I still cant get my setup right

[James3793]

 

Hey guys,

I have had my Vive Pro for around 2 weeks and I just cant get my set up right.

At first, I mounted the lighthouses on the wall about 9 feet apart about around 7 feet high. I was only using the headset in a sitting position to play Elite Dangerous at first and everything worked just fine and as expected.

 

I then started exploring some games that required me to stand and use the motion controllers and for this I needed to move my play area ever so slightly away from my desk.

 

I went through the setup again but it seemed to struggled to really pinpoint my specified play area, even if I thought it was set, I would load up the game and the play area would move to close to my desk for it to be safe.

 

In the end I decided to take the lighthouses off of the wall and mount them on two tripods that I can adjust to around 7 feet and obviously move around as much as I want.

 

Since doing this, I just cant seem to get things right.  Even if I get the play area right, the motion controllers jitter and often fly off when I am in game. If I am in Vive home I often start above the roof or buried in the group and my motion controllers go rogue too.

 

From reading other peoples set ups, my room is definitely large enough and there is no furniture in the way. I have framed art on the walls and the walls are painted a pretty dark gray but I am not sure this would be an issue.

 

I have the lighthouses on seperate channels and have tried switches these around but I still get a very inconsistant, jittery performance.

 

I even bought a sync cable for the orginal Vive but I dont think this even works.

 

Any tips?

 

[HackPerception]

This certainly sounds like a reflection issue - likely off the framed art you described.

is the easiest way to troubleshoot reflections - you can use a cellphone or any bright flashlight. 

Another thing to consider is that your tripods may be too flexible and may be jittering around due to the vibration caused by the rotation of the basestation motor. 

 

Are you using 1.0 or 2.0 tracking? The sync cable does not work with 2.0 basestations and the port on the back is vestigial. 

[JRE]

Don't buy into the "reflection" comments. Its simple not true. 

You said this is a Vive Pro, correct? So you are using your original 1.0 lighthouses and a link cable, right?

You will need the link cable. Runnign the Pro without a link cable between your lighthouses is going to cause you issues. How far apart are the lighthouses from each other? Do you have them spaced facing diagnally from each other? (this is not always necessary, btw). 

Also..go into SteamVR settings and under the Bluetooth settings make sure you do not have a checkmark in the box for the base stations to use bluetooth to check for updates.

Did you reset the link box? If not, unplug it and then switch the USB from the link box to another USB 2.0 port on your computer before you plug it back in. 

One last thing I would try: Buy a mini DP to DP (mini display port to display port) cable if you have a DP port on your video card. Run that from the link box to your video card and don't use the HDMI cable. I have had more luck doing that with the Pro when using it with original Vive lighthouses

Good luck!

[JRE]

One other thing. When you use the link cable for the lighthouses you have to make sure one lighthouse is on channel b and the other on channel A....in case you didn't realize that

And download the Pro files from the Vive website...if you haven't already

 

Sorry...forgot to mention that

[Lestaticon]

DO buy into the reflection comments, because that is definitely another factor. It is one I can easily reproduce and adjust for. It is so odd to say otherwise, and I just don't get why you would say that . edit: And if you need actual proof of that. Here is a response from Alan Yates, the engineer of the lighthouse tech and base station design at Valve. He is vk2zay on Reddit. In his response to a tracking issue, his opinion was that it looked like a "reflection problem."

 

It is one of the first issues I solved in my own space and solve each time I relocate for demos.

If either one of your base stations are in line of sight with a reflective surface, there is more chance for issues. Doubly so when the reflective surface is in the general direction of the other base station. 

The base stations are forgiving of some reflections, but it will vary like all things, depending upon the location of those reflective surfaces in the space. In the first few months of owning my first Vive system, I had issues with loss of tracking, but especially with controllers flying out of the play area. Sometimes the headset would loose tracking and that would be the worst. After solving the reflection issue, I never have issues with that any longer. 

 

However, you may be having multiple issues. Your chaperone space shouldn't be skewing like that unless your base stations are moving or have been moved (even slightly). I don't believe reflections would produce that issue. Reflections would affect tracking. 

It is important that your base stations are high up, ideally over your head, and pointing down about  30 to 45 degrees (no more). If the chaperone space shifted while you had them on the wall, it's possible that they were not screwed down enough too. 

Also about 16 feet is the max distance between the bases. Do use the link cable, like  recommended. Each base has about 120 degree field of view so make sure they see each other and nothing is in the way. 

Tripods may be unstable and are easy to get jostled. If you have a dog or cat, for example, all it takes is a little nudge. I use these poles to mount my base stations and they have worked well the last few years. Plus, it makes it easy to transport and they provide a very stable surface. Along with those, however, I attach the bases to them using these clamps. Tripods can work, but there are more factors to look out for. (weight, sway, jostling, vibrations, for example)