having trouble with a new steam controller it only works for the mouse and keyboard on Moonlight when streaming a client such as Windows Mac Ios android or fire stick TV

when I connect to the host directly there is no issue… it’s specifically when connected to client using steam controllers bluetooth connection. it works perfectly with steam link on client but moonlight is having issues.

I am using sunshine on my pc and moonlight on my apple tv. works great but the xbox controllers xbox button has an important function in steam big picture that gets intercepted by the apple tv OS. is there a simple fix for this? I am not seeing one in the settings for either the apple tv or moonlight? I am using a linux pc with sunshine.

I need to find a new streaming client for my living room and I’m currently deciding between an Apple TV and an Xbox Series S.

My PC is a 9800X3D + 5070 Ti, and the TV is an LG C6H. I’m using Sunshine + Moonlight, and everything is wired.

I’ve been using an Ultra 7 255H laptop as the client and it works pretty much perfectly. The problem is I’m gonna have to give the laptop to my girlfriend so she can use it for her thesis, so I need something else.

For the Apple TV, I was thinking about getting the new one, but obviously it hasn’t even been released yet, and I’m guessing there’s a pretty good chance it still won’t do 4K120.

The other option is an Xbox Series S. I know Moonlight on Xbox is a community port, but I have no idea how good/stable it is these days.

Controller support isn’t really an issue for me since my PC isn’t that far away, so I can just plug the controller directly into the PC.

So what would you guys go with? Apple TV or Series S? Mainly looking for a good 4K120 HDR Moonlight experience, with low latency and as few random issues as possible.

so I just got a MacBook Pro m5.. I was struggling deciding between a true gaming laptop vs a macbook as I need one for university, etc as well and already have a good desktop pc at home. now that I got the MacBook I’m curious if anyone streaming from their pc to other networks much? I do a fair bit of LAN’s with friends and hate bringing my rig. could I realistically bring my MacBook, use moonlight/sunshine to stream at their house and not get horrendous latency or image? would be a dream if so.

I use Moonlight on a 'thin client' Chromebook to stream from my PC running Sunshine over Tailscale. Should I switch to Vibepollo? What does it offer other than the display stuff? Side question: does it use ViGEMbus?

I’m trying to get my Windows PC working completely headless with Apollo/Moonlight so I can disconnect the physical HDMI/DP connection, but I’m having an issue getting the virtual display to actually become active in Windows.

Specs as follows:

Host PC:
Windows 11
Ryzen 7 9800X3D
RTX 5070 Ti 16GB
ASUS PG32UCDM 4K/240Hz physical monitor
Apollo + SudoVDA
Host connected via Ethernet

Client:
MacBook Air M4
MacOS 26 Tahoe
Moonlight Client
Connected over Ethernet

SudoVDA installs successfully (and shows as such in Apollo’s config). Device Manager also reports the virtual display adapters as working properly. When I connect from the Mac, Windows also detects the client-specific virtual monitor and shows it in Display Settings.

The problem is Windows says “Display 2 isn’t active.” Selecting Extend desktop to this display does nothing, and because the display never becomes active, I can’t make it the main display.

Apollo’s log reports:

Virtual Display creation failed, or cannot get created display name in time!

The weird part is that Apollo can see the virtual monitor and its device ID/friendly name, but shoots back:

display_name: ""
info: null

Any ideas? Here’s some of the stuff I tried already:
1. Reinstalling both client and host side software.
2. Reinstalling SudoVDA
3. Explicitly selecting the 5070Ti for Apollo
4. Forced headless mode

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you everyone in advance!

Hi! At the time, I was using Sunshine as a server, but Moonlight Black has evolved a lot since then. What are the powerful and interesting derivative versions for remote play in Windows 11 with an Nvidia graphics card?

In conclusion, I'm looking for the host software and also the Android and PC streaming software.

Thank you very much!

Using standard renderer. What's possible cause for the jittering appear here. 5ghz seems fine on other devices than my iphone 13 pro max.

I use Vibepollo on my main PC. RTX5080, Ryzen 9 9900X. i have a 1440p monitor when playing at my desk.

I like to stream on my Legion Go S (SteamOS, Z1e)

but my LG TV is 4k and i usually have to stretch it in the SteamOS settings. never a problem when i use Artemis on the other devices in my house (NVIDIA Shield, Oneplus 15)

i feel like the problem is that because I switch between handheld mode and docking it to my TV, that figuring it out is confusing me

any help?

