," stating that traditional "flat" computer games can be streamed to Meta Quest with one of the newer Steam Link apps on the Quest. If I had to guess, it's probably because the functionality is in the beta channel for SteamVR on Linux, I could be wrong though, as I can not test this right now.

it doesn't seem to be there when I looked if its in the steamvr beta than it must be a closed beta

some parts of steam link are tied to the steam client not steamvr itself, so try switching your steam client to beta

the main core problem is that meta does not provide any protocol specifications while they actively use open source hardware such as android and openxr, but they still refuse to publish any documents. I had hopes with the "opening of the meta ecosystem" that they would provide such documents, but they still have not, which is sad.

Obviously they won't open up any protocol specs, in their eyes they provide all they need to which is a client for windows.

still not supported as of august 2024

I find alvr to not work as well.

On Sat, Aug 31, 2024, 19:47 Furdox @.***> wrote:

I've lost all hope for support.

at least we have ALVR

it's what I currently use

—
Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-2322989273,

Which funny enough is caused by the same reasons that cause vrlink to well not exist on Linux

any updates?

None. there are other options than Steam Link for now if you need to use your headset with Linux

@OzzyHelix Those options don't work well, they're not really a substitution for native SteamVR Link support.

even so they are still there if someone is despite enough to use their headset with Linux. I refuse to use Windows for Steam Link I will switch over when they support Linux but I'm making do for now

believe me I want Steam Link to work on Linux it would save me a lot of hassle. but I can make do with ALVR for now. I'm basically suggesting people try it out while they wait for Steam Link Linux support

the reality of it is. Valve probably isn't going to get first party Vulkan rendering on Linux the thing they are waiting for isn't coming Linux is to fractured for that to work. if they used VAAPI to send the image to the headset on Linux then Steam Link would work already because that is what ALVR does

Valve could do it for SteamOS 3 and the Deckard but not for the wider Linux ecosystem.

I am just frustrated there is no support on Linux yet and I am just going to guess they aren't going to do it not before the deckard is released at least and when the deckard releases it might be the only standalone headset that can work on Linux over Steam Link

I could be completely wrong but its been about a year now and nothing so I doubt support is coming any time soon

That is a major disappointement. I should have checked earlier. Now i got a Quest 3 that i can not use with Steam. hope Valve is working on this..

I have had such problems with ALVR and SteamVR that I decided to use Monado instead for certain VR and XR task. I use it through 2 programs envision and WiVRM the thing is. I think if Valve opened up SteamVR more than ALVR would work better for Linux users or better yet people would come up with work around to get steam link for quest working

I second using Envision. WiVRn + wlx-overlay-s works very well together and I've been able to replace Windows + SteamVR with it. If you search for LVRA wiki you can find instructions for setting Envision up.

I want Valve to make SteamVR a more open platform so that people like ALVR can work with them for the Linux community but idk if they ever do that

That is a major disappointement. I should have checked earlier. Now i got a Quest 3 that i can not use with Steam. hope Valve is working on this..

How so? You can still use it via ALVR

Will Valve ever work on this?

That's the worst part, they never tell.
We might be waiting for something, and they never do anything.

Or we might be working our asses off to enhance and improve things like ALVR and they could tomorrow show something much more efficient and user-friendly that makes it completely obsolete.

We have zero feedback from their employees on this bug report. I wish I could support Valve on this but this level of indifference/lack of transparency is inexcusable.

@Furdox Probably never. Valve only care about things that long term make them money and this doesn't. Things like delivering quality software and customer satisfaction aren't a thing to Valve.

In any case, most companies would be sickened to support their competitors platform. Only here their hand was forced to support Steam Link for Quest on Windows, because Valve are getting market share destroyed by Meta. If customers start thinking why buy games on a platform that hasn't released an official headset for the later half of a decade, I might as well buy games on the Meta Store then that threatens Valve's long term core business model.

I think they will improve VR support for Linux further, but only because of their Valve Decard. If it'll be released.

So I'm hoping they'll also improve Steam Link, but I'm not sure they'll. Because why should they?

I think they will improve VR support for Linux further, but only because of their Valve Decard. If it'll be released.

So I'm hoping they'll also improve Steam Link, but I'm not sure they'll. Because why should they?

I've heard rumors that Vavle is working on porting Proton to Arm that could mean one of 3 things

• Steam for Arm
• Deckard is going to be ARM64 based
• a newer Steam Deck that is Arm based

I think we need to give it time. We can hope that it'll come when they release a new VR headset, but we don't even know if they ever release a new one. We only have leaks and rumors.

is there any news about Steam Link VR for Linux? because if Valve has no interest in it you might as well close the issue. trust me I would love to see progress with Steam Link and Linux but I suspect we aren't going to get progress and this issue should just be closed as not planned

Hello, friendly reminder that this issue report is very specifically about Steam Link on Quest HMDs being paired with SteamVR for Linux. All discussion about other near match solutions is off topic and discussing their merits would be better off on a general forum instead of this issue tracker.

Yes, of course. Just that there is no such thing yet. Any hope for that to happen? If there is none, mentioning other solutions would be a valid workaround for the time being, no?

is Valve working on it? because if it not then we should just close the issue as not planned. I don't doubt Steam Link could work but it has hurdles like first party vendor vulkan rendering. I think that is not gonna happen on Linux as it stands and if Steam Link happens on Linux at all its going to be limited to devices that Valve can make that guarantee. like a future Steam Deck or a future SteamOS update

Yes, of course. Just that there is no such thing yet. Any hope for that to happen? If there is none, mentioning other solutions would be a valid workaround for the time being, no?

Yes, one comment mentioning alternatives is good, but 30+ off-topic passive aggressive comments that only clutter everyone's notification inbox is a bit too much.

• Steam Link VR was originally intended to come to Linux too, but they looked at the complex drivers, bad NVENC drivers, VAAPI being a mess on AMD, Wayland VR being terrible and unreliable back then (it is good now), etc. And said "nah, let's wait until Vulkan Video Encoding is available; a new, single, universal video encoding API for all GPUs". This is the reason why the project was initially dropped.
• That video encoding API now exists for AMD VCN4 GPUs, and arrives for older AMD VCN2/3 GPUs in a Mesa driver update in early 2025 (1st quarter). NVIDIA will hopefully also support the API, but I don't know much about their status on that, although NVIDIA has a page about it which lists system requirements ("Linux, driver 550.40.07 or above, with a Pascal GPU or newer"), so chances are great that they will have it too.
• There is a single Valve employee working on Steam Link VR for Linux, as a personal passion project. It's using the new Vulkan Video Encoding API. The earliest date we might see something released is March 2025 (the Mesa 25 update must be released first). But it could be much later or never of course, all depending on whether it's deemed fit for public release, needs more polishing, etc.
• Also remember to keep your expectations low. The SteamVR runtime on Linux is abandonware. It's hacked-together and held together with very buggy, barely maintained scripts and utilities, and has not had any significant code improvements in 3+ years. It doesn't correctly support async reprojection so it has severe glitches when game framerates fall too low (because it doesn't pause the game renderer while async reprojection is happening, which leads to extreme frame timing errors when framerate drops below 50% of the headset). When using SteamVR on Linux, it's therefore important to manually lower the game's graphics settings so that the framerate never falls below 50%, to avoid seeing those severe rendering glitches.
• It has actually been a massive pain for the ALVR project to sit on top of the buggy SteamVR Linux runtime. In fact, such a huge pain that ALVR has now removed support for SteamVR in the upcoming ALVR v21 (although they will still maintain and backport bug fixes for ALVR v20 for a while, which is the final version that still supports SteamVR). ALVR devs are of the opinion that the correct way forward for VR on Linux is OpenComposite, which is an open-source reimplementation of the SteamVR API on top of OpenXR (Monado), which allows everyone to do what Valve isn't doing: Creating a good VR runtime for Linux. Its game compatibility for SteamVR games is about 40% at the moment, but since both Envision/WiVRn and ALVR will be using it, expect a lot more developer interest in improving it. OpenComposite is also nearly done with a rewrite in Rust which makes the app much more maintainable and easy to move forward. So the future looks bright for fully open-source VR on Linux.

