Cannot get Pimax 8K X to connect to bluetooth

[Danny_G13]

So the thing goes on, that's about it. Base Stations won't spin up, it doesn't connect to the controllers - in short the PiTools thingy has all the devices greyed out.

And when I ask in Steam VR about Blue tooth it just says it's not available.

No tracking, no fun.

Can anyone advise what I'm doing wrong here?

[--ranXerox--]

Make sure Pimax 8KX is connected and OK in pitool. The base stations should be greyed out.

Make sure Lighthouse tracking is enabled in PiTool.

Power on the first base station. Keep it at a distance of 2 meters or more, standing still on a table or whatever and pointing towards the headset.

Wait for 10 seconds or more.

If both of the base stations are still grey, push the button in the small hole at the back of the base station. The light on the base station will change for a second.

Now wait 10-15 seconds. One of the base station icons in PiTool should start to blink and eventually just stay blue.

If both base station icons are still grey, repeat step 5 and 6 again. And wait 10-15 seconds.

There are 16 channels on a 2.0 base station, and as far as I know, currently only 4 of them will work with PiTool. So keep repeating step 5 and 6 at least 6-7 times.

Once you get one of the base station icons blue and tracking, do the same thing with the second base station. Power it on, push the button, wait, push again etc… until the second base station icon in PiTool starts blinking and eventually turns blue.

It might take a couple of minutes, but I have never seen this failing before.

Remember, as soon as any of the base station icons in PiTool starts to blink blue, you have found the correct channel. So dont press that button in the hole anymore. And it might take a moment until it settles and stops blinking, and turns blue. Thats when your headset starts tracking.

The button im talking about is just a tiny hole at the bak side of the base station, with a button inside. So use something sharp to press the button inside. Just like on the photo below, where a stiff yellow cable or something is used to press the button.

https://community.openmr.ai/t/how-to-pair-pimax-8k-x-with-htc-steamvr-base-station-2-0/34158/11

[Danny_G13]

Thanks for the link, the Base Station reset wasn't the answer, but the post at the bottom asking about USB reset was exactly the ticket.

So I got it to work at last. Thank you for the pointer.

[--ranXerox--]

Oh nice!

[Feynt]

For others who have also encountered this issue, I offer an alternative:

When I plugged in my headset, I did so before running through the Pitool guided setup. All the cabling was plugged in beforehand. The software apparently didn't like this and treated my headset as if it was a permanently untracked headset with accelerometers only. To correct it I did the following in order:

1. Unplugged all the cabling for the headset
   
2. Rebooted my computer
   
3. On reboot, I started the Pitool (latest version as of posting, 1.0.1.273)
   
4. I clicked on Guide, which starts the guided setup

Part of the guided setup is plugging in the USB cabling, and doing so prompts the computer to install drivers which the Pitool handles. After completing the guided setup, the headset was being tracked properly.

[Danny_G13]

Ah yes, this old thread! I absolutely hated this headset. All it had was resolution. Everything else about it was awful. Nothing on the market beats Index and Quest 2.

[Feynt]

Originally posted by Danny_G13:

Ah yes, this old thread! I absolutely hated this headset. All it had was resolution. Everything else about it was awful. Nothing on the market beats Index and Quest 2.

Seems a little harsh. My initial impression is that it's janky given what I've had to go through, but it isn't bad. Is the 8KX worth the cost versus a Quest 2 which just works? Probably not unless you're well off. But having used an Index and now the 8KX, I'd say the 8KX is a superior visual quality (both density and FoV) and equal tracking ability. Its only real failing is audio, even though I supposedly have the "upgraded" audio solution.

So far though, if the Pimax 12K wasn't announced with a trade in deal for next year, I would say your best money spent is the Reverb G2. No base stations needed, it just works (almost literally worked out of the box, I needed to download an SDK version of the software for the Omnicept edition I bought for the sensors to work), the visual quality is a step above either, and the audio is literally the same as the Index. Really the only failing of the G2 is the controllers are mediocre. They tracked well, but a lack of *any* capacitance sensors hurt it. If WMR controllers weren't just crippled by that I would say the headset was a great deal. It IS a great deal, really, but if there were ever a thing to upgrade, it would be buying new controllers somehow (which would probably include base stations right now).

[Danny_G13]

Originally posted by Feynt:

Originally posted by Danny_G13:

Ah yes, this old thread! I absolutely hated this headset. All it had was resolution. Everything else about it was awful. Nothing on the market beats Index and Quest 2.

Seems a little harsh. My initial impression is that it's janky given what I've had to go through, but it isn't bad. Is the 8KX worth the cost versus a Quest 2 which just works? Probably not unless you're well off. But having used an Index and now the 8KX, I'd say the 8KX is a superior visual quality (both density and FoV) and equal tracking ability. Its only real failing is audio, even though I supposedly have the "upgraded" audio solution.

I found the immersion to be absolutely terrible, and the performance awful given the 8K, despite my having a 3090. Density was impressive, yes, even if SDE wasn't completely gone, but the FOV was just weird - it made things feel flat. I also couldn't get Alyx to run on it at all. It just didn't feel like proper VR to me.

So far though, if the Pimax 12K wasn't announced with a trade in deal for next year, I would say your best money spent is the Reverb G2.

Had one. Not bad, but FOV too narrow and didn't feel immersive. Not anything like Index anyway.

No base stations needed, it just works (almost literally worked out of the box, I needed to download an SDK version of the software for the Omnicept edition I bought for the sensors to work), the visual quality is a step above either, and the audio is literally the same as the Index. Really the only failing of the G2 is the controllers are mediocre. They tracked well, but a lack of *any* capacitance sensors hurt it. If WMR controllers weren't just crippled by that I would say the headset was a great deal. It IS a great deal, really, but if there were ever a thing to upgrade, it would be buying new controllers somehow (which would probably include base stations right now).

Like I say G2 was ok, but it did have detection issues on my PC which kept coming up as crashes. Nothing touches, for me, Index and Quest 2.