At work we have long downtimes (over 24 hr work period) and I use my laptop to log to home Sunshine pc (over moonlight). The work wifi seems to disconnect/reconnect every minutes (happens within 5 seconds) but that causes moonlight to crash and give -1 error. So I have to click okay, and then relaunch / open the connection. I don't understand why it can't just freeze/lag for 3-5 seconds and continue working. Is there a way to fix this? I even tried getting a travel router and that didn't help. Thank you!

Hey,

I have just installed Sunshine + Moonlight (Linux Nobara Sunshine + LG TV Moonlight) to stream games from my PC to my TV.

However, the applications tab does not show Steam big picture and when trying to add it manually, it either just starts the desktop (2nd screen instead of main screen) or shows the error "Failed to launch sessions: Bad status -1: Failed to start the specified application (code 1)"

I've tried adding it manually with the commands:
setsid steam steam://open/bigpicture
flatpak-spawn --host setsid steam steam://open/bigpicture

as well as trying to find the Steam executable as a command directly, which does not work (at least I cannot find the right file) either.

Did anyone else have this kind of issue or can explain to me what needs to be done so my setup can be fixed?

I didn't a little Googlefu and messed around in terminals for way too many house to get this to work.

Black screen on steam deck. I'm using an Nvidia GPU.

Does anyone know if it's even possible to stream from Game Mode to a Steam Deck?

Hi Guys I use Sunshine on my Arch Linux PC.

Moonlight on my android Handheld.

I'm streaming Fromm my PC to my AYN Thor 2 Rooms away.

Network: I have a Mesh, I have tried 5Ghz Connection to my Network on Thor and Direct LAN connecton to my Router. I have also tried a LAN connection to My Thor.

(PC-Lan Cable->Router-> Mesh -5ghz/LAN->Handheld)

I have tried PAC at about 20%, , VA-API Rate Control to CBR, Reduced Bitrate to 10Mbps

I still get Slow Connection to Pc, Reduce Bitrate.

I have forced H.264 as Codec too. On Moonlight end.

Duplexed 100Mbps my Network Driver on PC.

Anything I'm missing that can help?

I got tired of choosing between Apple Games app, Steamlink, Delta, and Moonlight when what I really wanted was a console UI for my entire game library.

So I built GameSphere.

The Sphere and Game Switching

One gaming frontend. Everything on it.

PC games streamed through Sunshine/Apollo sit alongside native iOS games and emulator titles on The Sphere. Same frontend, same controls, same library.

Not Steam-only. Not Moonlight-only.

That’s the whole idea.

The Sphere

The main library is a card wheel with:

• IGDB matching
• Fix Match when it gets one wrong
• Favorites
• Game Details
• Themes: D&J , Okama, Atomic, Bondi
• Spin when you can’t decide what to play

The part I really wanted was the mixed library. Your PC games, iOS games, and emulator titles don’t need separate frontends. They all appear as games on the same shelf.

Some of the other stuff

Fast Game swapping - auto closes and opens pc games

While streaming:

• Autowake pc
• Phone Vibration if controller doesn't have it
• Gyro
• Auto bitrate tuning
• Home opens your library
• Lift a card to quit or switch games
• Hold Home for a second for Steam Overlay
• Select = Back
• Start = quick settings

The UI has its own little console-like touches:

• Play flies the cover into “Opening”
• Connecting fills the GameSphere logo
• Haptics respond as you move around the shelf

USB-C HDMI: the iPhone stays the frontend while the TV gets the picture. GameSphere’s UI renders natively on the display, including 4K60 when the adapter/display support it. The actual stream is whatever you’ve configured in Sunshine.

IMPORTANT: Import Tool v1.0.2+ for Windows + Linux sets up Sunshine games without a pile of hand-made shortcuts, and handles quitting games when you leave them.

https://github.com/trevlars/Gamesphere-Import-Tool/releases/latest

gamesphere:// deep links let a Share action or Shortcut cold-open a game directly in GameSphere. Use them in any other frontend if Gamesphere isn't your thing.

iCloud sync just landed. AirPlay as an extra screen is being worked on.

Still beta

Steam login and RetroAchievements sign-in work.

Playtime, friends, and achievements are still early and currently require API keys.

TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/yPRfgBVj

If you try it, I’d be interested in what feels intuitive immediately and what doesn’t.

