This DLL still works with Live for Speed 0.6Q and there may still be people who want to use the old Oculus Runtime (0.8) for their DK2 rather than the new bug ridden bloatware that is required for the CV1.
I say bug ridden because of what you can see with a quick glance at the Oculus Support Forum. In my case, the Rift starts getting one-second black screen events after a few minutes, until eventually the screen goes black and does not recover. The only cure then is to restart the Oculus runtime. So that sadly makes the Rift unusable for anything but a quick demo. Also it allows me to test things I've worked on, so that's great but actual racing is not possible.
I say bloatware because you have to download over 1GB to use the Rift at all. Then if you want to run anything in VR, it always starts the Oculus home shop program in the background and that cannot be closed or the Rift doesn't work.
Other things I don't like about it are that there is no option to avoid Oculus software starting when your computer starts, and constantly accessing the internet every few minutes even if you are not using your Rift. I've found a way to disable this so I can start it when I want to but it is bad that they don't provide a simple option for that.
Another bug is that if the Oculus software is running (which is is, if you turn on your computer) then the Rift gets hot even if you are not using it. So something is wrong there. If you shut down the Oculus software (after quite a bit of research and investigation and writing an appropriate shortcut with command line options) then the Rift doesn't get hot.
So... there are good reasons for some DK2 owners to stick with the old runtime!
I've always wondered why the Home software has to run since it can be written to directly.
The Home software doesn't start automatically on my PC; and I find the headset doesn't generate any heat unless I have Home open. I tend to open it in advance anyway, so that condensation doesn't appear on the lenses - basically to preheat the unit (maybe I just have a head that gives off more than average moisture? ew..) anyway, from your comments, does LFS not run for very long without having issues? I'll admit I've been glued to another sim lately but if I can help you in any way with LFS troubleshooting I'd be happy to.
The above is completely relevant here, like VR, you just have to understand how....
VR is a newborn, these are it's first cries. It is attempting to make sense of the world, and the world is attempting to find a place for VR.
In other words, it's still pointless for most of us. Yes, Racing Sims and Flight Sim's are probably where it will find a home while it matures and grows but while that happens it will continue to be an expensive Beta, full of promise but short on delivery.
For people with a large amount of disposable income then it will be a cool toy. For the rest of us, it's an interesting stage that will lead to the future.
But we may well choose to wait for the upcoming working tech.
The visible home software (shop) doesn't open usually until you put the Rift on, but you should find a process "OVRServer_x64.exe" is running all the time. It is connected to facebook servers and exchanges packets with it every few minutes, even if you don't put your Rift on. Normally this is simply checking for updates but the agreement allows them to send any information about your use of the PC.
The black screens are not an LFS bug. They happen with any software including Oculus software, e.g. Dreamdeck. I like the Dreamdeck demo as it's a good quick selection to show people when they try VR the first time. Frustrating that during the 2nd or 3rd person, the screen will go black. I suppose I should just restart the OVRServer each time a new person gets on.
If you don't want OVRServer to run all the time, connected to facebook, here's how to stop it.
1) I suggest creating an "Oculus" folder for these 3 shortcuts.
2) Create a shortcut called something like "OVRServiceLauncher uninstall"
Target: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime\OVRServiceLauncher.exe" -uninstall
Start in: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime"
That doesn't really uninstall anything, but stops the Oculus services starting when your computer starts up. You may only need to use this once.
3) Create a shortcut like "OVRServiceLauncher install"
Target: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime\OVRServiceLauncher.exe" -install -start
Start in: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime"
That simply reverses the effect of the "uninstall" shortcut. You might never use this one.
4) Create a shortcut named "OVRServer"
Target: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime\OVRServer_x64.exe"
Start in: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime"
This is the one you use to start OVRServer any time you want to use the Rift. Interestingly, it is visibly displayed when you run it this way and you can see a live log on the console window of all the checks for updates, error messages and so on.
I've attached the shortcuts to this post, in case that may help.
How to use:
1) Run the shortcut "OVRServiceLauncher uninstall. Now your computer no longer starts the OVRServer when your computer starts
2) When you want to use the Rift, run the shortcut "OVRServer"
I don't find it short on delivery, and I definitely don't have a lot of disposable income... but at the end of a long day of work, and the kids are gone to bed, gaming is often how I like to relax. I've always really enjoyed new tech, and have been looking forward to the Rift for quite a long time. It's not like it suddenly appeared and I didn't have time to pile away some cash for it Interestingly though, nobody I've shown it to thinks it's silly or a waste of time - just a lot of "wow"s and "I didn't know this was possible yet". I am thankful I don't have the black screen issue Scawen has below though, that sounds pretty frustrating.
Thanks for that explanation and taking the time to put that all together Scawen, I'm interested to see what it transmits when visible in the foreground.
However, given the $$$$ of new processor, Motherboard, Ram, Graphics Card, OS, then choosing between Occ Ripoff or Valve, etc, etc, etc we are at $4000 NZ minimum.
That is a large chunk of disposable $$$ that I don't need to pay if I don't want some VR system that will need to be replaced in 2 to 3 years time.
I'd rather run my current, perfectly capable system for 2 or 3 years and then upgrade when the tech actually starts to work to my expected level of performance.
I'm sure that VR is the way Racing/Flying sims will go, I'm really keen to use the tech. I've just got other things to spend 4 grand on ATM.
It's great to see Scrawen embracing the new tech, It leaves me optomistic for the future.
Pro-tip: Oculus Rift's minimum machine specs are a load of garbage. Without any modification or specialist knowledge, you can get a DK2 running solidly on a NZ$900 machine.
I'm haven't yet experienced the black-screen problem or had any problems with heat, and I'm running the latest runtime too...
edit: There is a new runtime, but I'm a little bit apprehensive about installing it now - might just wait for the next update. As long as everything works without any problems, I don't see any real need to try to keep up with their constant twiddling...
It's perfectly usable on a machine that is far below spec... I recently upgraded to a 1070 but I had 2 670s before (SLi is useless in VR for now though) and I could run most things fine. The Climb had some serious loading time issues due to lack of vram but it eventually worked ok.
It seems the customer Oculus is not a really desirable product.. Slightly off topic: Is the Razer OSVR supported by LFS? Could not really find anything about it here or elsewhere. If it stays opensource it can become a good alternative
Interestingly though, nobody I've shown it to thinks it's silly or a waste of time - just a lot of "wow"s and "I didn't know this was possible yet". I am thankful I don't have the black screen issue Scawen has below though, that sounds pretty frustrating. 