That's the end of today's inside news broadcast.

@Arcitec good info, but do you have the source on the decision to drop SteamVR support on ALVR 21? Searched on the site and found nothing about that. Besides, it has been working well on my setup, I'm not very enthusiastic to go to the pain of testing my 500 VR games again on Monado to see if they're still running.

As for the allegation of SteamVR being abandonware, I would really like an authoritative response (from an official source) about it. To see how much personal time I should keep investing on it.

@Patola We shouldn't be talking much more about that here, but I can understand your concerns, so I will make an exception.

• ALVR abandoning SteamVR: Follow ALVR's Discord link, then go to the #dev channel, where only developers can speak. You will see hundreds of developer posts with disdain for SteamVR and its endless bugs (even painfully obvious and critically important things like the official SteamVR dashboard segfaulting, still unfixed), and being happy that they have finally removed SteamVR in ALVR v21. As I said, v20 will still be maintained for a while to make the transition smoother for those who prefer using the old SteamVR variant.
• SteamVR being abandonware: There has been no significant Linux bugfix, feature or improvement in over 3 years. Inside sources tell me that nobody wants to work on that old, buggy mess. It's basically the Windows code but hackily ported to Linux with a bunch of broken scripts, and a very basic Vulkan renderer (instead of DirectX). It has serious issues with code quality and crashes, including a completely broken async reprojection implementation (as mentioned) which leads to massive visual glitches when the framerate is too low. ALVR did their best to patch some of the bugs by wrapping the SteamVR binary with some fixes of their own, but their general sentiment now is that they will "never support SteamVR again unless Valve magically comes back from the dead and seriously improves SteamVR on Linux".
• About game compatibility in OpenComposite (the open-source SteamVR replacement): The main problem right now is that many games use SteamVR APIs that are not implemented yet. But about 40% of games already work flawlessly. Things will be improving a lot on this front next year, since a Rust rewrite is nearly complete, along with much, much more developer interest in working on OpenComposite. In the end, it's definitely going to replace SteamVR for Linux users. It sits atop Monado (OpenXR), which means that you get flawless support for all hardware features, such as async reprojection, eye tracking, hand tracking, body tracking, mixing all kinds of different tracker hardware (Lighthouses, Kinect cameras, Quest headsets, ...), etc. It's really great. It just needs more development to improve game compatibility - and that's coming. Everyone with programming experience or documentation writing experience is extremely welcome to join the team!

If you want more information, please use the ALVR Discord to keep this topic about Steam Link VR.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-2532607324

What all of us really are for here is updates to the development of SteamVR for Linux.
There are still no other option for us other than ALVR (or maybe WiWRN?).

If Valve's development has stalled, then maybe a cooperation with OpenComposite is the best way for Valve to go?
And maybe these posts will make someone at Valve make a decision of the right path of development?

At least there had been great with an update from Valve on this matter :-).

@Svampebob1 Yeah, a lot of developers would love if Valve worked together with Monado and OpenComposite to create a really open, stable VR runtime on Linux (just like how Proton is already open-source and based on Wine). Monado already has excellent code for Linux, with perfectly working async reprojection and other advanced features like that, and of course perfect Wayland support.

The biggest problem for Valve would be that the compositor is responsible for key mappings, so they would have to work with Monado to give it support for the APIs they need to be able to do "Steam Input" controller mapping for VR controllers when using Monado as the VR compositor.

They also need to work with Monado to port their Valve VR hardware drivers to it officially, so that stuff like Index controllers, lighthouses etc have official drivers that are up to Valve's desired level/features.

It's not impossible that Valve could do all of that. And I would be extremely happy if they did. It's not fun to have a practically-abandoned, broken, proprietary SteamVR runtime on Linux, which is just causing everyone (including Valve) headaches...

But at least the open-source world is working on solving that problem right now... :+1: OpenComposite takes the game's SteamVR API calls, and translates them to OpenXR (Monado) API calls instead. So regardless of whether Valve will improve SteamVR for Linux or not, we'll soon have a fully compliant drop-in replacement for it. It already runs about 40% of games perfectly. Half a year ago, it could barely run anything. And in 2025, we will see a huge boost in compatibility as development is really picking up pace now. :)

If Valve wants to join the fun and help improve VR on Linux, it would be a dream come true for everyone working on these open-source projects.

Well shit, not the update I was hopping for, but being a quest 2 owner and PICO4 owner maybe the end result will be better. So far my relationship with ALVR and Wivrn have been rough though. I hate booting windows but as a guy who just wants to play some game rather then keyboard battling, that is looking like a long dark tunnel.

It appears the vrlink driver now has linux binary changes in the steamvr beta. They aren't currently wired up or usable but should be in the near future.

It appears the vrlink driver now has linux binary changes in the steamvr beta. They aren't currently wired up or usable but should be in the near future.

Do you mean on the Steam Link app for the occulus?

This is just bullshit valve goes full in with linux on handheld but they completely ignore steamVR on linux I wanna use my quest3 on my linux system like in w*ndows. Still, I can't, because SteamVR on Linux is someone's free-time side project; this is unacceptable, Valve. Unacceptable. And for the folks, who will recommend ALVR: NO, it's also not acceptable, it's working, but it adds overhead and has stability issues, and IT'S A 3RD PARTY APP.

@kgncengiz have you heard of Valve Time? Just wait until it's released.

Can we please stop feeding the trolls? My mouse pointer is only just millimeters away from hitting the unsubscribe button because this issue has become a spammy mess of people strongly expressing their discomfort about this not working, and if I'd be the developer, I would have long unsubscribed this issue or limited it to repository members only. Please go to reddit if you want to complain about your discomfort. Thanks.

I keep getting emails from this thread from salty folks. You don't have to use ALVR.

I would really recommend folks here look into LVRA, specifically with the envision (optional), WiVRn, xrizer, and WlxOverlay-S combination. I get far better performance in VR than I do on Windows with this software, and have had an easier time using things such as face tracking than on Windows.

Here's a starting point: https://lvra.gitlab.io/

I too would like to see Steam Link move forward, but I get around 2x performance in VRChat with these open source alternatives and additional functionality I now consider very important to my experience.

There are folks out there working very hard at getting this working. Having followed the development the whole way, I finally consider this combination both more performant, more feature rich, and more stable than SteamVR both on Windows and Linux. The community surrounding this is both very passionate and very actively helpful.

For the record:

• At this time, Steam Link for Linux still does not work.

• I've tested dozens of games with the unreal engine with the wonderful universal mod UEVR, that makes them run in VR, and they only work via WiVRn, they don't work via SteamVR/ALVR. Playlist with 11 games here, feel free to try to duplicate in SteamVR, the instructions are in each video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7asu_ooXtz8&list=PLoRF2wMS15vV65fXuudiHHpYZlNMZpkQB -- it's quite difficult to test in SteamVR because the desktop-mirroring more often than not stops working, and it also seems SteamVR is not prepared for the flatscreen game enable VR mid-game.

i can connect to vr but there is error 450
gnome wayland amd gpu steam vr beta
does anyone successful have it work with kde maybe?

ps just updated no 13.2 it WORKING!!!

ps just updated no 13.2 it WORKING!!!

Steam Link is working on Linux? Are you sure?

I confirm, SteamVR 2.13.2 beta is connecting with SteamVR Link and able to run VR games.

Can confirm that 2.13.2 beta works and I can run VR games on Meta Quest 3 on Linux. At first it couldn't connect, SteamVR was in a loop of starting and exiting until it gave up eventually. Had to delete this file to make it work: ~/.config/openvr/openvrpaths.vrpath

Can confirm that I am now able to connect via steam link on Fedora 42, but as expected with betas, still very buggy.

1. Opening Space Engine somewhat worked, the Quest 3 controller pointers were vertically inverted, and while in-game only the UI rendered, but at least it ran.
2. Opening No Mans Sky though seemed to completely freeze and crash steam.
3. I also can't seem to use the menu button on my left quest controller to open and use the steamvr ui.

Looks promising so far though!