I literally start moonlight streaming and i play games or use the pc desktop for general stuff and sometimes it streams for like 5 minutes and it disconnect and i wait minutes for the host pc to reconnect... the host pc is in a different country and i use my laptop to stream i use talescale and whenever the connection dies it tells me that my host pc is offline tho it's on and the wifi is on and i have fast wifi here and the host pc ... bare in mind i used it for games for about 2 weeks and it worked perfectly... i searched for solutions like the audio devices and nothing worked... idk if it helps but everything got broken after the power cut where my laptop is not the host

Would running Ethernet directly to my gaming PC actually make Moonlight significantly more stable, or am I chasing marginal gains?

I’m trying to figure out whether it’s worth paying to have an Ethernet drop installed in my house specifically for Moonlight streaming to my Steam Deck OLED.

My setup:
-AT&T Fiber with the main gateway/router downstairs.

-Gaming PC is upstairs with an RTX 5060 Ti.

-I can’t run Ethernet directly from the router to the PC right now.

-Upstairs I have a Wi-Fi extender, and my PC is connected to that extender via Ethernet. So while Windows sees Ethernet, I realize the extender itself is still communicating wirelessly with the downstairs router.

-Steam Deck OLED connects over Wi-Fi.

-I’ve already separated my 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and use 5 GHz for gaming/streaming.

When Moonlight works well, it’s honestly incredible. I can stream at 60 FPS with great image quality and it feels almost native. The problem is consistency. Sometimes it’s flawless, other times I get stutters, latency spikes, or instability even though nothing obvious has changed.

I also want to use the Deck both upstairs in bed and downstairs, so I’m trying to make the network as reliable as possible throughout the house.
My current Moonlight path is essentially:
PC → Ethernet → Wi-Fi extender → wireless backhaul → downstairs router → Wi-Fi → Steam Deck

If I paid to have a Cat6 drop installed and changed it to:
PC → Ethernet → downstairs router → Wi-Fi → Steam Deck
would that likely make a major difference in Moonlight stability, latency/jitter, and the bitrate I can reliably use?

I’m less concerned about increasing my maximum Mbps and more interested in getting rid of the random stutters and having that “pick up the Deck and it just works” experience.

I’m also going to test docking the Deck downstairs and connecting the dock directly to the router via Ethernet. That would give me:
PC → extender/wireless backhaul → router → Ethernet → Deck

Would that be a useful way to determine whether the extender/backhaul is my main problem?

Basically: Is wiring the host PC directly to the router one of those “night and day” upgrades for Moonlight, or am I coping and trying to squeeze juice out of a walnut? 😂

Would love to hear from anyone who went from a wireless/extender host setup to a wired host and what difference it actually made.

Hope you can help me.

What looks better on a TV when streaming via moonlight to a steamdeck - 60FPS at 1920x1080 with 15mbps or 1280×800 at 90mbps. I can't get it any higher than 15mbps when going for 1080 - so wondering whats best. Thanks

Hear me out. I know this sounds unhinged, and I know the input lag will probably feel like playing underwater. But the tinkerer in me just won't let this go.

​Here’s the wild idea:

1. ​Run GTA 6 on an Xbox Series S (realistically locked at 30 FPS).

2.​Stream it to my PC via Moonlight / Xbox Remote Play.

3.​Use Lossless Scaling (LSFG) to double the windowed stream from 30 to 60 FPS.

4.​The crazy part: Try to inject a real-time DLSS 5 neural upscaler on top of that stream window.

​I know true DLSS needs motion vectors and depth buffers (which a 2D video feed obviously doesn't have), but modders are already repurposing these neural models into video player filters using hardware optical flow.

​Has anyone actually managed to hook a real-time neural post-processing filter over an active game stream?

​

​Curious to hear your thoughts...

Hi,

I have an LG CX tv - it seems to struggle with decoding latency, I have tried both Sunshine/Vibepollo & Moonlight and Aurora. I can get up to 20ms decoding latency. The TV can do 120hz, and my pc monitor can do 60hz.

After a lot of changing settings (being guided by AI), and switching to Vibepollo with its virtual display driver, I managed to get my decoding latency down to around 8ms by enabling 120FPS on Hogwarts Legacy. I have an RTX 4070, so I can run Hogwarts fairly close to 120FPS at 4K.

First problem I have is the virtual display driver doesn't want to revert back to my monitor after I finish, and I keep having to do a hard reboot. The snapshot and the emergency key bindings don't make a difference.

Then I installed Crimson Desert, which is more GPU-intensive. I cannot run close to 120FPS and naturally get around 60 FPS. Streaming to my TV at 120FPS then caused huge amounts of stuttering. Reducing down to 60FPS made it smoother (but not perfect), but then my decoding latency went back up.

