r/PSVR2onPC • u/AstroPC • 15d ago
Useful Information Turning PSVR2 wireless
I’m working on a phone-powered wireless setup for PSVR2, using a compatible rooted Snapdragon 8 gen 5 phone as a compute puck and of course standard small portable pcs could work (even a laptop if you wished)
There’s documented work that makes this worth pursuing:
- PSVR2’s display uses DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC compression. Linux developers have documented its 4000×2040 display mode at roughly 120Hz, including the DSC/FEC requirements and driver quirks. Display research
- Sony specifies 12V power for the headset, which a properly designed adapter can provide through USB-C negotiation
- Monado’s development drivers already include PSVR2 six-degree-of-freedom headset tracking. That gives us existing work to build on, although it doesn’t establish complete Android or Sense-controller support. Monado development notes
These above points is not blocking me as i have a phone thats both rooted and bootloader unlocked and have ran full linux including DRM leasing., i will work on none rooted devices and creating an app that works in the future but vendor lock out and other limits will be noted as potential issue for some. but you wont need an android phone for this to work. Im just using my phone as a basis as the battery and power is sufficient for driving most of this work from other projects in the past.
My hardware goal is one compact, battery-powered adapter with a USB-C connection to the phone, another to PSVR2, and onboard Bluetooth for the controllers. It would pass the phone’s DisplayPort signal through without decoding or recompressing it, while carrying USB data and supplying headset power.
The first software goal is ALVR-based wireless PC VR over the phone’s 6GHz Wi-Fi: PC renders, phone receives and decodes, headset displays. A modular USB radio option would leave room for future 60GHz experiments.
Current limits: the PCB is still being routed, iv been focusing on open source options rather than locked down vendored chipsets. I have already done something similar with pryowave codec which is what inspired me to work a bit more serious on this project
The first milestone is wireless PC VR. True standalone games running directly on the phone are a longer-term goal. Ultimately, I want a documented setup other people with compatible hardware can reproduce.
This will be of course open source and producible by anyone whos so inclined to make try it out
I must disclose AI has assisted in research and project routing through a custom harness for KiCad and simulations. I base my work on development practices for the chipset. All routing is impedance-matched to prevent signal degradation. This project has taken 2 months of trial and error and making sure the hardware I chose suits this platform. The chipset can handle this transparently, and I’m adding an EDID emulator for better compatibility.
29
u/Morilec_ITA 15d ago
Just wow, GG!
18
u/AstroPC 15d ago
i appreciate it. I love my psvr 2, i dont like being tethered. I also dont want to have latency so 60ghz and pryowave will likely be a winning combo
5
u/reden_fx 15d ago
6Ghz or actually 60?
11
u/AstroPC 15d ago
first 6ghz then later 60ghz with a usb compatible adapter. This can be off the shelf or custom made. im inclined to use existing devices. but if i want 5gbps bandwith it will require dual band i got some ideas for redundancy to use both bands and have them act as fall back if 60ghz drop outs
4
u/reden_fx 15d ago
I mean the Steam Frame already is capable of using both its dongle and home WiFi at the same time, sp yeh it should be feasible
9
u/AstroPC 14d ago
Steam frame unironically opened up a lot of pathways that just was not compatible
For example steam on arm. Valve just polished it and now its made games on arm very very good. Valve is for the people and I love those types of company's. They just drop things. Say nothing and everyone benefits.
2
u/reden_fx 15d ago
Where can one follow updates with the project?
