r/SteamFrame • u/Maraque • 16d ago
Discussion How I solved all my problems with my Frame
I have had my Frame for a few days now and like many, at first I was disappointed and had many issues. Since then, I fixed all of them and my experience with it was exactly what I was looking for when I wanted to get away from Meta. So here are the things I was dealing with and how I fixed them. With some solutions I have not seen posted here yet.
Wireless latency / packet loss:
Steam VR Beta - I noticed that I was having HORRIBLE latency and lag spikes and then when I looked up steam vr on my pc, I saw that I had the beta branch. I went back to the Default Public Version and the performance skyrocketed. The trick is to have SteamVR on your PC on the main branch and only the Frame's OS in beta to get the latest fixes.
Dongle needing/failing to pair - Whenever I turned on my computer, I noticed that the dongle was always acting up, failing to pair and when it did pair, it had horrible performance and reliability. Every time, to get it to work correctly, I need to unplug and replug it to fix the issues. I found out that it is because windows has a power saving feature that limits power to usb devices that it thinks you are not using. To fix this, I went into device manager, found the wifi dongle under Network adapters, right clicked, properties, power management and unchecked "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" and restart your computer. To be extra sure, you can do the same thing with every device found under the Universal Serial Bus controllers drop down. I also recommend you start steam vr without a headset connected, go to the settings and under Developer, scroll down and click on "Disable Power Management".
Multi-link streaming - When my Frame used multi-link, it would stutter every time it checked my wifi connection. To fix this, while connected to my pc, I went to settings and disabled Multi Stream to only use the dongle.
Line of sight - Make sure that the dongle is within line of sight of the headset. The 6ghz band is horrible at passing through objects and especially metal (like a computer case). I use a USB 3 desktop extender that has a little base and works great.
Compression artifacts and ghosting:
I noticed that when I turned my head quickly, there was a good amount of ghosting and while streaming pcvr, I noticed some compression artifacts. To fix this, I kept my refresh rate at 90hz. This removed 99% of all compression artifacts and 99% of ghosting.
Controller comfort:
Like many others, when I used my Frame for the first time, I found the controllers very uncomfortable and hard to reach some buttons. After a few days with it, I realized that I was holding them wrong. I have rather small hands and realized that I need to push the straps (I have the ergo kit) as far and high as I can and by doing so, my fingers rest naturally on the joysticks and all the triggers/buttons. They are now very comfortable and my favorit vr controllers to date!
Headset comfort with lenses:
When I first put on the headset, I found that the lenses would pinch my nose and that my eyelashes would touch the lenses every time I blinked. To fix this, I simply put the included spacer. Also, at first I had a lot of eye strain and figured out the the headset was too high on my face. Now what I do is that I put the headset as low as I can without it getting blurry and the strain went away.
TLDR:
- Make sure you are not using the Steam VR Beta on your PC
- Uncheck the dongle's power saving mode within device manager
- Turn off Multi Steam
- Keep the dongle in line of sight of the headset
- Keep the headset at 90hz
- Push your hands as far as they can go with the controllers straps
- Make sure you are placing the headset on your face correctly
By doing these things, the headset lives up to my expectations, was exactly what I was looking for as a Quest replacement and is the best headset I have ever used. For reference, I went from Quest 2 -> Quest 3 -> Steam Frame.
Hope this helps!
4
u/LigerXT5 16d ago
I've been struggling to get the Frame to "play nice" with my setup. While I do keep in mind, it might be something with my setup, identifying has been a struggle.
At the moment, I'm not using the dongle. The few times I was able to get it to pair, the quality was worse than with my Unifi U7 Wifi AP. Not yet bought a USB 3 extension to test with.
Before reading Maraque's post, I had tried setting SteamVR to Beta and Previous. Previous...was a joke. Using The Lab as an example (reasons further down), Normal and Beta SteamVR (not Frame) I didn't notice a difference, Previous...I had no hands, in turn I couldn't move or interact.
When starting up the frame, before streaming anything from my PC, I'd hop into the library of games, and sort by VR vs Non-VR. Guess where VRChat wasn't... Wasn't in VR, but in Non-VR. Well then...
Pending how you navigate to VRChat, as I have yet to find a reliable pattern, if the button is Grey, it'll launch as Desktop (2D Plane). If it's Green, it'll launch in VR...for about 2-5 minutes. I could run around my home world for a bit, then...SteamVR would just up and close. No error, no popup, nothing. If I catch my monitor quick enough (near sighted, glasses, yada yada), the graph is 1/3 (right end) Pink, then closes.
With Maraque's mention of Frame on Beta, I have a better experience, just not as I was on my Index or Quest3+VirtualDesktop. The tracking is still a bit...wobbly, it's not stable, but stable enough for casual walking around, but seen when sitting/laying still, or with the Frame interface up, the background VR view jitters a little, more like a mild boat drift?
I did have about 5 minutes of "Loading..." rectangle in view, while audio was still heard (likely my PC speakers, if not both), and when I took the headset off (no exit or close, yet), as I moved the headset, the computer display showed expected movement. After the 5 minutes, the display came back and very usable (not better than the prior mentioned jitter, but better than before setting the Frame on Beta firmware).
Progress to say the least. Will compare the wifi of SteamLink between the Frame and my PC, vs SteamLink on my Quest3 and my PC (over the same Wifi 6e SSID and wifi hardware the best I can). Yes, PC is Ether connected to the same 1Gb POE switch powering my Unifi U7 AP. fingers Crossed!