Linux, Failed to Connect to Headset Display

[OneManStanding]

Not an urgent issue, but would like to get it working. If anyone else has a similar experience and can suggest a potential fix I'd appreciate a comment.

So, I got the Valve Index and tried to run it on Ubuntu 24.04 - Nvidia. Though SteamVR detects the headset and controllers and lighthouses and says they're tracking, it goes on to say "Failed To Connect to Headset Display" and the Room Setup doesn't detect them.

I installed KDE Plasma as the support pages suggested, X11 as Weyland is a little choppy for regular use. Still the same issue, it just can't seem to connect to the headset display. I tried Weyland just to make sure and it also has the same issue.

I've tried different display ports and usb, tried uninstalling and reinstalling, obviously also switched to KDE which the support pages says was better. I installed Steam via the sudo apt command, so it should be the DEB package rather than the Snap or Flatpak (am I right about that?); certainly everything else about Steam is working.

Any ideas, I'll give 'em a try.

[Jasper Aspen]

Hey, so sorry to hear that's happening to you. @CoolOribter and I are having the same problem with ours. We have over 1000 hours in VR with our Index and all of a sudden it has stopped working. We even went as far as switching from Nvidia to AMD GPU no difference. Even purchased a new headset cord, no change. We have contacted Steam Support and they were absolutely useless... They basically told us we need to try it on a Windows system... Where are we magically getting a Windows computer for a stationary VR setup? And why make a product that is native to Linux but not have the support? We are pissed. I vote we start a riot.

EDIT: We tried restarting the headset in the developer settings in SteamVR and it suddenly made it work, but we aren't sure how stable it is at this point. We are currently in KDE Plasma, Linux 11 as per Steam guidelines. Time will tell and I'll update you further if anything changes.

MAJOR EDIT: HERE IS WHAT WE DID
We downloaded EnvisionVR; here is a link to where you can download it: (https://gitlab.com/gabmus/envision) and did a room setup in SteamVR. Due to the fact SteamVR wouldn't detect our headset we randomly went into the SteamVR Developer Menu (hamburger menu that appears when you launch SteamVR) and messed with things. Here is what worked. We clicked developer-developer settings-enable direct display mode-restart headset. It appears to have fixed the headset disconnect problem.

Following that we closed SteamVR and started a session in EnvisionVR because SteamVR had major lag in our headset (start Envision then open a VR game through Steam).
Everything in Envision was smooth, but you have to make sure your controllers are on before you start the game otherwise you won't have hands. Unfortunately, the room walls are no longer visible though, so be careful. Hope this helps, let me know if you need further assistance, hopefully I can help.

[temps]

I've also been struggling to get Valve Index working with Ubuntu. I found I managed to get games that are "VR supported" working but all the cool games labeled "VR only" on the store pages for some reason are not working in most cases, despite having good reviews from Linux users on ProtonDB.

Not sure if these links will be helpful at all but you may find them interesting:
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/18A4-1E10-8A94-3DDA
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2805545613

Even when you get it running on Ubuntu SteamVR is not as full-featured as it was on Windows.

Hopefully Valve releases a Quest-like Valve Deckard soon running a Linux SteamOS so they put more development resources into making VR work on Linux because honestly I have not had a good experience with it. So much troubleshooting just to get VR games to run, ugh...

As a result, while I still do a lot of my flatscreen gaming on Steam, I've pretty much gave up and just been doing VR stuff on my Quest 3 lately.

And even when I got Ubuntu working with SteamVR, it was only on Ubuntu 24.04 and only after a lot of troubleshooting. I updated to Ubuntu 24.10 and now SteamVR is back to not working again lol...

I think the problem here is VR is niche, and Linux is also niche. So we're talking about a niche of a niche. And the Valve Index is even more niche. So it's a niche of a niche of a niche.