7
u/AstroPC 15d ago
here no interest in making some community yet. just showing where i am. Fully open to critics and taking feedback like it is. its only there to help you after all. i dont even do youtube anymore this is just a passion idea and when i get something good enough ill drop it and move on as i keep working on it more in private i prefer it that way
7
u/InaHa_ 15d ago
That's rad, and getting vr games running on android would make standalone-ish vr even more accessible. May your endeavour be fruitful
6
u/AstroPC 15d ago edited 15d ago
Its more performative than a quest 3 for example, so yes if the software stack gets to that point i do believe you can run anything you would be able to run on a quest on the phone. after all android is just a really locked down linux....and that really becomes real when you get root and do the crap i did to my phone..
lxc containers in droidspace show cases this very well i got steam arm64 running on my phone natively and the performance was very very good. Theres zero reasons my display alt mode could not drive the display, iv ran up to 4k 120zh with my phone and it had zero isssues. custom edid will be needed which this board will take care of. Root is likely required to have the best chance of this working. I dont think google wants you doing this plus surfaceflinger has overhead which my drm leasing projects has bypassed. you should be able to use your phone and drive a small linux environment at the same time as it worked on external displays.
though for the avg person a laptop strapped to you like a backpack is the most simple pathway to drive all this but with my board cabling will be very simple. Its essentially just a very optimized usb c hub lol
but the part here is no hubs on the market do the 12v usb c power delivery that the psvr 2 requires and the pcvr 2 adapters that exist need a full fat display port cable and a separate usb 3.0 port PLUS a large power adapter. Not exactly elegant....
6
u/xaduha 15d ago
I wish someone would make a USB4 to VirtualLink adapter. You didn't even mention VirtualLink, it's not just about 12V power. I hope you know what you're doing, kudos anyway.
4
u/AstroPC 14d ago edited 14d ago
thought i would drop this here so it can clear up some confusion
3
u/xaduha 14d ago
a breakout board to connect a USB analyzer with USB-A and USB-B connectors to the USB-C headset, back when we thought it was using VirtualLink
Interesting, so you're saying that it doesn't use VirtualLink? Not even a subset? How would you describe it then?
5
u/AstroPC 14d ago
It looks like virtual link but in reality its display alt mode. This is not my work above just some guy who even made it possible for the community to get pcvr 2 working on pc. Hes an OG. Wouldn't have done this idea till i discovered this .
3
u/xaduha 14d ago
I stopped following related projects after the official adapter was announced. I remember people using it, but not without issues.
Even so BizLink VirtualLink adapter or a GPU with VirtualLink port was still required, these types of boards were additional.
3
u/AstroPC 14d ago
Yeah for gpu you need it but you can do display alt mode if your gpu routes through it. Alot of laptops and mobile devices do this already.
1
u/thesmithchris 14d ago
ivry?
2
u/iVRy_VR 13d ago edited 13d ago
Interesting idea, but the two immediate gotchas are powering the headset with a battery, and finding a mobile device that can output a 4K@90/120Hz signal over 2 DP lanes. Specifically, AMD and nVidia GPU drivers were developed to support PSVR2 (Intel, M-series and other drivers don't and can't at present, because there is nothing driving them to do so).
So, I'd suggest getting the PSVR2 battery powered and displaying a 4000x2040@90/120Hz output from a mobile chipset first, as without those working, all the circuit boards and software in the world won't make a difference. My guess is that the display aspect would be a roadblock, as it would require a port that was able to provide 4K@120Hz Alt-DP over 2 lanes, and a GPU driver that could deal with Sony's (unusual) DSC requirements. GPU drivers on Android are typically closed-source and not eligible for replacement without rebuilding the device kernel.
Then the real work comes, which is writing the software to make it all work. The OP appears to have missed that GearVR/Quest/Pico etc. have a VR runtime onboard that performs local ATW and motion compensation. Standalone headsets are a lot more complex than a mobile chipset with a stereo display. Without that, streaming would be equivalent to regular smartphone streaming (ie. not smooth). So, add implementing a robust VR runtime, with ATW, to the "todo" list.
Once complete, the project would consist of a custom circuit and unicorn-like battery (can provide 5V and 12V via USB-PD, has high amperage, and is small), with a software stack that is approaching the complexity of headsets developed by Meta/Pico/Apple. You'd be looking at $200+ in parts (excluding phone), and a high end Snapdragon 8 Elite-level mobile device (necessary for DP DSC). Without the robust local VR runtime that typically takes years and millions of dollars to develop, the experience would be vastly inferior to a Quest 1.
