In Europe, Virtualbuilds is no option. Hence it is best to use Steam Controller Dongles. I did that.
I use my Index Controllers with everything now, they work even be with non-lighthouse tracking headsets like WMRs.
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Issues aside (I know people have had repeated stick issues with ICs), Index controllers put a smile on my face every time. They just feel classy, really worth the ridiculous cost honestly. Knowing that I can flash them to the dongle and use them with any HMD I’m quite happy, they are the best controllers I’ve used.
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I can buy 2 Steam Controller adapters for cheap. Do I need 2, or 1 will be enough? If I get those, where do I get a firmware for them to flash for Index support? Do I also mount them both on my pimax?
And will those work?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-Receiver-USB-dongle-Adapter-For-Steam-game-2018-Controller-K9M4/254404562965?hash=item3b3bb19015:g:KZEAAOSwU51duPKu
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-Receiver-USB-dongle-Adapter-For-Steam-game-2018-Controller-L0Z0/313102196552?hash=item48e6585f48:g:sPMAAOSwhQpd25t9
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I believe most are just using 1. 1 controller paired to dongle and 1 to headset. The benefit of having 2 though is you have option to use controllers with non Steamvr headsets ie WMR
How can I select which controller to pair with the dongle and which with the hmd?
Also, what’s the range? Can I just stick 2 of them into the front of my PC and call it a day? Or do I need to have them on my HMD?
If I am to use WMR, how can I match coorinates of WMR and Index controllers?
And just to confirm - to flash dongle firmware I need this?
Hi Joe tbh will need someone in this thread to guide you on specifics as I do not have direct experience.
@Thall can likely give some pointers
As for using with non steamvr headsets there are several guides on YouTube. I believe @mixedrealityTV has a video on this.
We continue to have serious problems with tracking, precision has been lost and in fast movements it begins to have erratic or imprecise behavior, even complete loss of tracking and not only in 5k+ there are also other people reporting these problems in 8k+ which worries me a lot since it is unacceptable even if 8kx suffered the same problem…
Also now my beatsaber markings are worse, I even find it difficult to get closer to my marks from before the pimax solution to improve tracking, before you had more random and constant failures with tracking, but I suppose I had more precision data during the frame error-free functional time
It seems that it is now slower, less data received, or perhaps you could say something of lag even.in beatsaber now I have some low precision errors in fast movements, they are very subtle but enough to make mistakes that you did not make before
@Alex.liu can we expect further improvements for tracking?
If you want to see these problems in a clear way, in the beatsaber menu, move your wrists with quick movements and you will see how soon you will begin to notice the errors, you will literally lose your hand for a few seconds. If I do the same but connecting a index controller via usb cable, it works without losses or errors and with a greatly improved precision that is completely appreciable.
If Valve uses two dongles is for some reason…
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There is 2 dongles in the pimax headset. Steamvr desktop shows 2 watchman dongles.
Controllers and trackers from my understanding each require their own dongle.
But yeah this needs to be tracked down to why some users have this issue while others do not seem to.
The fix rolled out in 259 is onlyba partial fix atm. There still working on improving it. Hopefully a full fix is released soon.
“Steamvr desktop shows 2 watchman dongles.” where?
In my hardware and devices only see LHR(Light House Radio?) and PimaxP2C(HMD).
In one of the settings that gives you info on steamvr devices. It will show 2 watchman and no bluetooth or camera. Not at home at home atm or would boot up and give clearer info on what part of the steamvr window that shows this.
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You’re right, in system report
[Port6]: Dispositivo de entrada USB (VID:28DE PID
2101), Valve Software, Watchman Dongle, 1E3C18B258
[Port7]: Dispositivo de entrada USB (VID:28DE PID:2101),
2101), Valve Software, Watchman Dongle, 6853831A40
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Hey, so heres how to do it… mine came flashed with the firmware, do that first. Once the device is recognized as a ‘watchman dongle’ in windows, do this:
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Keep your Pimax OFF! Start SteamVR and the lighthouse_console.exe which is found in \SteamVR\tools\lighthouse\bin. Once in the console, type ‘unpairall’. This will unpair all the controllers.
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Next, manually add one controller in steamvr with the pimax still OFF. to do this, its the three lines in the steamvr window to get to settings, somewhere in there you can add a controller. Select index controller, and do the typical pairing thing. It will pair to the dongle.
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Start pitool and turn HMD on. You’ll see the controller paired to the dongle is recognized in pitool. To confirm this is working, just unplug the dongle and the controller will lose pairing. Now, pair the other controller in pitool as usual.
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enjoy
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Got myself 2 of those bad boys, flashed with bat file from GitHub - ykeara/SteamVR-Dongle-Flash: A simple Guide and batch script to flash steam controller dongles to watchman dongles for SteamVR/OpenVR (had to adjust Steam location) without issues while both were plugged in. Connected controllers while Pimax was disabled. Both disconnect if I unplug the dongles. Dongles are in PC, 3 meters away from me. Played “You’re Mine” track in BeatSaber, only had 2 slightest drifts of the right sword. I guess it’s way better than it completely flying away. I may think on how to move dongles closer to my playspace, I already have a few ideas. Thanks for the flash!
@Thall console didn’t suggest to input anything, just shown my devices. Whatever, I guess, I am happy for now. 
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Asking if you had issues with index controllers and 8K X
why Pimax changed from Dc Power supply to usb powered.
This seems some type of improvement.
I still have minor tracking issues with both indices controllers connected to the dongles. All problems for me disappeared once I connected one to the hmd and one to the dongle. Try it.
Looks like VirtualBuilds upped the price of the dongles to $50 + shipping. What a bunch of pieces of ****. i was spreading word about them as a fix for this issue. Never again. VirtualBuilds: **** yourselves.
wow that is scummy.
It was bad enough VB where selling them for 20$(and it’s a third party at that too).
As the original steam dongles where only 13$(just needed to be flashed),
what makes it worse is they’re overcharging for shipping and there is no protective cover/casing for the usb dongle(just an expose motherboard).
And now they’re trying to sell them 50$ for 1…
it would be overall cheaper to go to ebay and get the steam controller with the dongle for 35-45$ each…
at least you get a controller with it, and a quality build dongle…
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I already reported that I managed to get them working well with 2 dongles. I don’t have any problems anymore.
It’s cool and all that we have a well functioning workaround, but it’s not quite acceptable as it takes up a USB port on the headset and then you might have to pick an accessory to get rid of in the future (eye tracking, hand tracking, wireless add-ons)
This seems to indicate that Pimax knows there is a HARDWARE problem with the Bluetooth signal on the current HMDs: Pimax NOW: Q&A - Questions and Answers - YouTube
So don’t hold your breath on a fix.
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