Who has stable LH 2.0 tracking on 8Kx 😀

Pimax Hardware P2: 8kX
,
58

So here’s another big “ask” from me.
Could all of you with BS2.0’s check your lighthouses.json file for the firware version.
Mine are FW 3002
“especially looking at you Phil @Fomatter” seeing you have stable tracking on SteamVR branded (older model)

can be found here: C:\ProgramData\pimax\runtime\config\lighthouse\lighthousedb.json

looks like this

“dynamic_states” : [
{
“dynamic_state” : {
“basestation_mode” : 4,
“faults” : 0,
"firmware_version" : 3002,
“gravity_vector” : [ 0, -0.852118731, 0.52334851 ],
“nonce” : 8095,
“reset_count” : 1,
“sobChannel” : 0
},
“first_id” : 1,
“last_id” : 1,
“tilt” : {
“pitch” : 2.58034325,
“roll” : 0.0869284198,
“variance” : 3.25525616e-05
},
“time_last_seen” : “1602011281”

Cheers
/MrAhlefeld

2 Likes
59

Firmware 3002 for me. I also asked Steam support if there are any hardware differences between the 2 variants.

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61

It appears My tracking is stable until I push my GPU. I tried playing a game in native mode with quality set to 2.0 and everything went south in a hurry! The games entry screen was jittering so much that I couldn’t even hit the exit button with the mouse. I finally got into the airplane, it’s a flight Sim of course, and the frame rate was atrocious. No bear in mind that my graphics card is a 1080 and that’s way below the recommended minimum from Pimax. I am actually pleasantly surprised at how well everything runs if I keep it an upscale mode and I’m reasonable in my settings. I’m awful tired of being reasonable! Roll on Big Navi… daddy needs a faster GPU before 2021!

62

That’s definitely expected and I wouldn’t call they a tracking issue, but rather a rendering “issue”.

Your GPU simply isn’t up to the task and everything becomes laggy as it tries to reach the desired framerates.

If You check Your frametimes in fpsVR they’ll surely be all red… :wink:

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63

So @Fomatter was kind enough to upload the firmware from his SteamVR branded LH2.0
The conclusion is

SteamVR branded LH2.0 firmware is firmware version 2001
Valve branded LH2.0 firmware is firmware version 3002

When uploading the SteamVR firmware version 2001 to a Valve branded LH2.0 the LED lights up White when ready (instead of Green on firmware 3002)

But the 8Kx is not able to lock on to the LH and establish tracking, the LH symbol in PiTool just blinks.
If SteamVR is startet it can see the LH2.0 and what channel it’s configured to.
Index controllers can be paired to the 8Kx but are unable to track as well, they just blink as well.

So another step along the road, trial and error but alas the problem is not solved by this.

/MrAhlefeld

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64

After switching to firmware 2001, did you try running the series ie lighthouse_watchman_upgrade commands to reset the tracking? It may also be worth a try with firmware 2001.

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65

Hi Steve

Nope did not have time for it, will try tonight but not expecting it to make a difference, seeing what the commands do is, reset the watchman dongle and set the type and restart.

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66

You’re probably right but crossing my fingers anyway :slightly_smiling_face:

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67

Mine (Valve version) are fw version 3008

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68

Just tested, made no difference at all unfortunately

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69

Hey @twack3r
Cool I’ve sent you a message :slightly_smiling_face: PM
Need that firmware for testing :grinning::smile:

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70

Hi there, new to Pimax (since some weeks) and to this Forum. This is basically my first message here!

I bought a Pimax Artisan with blue housing and Comfort Kit some weeks ago and immediately noticed an issue with the Headset Tracking. I had oculus DK1, CV1, Quest, Samsung Odysey+, Index and Vive Pro. The Vive Pro with wireless kit is my daily driver.

I have the HTC Lighthouse 2.0 base Stations. They used to have white LED when ready. Since I can communicate with them via Bluetooth (HTC-Vive Base connecter) I had two firmware updates on them. Now they have green light when being ready, blue light for sleep). Will check the firmware later at home.

I am using VR since 2013 and my stomach is quite fine with artificial movement.

However, the Artisan has “Micro Jitters” in all directions for 2 to 8 pixels. It makes me motion sick by just staring straight ahead. The problem gets worse or less dependent on the position in the room and direction I look at. This is not present in Pimax Home!

