Comment by xbkingx | Hacker News Reader

Comment by xbkingx | Hacker News Reader

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Chiming in to say no problems here on my Windows PCs. I do see where you might bump into these troubles, though.

Installing Nvidia drivers will usually set the default sound device to HDMI for your main display instead of restoring the previous default. So, it's possible to end up juggling 3-5 audio outputs after a driver update - on board, on board headphones, Vive USB, Vive HDMI, and main monitor HDMI.

I run a little Powershell script after those updates that returns everything to my settings and disable all the telemetry services/tasks, but there are a bunch of free utilities that makes audio device switching easy - Ear Trumpet, Audio Switcher, and a few others.

Also, for whatever reason, sometimes Steam just needs to be relaunched for SteamVR to work properly after a Stream client update. Very rarely I'll need to reboot for things to work properly (if the base stations don't wake up).

Finally, I strongly recommend uninstalling the advanced open VR program that's often recommended in old tips and tricks sites (it's very outdated and known to cause problems now) and run a round of "verify game integrity" on SteamVR and all Valve VR entries (from inside Stream library, right click menu).

Oh, and finally, finally, laptops/pre-built PCs will usually have some driver updater/maintenance utility adding a layer of annoyances on top of all this.

I love my Vive, but I have to admit that there can be some annoyances. OTOH, I had just as many issues with the GearVR (an Oculus product) and solutions basically boiled down to hoping it would be addressed in an update or allowing 7 constantly running background processes.

This is not meant as negative towards you at all. But I think your post demonstrates the gulf in perception between the savvy PC gamer and others. You say you have no problems, then go on to list a whole bunch of problems.

You're in a nice groove where this stuff is pretty easy to manage, but to a lot of people this stuff is an exasperating pain in the butt.

It reminded me of the old days when I had a big library of AUTOEXEC.BAT files, one for each game, to set things up exactly the way they needed to be set up for that game. That was great for me, but it was a sign of just how unapproachable PC gaming could be for the average person back then.

> This is not meant as negative towards you at all. But I think your post demonstrates the gulf in perception between the savvy PC gamer and others. You say you have no problems, then go on to list a whole bunch of problems.

These are issues that occur rarely. I have less troubles using my PC than some friends do with their consoles.

It helps that Steam truly does update things in the background, and that it is possible to bandwidth throttle updates.

In comparison, a rarely played console will want to potentially spent hours on updates.

A PC has advantages because it is most likely used daily, so the updates have already happened in the background.

Honestly, both consoles and PCs are about an equal pain to keep running now days. PCs have gotten better over the years, and consoles got worse, and they have kind of met in the middle.

I've got no VR and no problems. Game infrequently, computer off for weeks at a time. Yes, Steam or Battle.NET will need to install updates but that's just like any console.

Oh, I totally agree and that was my point (besides offering up some advice for others with these issues). These are all annoyances that can be dealt with easily once you know the solutions, but you have to know how to arrive at those solutions. Most PC users would have trouble, and I would even argue many savvy users would have trouble nailing down some of the causes.

Realistically, though, most of these aren't VR problems as much as they're general PC gaming problems with Nvidia and Steam. I accept that price for the flexibility I get in return.

Contrast that to having no control over the various background processes and apps always loaded in memory when using a GearVR, though. Like most consumer-friendly tech, it just works until it doesn't. Then there are only three solutions possible: reboot phone, uninstall updates and reinstall them, and hope the bug is addressed in the next update, whenever that will be. (I'm assuming Oculus with lock down the OS similar to what Samsung does with Android, which means major compromises if you want to try rooting it.)

I do realize I'm in the minority that spends a few hours fixing or working around a problem, rather than shelve the unit and play update roulette in random short increments. But, with VR still in its infancy, are we/they really ready for those types of consumers? I mean, there is a severe lack of standards across the board, making handholding really difficult. Everyone threw up their hands at tablet UIs and decided to just make them bigger phones and I'd hate to see VR suffer the same fate of being dragged down by the lowest common denominator.

Holy crap! I have never experienced ANYTHING like that. Even updating my AMD video drivers is a painless experience.

Occasionally I've kept Firefox tabs open four 3 weeks or something "feels a little off" so I restart more than the once a month necessary to install Windows updates, but other than that, I feel confident that I can hit the VR button on steam and have the dashboard in the helmet ready to boot a game by the time I've put the strap on.

My absolute worst experience was a game crashing VR over and over in one spot and a restart fixing it

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