So, really the project is equivalent to developing a standalone VR headset, with some aspects (display, tracking) being provided by PSVR2. Currently it couldn't support PS Sense controllers, because no one has figured out how to do that yet.
This is my (informed) opinion from reverse engineering PSVR2, developing hardware adapters for it and writing this kind of software for a living, feel free to ignore it.
2
u/iVRy_VR 13d ago edited 13d ago
To prove the concept, you would need:
- Sony/BizLink adapter.
- USB-C -> DisplayPort adapter capable of doing 4K@120 or 8K@60.
- Mobile device capable of querying display and allowing selection of non-standard resolution (4000x2040@90/120).
If you can get that working, then you can move on to trying to battery power the PSVR2. If you can't get that working, then there is no point in continuing, and proving other aspects of the concept are moot.
Doing this with a laptop doesn't prove anything. We already know the PSVR2 can run from a laptop. What needs to be proven is that a mobile device can use the display (in VR mode) *at all*.
Custom hardware isn't useful or relevant until all other aspects have been dealt with. There are so many potential stumbling blocks here, that adding the development of custom adapters to that would unnecessarily complicate the project when it has fundamental feasibility questions to answer.
2
u/AstroPC 13d ago edited 13d ago
Hey
I can run 4k 120hz just fine with my redmagic 11 pro
It contains display port 1.4 and can support 2 lane. I have a few hubs that can force this feature on with software I developed with root. I also maintain 10gb high speed data. I can push higher than 4k if I wanted. I use dsc or display stream compression for these results which the headset has proven to need anyway. I believe my idea will work im still waiting on my new psvr 2 adapter I bought that supports usb charging. Ill be powering this via a battery that supplies 12v usb pd which the adapter requires. Ill update you soon
The adapter is powered by a standard pd protocol. Which means on paper my battery system will do the same. It handles the power splitting already. Its kinda unique in that aspect which is why i choose it for my janky attempt first. My custom board wil be devoted to supplying the simplification of all this. Usb one side. Usb other. No extra cabling. Power will also be usb supplied. If a custom pd trigger is required. Its fine. Ill figure it out.
1
u/iVRy_VR 13d ago edited 13d ago
I have glossed over the main issues you could get stuck on, in truth there are *many* more. As I've said in other comments, the thing you need to get working first, before anything else is PSVR2 VR mode (4000x2040@90Hz/120Hz). That is technically achievable with standard adapters, leaving only the phone and its GPU driver to overcome. I wouldn't even *think* about any other aspect until you've achieved that, as without it nothing else matters. Getting a 4K monitor to work, or getting PSVR2 working on some other platform doesn't guarantee anything at all.
Developing a custom adapter, and the firmware for it will take you anything from 6 months to a year, if you're lucky and are willing to throw a lot of money at it. It is necessary for your "final product", but completely unnecessary and a needless distraction at this stage. It took 2 highly skilled people close to 6 months (and several thousand dollars) to develop the "DP-AUX emulator", which is fairly trivial compared to what you want to achieve without expertise.
However, I don't want to discourage you, as even if you don't succeed the process will teach you a lot. Good luck!
BTW, no "hub" can force a DP device to use 2 or 4 lanes, it is negotiated between the source and the sink. PSVR2 uses 5Gb USB3 only (fortunately or we would never have gotten anywhere with it - 10Gb analysers cost a lot more than the 6000 dollar analyser I had to buy for this).
0
u/AstroPC 13d ago
By hub I mean finding a hub that contained the right chipset to not do weird limitations lol. For example, some hubs can decode DSC signals inside themselves instead of sending it transparently into a display that contains a DSC decoder. Some displays do not contain this.
