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While quest users can already play steam games using Oculus Link/AirLink or VirtualDesktop (which is a paid app), not having to use metas desktop app sounds like a win to me.
I am also hoping this will finally be an easy way to stream VR games using a Linux system?
Hopefully they add Linux support soon.
Does it not work on Linux?
Edit: Ok, it does not. I just tried it.
If I recall, VR support in Linux is quite spotty as well. I can trust that Valve will invest some time into getting this to work, but a lot of the PC gaming market share is still Windows so it makes sense to support them first.
I have a Quest 3 and tried the Steam link app out last night. It works excellently. It is amazing to not have to run Meta's horrible and janky desktop app that uses up 2gb of video RAM just at idle.
Do you need a Facebook account to use the Quest 3 exclusively through Steam Link? If not, I might actually get one and see if I can put the headset in a DMZ or something so it can only talk to my local Steam games.
I don't trust Meta at all, but maybe this could work.
Okay, so I factory reset the thing, and to use the headset at all, the setup requires that you have to log in with at least a Meta account (only an email address needed, no Facebook), and you have to pair it with an app on your phone that controls things like developer mode. There's no way around it, the first thing you are greeted with in the headset is a pairing code for the app, and you need the app to make the headset work afaict. I didn't investigate if there's a desktop app or web app.
Side note, apparently developer mode now requires a phone number or credit card attached to the account. Maybe a vanilla visa could work, not sure. I've already bought stuff through the quest store, so enabling developer mode was just a click for me. I used developer mode to install sidequest just now to see what it's about, but neither it nor developer mode are needed for Steam link.
Mayyybe you could make a Meta account with an email address made just for the headset, maybe run the Android app in an emulator, but that would be a bit of a hassle imo. I suppose you could isolate the headset into a subnet, or it's own SSID if you've got the gear for that, and keep it quarantined most of the time and just let it reach out here and there for updates, but who knows if it blurts out any collected telemetry while it gets the update. You may not have to let it out for updates at all however; when I booted into factory reset there was a "sideload updates" option, so maybe you could update it manually offline.
Honestly, as good as this headset is for the price, if I were concerned with absolute privacy, I would just cough up the dough for a competitors OLED unit. I could spend all of the hours I was frigging around with the headset doing OT at work instead, and just use that money to get something better without the pain and hassle. I get that's not an option for everyone though.
Perhaps as an affordable compromise, if you don't mind temporarily leaking a little data to Meta one time, you could do the normal setup but with an email just for the unit, install the app for 5 minutes on an old phone or tablet without a SIM for the setup, get Steam link on the headset, uninstall the app on the phone, and drop the headset into whatever Wi-Fi isolation you can conjure up. Maybe an isolated SSID or even easier, an affordable 5g router dedicated just to VR.
I don't trust Meta either, but I gotta admit, it actually feels kinda neat to experience their $30 billion dollar metaverse disaster first hand while it's still around to look at. For the record, the only protection I did was make a Meta account. I don't use Facebook.
Thanks so much for trying it out!
That sounds like a no for me then, I'm not installing an app from Meta on my phone. But it's cool there's an option to side load updates, maybe I'll look around and see if anyone has rooted it to allow use without the app.
I'm happy to spend twice as much for something that I feel respects my privacy more. I'm looking at the Bigscreen Beyond (want to see it mature a bit more) and Valve index, but I'm not in a hurry since VR content is still pretty limited, especially on Linux (and no idea how well the Bigscreen works on Linux).
Not trying to convince you or anything, but the pairing process can be done via web, without installing the app.
Staying away from meta products is, in any case, a good idea.
Thank you for that info, now that I know that, I'm gonna switch to web only.
Huh, maybe I'll check out a YouTube video or something.
The larger issue is that Linux-compatible games are fairly limited, so I'd mostly be getting it for messing around with developing VR games. I'm guessing I'd have a much better experience with an Index and SteamVR than with a Meta product, but $500 is probably worth a day or two of pain.
I'm fine giving Meta a throwaway email if it's a one-time thing (or only when it needs updates), but there's no way I'm installing an app on my phone or creating an account with them. I'm also not letting it touch the Internet once it's setup, and I can handle the router config for that (it'll just go on the same DMZ with my cameras).
No prob! I was curious how far I could get with a low-effort decoupling from Meta, and I'm sad it turns out that that's not very far.
I updated my post a little with some more thoughts about the situation.
I think it would be cool to root it, but the hassle then to update it would be too much for me at least. And you would want the updates too because they are still adding improvements to things like controller motion tracking and whatnot.
I'm excited for what this quest version of Steam link can do for getting more VR content on Linux. Without the need for Linux drivers for the headset, it can just be streamed and the hardware work is done. Valve is clearly talented enough to get the software side working. It would be cool as hell to have a mode that turns the Steam Deck into a WAP (easy on Linux as you undoubtedly know) and you just connect your headset and start VR gaming from it.
Thank you for the discussion by the way. You've inspired me to drop my unit into its own SSID now, and log what it's doing to keep an eye on it.
I'll try it out tonight for you. I'll see if I can sign out and go from there.
There is some kind of side loading store called sidequest that I've been meaning to try. Maybe I can use that somehow.
I will also try to load it on with ADB maybe.
I wonder how this compares, performance wise to virtual desktop. Would be amazing if the performance was similar between the two. Anything to not have to use the oculus desktop app that feels abandoned at this point too.
I'm happy to finally be able to use the eye tracking of the quest pro for foveated rendering!!
Has anyone tried to run a vr game on the Steam Deck and used this app to stream it to the device? Is it doable?
Apparently, Linux hosts do not show up when setting up the connection. Hopefully Linux support gets implemented ASAP.
tbh, that's exactly what I had in mind, If no one else has tried that, I am going to give it a shot later.
While technically this is a maybe, in practice you really don't want both the source and the receiver to be on wifi because you have to wait for the deck to send a wifi packet to the router before listening for the same packet from the router to the quest (yes this is a bit backwards but it is how we do wifi), everytime.
A deck on an Ethernet adapter os probably gonna work better, but you still have the problem that currently VR on Linux is extremely hit-or-miss. I have a windows install on a separate disk specifically for VR purposes on my main computer.
Also it's possible to use a usb-c to usb-c cable and setup network over USB, which would be faster that having the oculus on wifi, and still be fully portable since you can strap the deck to your body somewhere.
The idea was to use the Deck to run the game and stream it on my Quest2
I wonder why not for the original Quest, other than Murphy's Law because that's what I have. Would love to get the APK and side-load it to test, but haven't found it.
as far as I know, OG Quest support has been fully deprecated with an update very early this year.
I believe it is no longer possible for developers to release new software builds compatible with the OG quest's API level, so even if Valve wanted to support it, they couldn't
That might be true through the store, but nothing prevents people from building an APK with an old API and sideloading it.