Yeah, seemed that I commemorated a little too soon, it's running very few games. So far I could only run:

• Hubris
• Half-Life: Alyx

Tested, not running:

• No Man's Sky - crashes at start
• Adventure Climb VR - starts in the screen
• Ancient Dungeon VR - starts in the screen
• Synth Riders - starts in the screen
• Grapple Tournament -- plots some stuff in the headset and other stuff in the screen, if you bring the steam overlay it plots the stuff in VR under the overlay but gets back to the prior way after you leave the overlay
• Of Lies and Rain - shows a dialog at the start saying it can't find the HMD
• POOLS - doesn't start in VR (but that's ok I guess, it also doesn't start with ALVR and WiVRn)

Still saying Streaming VR is not availible from that computer for me didnt fix anything full amd pc 🤷

Still saying Streaming VR is not availible from that computer for me didnt fix anything full amd pc 🤷

Have you changed to the beta branch?
Have you used ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command% in SteamVR launch options?
Have you tried launching SteamVR before connecting from Steam Link to see if it changes anything?

Do you already use other software like ALVR or WiVRn for the streaming?

beta branch? Yes
SteamVR launch options? Tried it with that now didnt do anything
launching SteamVR before connecting changes anything? Cant even connect to steamlink the device newly shows up
Do you use other software? Yeah wivrn but without steamvr so it shouldnt have messed with anything as faar as i know.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3276232819

blade and sorcery - work
into the radius - work
arken age - work
boneworks - work
beat saber - work
the walking dead not just work but controllers have correct angle!!!

all i can say for now is negative it's very poor video streaming, guess it's not a problem and will be improved

Just tried the beta as well. While I was pleasantly surprised that the headset connected and that the SteamVR dashboard worked, it crashed the moment I got into the HL: Alyx main menu screen.

Hi, there is a weird bug that's been popping up in some games: the game starts or at random times becomes all black. It seems that calling the steamvr overlay a few times kind of fixes it. You can see that bug flare up when starting Into the Radius and during this (bad) gameplay I recorded:

https://youtu.be/m1ijxQxo94k

This is an youtube channel where I mostly make VR tests for db.vronlinux.org and sometimes comparisons between WiVRn and ALVR and from now on, of course, Steam Link. I also use it for bug reports on these. There are new videos every week, according to my capacity. I have about 700 Steam VR games and I intend to eventually have all of them tested there.

Can confirm working in Bazzite. Simple added ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command% to SteamVR launch params. Am running the Steam Client and SteamVR betas.

Testing in VTOL VR and had zero issues, everything working out of the box.

Error 301

Valve needs to open up all the settings somewhere for people to tweak and play with this to try and solve issues like input latency etc.. ALVR lets you do all this because DEFAULT settings are never perfect for every game.

Getting this error when starting SteamVR beta:

When I click YES I get:

I am running Steam via Flatpak.

[2025-09-11 16:39:08+1000] srt-logger[1369]: Log opened
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrstartup.sh[1364]: Relaunch under vrenv.
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrstartup.sh[1364]: exec /home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrenv.sh /home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrstartup.sh
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrenv.sh[1364]: VRCOMPOSITOR_LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR:/home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/linux64/qt/lib:/home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/linux64:/usr/lib/pressure-vessel/overrides/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/aliases:/usr/lib/pressure-vessel/overrides/lib/i386-linux-gnu/aliases
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrenv.sh[1364]: exec /home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrstartup.sh
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrstartup.sh[1364]: Steam Linux Runtime: sniper_platform_3.0.20250723.149183
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrstartup.sh[1364]: call /home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrsetup.sh
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrsetup.sh[1388]: Detected Steam Linux Runtime pressure-vessel launch in sniper_platform_3.0.20250723.149183
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrsetup.sh[1388]: Relaunching via steam launcher service to host level for vrcompositor setcap configuration.
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrsetup.sh[1396]: exec /home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrenv.sh /home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrsetup.sh
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrenv.sh[1396]: VRCOMPOSITOR_LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR:/home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/linux64/qt/lib:/home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/linux64:
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrenv.sh[1396]: exec /home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrsetup.sh
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrsetup.sh[1396]: Relaunching under scout LDLP runtime.
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrsetup.sh[1396]: exec /home/justin/.steam/bin/steam-runtime/run.sh /home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrsetup.sh
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] vrsetup.sh[1396]: Detected scout LDLP runtime.
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] Using host zenity for question
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] Gtk-Message: 16:39:08.072: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
[2025-09-11 16:39:08] Gtk-Message: 16:39:08.072: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
[2025-09-11 16:39:09] /home/justin/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrsetup.sh: line 62: pkexec: command not found
[2025-09-11 16:39:09] vrsetup.sh[1396]: Error: setcap of vrcompositor-launcher failed.
[2025-09-11 16:39:09] Error: SteamVR setup is incomplete, some features might be missing. See Steam client logs folder for details.
[2025-09-11 16:39:09] Using host zenity for message

Steam Flatpak is not an officially supported configuration. SteamVR needs a few things that are unsupportable in flatpak.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3278460640

Due to sandboxing you need to set capabilities for the binary:

sudo setcap CAP_SYS_NICE+eip ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/data/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/linux64/vrcompositor-launcher

Reference:
https://github.com/alvr-org/ALVR/wiki/Installing-ALVR-and-using-SteamVR-on-Linux-through-Flatpak#setup

I'm getting an error I've not seen here yet... Headset finds it just fine... SteamVR asked for superuser access and got it, but then hits me with

Hit not-yet-ported-to-Linux stubbed function at [...path..]OpenOVR-1.0.1521/OCOVR/openvr_api.cpp:246 func VR_InitInternal2

Edit: Looks like this was from cruft from prior unsuccessful attempts to get ALVR to work? I cleared out the openvr config, and the SteamVR launch config, and steamVR can now start. Hitting a different (450, computer stopped responding, restart steamVR) error now.

Steam can Pair my device but doesn't show in the SteamVR utility window when you launch it even if i'm wired,
Then launching Steam Link result in a 450 Error, when attempting to connect to computer (could be network routing ran out of time for my testing).
Steam Link seems to disregard that i have a USB plugged in. Unless i forgot a procedure.

Launch option: ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command%

For all people testing here, don't forget that you'll need the vulkan video fixes on Mesa 25.2.1, so I'd say that for robust testing on AMD you'll need at least this version (Archlinux is currently at 25.2.2), not sure how it's done in the NVIDIA side.

I just tried it (v2.13.3) and it worked pretty much out of the box for me, the only issues I noticed was:

• There is no spacewarp, so if the game freezes for a moment, the screen just goes black instead of persisting and moving the last frame
  • Had this a lot especially in HL Alyx, but also in Boneworks when it was processing a shader
• Overlays (notifications & performance monitor) seem to completely black out the screen until they are removed/disappear

System specifications

Operating System: Arch Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.4.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.17.0
Qt Version: 6.9.2
Kernel Version: 6.16.5-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 8-Core Processor
Memory: 64 GiB of RAM (62,7 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Product Name: X570 UD.
Mesa version: 1:25.2.2-1
GPU driver: amdgpu

SteamVR launch options

WAYLAND_DISPLAY='' ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command%

For all people testing here, don't forget that you'll need the vulkan video fixes on Mesa 25.2.1, so I'd say that for robust testing on AMD you'll need at least this version (Archlinux is currently at 25.2.2), not sure how it's done in the NVIDIA side.

nVidia driver 575.65.5 minimum is required, I updated to 580.82.07. I also suggest getting Mesa 25.2.1 as there is explicit sync stuff included, which e.g. fixed the store page flickering in the Steam client for me on Wayland (e.g. on Ubuntu via the kisak mesa fresh ppa). edit: the fix of the store page flickering is related to XWayland, which is in kisak's ppa.

Not sure if this is a requirement for nVidia when using Steam Link VR. Yet I'm on Ubuntu 24.04 with Gnome 46, which doesn't support DRM lease on Wayland, so I'm using X11 for VR.

Overlays (notifications & performance monitor) seem to completely black out the screen until they are removed/disappear

I experienced the same issue using wlx-overlay, until I disabled it in the auto starting apps section in Steam VR. The game did show up in the background when opening the Steam VR dashboard, but vanished again when closing the dashboard.

