SteamVR Launches Automatically When It Should Not

[Crenim]

Severity
Minor

Frequency
All of the time (100%)

Time of occurrence
Every time game launches

Date of occurrence
Every time game launches

VR?
None / N/A

Location
n/a

Ship/SRV?
N/A

Ship Type


Commander Name
Crenim

Description
tarting in the last couple of weeks, whenever I click the "Play" button in the Elite Dangerous Launcher, SteamVR launches automatically and I have to take extra steps to close it.

I do have an Oculus rift, but I do not always use it when I play. When I do use it, SteamVR is not used. I only utilize that for games that are not natively Oculus compatible. Previously SteamVR never launched, even when I use my Oculus and have it connected to the PC.

This issue occurs even if I launch the game from the launcher outside of steam. It also occurs even if i disable the auto-launch SteamVR option within Steam itself.
I experienced this same behavior recently with another game (Astroneer). In that case, the game had to receive a patch in order to resolve the problem. I am betting something within elite itself is causing this to launch. This seems to have started following the 12/16/2016 update to SteamVR, so I am betting they introduced some sort of new bug.

This issue does not cause me any inability to play Elite, it's just an irritation I wanted to make sure your development team was aware of.

I greatly appreciate your work and support on this wonderful game that has consumed a tremendous amount of my life

Thank you! Have a happy new year!

Steps to Reproduce
1. Have Oculus Rift software loaded on the computer.
2. Have SteamVR loaded within Steam
3. Have Oculus disconnected physically from the PC
4. Have Elite Dangerous Installed
5. Launch Elite Dangerous and launch the game from the launcher screen
6. SteamVR window will appear saying it cannot see hardware. Close out the error message and game continues normally.

Additional files?

[Alec Turner]

I'd like to second this.

So sometimes I play in Oculus and sometimes I play on the monitor.

When I play in Oculus (with the Oculus connected and the OVRService running) it works perfectly.

But when I'm going to play on the monitor I stop the OVRService first (via a desktop 'net stop OVRService' shortcut) in order to prevent Oculus home from popping up and interfering with some NVIDIA graphic overrides like vsync. Unfortunately what now happens is that SteamVR pops up instead and I then have to quit it and then alt-tab back into ED.

I realise this may not be ED's fault - more likely a problem introduced with a recent SteamVR update but if there's any way of preventing this I'd really really appreciate it.

[Crenim]

I'd like to second this.

So sometimes I play in Oculus and sometimes I play on the monitor.

When I play in Oculus (with the Oculus connected and the OVRService running) it works perfectly.

But when I'm going to play on the monitor I stop the OVRService first (via a desktop 'net stop OVRService' shortcut) in order to prevent Oculus home from popping up and interfering with some NVIDIA graphic overrides like vsync. Unfortunately what now happens is that SteamVR pops up instead and I then have to quit it and then alt-tab back into ED.

I realise this may not be ED's fault - more likely a problem introduced with a recent SteamVR update but if there's any way of preventing this I'd really really appreciate it.

Thanks for the reply Alec. I'm glad to know it's not just me. I had not found any reports so far on the forum of this behavior, so it's good to know it's out there.

I totally agree that this is probably due to a change in SteamVR. I did not play for around 2 weeks over the holidays and it started when I returned from that break. I know Elite did not have any patches outside of the beta world during that time but that SteamVR patch dropped right about the time I had my brief break.

[QA-Jonny]

Hey Crenim, I will pass this to be looked into and thank you for letting us know.

[QA-Jonny]

Just spoken to our VR programmer and we are aware of this issue, as a quick workaround, for now, we recommend unplugging your VR headset and this should resolve the problem.

[Crenim]

Just spoken to our VR programmer and we are aware of this issue, as a quick workaround, for now, we recommend unplugging your VR headset and this should resolve the problem.

Thanks for the reply, Jonny. What's strange in my case is that it pops up even with my headset physically disconnected. I still have the Oculus software installed and that service running in the background as it normally does, but the headset is totally disconnected and packed away. I wanted to mention that just in case it means something.

Thanks again for the reply. I really appreciate the responsiveness.

[QA-Jonny]

Thanks for the reply, Jonny. What's strange in my case is that it pops up even with my headset physically disconnected. I still have the Oculus software installed and that service running in the background as it normally does, but the headset is totally disconnected and packed away. I wanted to mention that just in case it means something.

