Who has stable LH 2.0 tracking on 8Kx 😀

Pimax Hardware P2: 8kX
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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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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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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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You’re probably right but crossing my fingers anyway :slightly_smiling_face:

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Mine (Valve version) are fw version 3008

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Just tested, made no difference at all unfortunately

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

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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!

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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…

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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

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

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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

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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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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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Shame it didn’t improve things for you.

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Hi there,

thanks for your reply!

I may also add that I use an intel i7 7700k at 5 GHz, 32GB RAM and a 2080 Ti. As mentioned before, I used a Pimax Artisan with PiTool Render Quality at 0.5 and 0.75 for testing purpose (1700x1440 pixel displays driven by ~1800x1600 resolution). I doubt that my system would be struggling with that. No Parallel Projections was used.

The affected PiTool versions do NOT have a GPU Catalyst setting anymore, so I would assume I cannot set it to a wrong value.

I also drive the 5K XR at ~3200 x 2200 Pixels and higher without any problems.

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Maybe I wrote to much text to make the info transparent enough to be of use. Although the topic is 8KX here, I wanted to point out that the issue is not isolated to the 8KX but affecting the Artisan (blue housing) and 8k+. It does not affect older headset like my 5k XR, and I would assume the 5K+ will also not be affected (assumption with no proof).

These facts might help to isolate the issue.

I am a natural scientist and used to do design experiments that address an issue (or question) and exclude or support hypothesis by combining ALL the info and results given. I was wasting 3 weeks of my life (evenings) with this and I am not positively overwhelmed by the support from Pimax. They came up with most obvious things you can also read in their FAQs! They also flashed my headset with the same firmware version already on it and when I asked what this was useful for, he agreed that there is no context. However, he could see the jitter via VNC Session while the headset was sitting on a chair in the video stream. All lighthouse sensors in the headset were found to be functional! There was no hardware issue identified.

After Pimax heard that the headset was purchased on AliExpress they said they have nothing to do with this and I should contact the reseller in China!! How would the reseller solve the fuxxx PiTool/Firmware/whatever Problem of Pimax? If the Pimax support was more engaged he would have thought about it and considered that there might be a general bug or software issue. I think this was not even monitored or put into a data base. Case closed as Artisan not bought at Pimax!

I really hope we can do what Pimax is not willing or able to do and find the issue. I would suggest we take all info into account and make create a rational that can be tested and result a clear output. Maybe Mainboard/Chipset, GPU driver versions, hardware settings etc. need to be put into account! It is also important to isolate this from other tracking issues (headset does not start tracking, performance issues, shiny surfaces/reflections etc.).

My Specs are: i7700k on 5 Ghz, tested also at 4.5 GHz with and without hyperthreading.

  • 32 GB of RAM
  • 2080 TI with current driver version 456.38
  • HTC Base Stations 2.0, Firmware v3003
  • Newly installed Win10 and Steam/SteamVR, no other software on the system
  • Tried all USB Ports available (intel 2.0, 3.0, ASMedia 3.1)
  • Removed shiny surfaces, pictures etc.
  • Repositioned base stations
  • Used very low render resolution to exclude performance issues
  • Used Steam beta and stable version
  • problem found mainly with pitool v258 and newer (up till current 264 beta)
  • less pronounced with 253 and 255
  • Artisan and 8k+ show the issues, 5k XR does not!
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Hi Emax

im sorry but please do not take offence as I am the OP of this topic.
But have you read the entire thread before posting ?

An I really appriciate you trying to help. but there is really no need to compare everything as this topic is specifcally about the 8Kx, sure it shares the same housing and blue coating as the 8K+ and some versions of the Artisan, but this is not the point of the thread :slight_smile:

regards
/MrAhlefeld

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I have read the entire thread for sure, but not memorized it :wink:
I just thought it might be of help to look at it from a little bit wider angle (or should I say FOV)
I can also wait until I have my 8KX to post here and report if I have issues. Or I make my own topic in the Artisan or 8K+ category and everyone is looking at it isolated.
Sorry, I just thought we look at a common and new issue type, that is not affecting only one specific headset from Pimax. The more Pimax owners contribute the more info we get. But ok, I will come back here when I have bought the 8KX to report if the same issue is found there (which I think it will)

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