Afterwards most games work, yet quitting games causes mostly issues and I need to restart Steam VR, kill remaining processes (e.g. vrcompositor) or even reboot. Games I tested and worked:

• Beat Saber
• Arizona Sunshine Remastered
• Synth Riders (locked up first time loading a song, worked on the 2nd attempt)
• Pistol Whip
• After The Fall (though I haven't played a run, just moved around in the lobby)

Alien: Rogue Incursion VR did start, complained about something Meta Quest related not being set as the OpenXR runtime, loaded into the menu but locked up when loading a save.

It's really great to see Steam Link VR starting to work on Linux! Thank you!

Note that if the foveated encoding bothers you like it did with me even with the slider maxed out, you can edit the file ~/.local/share/Steam/config/steamvr.vrsettings in your editor of choice. Simply set streamFormatWidth to 1536 to greatly reduce it's ratio.

I have a Quest 2, and setting that value to a higher value always resets to 1536. That value is higher than the slider normally allows in Steam Link settings in SteamVR. Gives a good quality bump, greatly increasing image quality on the outer edges.

It´s not working and this error shows up.

Your GPU supports video encoding, but your graphics drivers have this feature disabled.

Nobara Linux 42
Steam (not flatpak)
AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT
Wayland
Mesa Gallium driver 25.2.2
SteamVR 2.13.3
Launch option: ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command%
firewall disabled

Can someone please help me?

Then launching Steam Link result in a 450 Error, when attempting to connect to computer

This is probably because of the firewall. I just had the issue, fixed in a minute by opening all these port.

Remote Play uses the following ports:
UDP ports 27031 and 27036
TCP ports 27036 and 27037
For VR Streaming, UDP ports 10400 and 10401

I'm able to get steam home working but if i try to launch no man's sky steamvr crashes.
Archlinux
steamvr 2.13.3
lib32-mesa 1:25.2.2-2
mesa 1:25.2.2-2
RX 7900 XTX
native steam from (not flatpak)
wayland.
Launch options: ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command%

Your GPU supports video encoding, but your graphics drivers have this feature disabled.

Install proper media codecs 🤷‍♂️
(got the same issue after it started working for me eventhough i have everything installed)

It´s not working and this error shows up.

Your GPU supports video encoding, but your graphics drivers have this feature disabled.

Nobara Linux 42 Steam (not flatpak) AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT Wayland Mesa Gallium driver 25.2.2 SteamVR 2.13.3 Launch option: ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command% firewall disabled

Can someone please help me?

Nobara has a very odd way of naming packages, I googled and found this: https://nobaraproject.org/2025/01/01/january-01-2025/

So it seems there are two alternatives, either mesa-libgallium and mesa-libgallium-freeworld. It seems that you must have mesa-libgallium installed for the x265 codec to work, if I understood it correctly. And of course, the mesa-vulkan-drivers.

I'm able to get steam home working but if i try to launch no man's sky steamvr crashes. Archlinux steamvr 2.13.3 lib32-mesa 1:25.2.2-2 mesa 1:25.2.2-2 RX 7900 XTX native steam from (not flatpak) wayland. Launch options: ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command%

Same with me, No Man's Sky is not working at the moment as I said in my comment. Try other games.

if someone interested at least on arch linux with rdna 4 streaming works much better with mesa-git

Are there any additional steps involved to make it work on Arch Gnome?

Are there any additional steps involved to make it work on Arch Gnome?

Switch to beta SteamVR and Steam Link. They silently added support.

I'm on CachyOS (Arch) KDE. I've opened the required ports and set SteamVR to Beta on my Desktop. My Quest 2 can see it and attempt to connect but when it does, it says SteamVR has stopped responding on the host desktop and I can't seme to figure out how to get past this part. I'd appreciate any advise.|

Edit: I am getting error 450. I saw someone above fixed it by switching SteamVR to beta, but I'm already on the beta.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3289664086

If you're using a local firewall a more sensible approach would be to just turn it off to see if steam link starts working, then maybe sniff the network to see if some ports are being used, and try to selectively open them in the next attempts.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3289683301

I turned off ufw and thats how I even got steamlink to find my host PC but when I attempt to connect I get error 450.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3289685772

Have you tried to first start SteamVR on your PC, before even calling the steam link application in the headset? It should show that:

And you can use lsof in the process to see what ports it's listening to. Also, it's useful to have had ALVR or WiVRn working before, as I had already said earlier here; it shows you that your connection is good, ruling out one part of the equation.

No nothing, there is no firewall in place right now. The Quest 2 headset can detect my desktop and even see it's name and connect. Once I do, it says host stopped responding with error 450. Having the SteamVR Beta app open in advance does not make a difference. Having it closed, just has the headset launch it and that doesn't make a difference either.,

No nothing, there is no firewall in place right now. The Quest 2 headset can detect my desktop and even see it's name and connect. Once I do, it says host stopped responding with error 450. Having the SteamVR Beta app open in advance does not make a difference. Having it closed, just has the headset launch it and that doesn't make a difference either.,

That's not the only thing I advised, though. My advice to try and test with other solutions -- ALVR and WiVRn -- still hold. It's still useful to pinpoint the issue. If they also fail, it might be something in the network, even routing can cause that. And with them you'd have more tools to troubleshoot and fix it, and afterwards you can get back to using Steam Link.

As someone in the same boat: my firewall was blocking packets causing the same 450 "Host stopped responding" issue. Disabling the firewall fixed nothing.

ALVR doesn't work either. Host is dual-homed, but routing works for most protocols I use. SteamVR appears to be listening to the correct/expected ports.

$ sudo lsof -wp `pidof vrserver` | grep IPv | wc -l
16

(includes UDP *:10400)

ALVR has never worked, and a support process of "try discord" isn't one I'll ever have success with.

As someone in the same boat: my firewall was blocking packets causing the same 450 "Host stopped responding" issue. Disabling the firewall fixed nothing.

Just an additional hint: some routers/switches/modems separate wireless and wired LANs for the sake of security, e.g. cellphones aren't able to access wired desktop PCs and vice-versa. The name for that varies wildly by router, but as the most common VR setup is a PC being connected via ethernet and the headset via wireless, that might be the case.

The easiest way to find if this is the issue is comparing with Windows, if you have dual boot. If it works with Windows it should also work with Linux.

Started allowing me to connect

Im on Fedora rawhide i should have everything installed though

Started allowing me to connect Im on Fedora rawhide i should have everything installed though

The error message there describes the situation with your setup.

Fedora does not enable video encoding in its drivers. You will have to source drivers with that enabled for your distro.

It´s not working and this error shows up.
Your GPU supports video encoding, but your graphics drivers have this feature disabled.
Nobara Linux 42 Steam (not flatpak) AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT Wayland Mesa Gallium driver 25.2.2 SteamVR 2.13.3 Launch option: ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command% firewall disabled
Can someone please help me?

Nobara has a very odd way of naming packages, I googled and found this: https://nobaraproject.org/2025/01/01/january-01-2025/

So it seems there are two alternatives, either mesa-libgallium and mesa-libgallium-freeworld. It seems that you must have mesa-libgallium installed for the x265 codec to work, if I understood it correctly. And of course, the mesa-vulkan-drivers.

No, Gallium/OpenGL/VAAPI does not matter.. Steam Link VR only uses Vulkan Video. You need a graphics driver with VK_KHR_video_encode_h265 for it to work.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3289817642

I've had ALVR work before, hence why I'm confused as to why steamvr doesn't work. Have you resolved 450 for yourself or not yet?

ALVR has never worked,

Your router is likely blocking other ports I suspect. Consider investing in a dedicated VR branded router like PrismPulse or similar.

ALVR has never worked,

Your router is likely blocking other ports I suspect. Consider investing in a dedicated VR branded router like PrismPulse or similar.

It's ... uh, not that. Same subnet, no, network isolation is not on. Steam 2-D works, Other UDP protocols work, SSH works fine, TCP pings work fine.

To the other question, no, I can't dual boot Windows, I don't have a windows install.

