Still confused..When do I use Pitool or PE or Steam VR?

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Ok, watched many vids and read quite a few threads here. I still don’t understand why I’m using Pitool and steam VR, if I am using PE.
I thought PE handled all this for us. Is that not implemented yet.

So will I use Pitool first to set my HMD stuff and render etc, then open steam VR? Am I just looking for the change of resolution that steam vR shows? Slide it to match closely to my native 8KX resolution.

I still don’t understand how they all correlate, and why I want to follow certain steps.

I know some of you see my posts and probaly get frustrsted that I don’t get it. Thats fine. I’m hoping eventually someone will be able to assist enough were the “lighhtbulb” will finally come on.

Everytime I think I get it, someone else posts something entirely different from another post…then I start down that damn rabbit hole again!

I also have the github file from Mirage created for settings to use in DCS. Is that even viable anymore?

Just looking for that “lightbulb” moment folks…so I can enjoy my 8KX too.
That is, if I ever get my freakin IPD set!!!

Thanks

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You’re not alone I have the 8K+ and I’m lost most of the time. I still do not know what they are talking about the backlight. Where and what is it?

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I hear ya DTH. It’s been one frustrationafter another for me. IMHO adjusting IPD correctly is the most important thing on this headset. Yet, nothing to help except experimentation and hours weeks or days to get it right!

Each day I sit down with my 8KX to try and set it up so I too can enjoy the experience. It just results in a damn headache. That is not even wearing the headset.

I spend all this extra money for my $1300 headset, that everyone says will make it work better. Well tried the aftermarket hinges…soon as I put the headset on, the damn thing broke! Took me 2 hrs to get it installed, as they are so damn thick!

So I’m back to the thin Pimax ones, will just have to deal with the angle I have. I got my Pimax back ion September, and it’s been on my head 5 times. Because, it becomes nothing but frustration getting something right.

You ask questiions, you may or may not get an answer. If you do get an answer, it will usually contain the statement of create a ticket. WTH. How is creating a ticket going to help with trying to setup a damn game!

At this point, I’m regretting my purchase of this 8KX. I think I’ll just walk away for a bit. Not worth the headache.

Perhaps someday, Pimax etal will finally see how important setting an IPD is to the enjoyment of the headset.

But it seems Pimax and the PE devs don’t think it is that important, especially for those of us that have low IPD. Seems like the folks I hear that are happy have around the mid 60’s IPD.

Good luck on finding the answers you seek DTH

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Trust me… you are not alone. I got so confused thatI’m only using Pitools right now. I hope that in the future my tools will run unseen in the background and unneeded as it is informed completely by the Primax experience. The PE has got to be the way forward. It’s a much more intuitive and comprehensive interface. And I believe it offers the new user a much easier introduction to the pimax headsets.Right now though I’m just in the same boat as you are and I don’t really understand how it all goes together. So I’m just using pitools for now but look forward to the day when I don’t need to anymore.

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Also, the update is a mess. I love my PE I wish it was a standalone. If I update something it breaks the system. Still waiting for a headset the fits on my head and not small with sound. At this point, I do not care if it is the D or S headset. I have two base stations and the index controllers that I love. I just might have to give up and get their headset.

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Ok so i will try to be the one who will give you the “light bulb” moment but bare in mind, that english is not my native language and i didn’t completely understood what your problem is. If you have any further Questions go ahead and ask directly what you want and i will try to help you with that.

First of all, i will start with the bare minimum to get the headset running for the first time:

  1. Start Pitool and then power up your headset, basestations and controllers
  2. If your headset or controllers are not recognized, click on “Restart Service” and wait a couple of seconds
  3. Click on “Room Setup” and follow the steps shown
  4. After that, click on “Start SteamVR” in Pitool
  5. Steam should now notify you that you need to setup your room in SteamVR, go ahead and do that
  6. Now close SteamVR and go to “Settings” in Pitool and check the “Start Pimax VR Home” box
  7. PE (Pimax Experience) should now start and you should see it in your headset
  8. From here you can start a game directly from PE or click on “Start SteamVR” at the bottom right
  9. PE should now close and SteamVR or your game will start
  10. That’s all, except your IPD will be wrong and depends on your hardware, you will have low FPS

The following depends on how sensitive you are if the IPD isn’t set perfectly. For me, i’m probably not very sensitive as it doesn’t make that much of a difference if i set my IPD a little above or under my real IPD. So i just dialed in the IPD while looking around ingame until it felt right. The most important thing here is, just ignore the numbers shown as these are quite off.