Thanks again for the reply. I really appreciate the responsiveness.

Hey Crenim, this is really good to know and I will pass this on. Also no worries we are here to help if we can.

[shmegegge]

Was there ever a solution for this? It's happening to me, as well, and the only solution I've found (in steamvr settings, uncheck "start when application launches") doesn't fix this problem.

[Crenim]

Was there ever a solution for this? It's happening to me, as well, and the only solution I've found (in steamvr settings, uncheck "start when application launches") doesn't fix this problem.

Still no solution so far. The beta patch came out so soon after this issue was reported that I am betting they just have not had time to address it. I sure hope it gets resolved in the next update.

[MAIN SEQUENCE]

Just wanted to add my voice to this. It's not a major issue but it's annoying when the SteamVR status panels pop-up forcing ED from full-screen back to the desktop and then you have to alt-tab back to the game. Only way I've found to stop this happening is to uninstall SteamVR.

EDIT: should probably mention that I'm playing on Rift

[wstephenson]

Me three. Vive user, not full-time.

[Crenim]

Thanks guys. Good to know that is happening on Vive as well.

[xxiii]

the SteamVR status panels pop-up forcing ED from full-screen back to the desktop and then you have to alt-tab back to the game.

You could pre-emptively launch SteamVR first. (yes, I realize you don't want it to launch at all).

[Talesen]

I'll chime in on this. I go off and on with the SteamVR, so when I want to use it, it is nice that the SteamVR kicks in and starts it right up. But when I just want to relax and play on the monitor, unplugging the VR doesn't stop the SteamVR spin up. It starts the game, then minimizes the game, and starts SteamVR, and then sits on the desktop with the little SteamVR window as the focus. So I need restore the Elite window, which sometimes skips the removal of the system mouse cursor and now I have a small white mouse cursor and a big orange one at a random distance from the little one.

I also have to wear the VR to kill the Display settings to go back to the Monitor if the VR is unwanted for that session, even though I selected: Elite Dangerous: Horizons. Not Elite Dangerous VR.

And lastly, when I close Elite Dangerous down after playing, but not using VR (it is unplugged), the game never actually closes, even after the launch window is closed, seemingly due to the SteamVR stuff, that I don't know what it is doing but it keeps Steam alive and thinking I am in game, and disrupts the closing of Steam, or the computer without a force close to Steam.

Little things that are easily a few simple clicks to fix on my end, but they still feel a little clunky. It just feels weird when you have a kind of dance that becomes normalized after doing it so often, that you no longer really notice it until you try to show someone the game, and you're saying: "Oop...Hold on, I gotta just... oh, yeah, and I forgot, this too. Last thing, I promise. Except for this... aannnnd here we go, the loading screen."

[Alec Turner]

I'll chime in on this. I go off and on with the SteamVR, so when I want to use it, it is nice that the SteamVR kicks in and starts it right up. But when I just want to relax and play on the monitor, unplugging the VR doesn't stop the SteamVR spin up. It starts the game, then minimizes the game, and starts SteamVR, and then sits on the desktop with the little SteamVR window as the focus. So I need restore the Elite window, which sometimes skips the removal of the system mouse cursor and now I have a small white mouse cursor and a big orange one at a random distance from the little one.

I also have to wear the VR to kill the Display settings to go back to the Monitor if the VR is unwanted for that session, even though I selected: Elite Dangerous: Horizons. Not Elite Dangerous VR.

And lastly, when I close Elite Dangerous down after playing, but not using VR (it is unplugged), the game never actually closes, even after the launch window is closed, seemingly due to the SteamVR stuff, that I don't know what it is doing but it keeps Steam alive and thinking I am in game, and disrupts the closing of Steam, or the computer without a force close to Steam.

Little things that are easily a few simple clicks to fix on my end, but they still feel a little clunky. It just feels weird when you have a kind of dance that becomes normalized after doing it so often, that you no longer really notice it until you try to show someone the game, and you're saying: "Oop...Hold on, I gotta just... oh, yeah, and I forgot, this too. Last thing, I promise. Except for this... aannnnd here we go, the loading screen."

^^^ this, brilliantly put, exactly!