Random debugging:

$ strace -fe network -p `pidof vrserver`

The vrserver is definitely getting data from the headset (recvfrom() calls with data in them, from the file descriptor used for the UDP port). And it thinks it's sending data to the headset (sendto() ... same address). I don't have anyway of proving the headset is getting the data though.

$ grep '[.]217' vrserver-strace.txt  | grep -v recvfrom
[pid 605008] 21:48:04 sendto(178, "\314\0\0\0\341\376\2653\10\6\0\0\33\0\0\0\32\254\206O[SVLS] Reset"..., 43, MSG_NOSIGNAL, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(41494), sin_addr=inet_addr("192.168.1.217")}, 16 [...]

I'm gonna guess that wasn't successful though? :)

Edit: this, below, is likely the current issue. Fedora 42, mesa-vulkan-drivers-25.1.7-1

I did some testing and got Steam Link VR working on Linux Mint 22.2.

First I got the Kisak PPA, but then ran into the Video Encoder error (Error Code 499).

I added this to the 'launch option' for SteamVR:
RADV_PERFTEST=video_encode,video_decode %command%
And it worked!

Few issues I ran into:

• Notifications while in game can black the screen out, only showing the notification. Returns to normal when the notification is gone. (Obviously disabling notifications prevents it) (Also this doesn't occur on ALVR. I can see notifications fine without it blacking out the game.)
• Don't know if it's an encoder issue, but every few seconds, the stream will briefly blur/pixelate. This behaviour never usually happens on Windows 10. (Dunno if there's a setting I'm missing that could optimize it or not. I'll do more testing.)
• EDIT SEPT 16: Found out the weird graphical bugs happens on both platforms when the SteamVR's 'Overlay Render Quality' being set to either Medium or Low. Setting it to High avoids the graphical bugs. On another system, with a 5600g APU, SteamVR visuals were very glitchy. (Such as flickering transparency overlays, visuals overlapping, and controller models having glitched textures.) Doesn't happen when using ALVR.

Specs
CPU: Ryzen 7 5700x3D
GPU: Radeon RX 6800
RAM: 32GB DDR4-3200
Mobo: MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI (BIOS 7C95v2M)
OS: Linux Mint 22.2
Kernel: 6.14.0-29-generic
DE: Cinnamon 6.4.8 (xorg)
GPU Driver: AMDGPU w/ Mesa 25.2.2 kisak-mesa PPA

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3290451589

In my case, ALVR does work and connects. SteamVR errors out with error 450 Host Desktop is not responding after it successfully locates the PC on the network and successfully does the pin pair process with steam. I'm on CachyOS instead of Fedora, so I don't have the mesa issue that you do. No isolation going on, all same subnet, etc.

Switching to beta fixed the 499 error for me. I was able to navigate menus but its still really unstable. Its beta software tho so lets see where this goes!

Begann, ich kann mich verbinden Im auf Fedora rawhide i sollte alles installiert haben

Die Fehlermeldung dort beschreibt die Situation mit Ihrem Setup.

Fedora ermöglicht keine Videocodierung bei seinen Fahrern. Sie müssen Fahrer mit dem aktivierten für Ihre Detro beschaffen.

I installed codecs and tested a different graphics driver. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I took this as an opportunity to test cachyos. After adjusting the firewall, it worked virtually out of the box.
Thank you very much for the tips.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3293193598

I'm on CachyOS and I get error 450 after pairing and connecting. Are you just using the recommended native steam os client or the normal one?

@Mondrethos

I solved this issue on EndeavourOS, this error is a networking issue, i solved this by simply opening ports on Firewalld and my Router.

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/3E3D-BE6B-787D-A5D2

Here are the port list.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-2951219746

@winghugs Thank you for making the most important and helpful comment in this entire thread. I'm even linking to it again because it's so good. People should read it.

I can confirm that this open source replacement on Linux is around 2x faster than SteamVR on Windows and Linux.

But it's also great to see that Valve is developing their own SteamVR for Linux version. It's good to have something that people can use if they don't want to spend the extra time to set up the open source alternatives.

PS: I'm unsubscribing from this thread since I'm getting hundreds of emails about troubleshooting, so I'll only see @ mentions. 🖖

@Mondrethos

I solved this issue on EndeavourOS, this error is a networking issue, i solved this by simply opening ports on Firewalld and my Router.

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/3E3D-BE6B-787D-A5D2

Here are the port list.

I've done that, still get the error, unfortunately. I've added the ports to my router, to my firewall (even disabled the firewall). ALVR works. I haven't tried WiVR but ALVR does. Steam Link just throws 450 error. Steam on my desktop does open steamvr automatically and all, but then it just says it's waiting for a wireless headset to connect.

I did some testing and got Steam Link VR working on Linux Mint 22.2.

First I got the Kisak PPA, but then ran into the Video Encoder error (Error Code 499).

I added this to the 'launch option' for SteamVR: RADV_PERFTEST=video_encode,video_decode %command% And it worked!

Thank you very much @1TheBlueWii1 ! Now I also can connect to SteamVR on Mint, but i'm having a problem with VRChat. The game opens and I can see it open on the desktop, but on the Quest, I only see the loading screen, and immediately after the world appears, the screen goes black. Strangely, when I open the SteamVR overlay, VRChat reappears in the background, with the scenery moving normally, but everything goes back to black when I exit the overlay. Has anyone else encountered this issue?

Thank you very much @1TheBlueWii1 ! Now I also can connect to SteamVR on Mint, but i'm having a problem with VRChat. The game opens and I can see it open on the desktop, but on the Quest, I only see the loading screen, and immediately after the world appears, the screen goes black. Strangely, when I open the SteamVR overlay, VRChat reappears in the background, with the scenery moving normally, but everything goes back to black when I exit the overlay. Has anyone else encountered this issue?

The black screens are likely coming from notifications, or possibly a SteamVR extension that overlays over the game. (Things like fpsVR, or attaching windows in playspace/controllers, which are possible on Windows 10/11) Disabling Notification popups helped me avoid the black screens. It's the only way for now until there's a fix for it. (Not to mention after closing VRChat, SteamVR crashes in Steam Link)

For the record, I don't get this issue on ALVR, nor the Windows version of Steam Link. So something about the encoding or rendering on Steam Link and/or SteamVR is having problems.

For reference and some more experiences, with my 2 VR setups

1. Notebook: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, X11, nVidia 2080 mobile 580.82.07, Mesa 25.2.1
2. ROG Ally + XG Mobile eGPU (2022): CachyOS, Wayland, 6850m XT, Mesa 25.2.2

On the first test the Quest Steam Link VR app didn't respond to inputs, the next day "it just worked" 🤷
Pairing worked out of the box then.
Playspace is always a little square, like when calibrating Steam VR for seated or standing, no full room scale, which sometimes is an issue. Orientation is depending on the direction the HMD faces on connecting via Steam Link VR.

As I had used Monado with wlx-overlay before, the overlay had to be disabled in the auto start apps of Steam VR, as it caused a black void for all games. Though I mostly could see a splash screen, loading screen or logo when starting the game, as soon as it should render the black void was visible. Toggling the Steam VR dashboard did show the game, but it vanished each time the dashboard was closed again. Disabling wlx-overlay fixed it. Yet e.g. in Alien: Rogue Incursion (which mostly works, but can lock up on loading a level) it happened after actually starting a level, menu screen was fine. Toggling the dashboard didn't fix it, and on nVidia it causes even a lockup after some toggles.

Steam Link settings have been changed from auto to manual bandwith (max: 350) and resolution to 1152 (instead of 1024).
This got rid of some weird red outline around corners/edges for me.

On the ROG Ally I used all-ways-egpu to disable the iGPU (enabling the eGPU via Windows), otherwise performance seems a bit worse while the iGPU is also active.

Steam Link VR works also in gaming mode on the ROG Ally, which is pretty nice to see.

More games that worked for me:

• Space Pirate Trainer (but the standing playspace is an issue when evading)
• Hubris (needs Desktop interaction for selecting either OpenXR or OpenVR, had some blackouts, and complained about a missing HMD)

Hey Corben, nice to see you here. Just a little doubt:

As I had used Monado with wlx-overlay before, the overlay had to be disabled in the auto start apps of Steam VR, as it caused a black void for all games. Though I mostly could see a splash screen, loading screen or logo when starting the game, as soon as it should render the black void was visible. Toggling the Steam VR dashboard did show the game, but it vanished each time the dashboard was closed again. Disabling wlx-overlay fixed it.

