SteamVR #
The de facto standard for anything PCVR, SteamVR runs on Linux.
Unfortunately the Linux version is riddled with bugs, missing features and bad performace, so in general it can be a subpar experience.
You can use one of the alternatives listed in the FOSS VR section.
If you want to use a standalone headset with SteamVR you can check out ALVR.
Room Setup #
The SteamVR room setup application is bug prone. It’s possible to circumvent the room setup application using one of the following methods.
Quick Calibration #
Set the headset and controllers on the floor in the center of the playspace. Run the Quick Calibration utility under Settings > Developer > Room and Tracking. This will setup a standing play area for you to use.
Reprojection #
SteamVR is fully incapable of stutter-free reprojection currently, efforts are ongoing to raise attention fix this. The issue can only be mitigated by not dropping below 1/2 of your HMD’s rated refresh value, once under there is no other means to prevent the vision slitting, stuttering, or lagging from occuring. We recommend in all cases the use of Envision as a suitable replacement for this software stack…
Envision #
Envision can run a quick calibration with the press of a button. This is convenient if you want to use Monado instead of SteamVR, but the calibration will also work on plain SteamVR.
VRCMD #
For a (nearly) headless option to do the room setup. First, turn on the basestations and controllers. Put the headset and controllers in the center of your play space.
Next, open two terminal windows with /home/user/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/SteamVR/bin/linux64 as the working directory. In one window, run the following command. This command will start the SteamVR server and generate pose data.
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(pwd) ./vrcmd --pollposes
In the second terminal window, run the following command. This command will perform a similar function to the Quick Calibration method described above.
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(pwd) ./vrcmd --resetroomsetup
Use Ctrl+C in the first terminal window to stop the SteamVR server.