ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 + HTC vive = HDMI issue. Help

[fransan]

Hey guys,

I just got a brand new ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 14” GA401IV Gaming Laptop [120Hz][Ryzen 9 4900HS][RTX 2060 6GB][16GB DDR4][1TB SSD] , which I was excited to play VR with my HTC vive first generation (yes, I pre-ordered it way back in the day).

This laptop has an HDMI (connected to the onboard card as I later found out) and two USB-C.

Upon setting it up, I ran into an issue where the game would load in the monitor but not in the headset, the error from SteamVR is: "Please plug your headset into the same graphics card as your primary monitor". I tried fixing it by selecting my nvidia card as the preferred card from the nvidia settings panel, I also went to program configuration and made sure all VR games and steam were running on nvdia card. While testing, I found a workaround to launch some games (worked in 4 out of about 15 tested). If I launch the game directly from steam or windows shortcut without loading SteamVR first, the game loads fine (happy I can play some games, but less than perfect solution). I though this was a software issue, since some games do load this way. I wrote ASUS support and they responded:

Quote

This e-mail refers to your concern regarding VR games. As advised by the local headquarters, it won't work on HDMI. You should use either the DisplayPort or USB Type-C ports. 

So I understood the problem being the HDMI cable that is connected to the onboard radeon card instead of the high performance nvidia. This is how the settings looks like: https://paste.pics/b5b6069d607b8af0b9b9a7ce37fd1dac

I went ahead and bought an HDMI to USB-C cable (chinese cable just like this https://paste.pics/c8adc33925b7139be530a7ef127d74c8 ). Unfortunately this didn't work, the headset is not displaying anything at all (no error messages either, just no display on headset). This was frustrating as it seems this worked for some users as described here https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/c7pyat/hdmi_to_usbc_from_

So I was wondering:

• Are there different types of HDMI to USB-C cables or converters that might work (in the past I experienced some HDMI not working with the HTC vive). If that's the case, what should I look for?

• HTC vive also have miniDP out, perhaps a miniDP to USB-C would do the trick?

Any other advice that would help me fix the issue s greatly appreciated. Looking for some guidance before throwing more money at these adapters,.

Thanks a lot!

[fransan]

No love? 😞

[Captain Obvious]

Hey there, I have this EXACT same problem.do you get that error in steamVR home too? I don't. When I go to launch a game all I see is that loading thing and that's when steamVR says mismatching GPU. the reason this confuses me is that the monitor is hooked up to the iGPU and so is the HDMI port on the monitor. As for the blank screen issue, I have that issue as well. I tried it on a cheap Chinese usb c to hdmi as well as a lenovo usb c to hdmi (I guess they're both chinese but whatever.) I did a little research and I think I read somewhere about a possible HDPC issue, but haven't had success so far. A quick note is there are two types of cables. Passive and active. Passive cables don't have any smarts in them and just display what the other end gives it. These are always bi-directional Active cables do an electrical conversion on the cable and are usually uni-directional

[fransan]

Hey Captain,

Thanks for the input. I do know that not all cables are made equal, I tried some HDMIs I had from monitors with the vive and they don't work. But these cables aren't cheap, so I was hoping to get more information before buying a bunch.

I have bought a miniDP to USB-C cable that will be delivered in a few days, I hope that will work. From what I understand the bandwidth of MiniDP is higher than HDMI, perhaps that will make a difference. If that doesn't work, I will try another adapter. 

Keep me posted if you find a solution and I'll do the same.

Cheers

[GuySoft]

On 8/22/2020 at 9:06 AM, fransan said:

Hey Captain,

Thanks for the input. I do know that not all cables are made equal, I tried some HDMIs I had from monitors with the vive and they don't work. But these cables aren't cheap, so I was hoping to get more information before buying a bunch.

I have bought a miniDP to USB-C cable that will be delivered in a few days, I hope that will work. From what I understand the bandwidth of MiniDP is higher than HDMI, perhaps that will make a difference. If that doesn't work, I will try another adapter. 

Keep me posted if you find a solution and I'll do the same.

Cheers

Any news on this?

Have the same issue too.

I managed to play using the iGPU, but that seem like a bad setup. Using the dGPU makes more sense.

[fransan]

I just received the MiniDP to USB-C cable, it works! So in my case something about that HDMI cable wasn't working, I don't know if it was that particular cable or just the HDMI output in general. So there you go guys, try your MiniDP out instead, that might do the trick.

[Captain Obvious]

Looks like just swapping the HDMI cable somehow still let me play VR. It works 100% fine for me now. Probably will invest in a solution to just use the DP instead of hdmi so I can lower response time and not get a screen door effect

[GuySoft]

@fransan can you post the exact product you are using?  There a are quite a few types of displayport converters and I don't know what to pick.

 

[fransan]

8 minutes ago, GuySoft said:

@fransan can you post the exact product you are using?  There a are quite a few types of displayport converters and I don't know what to pick.

 

This one https://www.lazada.com.ph/products/lalove-18-meters-usb-31-c-type-c-thunderbolt-to-mini-display-port-dp-adapter-cable-i784996698-s2381344796.html?mp=1

[Captain Obvious]

As long as you get a PASSIVE cable you should be good. Don't use an ACTIVE cable as the cable does work to recode the signal for the other format. The g14 already can send DP from the type C so passive cables are what you need.