I don't understand very well your setup, how was wlx-overlay-s associated with SteamVR? You used it in monado, which is another openxr backend, and that could not be used with SteamVR, right?

I also use wlx-overlay-s but strictly within the wivrn configuration within envision, no association with SteamVR and I never noticed it running while I call SteamVR (neither via Steam Link nor ALVR).

I also experience the "black screen on overlays" bug, so if there is any chance of wlx-overlay-s be the one interfering in my experience, or in the experience of others here, I'd like to know more about it. It might be an important factor to rule out. Can you provide details?

I don't understand very well your setup, how was wlx-overlay-s associated with SteamVR? You used it in monado, which is another openxr backend, and that could not be used with SteamVR, right?

You can run wlx-overlay in Steam VR as well, once started (and that can even be from the plugin folder from Monado), it registers itself als overlay in Steam VR. It does not show up as long as the Steam VR dashbord is open. In Steam VR (without wireless link) it works like it does via Monado (or WiVRn), it needs your screen to be allowed for sharing (it'll ask each time you switched between Steam VR or Monado). In Steam Link VR I'm not able to see the desktop though, only the keyboard and the wlx-overlay config on my left hand when turning my wrist.

If you never started it in Steam VR it's probably not registered and is not autostarted.

I also experience the "black screen on overlays" bug, so if there is any chance of wlx-overlay-s be the one interfering in my experience, or in the experience of others here, I'd like to know more about it. It might be an important factor to rule out. Can you provide details?

Just check when in VR via the Steam VR dashboard on the left side under VR settings -> Autostart if wlx-overlay is present and disable it if so. I have OVR Advanced Settings there as well which does not cause any issues I'm aware of.

wlx-overlay does for sure interfere on Steam Link VR (or the other way round), yet it doesn't mean there are not also other issues as well even if it's not active. As said, in Alien: Rogue Incursion I have the black void issue too (so far the only game I experienced it) though wlx-overlay is not active. But all games (I tested) had the black void while it was active.

450

Replying to [#655 (comment)](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3293193598)

I'm on CachyOS and I get error 450 after pairing and connecting. Are you just using the recommended native steam os client or the normal one?

I use native steam. Temporarily disable the firewall (sudo ufw disabled) and see if it works.
"Add ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command% to the commandline options of SteamVR (SteamVR -> Manage/Right Click -> Properties -> General -> Launch Options)."

Can confirm this works on the latest version of Bazite Linux on my Nvidia setup. Only thing is though, VRChat seems to just freeze the moemnt I spawn into the world :( . Very close though! Any guidence on this would be welcome for sure.

As a note, I tested it on a Windows laptop I have access to, and it also does error 450, but I will reiterate that ALVR works and connects. The issue only seems to be with SteamVR; all the ports are open, firewalls are off, etc. I wish there was a log or something I could read to see what the problem was.

As I had used Monado with wlx-overlay before, the overlay had to be disabled in the auto start apps of Steam VR, as it caused a black void for all games. Though I mostly could see a splash screen, loading screen or logo when starting the game, as soon as it should render the black void was visible. Toggling the Steam VR dashboard did show the game, but it vanished each time the dashboard was closed again. Disabling wlx-overlay fixed it.

Confirmed, I disabled wlx-overlay and now VRChat starts and works without any problems. I only noticed that the Quest's microphone was capturing the sound with a delay (this was resolved later after I tried to open wlx-overlay manually, the black screen returned but the sound was fixed, then I closed the wlx-overlay again and both got fixed. Well, okay I guess).

Despite some glitches when displaying SteamVR, the image inside VRChat was very clear, more than I could get in WiVRn or ALVR (maybe I didn't know how to configure them properly). Looking forward to the next updates.

I can also confirm I’m hitting this microphone delay issue.

Can confirm this works on the latest version of Bazite Linux on my Nvidia setup. Only thing is though, VRChat seems to just freeze the moemnt I spawn into the world :( . Very close though! Any guidence on this would be welcome for sure.

thank god someone having same issue. I've been trynna figure it out for past few days, no luck. You can join basic worlds like optimzed box, among us or vrchat home 10 year anv, but most worlds don't work and make vrchat just freeze. It works on my rog ally with bazzite, but not my pc with arch + hyprland. Maybe NVIDIA issue?

Can confirm this works on the latest version of Bazite Linux on my Nvidia setup. Only thing is though, VRChat seems to just freeze the moemnt I spawn into the world :( . Very close though! Any guidence on this would be welcome for sure.

thank god someone having same issue. I've been trynna figure it out for past few days, no luck. You can join basic worlds like optimzed box, among us or vrchat home 10 year anv, but most worlds don't work and make vrchat just freeze. It works on my rog ally with bazzite, but not my pc with arch + hyprland. Maybe NVIDIA issue?

Whatever it is is VR specific because these worlds also work fine in desktop non vr mode? Sad :(

Friend of mine who runs Bazzite (KDE variant) + NVIDIA-Open (RTX 3070) + Quest 2, managed to connect and make it work, downside are the crash also seems to have a crash around bringing up the in VR SteamVR overlay in a game. (At this point might be another issue but just in case some here experienced this and might know the cause).

Sep 16 21:10:19 bazzite vrcompositor-linux[666687]: vrcompositor-launcher.sh[666678]: exec /var/home/thefriend/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/linux64/vrcompositor-launcher
Sep 16 21:10:19 bazzite vrcompositor-linux[666687]: ERROR: ld.so: object '/usr/lib/extest/libextest.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded (wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS32): ignored.
Sep 16 21:10:19 bazzite vrcompositor-linux[666687]: Using vrcompositor capability proxy
Sep 16 21:10:19 bazzite vrcompositor-linux[666687]: Failed to raise ambient cap
Sep 16 21:10:19 bazzite vrcompositor-linux[666687]: Launching /var/home/thefriend/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/linux64/vrcompositor
Sep 16 21:10:19 bazzite vrcompositor-linux[666687]: ERROR: ld.so: object '/usr/lib/extest/libextest.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded (wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS32): ignored.
Sep 16 21:10:19 bazzite vrcompositor-linux[666687]: Using breakpad crash handler
Sep 16 21:10:19 bazzite vrcompositor-linux[666687]: Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 250820
Sep 16 21:10:19 bazzite vrcompositor-linux[666687]: Forcing breakpad minidump interfaces to load
Sep 16 21:10:19 bazzite vrcompositor-linux[666687]: Looking up breakpad interfaces from steamclient
Sep 16 21:10:19 bazzite vrcompositor-linux[666687]: Calling BreakpadMiniDumpSystemInit

Coudn't reproduce this on Arch + AMDGPU (RX 9070 XT)

Arch Linux, wayland, KDE, latest mesa, RX 7900 GRE, quest 3, no overlays or any software
wlx-overlay-s was making screen black in games, had to turn it off

Half-Life Alyx(proton experimental) - no sound, strange white flashes, overbright image
Ancient Dungeon(tried both generic openxr and steam openxr launch options) - distorted image for right eye
Bonelab - everything seemed fine except blackouts during achievements popups

default sound device doesn't switch to steamlink automatically
desktop view doesn't work (i have 2 monitors set up), adding -pipewire to steam launch args makes steamvr start with pre 2.0 ui

I purged CachyOS on this machine and went vanilla arch and set it up my self. SteamVR Beta is now working correctly.

anyone got a fix for this on fedora based distros?

anyone got a fix for this on fedora based distros?

Wait for fedora to update Mesa. Would likely be fedora 43! sometime.
Upgrade mesa yourself (not recommended)
Try and install that one package from the fedora 44(?!) rawhide (also not recommended)
....
Maybe a flatpak based version of steam could include the right version? Not looked into that yet.