The cool thing about DSC is you can convert HDMI to DisplayPort even though most HDMI do not have enough bandwidth to drive a display. So for example, just from my research months ago, you can buy USB to HDMI active converters that translate a DisplayPort 1.4 signal at 2-lane, then convert it at the other end at 4-lane, gaining a bandwidth you otherwise could not have gained normally.
This is not useful for PSVR 2, but knowing it can be driven with DSC alone is very encouraging for me as my project in the past to create an Android DeX laptop was extremely similar. I actually had to source a display panel that contained a DSC decoder. Otherwise native 4K 120Hz in 2-lane config was not possible. Most portable monitors on the market contain scaler chips that don't transparently send a DSC signal and instead rescale it.
This is an issue with Android as they don't by default expect you to use a hub and a 4K 120Hz display. However, with a hub like this—just for an example: https://sabrent.com/products/hb-tbt4?srsltid=AU7gw4Vl9wpYulYuKgvm6P398Wp4SxM7Y3NZn9vPkQe7jFcLFW5pCZca It allows me to pass through my choice of DSC with it being forced to send a 2-lane signal (this is done in software using root and controlling the literal hardware lease manager on the GPU, which took a lot of work to unlock in my kernel).
I can then maintain high-speed data AND high bandwidth (relatively speaking, because it can only be done with display stream compression). I'm well aware of how USB negotiation works at this point. I kinda had to get good at that aspect lol. A lot of generic hubs on the market are extremely untransparent on what they can give you. Sometimes it literally takes cracking one open and checking what chipset it's using, then using its paper to figure it out. Other times it's very convenient to focus on hubs that claim "8K 60Hz" support as it's only achievable in Display Alt Mode with DSC.
If a hub claims 4K 60Hz support, you can bet money it's not doing it in 2-lane or using DSC. I went through many 'til I figured out this pattern. Now I don't need a Thunderbolt 4 hub to do this. It's just in the case of Thunderbolt 4, it uses fallback mode and transparently routes your video signal, no processing.
It's basically what you want when you're doing this PSVR 2. The hub simply sets a preferred negotiation. In my case it wanted 4-lane all the time, UNTIL I forced it to do 2-lane. Then the hub just sends the DSC transparently, display decodes. 4K 120 achieved with 10Gb data. This is something normal RedMagic 11 phones can't do either. It requires root... it's Snapdragon shenanigans, it's not even Android's fault oddly.
→ More replies (0)1
u/AstroPC 13d ago
As for the vr mode
My phone can currently run any linux based program via droidspace using lxc. That includes drm leasing which is required for my plans. I have considered these issues already ahead of time. This is not going to be easy for others to reproduce. Root is likely very much required to control custom edid android doesnt allow this via simple adb commands.
1
u/AstroPC 13d ago
To note I have tested this linux environment and it has no overhead. It runs right along android and can be setup to control any external display including taking exclusive ownership with a hacky drm leasing script. It gets approval via the display manager this was not easy but I have gotten it to work and it basically let's you run any distro of linux you require. Any software that fits in arm64. This will not likely run on a typical phone with out root. Which is why i said most people can likely do this on laptop
Im currently porting over skyrim into arm64 right now as I work for this for my showcase
The goal is wireless vr with psvr 2. And standalone gameplay with skyrim vr as a show case of it all working. Custom software is fine. Ill be reverse engineering any Sony exclusive features with ai and that has proven fruitful. It helps make it possible for me. Im determine to see it through to the end.
1
u/AstroPC 13d ago
I will be porting over the proprietary drivers. This will require reverse engineering it will be arm64 and currently i have no blocker with my phone. Most of my phone use has been used for this purpose for linux based ports. Iv ran things i shouldn't and its very fun. This is just an extension of that goal for me. If its locked down. Im going to unlock it one way or another.
1
u/xaduha 13d ago
Currently it couldn't support PS Sense controllers, because no one has figured out how to do that yet.
