nandrews Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 I have purchased an Alienware laptop to run my Vive headset in a larger room. I moved from a PC with a i5 processor and GTX980, to a laptop with an i7 and a 1070 video card. But the experience seems to be worse and I am now suffering slight nausea effects. I detect there is a slight movement in the image when I move my head - a movement in the same direction I move! Then it seems to move correctly, though I see occasional glitches when the image jumps slightly. I believe this is what is causing the nausea symptoms. But why should it be a worse experience when I have, I believe, improved the computer? The only problem I had when setting it up, was it said the base stations were too far apart. But only breifly and I haven't seen that indication since. Anyone know what might be making this faster computer seem slower. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingRangnar Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Hi, ! I'm not a specialist, but sounds to me that it sound a bit like you might have some tracking issues. Since you mention, that there was a statement during set up. Try measure the distance between the base stations. Officialy they are saying the distance between the stations should not be more than 5m. Although I saw somewhere someone who actually pushed that limits further and had no issues. I think that's where you should start. Good Luck ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nandrews Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Thanks for that. I was going to get out the supplied lead and connect the base stations, to see if that made a difference. Then I read that if the stations don't have sync then the light changes. I haven't noticed any change (tho' of course in use I can't see them). It's an easy change to make, so I will try the lead next time. I thought it was down to the computer, since I have also seen more brief flashes of the inital Vive screen in the middle of games and on occasions it 'staggers' when it is obviously loading a new scene. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingRangnar Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 It makes sense what you are sayin, but according to my logic/understanding, the fact that the bases are synced does not exclude the option of tracking loss, as I imagine the two stations with their (at some point limited) FoV, they are synced but still if too far away from each other there might be some zones which are out of reach/tracking. I'm not a specialist neither working at HTC or Valve, it's just the way I understand how the technology works, but ofcourse there is a big chance I'm mistaken. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nandrews Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 I appreciate that and I will give the lead a try later. It's not a very obvious problem and the first time I tried the headseet on the new laptop I just thought it was my reaction on that day. But the second time I noticed how it was jumping and moving and I think the most subtle things can throw your balance and bring on a feeling of nausea. I will let you know here how the cable effects it. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlobusDiablo Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 ... in a larger room... Elementary dear Watson... No, but seriously. If you've moved your setup to another room, be very wary of windows or mirrors or other items causing reflections that can disturb your VR experience. I hope you find the culprit. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nandrews Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 That's useful info. I have connected the wire between the base stations. But I've yet to try it to see if it'll work. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seluecos Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Have you checked to see if you're getting any frame drops? The behavior you describe sounds like a framerate issue to me. You can check by going to Settings > Performance and click Display Frame Timing in SteamVR. This pops up a window showing some performance statistics.Also, confirm your PC is properly setting SteamVR/Vive to Direct Mode. It should be defaulting to it, but laptops can be weird about it for some reason. Easiest way to check is to create a system report (click the dropdown in Steam VR, click 'Create System Report'). Look for a line that says 'Display Mode' and it should say either Direct Mode or Extended Mode. If in Extended Mode, go to Settings > Developer and click Enable Direct Mode (then check again if it's in Direct or Extended mode). If it's still in extended mode, your laptop likely is using the motherboards onboard GPU instead of the dedicated Nvidia one. There's two ways to check for this, either try using another HDMI port (if available) as sometimes one port is for the on-board GPU and another is used for the Nvidia GPU, or telling the laptop to always use the Nvidia GPU via the Nvidia Control Panel settings. Instructions on doing this via Nvidia Control Panel are below: Open the Nvidia Control Panel and in the Manage 3D Settings (Global Settings tab) make sure you set the Preferred Graphics Process dropdown to the Nvidia GPU (might be listed as High-Performance NVIDIA Processor). Next, go to the Program Settings tab and select SteamVR from the drop down and do the same thing. I would also recommend setting the Power Management Mode options to Maximum performance (both under Global Settings and for SteamVR in the Program Settings). You may need to do this for each VR game/app you use, but it shouldn't be necessary.Hopefully that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nandrews Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Wow! So much there for me to check. I will have a look at each tomorrow and reply back. Thanks v-much for your help. I tried the existing setup (with the base stations linked by cable) earlier. But the effect I was getting before was pretty much unchanged. Thanks all. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nandrews Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Seluecos, Thanks again for you suggestions. I couldn't wait to try them tomorrow, so I looked at them tonight! I have run the Steam VR Display Rate, though I'm not sure what that's telling me. After starting VR it shows a scrolling graph with a slightly varying green area upto 1 on CPU and 1.5 on GPU. But if I select Show in headset I don't see anything new in the headset. So is this telling me anything? I looked in the Steam VR system report and Displays shows Direct Mode with Display 0 GTX 1070, Monitor PnP Monitor and Display 1 NVIDIA Direct Mode Which I assume is showing the VR is using the graphics card correctly. Tho' I did look in the Nvidia Control panel, but I couldn't locate the Preferred Graphics process under the Global tab and when I went to Program settings the drop down didn't list Steam VR. But maybe as the Steam VR report seems to show Direct mode maybe the rest is academic. Thanks for your help Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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