Basically, no sane answers for at least 6 months

OpenGL vendor string: AMD
OpenGL renderer string: AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (radeonsi, navi22, LLVM 21.1.1, DRM 3.64, 6.17.0-0.rc6.250916g46a51f4f5edad.50.fc44.x86_64)
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.6 (Core Profile) Mesa 25.3.0-devel
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.60
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile profile mask: core profile
OpenGL core profile extensions:
OpenGL version string: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 25.3.0-devel
OpenGL shading language version string: 4.60
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL profile mask: compatibility profile
OpenGL extensions:
OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.2 Mesa 25.3.0-devel
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES

still have the same error have you even trieed if thats the issue does it work for you?

Hello @Schweeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, check if [#655 (comment)](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3290742399) is relevant to your system.

Thanks for referencing my comment, I've been steadily updating these tests -- weekdays are very busy for me but in the weekends I have been doing many tests with Steam Link and the other solutions. I have even created a steam curator for it, https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45753882-VR-Linux -- my sources are my own tests (where I do gameplays) but also the VR compatibility database for Linux, https://db.vronlinux.org -- and of course I contribute all my tests back to this database and to protondb.

Sadly didnt fix my issue thx for the try though think ill have to switch to arch again 😩
(Arch works flawlessly)

While switching from CachyOS to Arch fixed a lot of issues for me, I noticed that if I enable tailscale (It was not enabled on CachyOS), it also returns 450.

If anyone is using tailscale or something like tailscale, try turning it off and see if that helps.

I can get to home successfully, but launching games crashes, progress.

For information, according to Steam support,

Remote Play uses the following ports:
    UDP ports 27031 and 27036
    TCP ports 27036 and 27037
    For VR Streaming, UDP ports 10400 and 10401

So set up your firewalls accordingly.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3294694904

Getting exactly the same bug on CachyOS (7900xtx). Not running wlx-overlay-s on the side though, neither any addons. I THINK I've disabled the notifications/overlays people are mentioning as I've combed through Steam and SteamVR settings for mentions of popups/notifications/overlays and disabled them, but no cigar. HMD is detected just fine, games run just fine on the desktop monitor with HMD movement registering, but HMD screen is black unless the steam menu is summoned.

I had a flawless experience in VRChat using CachyOS. Like pretty much everyone has already said, overlays make the entire screen black.
However, I'm actually unable to open the SteamVR menu to launch games, is that normal?

Like pretty much everyone has already said, overlays make the entire screen black.

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they're saying it's the opposite.

anyone got a fix for this on fedora based distros?

Based on the new Steam Link VR FAQs > Frequently Asked Questions > Experimental Linux Support:

Steam Link VR Uses Vulkan Video, and driver support for Vulkan Video is only available in the newest drivers. Please use NVIDIA drivers 575.64.05 or newer or if AMD, please use Mesa drivers 25.2.2 or newer.

Fedora doesn't ship with proprietary codecs because of patents, so the fix is to swap the mesa-vulkan-drivers packages with the ones that come from RPMFusion (same fix for VA-API).

sudo dnf install mesa-vulkan-drivers-freeworld.x86_64 --allowerasing
sudo dnf install mesa-vulkan-drivers-freeworld.i686 --allowerasing

On Zephyrus G14 (2022) which has AMD iGPU and AMD dGPU SteamVR refuses to use dGPU at all even when I try to force it in the launch options in Steam.

No such problem with regular games using Proton.

The only solution I found is to force dGPU using supergfxctl -m AsusMuxDgpu.

Important fix for some games: if you have a game that starts in the screen instead of in VR, try setting up SteamVR as the current OpenXR backend with this command:

ln -sf ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/steamxr_linux64.json ~/.config/openxr/1/active_runtime.json

If you use other solutions like WiVRn, you can simply remove the link after use:
rm -f ~/.config/openxr/1/active_runtime.json

This worked for me for a few games, like One True Path - Part 1 and Exit 8 VR.

I'm testing on a NUC 12 Pro X machine with Intel UHD 770 as primary and a Radeon Pro W5700 as secondary.
OS is Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky) with the kisak-mesa PPA (Mesa 25.2.3), and I've set RADV_PERFTEST=video_encode and ANV_DEBUG=video-encode.

Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (ADL-S GT1)
AMD Radeon Pro W5700 (RADV NAVI10)

Through hours of experimentation with various values of DRI_PRIME and some other variables, most of the time I just get the remote side saying that "the host PC stopped responding (450)", or occasionally something like "the host PC connected but sent no video (451)", and the PC saying variants of encoder failure, graphics failure, or SteamVR failure.

The most I've managed to get was a low-resolution image in the headset, as shown by screenshots from the Quest 3. During this one partial success, I couldn't even open the SteamVR dashboard or the SteamVR settings window.

I tried again with SteamVR Beta and Steam Client Beta, and I get numerous errors in various Steam logs about missing shared libraries, even though the libraries actually exist.

From webhelper-linux.txt:

MESA-LOADER: failed to open dri: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gbm/dri_gbm.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory (search paths /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gbm, suffix _gbm)

From vrstartup-linux.txt:

./vrwebhelper: error while loading shared libraries: libcef.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
...
Qt: Session management error: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
sh: 1: xdg-icon-resource: not found
sh: 1: xdg-mime: not found
QObject::connect: No such slot CQVRMonitorController::OnStartRecordingAction() in /data/src/vrmonitor/qvrmonitorcontroller.cpp:1112
QObject::connect: No such slot CQVRMonitorController::OnStopRecordingAction() in /data/src/vrmonitor/qvrmonitorcontroller.cpp:1115

I also see errors about undefined symbols in Qt libraries.

It looks like some shader files are missing, too. From driver_vrlink.txt:

Tue Sep 30 2025 14:15:55.811483 [Info] - [HMDVulkan] CreateVulkanPipelines()
Tue Sep 30 2025 14:15:55.811572 [Info] - [HMDVulkan] Loading shader: /home/dana/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/drivers/vrlink/resources/shaders/genforencode_vs.spv
Tue Sep 30 2025 14:15:55.811614 [Info] - [HMDVulkan] Loading shader: /home/dana/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/drivers/vrlink/resources/shaders/genforencode_ps.spv
Tue Sep 30 2025 14:15:55.811641 [Info] - [HMDVulkan] Loading shader: /home/dana/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/drivers/vrlink/resources/shaders/genforencode_ps_chroma.spv
Tue Sep 30 2025 14:15:55.811658 [Info] - [HMDVulkan] Failed to load shader files
Tue Sep 30 2025 14:15:55.811670 [Info] - [HMDVulkan] Failed to create pipelines... Exiting...
Tue Sep 30 2025 14:15:55.811689 [Info] - [HMDVulkan] Deactivate()
``

Sounds like you are just missing everything. Try validating your files?

I verified it, no change.

I think the missing dri_gbm.so was when I tried another PPA with an even newer mesa that added a library Steam doesn't even know to symlink into the container. I went back to kisak-mesa.

Aside from the shader files that don't exist, it seems like all the other "no such file or directory" libraries exist in the Steam directories. Unfortunately, the processes don't log LD_LIBRARY_PATH before that, so I can't tell where it's looking for the libraries.

.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/linux64/qt/lib/libQt5Multimedia.so.5
.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamLinuxRuntime_sniper/sniper_platform_3.0.20250826.159138/files/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libQt5Multimedia.so.5
.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrwebhelper/linux64/libcef.so
.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/libcef.so

You are also using SteamVR Beta correct?

Yes, SteamVR Beta.

I tried SteamVR on another machine that's using Fedora (42, I think), with AMD iGPU and NVIDIA dGPU. I got it to halfway work once (SteamVR home was black whenever the menu wasn't open), but now it only gives a similar connection failure message. To get it to partially work, I had to set several variables so Steam would only see the NVIDIA, or else it complains about the AMD's mesa version.
__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __VK_LAYER_NV_optimus=NVIDIA_only DRI_PRIME=10de:2704! (exclamation point is documented)

It feels like Valve should include various dual-GPU configurations in their testing.

