Darpa

Speed... Re: your first response Even a bigger thanks to you now. When my PC arrived a few days ago and I booted it a message came up and said it would now install all of the latest firmware and drivers. It listed everything it was going to install (fairly lengthy list) and one item said "Latest Nvidia Drivers". Your first message reminded me maybe I should go and check and make sure they had done this. Turns out they said that they had... but they actually had not. It was not only not on the latest driver, the driver was actually quite old. Dumb of me to trust a hardware vendor. Thanks again for reminding me of this. Have a good day

Thanks speed, I took a look and it seems they are referring to the Aero and 5090 issues that occurred in conjunction with earlier Nvidia drivers. As you mentioned Nvidia resolved that problem a while ago a few months ago) when they released a new driver. I held off buying a computer with a 5090 until that issue was resolved. My problem has to do with connections I believe but I do appreciate you trying to help - Thanks

Hi… I just got a new Alienware Area-51 AAT2250 (5090, Intel® CoreTM Ultra 9 285K processor, 64 GB RAM) and tried to install my Aero. It fails on the 3rd step of the install, it says "Headset Connected" and "checking connection, please wait" and the process never finishes. The new machine is fully up to date on everything and has only the keyboard/mouse and monitor connected. I have tried everything I know (tried multiple USB ports, multiple Display Ports, multiple versions of the Varjo Base drivers, rebooted everything multiple times) and no luck. Ideas? Thanks

I am not very technical so I am not going to try the Varjo registry edits but I do have default Mbuccia DFR installed (I have never modified any values). So am I correct in assuming I can either: 1) Keep Mbuccia DFR installed and in the new DCS VR options just check Quadviews and UNcheck eye tracking 2) Remove Mbuccia DFR and check both Quadviews and Eye tracking (but I may get worse visual quality and performance) I just want to make sure before I update. Thanks

Thanks for your comments TZigy. First hand accounts are always valuable. As a current Aero owner I am not suffering at the moment but I am starting to think about the next steps and the VR1, XR4 and Crystal Super are all on my radar... with the VR1 probably being the most "real" at the moment. Tzigy... Did they happen to mention the PC specs they were using for the demo? Did you get to talk to others who were trying it? ...Thanks

I currently have the Aero and am still quite happy with it but I am just now starting to think about what comes next for me (onwards and upwards). 1) The XR-4 seems a logical next choice (I am on the list). When I last talked to a Varjo rep a few months ago he said there would be 2 software updates (February and March) that would make it fully compatible with the software that I use (Flight and Racing). The first of those did come out and hopefully the second is about to. Then it will be a matter of timing for the release. 2) Somnium VR1 is still in consideration but it is not out yet (soon) and I still do not have enough information to make any final decisions on it. I wish them well and I am hoping the end result is good. 3) I believe the current Pimax Crystal is good from everything I have read but I don't think it is a big enough jump from what I already have. However it will be worthwhile to see what they come up with next and in what time frame. Any other up and comers people are thinking about?

Thanks all, the explanations are much appreciated.

OK thanks... so i am assuming then that DCS will not work properly with the Aero unless I use the mod.

My new computer is arriving shortly (4090, i9-14900KF) and I will be setting it up with the Varjo Aero. I have been reading the opening message to this thread and I will be using the option listed as: "How to: DCS multi-threaded via Varjo OpenXR” One question: I understand that using mbucchia’s Varjo Foveated mod will give me Foveated Rendering but if I do not use it (if I just use DCS MT exe with default Varjo OpenXR) will everything function properly (i.e. no quad view issues or cursor problems etc.)? … Or do I need to use the mod to get rid of any possible functionality problems as well as getting Foveated rendering? Thanks

I have had the Aero since the beginning and I was very pleased with it then and still am today.

I think the "offical" answer would be no (you don't need them). However after the last update i found the sim was starting in 2D mode at times rather than VR. I added back the --force_enable_VR --force_OpenXR switches and now it boots in VR again all the time. Better safe than sorry.

OK... I am just answering my own question in case anyone else runs into this issue. I think I have found a solution (still not 100% sure but it has worked each time I tried it so far) For the MT exe I add the following --force_enable_VR --force_OpenXR I know I should not have to do that but each time I have done this the sim starts in VR and does not start in 2D only. So it is working so far (fingers-crossed)

If anyone has any ideas about the following problem I would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks Problem: Since the update to the latest stable version of DCS (2 days ago) the application will boot into VR only about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time it just boots into the 2D (monitor) environment. There is no pattern to this. If it does successfully boot into VR all is well and everything operates as it should. If not, then I am just stuck in 2D and have to shut the application down and start all over again. The next time it may, or may not, run in VR. Facts: - I have just updated to current stable version of DCS 2 days ago (this is when the problem started) - DCS was running flawlessly before I updated DCS in VR using my Varjo Aero - I am running the current version of Vajo Base software (and it has not been updated since the problem started) and it always starts on system boot. - I run the MT version of DCS - No other changes to my VR system software (Varjo Base) or any other software has occurred on the machine - The problems occurs whether I reboot the system after each try or if I do not - I have no trouble with VR in any other flight sim (or any other software) - either before or after the last 2 days

Thanks admiki... Complete, concise and very helpful. Much apprecaited!