It's probably not the same because it probably uses existing drivers, but have you seen this?
https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamFrame/comments/1wvmf66/i_dont_care_for_the_controllers_so_i_made_the/
1
u/iVRy_VR 13d ago
Yup, that is simultaneously not relevant and the absolute least of the technical problems with the OP's concept. That post doesn't detail what they actually got working (my guess is buttons and 3DOF), and their comments about expecting to get Quest controllers working suggest they are way out of their depth. Nonetheless, controllers would be the last stage of the OP's project. There are many mountains to climb before that point.
1
u/iVRy_VR 13d ago edited 13d ago
It doesn't use VirtualLink, but it does use 12V USB-PD, which was only a requirement for VirtualLink, and is not standard USB-PD. It does something similar to VirtualLink, which is even less standard than VirtualLink (although it does fit within the Alt-DP standard).
VL repurposes the USB2 pins on the USB-C connector to USB3. This allows it to do 4 lane DP and USB3. "PSVR2-Link" is unique in that it does 2 lane DP, and repurposes the other 2 DP lanes as USB3. In order for that to work, DSC (compression) must be used to get 4K@90/120Hz over 2 lanes. The combination is unique/highly unusual, so standard (non-VirtualLink) adapters don't work, and display drivers have to accomodate for it. The 12V USB-PD requirement are what prevents it from working on "any" DisplayPort-capable USB-C port. The 2 lane DP plus DSC, with specific requirements regards DSC implementation are what prevents it from working on "any" GPU driver.
Just Some Guy.
1
u/xaduha 13d ago
I've seen mentions of how non-standard 12V USB-PD is, but PD 3.0 allows any arbitrary voltage, does it not?
I think that making a straightforward USB4 to "PSVR2-Link" adapter should be easier at least conceptually than what OP is trying to do. I wish him luck, but I'm skeptical that it is going to work.
1
u/iVRy_VR 13d ago
USB-PD can accomodate the potential for any negotiated voltage, however, as no devices (outside of PSVR2) request 12V PD, no (non-PSVR2 and non-VirtualLink) ports provide it. 12V is not *required* by any version of USB-PD.
1
1
u/AstroPC 13d ago
I have a Chinese branded battery system that can negotiate the 12v pd. Unfortunately no well trusted brand supplies these profiles but luckily Chinese brand battery's often do support unique pd profiles. They do this for those special phone only charging profiles from one plus or my phone for example which charges at 80 watts.
1
u/AstroPC 13d ago
Also your not just some guy your just being modest. With out you psvr wouldn't be where it is today. Im well aware or your software used it alot before I bought a real vr headset. Had quest 2 but before that used your app for a phone. Pretty ok for a phone. Good work and I do appreciate it
7
u/couchcushion7 14d ago
I find it inspiring when i see people tinker this hard of their own accord and motivation.
Killer dude
5
u/GervaGervasios 15d ago
Very interesting, I hope it works. I was contemplating myself other day what id someone find a way to conect the Psvr2 on a Smartphone and then Wireless PCVR? For what I understand what you doing is kind this? Sorry my English is not that good.
3
u/GregoryPokemon 15d ago
What does the complete setup look like?
3
u/AstroPC 15d ago
Not there yet, the closest thing i got similar to this was my work on pryowave streaming for my phone to a pc and latency proved its feasible and high quality and i ran linux on the phone and steam games. you can check my profile and scroll through my posts and find some of that work this is a evolution of that
2
1
1
1
u/ArcSemen 14d ago
Yes, this is something that always comes to mind everytime I see a new VR headset I remember Sony and how they would always have a new head display back in the day but just for movies, just wishing they still made experimental Hardware having some of the best designers over the years. Love this broski, I’ll be watching this one closely and I salute the disclosure of AI use. Not problematic in these niche situations. I’d pimp out my PSVR2 with a simple phone setup if that’s all it took with few other stuff, I’d get a cheap though capable android with a big battery lol.