Replying to [#655 (comment)](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3294694904)

Getting exactly the same bug on CachyOS (7900xtx). Not running wlx-overlay-s on the side though, neither any addons. I THINK I've disabled the notifications/overlays people are mentioning as I've combed through Steam and SteamVR settings for mentions of popups/notifications/overlays and disabled them, but no cigar. HMD is detected just fine, games run just fine on the desktop monitor with HMD movement registering, but HMD screen is black unless the steam menu is summoned.

Until yesterday, Guest 3 worked fully, but today I have the same problem: a black screen in the game. When I open the Steam menu in VR, I can see the game, but after I close the menu, I only get a black screen again.

I did not update/change anything today, so I don’t know what happened. In the log I don’t see anything suspicious.

Tested on Manjaro – AMD GPU – VTOL VR, Steam Home.

Then I tried validating the game, SteamVR, and updating the system – but it did not help.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3366785634

Try executing "killall vrwebhelper" in terminal after your game has reached main menu.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3366948906

yes it helps thanks

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3341479086

is there a way to install the new enough mesa build on debian stable?

Replying to [#655 (comment)](https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues/655#issuecomment-3341479086)

is there a way to install the new enough mesa build on debian stable?

Only if you want to break your distro. The "stable" part of debian is exactly how the package repositories are tightly controlled. If you install something as basal as the mesa libraries that's newer than the other parts, it's very likely that even if that works, something else will break.

Having said that, you could just enable the testing or unstable repositories on your /etc/apt/sources.list and install only the newer versions of the mesa packages. Even if that works, it's recommended that after installing you commented these repositories out.

Ok, I got a big issue. Suddenly, the black screen bug workaround does not work anymore. When I dismiss the overlay the image gets black, always, although I can see it under the overlay when it's present. And the SteamVR beta version hasn't even changed from when it was working -- same version, 2.13.4. What is happening?

My vrclient_vrmonitor.log has lots of these repeated error messages:

Tue Oct 07 2025 02:41:22.156805 [Info] - CIPCPipe::ConnectPipe(VR_CompositorPipe_525022) attempting connect to /steamvr/VR_CompositorPipe_525022
Tue Oct 07 2025 02:41:22.156814 [Info] - Unable to connect to pipe errno=111
Tue Oct 07 2025 02:41:22.162134 [Info] - CIPCPipe::ConnectPipe(VR_CompositorPipe_525022) attempting connect to /steamvr/VR_CompositorPipe_525022
Tue Oct 07 2025 02:41:22.162148 [Info] - Unable to connect to pipe errno=111
Tue Oct 07 2025 02:41:22.262225 [Info] - CIPCPipe::ConnectPipe(VR_CompositorPipe_525022) attempting connect to /steamvr/VR_CompositorPipe_525022
Tue Oct 07 2025 02:41:22.262240 [Info] - Unable to connect to pipe errno=111

I have the same issue as above, and tested the app on Quest 2 and 3. Black screen unless overlay is present. Both headsets are running latest firmware available for them.

PC specs if needed: https://gist.github.com/SkitariiFemboy/d2a911c691465164b40b41beca050663

I have the same issue as above, and tested the app on Quest 2 and 3. Black screen unless overlay is present. Both headsets are running latest firmware available for them.

PC specs if needed: https://gist.github.com/SkitariiFemboy/d2a911c691465164b40b41beca050663

Thanks! I would say that this one seems to be the most urgent bug to resolve, after all the games are practically working, apart from this particular visual issue. As a curiosity, what are you using as launch options on your SteamVR? I have noticed that the current SteamVR beta does not really need the initialization with ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command%, it works the same without it (and with the same black screen bug, unfortunately).

Anyone from Valve that can help us fix this bug? Or maybe ask which data you require from us? This is seriously hindering my task of comparing the three steaming software (Steam Link VR, ALVR and WiVRn) that I do in my channel, since games that worked last week are not working anymore for some reason. @gofman @kisak-valve any thoughts?

I've done a few tests... It seems that when I stop and restart SteamVR beta about a dozen times some component crashes and I get only two interface icons floating in the VR view or none at all. When I get the two interface icons and I run a VR game by pressing play on Steam (on the screen), it correctly appears in the VR headset and seems to be perfectly playable, with sound and everything else and good quality. No black screen preventing anything.

However when there is only the VR view with no interface icons and I start a game the same way, the game is also playable and almost as good as the latter case, but with glitchy visuals which seem to be related to compression. I've made the tests in this mode using resolution of 100% and 150% and there was no change. And the funny part: I recorded the gameplay video when it was glitchy, but when I saw the recording... there was no glitch at all, the video appears cleanly! I wonder if this is due to the foveated rendering (the glitches were peripheral and I recorded in 1920x1080 which is a very strict rectangle on the center of the eye, so it might be they were actually not supposed to be recorded).

This is what I recorded, which in the VR headset was glitchy: https://youtu.be/IbfOD-ltfiA -- the game is Dick Wilde.

Ok, the black screen bug seems to have been resolved for good with the newest beta, 2.13.5. Tested three games which were not working correctly and they are working now. Will test more

I am sure this will interest some people -- HAND TRACKING is working via Steam Link, and I recorded a video showing it: https://youtu.be/J6Eb-VReBZo

Haven't tried this all yet but I guess if Valve ever wants to release another VR headset then having it working under Linux correctly IS probably a good idea.

Does anyone know how it compares at present to ALVR/WiVRn?

VRChat still seems broken on my Bazzite Nvidia setup. Has anyone else tried VRChat recently on all the latest beta clients and beta Steam VR? I tried day before yesterday, but the moment I spawn into the world, the screen greys out and it freezes :(

On my system, I can see the SteamVR menus but once I boot up a game it gets stuck on the "Next Up" screen with the game logo. I can hear the game audio but the headset never switches to showing the game. Has anyone had this issue? Is there a solution?
Running EndeavourOS with KDE Wayland and the latest Steam Client and SteamVR betas. With a Quest 3, also on the Steam Link beta.

VRChat still seems broken on my Bazzite Nvidia setup. Has anyone else tried VRChat recently on all the latest beta clients and beta Steam VR? I tried day before yesterday, but the moment I spawn into the world, the screen greys out and it freezes :(

This happens to me too. The beta for SteamVR also wouldn't let my ALVR audio work when I switched over to that. Nvidia+Fedora+KDE Wayland. I haven't tested much outside of VRChat, so I don't know what else works or doesn't work.

@munoida @jh97uk Guys, there is a flavor of proton specially suited for VRChat, it's proton GE RTSP. I won't paste the link here because maybe that's not allowed, but it's very easy to find on the web. You should try to run with this version.

@munoida @jh97uk Guys, there is a flavor of proton specially suited for VRChat, it's proton GE RTSP. I won't paste the link here because maybe that's not allowed, but it's very easy to find on the web. You should try to run with this version.

Can vouch this, it fixes a lot of things VRChat related, including but not limited to video players. However, it's offtopic when concerned about this issue.

i have weird problem when typing in steam vr, eg steam chat, some characters do not work like "o" or "t" and some others do, its like 1/4 characters do not work, i can click it on virtual keyboard but they will not appear in text box

Hey guys, I "got" it working, maybe it is more accurate to say it just started working today.
My current configuration:

• AMD Ryzen 5 7600X
• 32GB RAM
• AMD Radeon RX 6800
• Gigabyte A620M GAMING X

=======================

• Quest Pro
• v83.1034
• SteamLink beta 2.0.19 (Same version as stable right now)

=======================

• CashyOS
• KDE Plasma 6.5.4
• Kernel-version: 6.18.0-5-cachyos (64-bit)
• Grafik-plattform: Wayland
• Mesa 25.3.1-arch1.3

=======================

• Steam-Betabranch: Steam Beta Update
• Steam-Version: 1764898841
• Steam-Client: Build-Date: Fr., 5. Dez. 2:07 UTC -08:00
• SteamVR Beta 2.14.4 Build 09.12.2025

What changed from the last time I tried? There was no SteamVR and no Steam Client update.
When i tried the last time there was another computer available for streaming,
this time there was no other computer switched on. Steam Link on my Quest told me
no paired computer available, after clicking on search for computer it got my linux computer immediately.
I am just happy that it works now and wanted to share in which configuration it works for me.

Edit1: added Mesa version