Moreover, when I turn around in my room there are two or more specific positions where the image wobbles. It feels like the turning accelerates and slows down at that point although movement is linear. It also feels like the head movement is an oval instead of a circle. Another cause of motion sickness with this headset.

In general the movement felt like there is latency. It is very subtle and I cannot pinpoint everything down. When I used the Vive Pro again it felt like “real VR” smooth, fast and immersive!

If things would have been differently, I would have been happy with the Artisan and waited for the wireless kit (you can dream, right?).

So I ordered an 8k+ at a dealer in Germany. At that point I thought the Artisan is faulty. The 8k+ showed the exact same issues, except that the jitters were smaller. That’s why I used pixels as measure above (smaller Pixels, smaller jitter?!).

Ok , did not give up here and bought a used Pimax 5K XR. The SDE and dullness was shocking compared to Vive Pro and Artisan/8k+. However, tracking is perfect! Almost on pair with Vive Pro!

I excluded that tracking issues are related to shiny surfaces, windows etc. (removed or covered everything, repositioned the Base Stations) or due to PC overload (using 0,5 and 0,75 super sampling in Pitool and quite low super sampling/under sampling in SteamVR).

I also installed a “clean” version of Win10 and Steam. No difference!

The issues have been present in PiTool 258, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264. However, in PiTool 253 and 255 I found it to be significantly less. That’s why I hope it is Software related.

I had contacted Pimax support. My feeling is they are trained to fix or help with obvious things/known issues. They are not used to explore new problems.

I will write more in this forum (reviews, support experiences) in the future. For now I hope this gets the attention of Pimax R&D staff. I got an 8KX offered by someone, so I am not clear if I should take that risk. Maybe it is the blue housing (coating) or some other recent change, as it cannot be explained with the LH 2.0/firmware alone. The Pimax 5k XR works fine with my LH2.0 base stations!

2 Likes
71

So with the help from @twack3r i’ve gotten hold of the 3008 Valve LH2.0 Firmware.

Upgraded my 2 lighthouses and they can track the 8Kx, unfortunately my initial verdict is that made no difference in the tracking wobble.

A big thanks goes out to @Fomatter and @twack3r for the Firmware uploads.

The story continues… when Pimax support staff returns from holliday…

3 Likes
72

I see @twack3r has 2.1.255.294 HMD FW, @MrAhlefeld I checked all your posts in this thread but didn’t find mention of the HMD’S FW, can you ask @twack3r to export it & import on your side. I guess it won’t work but I remember Pimax staff sent some 8kX FW versions by emails to some ppl who had issues, I don’t recall it was tracking but I guess FW can be different & not always up to date

73

@MrAhlefeld also can you for experiment run steamvr game & close pitool compeltly
https://community.openmr.ai/t/pitool-killing-wifi-every-6-or-7-seconds/21623/40
it looks pitool still has old issues & cause sometimes weird problem with wifi, I believe it also can have a chance to affect usb bandwidth & HMD tracking

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74

That firmware for 8kX only is available in #Pimax-pitool:Pitool-Notes

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75

for safety of the experiment I would use FW from HMD that is working well regardless of number, I know it’s silly but I wouldn’t be surprised if there can be different FW versions with the same number :DDDD

76

also @Emax

IME the stutter/jitter and performance are related. For example, my HP omen laptop has serious stuttering issues using version .262, but is fully stable on ONLY pitool .255, that’s because it hardly can run the 5k+. The ‘catalyst’ is no good if you ask me. Even at 0, it’s “more catalyst” than version .255. If you’re constantly reprojecting, it will jitter. In a game like beatsaber, jitter is waaaay less than a flight sim or something.

I’d far prefer the option to entirely turn off gpu catalyst for lower spec machines. For my desktop, the improved performance is absolutely worth it, and I rarely get jitter. On my laptop, its literally unplayable.

I don’t think it works with the 8kx, but if you ask me, pitool 255 is the last stable release unless you have a hefty machine that can power through the jitter. I think (at least its my gut feeling) this is unrelated to the oculus library issues of the latest PTs. Those seem like serious gyro issues or something

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77

I’ve got the same firmware on mine, even tried flashing it again :wink:

I would be interested if anyone has the original FW that the 8Kx came with.

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78

Shame it didn’t improve things for you.

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