protonscr

[BUG] SteamVR Link creates non-functional pipewire nodes

steamvropen bug
ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux#873 · opened 2026-03-13 by founta · updated 2026-05-22 · 15 comments · github
Ffounta 2026-03-13 github

Describe the bug
When Steam Link is started from my Quest Pro, I am able to successfully connect to SteamVR. However, there is no audio.

If using the wireplumber pipewire session manager, pipewire becomes unresponsive at this point until restarted. Using the legacy pipewire-media-session at least prevents hangup.

The following is seen in helvum:

Image

Both the steam link sink and source were created with no input/output nodes.

If you stop pipewire before connecting the headset in Steam Link, it will connect and no audio devices will be made.

When the broken SteamVR audio nodes are present, games still launch but after a ~5 minute delay. When pipewire is not running when the headset connects, games start with no additional delay (and with audio that you can eg choose to send to speakers or something).

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

  1. Install CachyOS from USB with KDE Plasma desktop environment
    • as of 3-13-2026, it is CachyOS running kernel 6.19.6-2-cachyos
  2. pacman -Syu cachyos/steam cachyos-extra-v3/pipewire-media-session extra/helvum
sudo ufw allow 10400/udp
sudo ufw allow 10401/udp
sudo ufw allow 27031/udp
sudo ufw allow 27036/udp
sudo ufw allow 27036/tcp
sudo ufw allow 27037/tcp
  1. Start steam
  2. Install SteamVR
  3. Set SteamVR launch options to: ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/vrmonitor.sh %command%
  4. Enable the SteamVR and Steam Client betas
  5. Start SteamVR, start Steam Link on headset, and pair the device
  6. Open helvum and see that the Steam Link virtual audio devices have no ports. See that, in KDE's audio device selection, that the Meta Quest Pro (Steam Link) input and output devices are muted and are unable to be selected.

Expected behavior
The Steam Link pipewire nodes to be created with ports and be functional

System Information (please complete the following information):

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Additional context

  • lshw output: founta_lshw.txt
  • WiVRn audio works without issue
  • The same happens if SteamVR and Steam are started with the firewall disabled
  • broken SteamVR pipewire nodes from pw-dump: founta_pw-dump_vrserver.txt
NNunexGTX 2026-03-19 github

I can confirm this issue is also happening in my main machine, with Arch Linux running the kernel 6.19.8-arch1-1
I'm running PipeWire version 1.6.2.

Ssfenzke 2026-03-19 github

Can also confirm.
Arch Linux Kernel: 6,19.8-arch1-1
Pipewire: 1.6.2

Mmangowxlf 2026-03-24 github

also an issue for me but downgrading pipewire to 1.4.10 and its dependencies seems to have worked as a temporary solution

Ffounta 2026-03-24 github

also an issue for me but downgrading pipewire to 1.4.10 and its dependencies seems to have worked as a temporary solution

Oh, thank you friend :)
I'll try that out tonight

NNunexGTX 2026-03-24 github

also an issue for me but downgrading pipewire to 1.4.10 and its dependencies seems to have worked as a temporary solution

Thank you for the tip, while it might work well enough for you I did encounter some problems:

  1. Superhot really isn't that hot about the idea of opening up without bullying steamvr until it crashes (Works fine on ALVR with Steam VR previous version)
  2. While steam link routes the audio from steam vr and games perfectly to the headset, the virtual audio device it uses doesn't allow me to directly route my whole PC's audio directly to it with KDE Plasma's menu. Sure I could try routing the audio manually, but this is frustrating if I were to hop on a call with friends on discord to stream my VR Gameplay. And the opposite of wanting to use speakers connected to my pc instead of playing them on the headset's ones if I were to.

Edit: I don't know if the second is intended behavior, so it might not be a bug

steam_logs.zip
steam_runtime_diagnostics.txt

Ffounta 2026-03-24 github

also an issue for me but downgrading pipewire to 1.4.10 and its dependencies seems to have worked as a temporary solution

Oh heck! You're right!

I ran the following:

yay downgrade
sudo downgrade pipewire libpipewire gst-plugin-pipewire pipewire-pulse pipewire-audio pipewire-alsa

and selected 1.4.10 for all.

And steam link audio seems to work!

It's interesting, before when I first ran into this issue, I had tried to build pipewire (and libpipewire) from source and use that instead. I tried a number of versions, going back to 0.3.something. Maybe only one of the pipewire-pulse, pipewire-audio or pipewire-alsa packages need downgraded, I'll play around a little bit

Ffounta 2026-03-24 github

Nope, they all need to be downgraded at once. Oh well. Thanks again @meowpuppy :)

Mmangowxlf 2026-03-24 github

this is what i ran, i'm on cachy so your installed package set may be different:

sudo downgrade pipewire libpipewire pipewire-pulse pipewire-alsa pipewire-jack pipewire-audio gst-plugin-pipewire wireplumber libwireplumber
Mmisyltoad 2026-03-27 github

Hello! This will be fixed in a future update.

MMooshPaw 2026-03-27 github

To add to this issue
WayVR is an overlay that allows you to see your monitors via Pipewire screen capture

Due to this bug, the overlay needs manual intervention for the screens to work, which is not an issue on ALVR which also uses SteamVR

I know this is technically not a steam app but would be good to look into as it's definitely a problem with the VRLink driver

TTau5 2026-04-25 github

I tested the latest beta and this has been fixed!

MMooshPaw 2026-04-25 github

I tested the latest beta and this has been fixed!

Just tried it
Mic seems to me working consistently, any input however doesn't seem to be working

Anything outside of Steam (Discord, browser, etc) still has no audio when using Link. Other apps such as WayVR or Spout2PW can't create their nodes automatically either

OOzzyHelix 2026-05-08 github

Steam Link currently shows a few compatibility problems with KDE and Arch Linux. I believe that Steam Link should not interfere with the existing PipeWire connections created by other applications such as WayVR; instead it should provide a single, non‑intrusive integration.

The audio output from SteamVR and apps that run under it are garbled when I use wireless earbuds on my PC.
Steam Link should perform only one simple function within PipeWire: keep its own audio stream without overriding any user‑configured settings.
If users encounter these issues while running a Steam Frame on their Linux PCs, it will negatively affect adoption of that device.
this is a running problem with SteamVR in general on Linux and if it can be fixed I think it would be an overall improvement to people that want to use Steam Link and probably people who will be buying a Steam Frame. if it isn't fixed a lot of people will be unhappy with their devices.
this issue is just very annoying and I worry that if I buy a Frame and try to use it with my PC which runs Linux that I will encounter issues like this. I am trying to be understanding and I know this stuff takes time but I worry that these issues will happen and it would be nice if they were addressed long before I buy the headset

PPacketdancer 2026-05-22 github

Could folks who are having Pipewire issues -- in terms of overall link routing, not the no-ports situation -- write up a quick example of what they're doing that the pipewire setup is breaking? I'd like to have some concrete test cases we can work with for improving the overall Pipewire manager's behavior.

Edit: Scratch that, I'll actually make a separate ticket to address Pipewire configuration issues, and leave this just for the port thing. For the sake of my organizational sanity. :)

PPacketdancer 2026-05-22 github

There, #897 now exists as a place to collect those issues.

Nothing extracted yet.