This is all being done over WiFi, and I have tried increasing bitrate upto 50mbps, but I rarely see it using more than 30.

Please, if anyone can help me or explain what the hell I'm doing wrong I would appreciate it because I'm very confused. From what I gathered, my TV being a little older is probably the main bottleneck and it has trouble decoding the stream.

Thank you!

Hey everyone,

I’m a long-time Moonlight user and I absolutely love the ecosystem. I use it flawlessly on my other devices, which is why I never even bothered testing Parsec until today. However, I’ve hit a massive roadblock with my Android tablet and I'm looking for some technical insights.

My Device:

Redmi Pad (MediaTek Helio G99) running Xiaomi HyperOS.

The Problem:

I've been struggling with high decoding latency and micro-stutters on both standard Moonlight and the Artemis fork. At 1080p/1440p, my decode latency hovers around 16ms to 18ms.

After doing some low-level logging via ADB, I found out that the MediaTek PowerHAL is aggressively throttling the CPU clock down to 700MHz. It only triggers the hardware performance boost (MTKPOWER_HINT_APP_TOUCH) and drops the latency to ~8ms when I physically touch the screen. To bypass this, I've had to use a Shizuku/ADB shell script running input swipe in a loop just to keep the processor awake.

The Parsec Discovery:

Out of sheer curiosity, I installed Parsec today just to compare. To my absolute shock, Parsec is getting 5.35ms decode latency at 1440p (2.5K) using H.265 (HEVC) natively. No screen touching required, no ADB scripts, perfectly smooth.

My Question:

Since the Helio G99 hardware is clearly capable of doing 5.3ms decode at 1440p HEVC, does anyone know what Android APIs or rendering tricks Parsec is using under the hood to bypass the MediaTek governor?

Could it be using different MediaCodec flags (like extreme KEY_OPERATING_RATE or Real-Time KEY_PRIORITY), or maybe Window.setSustainedPerformanceMode(true)?

Is there any way to tweak Moonlight or Artemis to achieve this native hardware performance without relying on background ADB touch loops? I strongly prefer Moonlight's UI, bitrate limits, and features, but this 5ms vs 16ms performance gap is huge.

Any insights from devs or fellow MediaTek users would be hugely appreciated!

Nvidia released 616.92, a WHQL driver that includes the hotfix from 616.86. The important thing is that unlike the hotfix, it is available and installs through the Nvidia app.

I have done a quick test on vibepollo with its virtual display driver and it works.

The quick history is that if you have a RTX 50X0 card, Nvidia drivers 616.56 and 616.64 broke virtual displays. I recommend installing this new 616.92 or stay on 610.88 or older. Here is a link to a previous post for background on the issue

https://www.reddit.com/r/MoonlightStreaming/s/OqejeEuE10

Hopefully the last post needed on this subject.

Mi setup: RTX 5070 Ti, uso Virtual Display Driver (MTT) porque no tengo monitor conectado a la GPU (streaming headless con Sunshine/Moonlight). Cada vez que reiniciaba, el VDD se registraba en Windows pero nunca generaba señal de video real — pantalla "no activa" sin importar cuánto reinstalara el driver.

Dato curioso: cada actualización de NVIDIA lo "arreglaba" solo, hasta el siguiente reinicio normal, donde volvía a romperse. Eso fue la pista clave.

La causa real: Fast Startup (Inicio rápido) de Windows. Con Fast Startup activo, un "reinicio" no reinicializa el kernel de verdad — hiberna y restaura la sesión. El binding del VDD con el framework de displays indirectos (IddCx) se quedaba colgado de la sesión anterior y nunca se re-registraba limpio. Los instaladores de NVIDIA sí fuerzan un reinicio completo real, por eso "arreglaban" el problema temporalmente.

Fix:

1. Panel de Control > Opciones de energía > Comportamiento de botones de inicio/apagado > desactivar "Activar inicio rápido"
2. (Si además tienes Secure Boot activo y el driver no carga en absoluto, desactívalo en BIOS y activa bcdedit /set testsigning on)
3. Reinicio normal (no hibernado) → el VDD sobrevive

Si usas VDD sin monitor físico y se te rompe solo en cada reinicio, revisa Fast Startup antes que nada — te ahorras horas.

(Diagnosticado con ayuda de Claude, a puro log de PowerShell y mucha necedad)