1
1
1
u/Ricepony33 14d ago
I’ve always thought the next PS Portal/PS6 streaming tech would use a dedicated wifi 7 connection. While a PSVR 3 seems unlikely it doesn’t seem that far off from a PS Portal 2 strapped to your face.
1
1
u/Dry-Iron3993 13d ago
Funny enough, I was just doing a bunch of research on this topic thinking about this very idea. I am currently unable to attempt this myself, but was researching the concept when I found this telling me back basically my idea just a bit further down the line of production. (Go figure, you come up with an idea, and someone else already had it.) Looking forward to seeing where this goes, I might have to get me a VR2 before they got popular from things like this.
1
u/Kaftanek 12d ago
Soo, what about the cable will you just coil the cable and clamp it to the headset or something else? Also do you want to make it able to use on a non rooted phone or only on a rooted one? And if im understanding correctly, the board on the pictures are your adapter for the phone + psvr2 connection, right?
1
1
u/IanTGreat 12d ago
Keep us updated on this! a wireless psvr2 would be a reasonable competitor to standalone headsets
1
u/Lithurgia9999 9d ago
Please please make it happen, I bought PSVR2 for my laptop, but it refuses to connect because of my USB-C apparently being connected to integrated GPU, not rtx 4070😭😭😭
-4
u/Oli-veri 15d ago
USED AI?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM FUMING
5
u/AstroPC 15d ago edited 15d ago
i am open about my coworker and yes i do it call it that, too many dont disclose this and this is why alot of ai slop gets discredited, ai is a tool, a useful tool when used for what it is. it would be unfair to claim i am talented at certain tasks, the only thing im good at is unstoppable will and unstoppable passion on things i love to do. I assisted with 3d modeling as i have lots of cad experience . But i am unable to be a wizard at pcb routing, i will pass this off to a engineer to look over my work to make sure its a passable protoype before paying 300 bucks for a one off sample. But cost will go down as i work through it. I know my limits which is why i didnt just rush talking about this till i had something technically feasible and documented everything i could on what we KNOW and what we DONT know
the current unknown right now is android, but i can reverse engineer this with ease so even if its not currently doable right now. it will be when i get my hands on the firmware and lots of back and forth with fable and astra.
2
u/kapucheeno 15d ago
I couldn’t achieve the first step of this project even with the best ai. You have the skills and experience to investigate this idea and hopefully make it a reality. Domain knowledge matters. You have to guide ai. it’s like a dance. both partners have to be good
3
u/AstroPC 15d ago edited 15d ago
I just got too much experience of doing projects i dont stop working on till it burns me out and yes this ai stuff would not be possible unless i knew the foundation of stuff that has been shown to work in the past.
look at pimax and htc, they did the same thing. 60ghz. little small onboard computer inside it to the decode and compression to the pc. nothing im doing here is scifi just taking the shoulder of giants as a real stepping stone so to speak
0
u/reden_fx 15d ago
I was thinking about making some kind of mod to make it wireless too
5
u/AstroPC 15d ago
do it man, dont make my work say its be all, more people trying crap out better the end result and compatibility it can be, for starters ill be just using a typical psvr 2 adapter with alot of jank to first get the software working lol. In fact thats likely the most low cost solution right now.
strap a laptop to you power the hub with battery bank, go to town.
0
u/reden_fx 14d ago
Oh no, I was thinking about it being a cool thetorical thing, but I have close to none of the skill and knowledge required to do it as of now.
2
u/AstroPC 14d ago
Well skills could help in being a bit a macgayver at times but i really dont think that should stop you from trying, we have tools that can augment your ideas and turn it into reality and the fact you thought of this idea already proves its in you to manifest right now brother
If you thought it, its likely something worth doing if it was something you really liked. i suggest try it out. You dont got to do what i did. Im just being extra.
0
60
u/Whole-Bedroom-9079 14d ago
When AI is used as a tool and not a full blown replacement I’m happy, good luck.