Category: Oculus Link

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Facebook Fixed The Most Annoying Problem With Oculus Link Beta

Oculus Link beta no longer requires the Quest headset and PC to be running the same version of the Oculus software.

Oculus Link is the feature which lets the Oculus Quest act as a PC VR headset via any high quality USB 3.0 cable. This gives Quest owners who own a gaming PC access to the Oculus Rift library and SteamVR.

When using Link, you’re actually using two of Facebook’s VR platforms at once, Rift (on your PC) and Quest (the headset). The PC is handling rendering, lens distortion, audio, while the Quest passes through tracking and microphone while decoding the video stream.

The Fix

Until this week’s v14 release, to use Link your Quest and Rift software had to be at the same version. But v14 relaxes that restriction somewhat, in that you can now have each, at most, one version number away from the other.

So a Quest on v13 will work with Rift software v14, but not with Rift software v15. Or put another way, a Quest on v15 should work with Rift software v14, v15, or v16.

Given that the Oculus software performs automatic updates and does not let the user roll back, this should be a welcome change for Quest owners sampling what PC VR has to offer with the Link beta. Typically, Facebook “rolls out” updates to Quest headsets over several days. So prior to this change Quest owners could be stuck in a situation where they are waiting for their software to update in order to use PC VR games again with their headset.

We’ve also noticed that Link is more stable and reliable in general in v14. Facebook’s changelog notes several bugs and glitches as being resolved.

Have you also noticed Link getting better over time? Or has it gotten worse for you? Are you happy with the pace of progress on the feature? Let us know in the comments below!

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Oculus Quest Update Finally Adds Microphone To Oculus Link

Oculus Quest’s v14 update finally passes through the headset’s microphone to your PC when in Oculus Link mode.

UPDATE Feb 26: the Quest side of the update is now rolling out.

Oculus Link is the feature (currently in beta) which lets the Oculus Quest act as a PC VR headset via any high quality USB 3.0 cable. This gives Quest owners who own a gaming PC access to the Oculus Rift library and SteamVR.

While Link does pass the audio output from PC VR apps to Quest, it previously did not pass the Quest microphone through to the PC. This means that when using Link for a multiplayer title you can hear others but not speak to them.

When we have staff or guests use Quest with Oculus Link to join our from-VR weekly podcast, for example, they have to use an external microphone connected to their PC.

The release notes for v14 of the state that it now supports the microphone on Oculus Link. We tested it and found it works as described. Note that you’ll need v14 on both the Oculus PC software and on your Quest headset.

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Next Oculus Quest Update Finally Adds Microphone To Oculus Link

The next Oculus Quest update will finally pass through the headset’s microphone to your PC when in Oculus Link mode.

Oculus Link is the feature (currently in beta) which lets the Oculus Quest act as a PC VR headset via any high quality USB 3.0 cable. This gives Quest owners who own a gaming PC access to the Oculus Rift library and SteamVR.

While Link does pass the audio output from PC VR apps to Quest, it currently does not pass the Quest microphone through to the PC. This means that when using Link for a multiplayer title you can hear others but not speak to them.

When we have staff or guests use Quest with Oculus Link to join our from-VR weekly podcast, for example, they have to use an external microphone connected to their PC.

The release notes for v14 of the Oculus Rift software state that it now supports the microphone on Oculus Link. However, you’ll also need v14 on the Oculus Quest for the feature to work, according to a Facebook staffer’s comments on the company’s developer forums. As of this writing “that hasn’t started rolling out yet,” according to the post.

This seems to suggest that while the PC-side of the software supports the mic, the Quest itself won’t actually send the mic audio until v14 arrives on your standalone headset.

When will v14 be released for Quest? We’re not sure. Facebook doesn’t give timelines for future releases anymore, but given their previous release schedules we’d expect it some time in the next few weeks, if not this week.

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Unity Gets Controller-Free Hand Tracking Via Oculus Link For Faster Testing

The latest update to the Oculus Integration for Unity adds the ability to use Quest’s controller-free hand tracking in the editor.

Facebook added experimental controller-free hand tracking for Quest in December. It lets you use your hands in the open air to interact with VR content rather than through Touch controllers. This is done through advanced computer vision algorithms powered by machine learning.

Since the release of Oculus Link beta in November, developers building apps for Quest have been able to use a high quality USB 3.0 cable to instantly iterate on changes made in Unity, the game engine used for most VR apps.

However, the Oculus Rift SDK doesn’t support Hand Tracking, so developers building apps with this feature have had to compile builds and send them to the Quest headset each time they make a change to their code. This could take anywhere from 10 seconds to a few minutes each time depending on the scale of the project.