Now i will list the steps i do when i want to play a game:

  1. I start Pitool and then power up my headset, basestations and controllers
  2. Again, if the headset or controllers are not recognized, click on “Restart Service” and wait a couple of seconds
  3. PE should now start
  4. From here (depends on the game) i start a game directly from PE or click on “Start SteamVR” at the bottom right and start the game from SteamVR
  5. PE should now close and the game or SteamVR will start
  6. If i’m not satisfied with the performance, i will close SteamVR so PE is starting on it self again
  7. Depends on the game i then change the FOV to small, change the refresh rate to the lowest or make sure “smart smoothing” is activated.
  8. Start the game again and if it’s not enough, i change the resolution in SteamVR and start the game again

That should cover you for the most part and you can have fun multiple hours with that settings. If you want more, like better 3d perception with perfectly tuned in IPD or getting more out of your hardware, or a game isn’t running like it should (for example graphic glitches), you will need to read through the forum or play with the settings in PE for yourself.

I can’t help you with that as i don’t have DCS but i’m quite sure @mirage335 can help.

Backlight is a setting in PE to dimmer the screen more so dark scenes will look better

For this you will have to open a support ticket

That is just not right. Maybe Pimax is ignoring this problem but Sweviver is working hard to get this implemented in PE!

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Oh my God, this took me way longer then expected… :scream:

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Thank You Ordered a new Computer for VR use only. I needed to install the software on the new system and forgot the steps.

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Oh and i should have mentioned to not check for updates in Pitool itself as there is a bug for quite some time where you will get downgraded instead of updated. Always check the forum for new updates. Especially @SweViver’s Posts are quite helpful as you will find compatible Pitool and PE updates there.

@PimaxQuorra @PimaxUSA When will this update bug finally fixed? It takes you guys way to long for such a simple task!

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SteamVR is a compositor. VR applications send pixels and some 3D objects to it, which gets forwarded to PiTool. Pimax Experience does not do this for other applications. Pimax Experience is a standalone VR application that can talk to Pimax headsets directly. Most VR applications do not have such ‘native’ support for Pimax headsets, so they ‘talk to’ SteamVR ‘middleware’ software like with every other headset.

You run Pimax Experience before SteamVR, other VR apps, etc.

Mostly, that is what Pimax Experience is for. To create and load a profile of these settings.

Yes, it is. What has changed is that Pimax Experience can be configured to change the SteamVR resolution before you start SteamVR, DCS World, etc.

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Hi KP, Thank You for the information. I will apply your steps. At least I finally have a starting point.
Now, I must offer my apologies to ALL. Especially to Sweviver etal. My comment about the IPD was out of line. When I made that comment, I was at my wits end, and had a raging headache.

Still totally uncalled for on my part. I usually don’t hit the send/post key when I’m angry and or frustrated.

As others and as I have said, I just want to enjoy my headset too.

I purchased the hinges aftermarket, installed the 161 degree ones as recommended, and the right snapped in two as I adjusted my headset. It took me almost 2 hours to install them! Being as though there really was no documentation or video for them, I wasn’t exactly sure if I had done everything correctly. I have now reinstalled the pimax hinges again.

I then tried to update to .295, as I understood that was an improvement for the 8KX. As per my other thread, I could not ge tit to install. I still show .294. Yes, I followed the mentioned video. Still not updated to .295

I have a fav plane I like to fly in p3d v5.1 I set up my P3D stuff, created a link in PE. Started P3Dv5.1 up, selected my plane etc.

I get into the plane, the panel is not real clear, it’s shimmery somewhat, and if I move my head a bit, I get the shudder stuff.

I know P3d v5.1 is not the greatest on VR. Buit I feel I have a pretty good machine to run VR
i9900 4.9ghz(little better for cooling) ti2080,32GB ram, water and aircooled.

So when I see this happening, it just builds up my frustration even more.

I don’t know :
Is this caused by my IPD not set correctly.( hence my frustration on that end. I always felt that was the most important thing in setting up your headset. That was the reason for my comment re IPD)

Do I have something setup wrong in Pitool? Or PE. Hmm, let me check the manual. Ooops forgot. There is NO manual. I know it’s beta, I have tested other beta programs, we at least had some documentation to give us a starting point.

Is it still some of my P3D settings? Which ones do I need to tweak. I followed the VR guide that LM put out.

What do I need to set in PE, or Pitool or Steam VR to run my game. Thank You PK for the step by step. That will help.

When I follow all these suggestions to make my visuals look great, and it doesn’t happen for me; were is the disconnect? I don’t know.

It also frustrates me, I fly airliners for a living, and I can’t seem to figure out a damn HMD for my enjoyment. This shouldn’t be this difficult for me, but it eats my lunch.

KP, I so appreciate you taking the valuable time and patience with me/us. I don’t think I’m alone here.

TO SWEVIVER etal, My apologies again for the misplaced frustration to you and your team regarding PE and IPD. It was uncalled for, I know you and Armin or doing your best.

To the REST of you here on the Forum. I offer my apologies as well. I hope you can now understand why I made the post(s).

I hope very soon, I too can enjoy the benefits of my 8KX as well. Off to see if I can make some headway now.
David

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