I tried making the switch fully from Windows earlier this month but the fact that VR wasn’t working well was a big issue that caused me to have to go back to Windows.
I contemplated just having a smaller partition for Windows for VR gaming, but I really want to make the switch fully if possible. I’ll keep Windows on a spare laptop, but that’s it. I want all my main computers to be on Linux.
Are there any distros that work best for this or any tips to share?
I have a Meta Quest 3 that I like using for VR gaming on PC. I’ve been really into Skyrim VR lately and modding in it too. So to find a way to both mod Skyrim VR and play VR would be my goal to accomplish. Wireless VR is not a must but it’s nice. If it has to be one way, whether USB or wireless, that’s fine with me. I’m not strictly needing one way or the other. All of my VR games are in Steam so far, so any tips would be great for this setup.
I tried Bazzite and KDE Neon and both were giving me issues with VR. I had ALVR since Steam VR doesn’t work in Linux natively.
alvr is the way to go on linux, but it sadly has a long way to go before its as good as vr on windows. to be fair I play a lot of simulators in vr, which don’t have the same support as something like skyrim vr, but they have a small amount of visual issues with stuff like timewarp not seeming to work completely properly. for the time being though, alvr, steamvr, and a distro like bazzite or nobara (probably more, these are the main ones ive used) are the way to go. alvr’s discord is a good place to go if youre having any issues!
Thanks for the reply!
I’ll check out their Discord, thanks for the tip on that and also going to check into nobara. I have not heard of that one before.
I have a VR setup for my daughter. It’s been a bit of a PITA to maintain tbh, but it’s been working well lately and has survived several updates now without breaking. The key to success is to research your hardware ahead of time (much like old-timey linux general hardware support). We have an OG Vive which is one of the better supported units. Last I saw the Quest headsets were pretty flakey in linux.
I think Vive/Vive2 and obviously the Index will give you the most hassle-free VR experience in linux, though there have been times that I still feel that it’s been a hassle to keep working.
Thanks for the reply!
So in the Vive’s case, was it just a matter of plug and play or is there a custom driver-like setup someone developed specifically for the Vive that you’re using from what you remember?
It was pretty much plug and play. The drivers are built into Steam. I have had to edit some files to get it to work with some releases. Also manually adjust some file permissions. It just hasn’t worked with some SteamVR releases so I’d need to roll back to a known working branch. The last several releases haven’t introduced any new issues for me though.
Running Nobara, the Index is playable but has issues that make it inconvenient. I have issues with not being able to use the built in speakers, and the software is hit and miss and required a lot of playing around a reboot any time it has abissue.
Game support was shockingly good through Proton if you can get SteamVR running.
I have no clue for Meta hardware as I would assume Linux wouldn’t be even an afterthought to them.