I am just starting to fly the Hind. I am learning to fly as the Pilot first and then will move on to other positions. 4 quick questions: 1) The mirrors seem to have 3 settings... none of which act as mirrors. I firstly get a blue and yellow image in the mirrors, then if I press the mirror button again I get blank mirrors and if I press again the mirrors vanish. Does anyone know how I get real mirror images to appear? 2) How long of a "press up" in the AI settings do you need for the AI Petrovich to free fire a missle. I can get him to search, he will find and then list targets, I can select a target from the list but he never fires a missle. I have a 4 way hat switch set to control his actions and I am using "up long" to try and get him to fire... but he seems to be ignoring me. 3) I have English cockpit set in the "settings" but the cockpit is in Russian only 4) I have no map on the right side in the cockpit. What is needed to turn this on? Thanks for any help you can offer on these items.

It looks like much has happened in the DCS and Varjo world since the last DCS stable update at the end of last year. Assuming that it can't be too much longer for a stable update (hopefully the end of 1st Quarter 2023) I have been reading this rather long and useful thread looking for the most expedient and simplest path to take advantage of the ongoing changes. Not being overly technical I I will take a stab at what I think I would try given what I am seeing in this thread. If some kind soul could confirm (or correct) the process I would appreciate it. Note: I do not use OpenXR Toolkit After the update to stable: 1) Run the DCS executable from the bin_mt directory if it has not already been moved to the regular bin directory in the stable release. There is no need for any command line arguments as it now runs OpenXR from Varjo Base automatically. 2) Get the mbucchia DFR update (from the location stated in this thread) 3) Follow all instructions in the DFR update – re: calibration and foveated rendering and DCS settings All of this should not only provide MT support, Varjo OpenXR support and DFR support but should get rid of any cursor related problems that originally occurred using the Aero and OpenXR. If for any reason any of this this fails I can always go back to using the command line argument to force the use of Steam's OpenVR along with the multi-threaded DCS executable. Thanks for any feedback.

Thanks dburne, Just to be clear then.. The place I go in the Steam app to make the change to OpenXR only applies to DCS and no other apps - correct? thanks again.

This is in regards to the discussion between dburne and supmua in the last few pages of this thread that was talking about Steam's openVR and openXR. I am currently have quad screens and am using --force_steam_VR on the command line. Not being very knowledgeable about this stuff my take away from that back and forth was that I could: 1) Make a change in the Steam app (developers section?) from OpenVR to OpenXR 2) Change --force_steam_VR to --force_OpenXR on the DCS command line My question is this. If I make that change to OpenXR in Steam can I do that for a specific application (for DCS only) or is that a global change that may have consequences for other Steam VR applications I use (that may need OpenVR)? Thanks for any comments.

I may be behind the times here... but I have 2 icons to start DCS. One has the force steam VR parameter and the other does not. If I use the force steam VR startup then all looks great in game and everything works. If I use the "non" force steam VR startup then all looks great in game (really great!) but I still get the broken cursor (2 cross cursors and no proper click point) and the 2D monitor is still screwed up (4 images). I am running latest stable DCS and Base 3.6.2 and nothing else. Does this sound about right or is there something I have missed. Thanks

Apologies for the exaggeration to make a point. I will reword... it feels light and benign and lacks the haptic feedback to properly convince me I am flying an early 70's jet (something most other cold war jets in DCS do a fantastic job at)

Glad you had a good first experience RPY. I am just starting the systems so I hope all goes well in that department. I do think the "darkness" I experienced can and hopefully will be remedied to a degree as the developers have said they would look into that. it is more the "soulless" part that I am concerned about. In most other planes in DCS, especially ones like the Mig-21. Tomcat, F86 etc., I feel the weight and power of a serious fighter jet. The haptics and forces make it very evident that I am in a bone rattling out to do business fighter. In the F1 I feel like I am in a dark Cessna floating along on a calm summer day. I will keep working on the haptics to see if I can get some better low frequency response from it but I do not want to change things too much as it works so well in my cockpit for most other planes and sims.

I just bought the F1... I set up the basic controls, jumped in my cockpit, cranked up the haptics, popped on my Aero headset, gripped the HOTAS and was prepared for another immersive experience seeing and feeling the beauty, scope, weight, energy and force of another cold war warrior such as my Mig-15, 19 and 21 or my F86, F5 or Tomcat. What I got was "dark and soulless". I now will move on to the systems but as they say - you never get a second chance at a first impression. I am sure others have had a more positive first experience... but not me.

Finally got hold of their support a few hours ago. They explained that their support system had failed and they had lost all incoming requests.

Peachmonkey thank you for pointing me to that thread. 1) I saw that my entry of --force_steam_vr should be --force_steam_VR (caps for the VR) It now loads steamVR successfully. The 4 screens are gone and the picture quality is good again. 2) However it is still unusable given side effects that this caused. The camera view does not seem to center properly, the camera seems now attached to my head as it moves... and the fish-eye distortion is back again big time (it had almost vanished entirely with the experimental distortion feature they introduced in the last version of the Base software). So 1 step forward and 1 step back. I will continue re-reading the thread peachmonkey suggested to see if there are any other clues. Does what I am describing sound familiar to anyone? Update: OK... now Don's solution to swap eyes DOES work after I got the steamVR thing working again and I am back to normal (so much for using the stable version). Thanks for everyone's help as I very much appreciate it. I must admit after having the Aero overheat and brick on me, having their support ignore all my support requests and now having this issue with DCS and am, for the first time, having my concerns about this headset.

OK... I tried using the swap eye tool again. I swapped and saved - it no longer creates a hedy.lua but instead creates a Varjo Aero.lua. I tried with and without this file and it still does not start steamvr and I still get the 4 screens. I will now try some of the other suggestions. Thanks all again