With the latest version of the Unity Integration, this is no longer a problem. Link can pass through hand tracking to the Unity editor, so simply pressing ‘Play’ will let devs rapidly iterate on hand tracking interactions. Interestingly, Quest still doesn’t pass the microphone through Link, which would seem to be an easier task.

This of course begs the question: if Hand Tracking can work via Link in the Unity Editor, why couldn’t it work in an actual PC VR app? The answer is that since the Oculus Rift SDK doesn’t support it, there’s no way to add this. Facebook has been relatively vague about whether Rift S will get the same feature. In fact, the Oculus Quest store still doesn’t accept apps which support Hand Tracking, but Facebook’s statements indicate that should change some time soon.

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This 3rd Party Oculus Link Cable Is Half The Price Of Facebook’s (But Won’t Work For Everyone)

We’ve tested a new USB 3.1 cable from PartyLink that’s almost as long as the official 5 meter Oculus Link cable but priced less than half as much.

PartyLink sent us a pair of the sample cables to test and we were able to get both working with the Oculus Link Beta. We should note, however, the PartyLink cables only worked on a PC we tested via the USB-C port on an RTX 2080 graphics card.  The PartyLink cable would not launch Rift apps with the other USB-C port on the PC. That’s a bummer because the official Oculus Link cable works connected to either USB-C port on the same PC. In addition, the port on the graphics card doesn’t seem to pass along power to the Quest when the PC is in sleep mode while that is possible from the other USB-C port. In other words, I won’t be able to charge my Quest in sleep mode with the PartyLink cable from the same port I use to play Oculus Rift apps.

Reviews on Amazon from verified buyers are also reporting some issues getting the PartyLink cord to work with their PCs. A PartyLink representative said it does not work in some PCI-E cards. So we urge some caution if considering the PartyLink cable, and be ready to send it back if it doesn’t work for you. The cable is priced at $30 at the time of this writing, though it launched at around $38. The official 5 meter cable is priced at $79 and unavailable through the official website at the time of this writing. Amazon is listing a 1 to 2 month backorder for the official cable from Facebook. Given the lack of availability of the official cord, we thought we should pass along our experience testing this new PartyLink cable. It is in stock as of this writing and, in November, we successfully tested a 3 meter cable from the same company paired with an extender.

Also, although the PartyLink cable is advertised as 5 meters long we measured it against the official cable from Facebook and found the PartyLink cable measures around 0.13 meters (5 inches) shorter than the more expensive option. Although we didn’t weigh both cords, the Facebook cable also appears to be slightly lighter.

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Oculus Quest Goes ‘Out Of Stock’ In North America After Backorder

Oculus Quest is ‘Out of Stock’ in some countries after being backordered into March.

We’ve been closely following availability of the standalone VR headset from Facebook with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying sales “are stronger than we expected.” In mid-January, shipping estimates for new orders of the headset in the United States from the company’s own website were pushed into March. Valve’s high-end PC-only headset the Valve Index was also heavily backordered on Steam before the company stopped accepting new orders. In January, Valve said it would try to get the headset back in stock before the release of highly anticipated VR game Half-Life: Alyx in March.

oculus quest unavailable message

Oculus Quest is a completely standalone VR headset that operates without any wires. The all-in-one system starts at $400 and works in wireless mode with some of the most popular VR games, like Superhot, Beat Saber and Pistol Whip, but an optional mode for the headset called Oculus Link makes it compatible over a USB 3 cord with PC VR games as well. That means the headset is one of the most versatile and robust options for people wanting both the wireless freedom of standalone VR games and the option to play PC VR games like Alyx over a wired connection to a compatible computer.

At the time of this writing Quest is out of stock in the United States and Canada from the official company site and on Amazon it says the headset will be back in stock on February 16. It is still showing as available elsewhere though, like England, where it will ship by February 12, according to the official site. Quest might also be found in some physical stores. We’ve asked Facebook for comment about demand and availability of the headset and will update this post if we hear back.

Hat tip to Marketstuff99 for alerting us to the headset being “Out of Stock.” 

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Oculus Quest Update Adds Automatic Hand Tracking Transitioning and Oculus Link Improvements

More than any other virtual reality (VR) headset, 2019 was Oculus Quest’s year – and it wasn’t even a full year! Facebook released two major updates for the standalone device in the latter half of the year, namely Oculus Link and hand tracking. This week further improvements are being rolled out for both, enhancing their functionality. 

Oculus Link

As part of the 13.0 release build Oculus Quest’s hand tracking will receive an option to enable automatic transitioning between hand tracking and controllers, doing away with the clunky menu switching. When switching the other way, users will be able to easily find their controllers by enabling Passthrough.

