Desktop in SteamVR Dashboard not Showing

[ebonyfanta13]

Hello. I am not sure where to ask this so I'll ask here. Forgive me if this is a duplicate but I have searched the internet for days and discovered other people are having this same issue but it seems no one offered a workable solution yet. I'm on a Windows 10 Version 1909 OS Build 18363.1379, MSI GL65 Leopard laptop with an Intel UHD Graphics GPU (26.20.100.7642) and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU (27.21.14.6140 or 461.40), and the desktop view in the dashboard does not show anything.

TLDR is at the bottom.

I recently posted in a discussion that was originally posted one year ago (post #6) that disabling the dgpu (discrete NVIDIA GPU) through Device Manager (from Windows 10 My Computer in File Explorer) and then running SteamVR allows the desktop to show in the dashboard. I did this because I know that to capture the desktop in a program, that program should be running on the igpu (integrated Intel GPU). I assumed from this test that there was some program(s)/process(es) from SteamVR that was running on the dgpu that prevented the desktop from showing on the dashboard. However, most games failed to run because the igpu is not powerful enough.

So I reenabled the dgpu and experimented further to see if I could find the specific program(s) that prevented the desktop from showing in the dashboard. I discovered that setting the vrcompositor.exe to the igpu (Windows 10 Settings > System > Display > Graphics Settings > Classic App > Browse > default path: "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Steam\steamapps\common\SteamVR\bin\win64\vrcompositor.exe"; alternatively you could do this through the NVIDIA control panel but that resulted in no change for me) allowed the desktop to show in the dashboard. Games succeeded in running, but SteamVR would show the error saying something to the effect, "Headset plugged into the wrong video card. Please plug your headset into the same video card as your primary monitor".

So I decided to go into the logs from the web browser (while SteamVR window is open, click on the dropdown (upper left corner) > Developer > Web console; alternatively you could go to default path: "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Steam\logs" in file explorer) and while the compositor was running on the igpu, after launching a VR game, the log said something to the effect that "the texture is being rendered to the wrong video card". I assume this "wrong video card" error is because the VR game is running on the dgpu, but the VR compositor is running on the igpu.

So I switched the compositor back to the dgpu and explored the logs while launching the desktop in the dashboard. As the initial problem states, nothing shows in the dashboard, and this error appears in the logs: "Desktop 1. Call vr::VROverlay()->SetOverlayTexture( m_ulOverlayHandle, &texture ). Function UpdateOverlayTexture. Overlay error VROverlayError_InvalidTexture." I find it strange that changing what gpu the vrcompositor runs on allows the desktop to show since this VROverlay error occurs from the dashboard. You may think that changing the gpu the dashboard runs on would resolve the issue, but the vrdashboard.exe already runs on the igpu and changing it doesn't work--it reverts back to the igpu when I launch SteamVR.

TLDR
If vrcompositor.exe runs on the dgpu (default), the desktop doesn't show in the dashboard and this error appears in the logs in the web console and the vrdashboard.txt: "Desktop 1. Call vr::VROverlay()->SetOverlayTexture( m_ulOverlayHandle, &texture ). Function UpdateOverlayTexture. Overlay error VROverlayError_InvalidTexture." If vrcompositor.exe runs on the igpu, the desktop in the dashboard does show, but VR games fail to render to the HMD and this error appears (paraphrasing): "Headset plugged into the wrong video card. Please plug your headset into the same video card as your primary monitor". The games still run, but I obviously can't see them in the HMD.

Has anyone found a fix for this? Can anyone find a fix for this? Why does this VROverlay error occur and how do I fix it? Alternatively, is there a way to get the vrcompositor to run on the igpu while still being able to render VR games to the HMD? Any free alternative software solutions (I've already tried Desktop+ and that doesn't show the desktop either unless I set the vrcompositor to run on the igpu as stated in the 3rd paragraph)?

Another weird thing is, the desktop shows perfectly in programs like Bigscreen Beta and in the SteamVR Desktop Game Theater. It just doesn't show in the SteamVR dashboard. Other than the desktop not showing, the dashboard works perfectly and dashboard desktop buttons (like show keyboard and switching monitors) work, too. No crashes or freezes.

Please help. I have exhausted all my resources. I also submitted a bug report.

[the silly]

i have your exact issue and same pc, if you found a solution please lmk

[ebonyfanta13]

Thanks for reading. I have not found a solution yet

[parisianconnections]

Same issue on Windows 11. Desktop also showing OK on Bigscreen Beta.

[Maxilakomka]

Didn't see one thing, that worked for me:

1. Go to Windows Settings > Display > Graphics Settings (way at the bottom)
2. Under "Graphics performance preference" > "Choose an app to set preference" > "Desktop app"
3. Click "Browse"
4. Open your Steam Apps folder (usually it is == C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common )
5. Then open SteamVR > bin > win64
6. Select vrdashboard.exe and click "Add" (or just open it)
7. Select "Options" and set it to "Power saving", click save.
If its necessary, restart your Steam or PC.
P. S. Just created a reddit account for this answer. I have never seen this solution to the problem anywhere. The same method has helped me and many others with a similar problem in the Oculus environment, but I haven't seen it tried with SteamVR. Hope this helps someone

[ebonyfanta13]

Originally posted by Maxilakomka:

Didn't see one thing, that worked for me:

1. Go to Windows Settings > Display > Graphics Settings (way at the bottom)
2. Under "Graphics performance preference" > "Choose an app to set preference" > "Desktop app"
3. Click "Browse"
4. Open your Steam Apps folder (usually it is == C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common )
5. Then open SteamVR > bin > win64
6. Select vrdashboard.exe and click "Add" (or just open it)
7. Select "Options" and set it to "Power saving", click save.
If its necessary, restart your Steam or PC.
P. S. Just created a reddit account for this answer. I have never seen this solution to the problem anywhere. The same method has helped me and many others with a similar problem in the Oculus environment, but I haven't seen it tried with SteamVR. Hope this helps someone

So you're saying change the vrdashboard.exe to Power Saving allows the desktop to show in VR Dashboard while still being able to play VR games without any errors?

I thought I tried that 3 years ago (as mentioned in paragraph 3 of my original post) but I could look into it again.

What VR headset are you using?

[Kaltoro]

Thank you, this fixed my problem perfectly!

[Rapid_Coder]

this worked for me, ty so much ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