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RiftLinux 0.1.2

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@AIIX AIIX released this 25 Oct 03:11
v0.1.2
c9933f3

RiftLinux is a modified Monado, specialized for full Oculus Rift CV1 support: the headset, its Constellation sensors
and its Touch controllers on Linux, in SteamVR and in OpenXR applications, from one package. No Windows, no Oculus
software, no Meta account.

This pre-release fixes the desktop session ending on GNOME 50 when the headset's display goes dark, as reported
with AMD graphics. 0.1.1 stays the current release until more GNOME 50 and AMD setups confirm it: reports are very
welcome.

Fixed

  • GNOME: the desktop session no longer ends when the headset's display goes dark. When the headset's display
    switched off (the headset taken off, or its wear sensor not noticing the face) and the headset left HDMI,
    RiftLinux asked GNOME for the headset again and again, many times a second, until gnome-shell crashed and the
    session ended. Now it asks once the headset is back on HDMI, waits between tries when one fails, and hands the
    headset back to GNOME in the order GNOME expects.
  • riftlinux-setup install --openxr steamvr stopped with a permission error when the OpenXR runtime set before
    was another runtime's file in /usr/share/openxr. It now switches to SteamVR.

Tested on

  • Ubuntu 26.04 (GNOME 50.1, Wayland) with an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT (Mesa 26.0.8), from a live USB stick: with
    SteamVR running, the headset taken off and put on again: GNOME offered the headset while it was off HDMI, RiftLinux
    waited, the picture came back when it was worn, and the desktop kept running.
  • Ubuntu 25.04 (GNOME 48, Wayland) with NVIDIA 580: with SteamVR running, the headset's HDMI unplugged and plugged
    back, and the headset taken off and put on again: the picture came back each time and the desktop kept running.
  • CachyOS (KDE Plasma, Wayland) with NVIDIA 615: with SteamVR running, the headset's HDMI unplugged and plugged back:
    the picture came back as it was plugged in, and the desktop kept running.
  • The packages are installed and checked in clean Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04 and 26.04, Debian 12 and 13, Fedora 43 and 44,
    and Arch systems.
  • Not tested here: Intel graphics.
  • x86-64 computers only.

Install

Download the package for your distribution and SHA256SUMS below, check them with
sha256sum --ignore-missing -c SHA256SUMS, and install (an upgrade from 0.1.0 or 0.1.1 is the same command):

sudo apt install ./riftlinux_0.1.2_amd64.deb                  # Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS
sudo pacman -U riftlinux-0.1.2-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst           # Arch, CachyOS, EndeavourOS, Manjaro
sudo dnf install ./riftlinux-0.1.2-1.x86_64.rpm               # Fedora
tar xf riftlinux-0.1.2-x86_64.tar.gz && sudo ./riftlinux-0.1.2-x86_64/install.sh   # any other distribution

Then plug in the Rift and start SteamVR from Steam. The
user guide walks through the first start; the README has
the settings and the comparison with other options.

Known issues

  • Steam's client can crash when a flat (non-VR) game opens a window while SteamVR runs: a Valve bug, not this driver
    (SteamVR for Linux #963: the same crash, reported for the Desktop tab).
  • SteamVR's compositor can crash as SteamVR quits, after the session has ended: harmless, and SteamVR's own exit code
    (SteamVR for Linux #990: the same crash with Valve's own streaming driver).
  • If SteamVR's compositor stops while SteamVR runs (seen once, after a GPU fault on NVIDIA right after SteamVR left
    standby), SteamVR does not start it again and no game starts: close SteamVR and start it again.
  • Steam asks some questions before a game's first start on the monitor, not in the headset: if a game does not
    start from inside VR, take the headset off and answer them there.
  • SteamVR's Desktop tab is empty on Linux (SteamVR for Linux #693); WayVR shows the desktop as an overlay. In RiftLinux's own runtime WayVR's
    panels look softer than games, and not every controller button does what WayVR expects (being looked into).
  • With NVIDIA on Wayland and a VRR monitor, the headset's picture can tear unless VRR is hidden from the driver
    (NVIDIA's bug, open-gpu-kernel-modules #992): the README's Wayland section has the setting.
  • GNOME with HDR on can leave the desktop's colours washed out when the headset connects or disconnects; switching
    HDR off and on in GNOME's settings restores them (likely mutter #5083, fixed for GNOME 51).
  • Pairing the Oculus Remote is not tested yet.

The README's Known issues section has the full list, including app issues under Proton.

Reporting a problem

Open an issue with the bug form and add the output of riftlinux-setup --json check and SteamVR's log
(~/.local/share/Steam/logs/vrserver.txt); say which GPU and driver you have.

For a tracking problem, record a session: run riftlinux-setup record on, start SteamVR and do what shows the
problem, then attach the recording from ~/.cache/riftlinux and SteamVR's startup log
(~/.steam/steam/logs/vrstartup-linux.txt). Turn it off afterwards with riftlinux-setup record off.

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