Additional hand tracking improvements:

  • We’ve added a new step to the Hand Tracking Tutorial that will allow you to practice scrolling with your hands.
  • Remote rendering support for Unity has been added so developers can more easily build and test Hand Tracking apps through their PC.
  • Improved Hand Tracking stability.

When it comes to using Oculus Link a button to enable the feature has been added to the Quest system menu bar, plus there’s now the option to reset the guardian from within Dash while using Oculus Link.

Other tweaks include:

  • Fixed an issue where audio was only audible when Dash was present.
  • Fixed an issue where Home would not load when enabling Oculus Link.
  • Fixed an issue where audio would only work for some users if it was set to 100%.
  • Fixed an issue so you can now replay a video you’ve recorded for abuse reporting purposes before submitting it, while running Oculus Link.
  • Performance and stability updates.

Oculus Quest Lifestyle 5

There are several smaller additions in v13.0 such as updated app search appearance and behaviour, storage manager has had a redesign, user profiles now show the apps that are owned, achievements, and friends, plus parties can now be directly started from a live event’s detail page helping friends get into the event together more efficiently.

Before updating it’s worth noting that if you use Oculus Link both the PC and Oculus Quest versions need to be the same. If you get the Oculus Quest version first then sign up to the Public Test Channel (PTC) to forcibly update your PC. This isn’t possible the other way around, so you may need to wait.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Oculus Quest, reporting back with the latest updates.

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Facebook Releases Fix For Oculus Rift & Link Stuttering Issue

An apparent fix for the widely reported Oculus Rift & Oculus Link performance issues introduced by the December update has been released.

The issue was seemingly introduced in December’s v12 update. Reports emerged on Reddit and the Oculus forums over the past month. The reports described stuttering, judder, frame drops and other issues in a wide variety of VR games. These issues are more critical in VR than on a monitor because the positional inaccuracy they introduce makes many people feel sick. This is due to a disconnect between what the inner ear feels and what the eyes see.

The Oculus PC software does not offer the ability to roll back versions and has automatic updates. This leaves users unable to easily solve problems introduced in software updates.

Two weeks ago a Facebook representative on Reddit made a post about the issue, asking users to submit bug reports with system information attached. This is not something Facebook commonly does for reported issues. This request does seem to have been fruitful though, as on Monday Facebook stated that due to these reports, it had been able to reproduce the issue and would work on a fix.

That fix is now rolling out in version 13 of the Rift software.

If you don’t have v13 yet, you can opt into the Public Test Channel- Facebook’s name for the testing branch of the Oculus Rift software. To opt into the PTC v14, navigate to the Beta tab of the Settings of the Oculus PC app.

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Facebook Now Working On Fix For Oculus Rift & Link Stuttering Issue

Owners of the Oculus Rift and Rift S headsets, as well as Quest owners using Link, have been reporting stuttering and other performance issues after the v12 software update.

UPDATE Jan 20: Facebook claims that thanks to the logs submitted by users, it has now been able to reproduce the issue, and can now “use this to identify, test, and verify a fix”.

Reports of this issue sprang up on reddit and the Oculus forums over the past month. Whereas the forum post after the previous Rift software release had 40 comments, the v12 release has 287 comments at time of writing, many of which are about the issue.

The reports describe stuttering, judder, frame drops and other issues in a wide variety of VR games. These issues are more critical in VR than on a monitor because the positional inaccuracy they introduce makes many people feel sick. This is due to a disconnect between what the inner ear feels and what the eyes see.

The true prevalence of the problem is unclear. However, three days ago a Facebook representative on reddit made a post about the issue, asking users to submit bug reports with system information attached. This is not something Facebook commonly does for reported issues, and may suggest the issue as widespread. However, the representative said Facebook is “not seeing what we would consider to be a proportional number of support tickets or bug reports coming in related to these reports“.

The Oculus PC software does not offer the ability to roll back versions and has automatic updates. This leaves users unable to easily solve problems introduced in software updates.

Facebook released an update on December 23 to the Public Test Channel which one of its programmers seemed to suggest fixes these issues. However, users on both reddit and the Oculus forums are reporting the issue still persists.

Facebook has been accused by some of abandoning Oculus’ PC roots by investing its time and attention in the Android-based Oculus Quest instead. Moves such as releasing Hand Tracking on Quest but not on the Rift S added fuel to these accusations. If this performance issue is indeed widespread, introducing performance issues to a software update and not providing a valid fix after almost one month gives credence to these suggestions.

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