Good luck with the PlayStation VR2 PC Adapter — you'll need it

The biggest occupation with Sony’s PSVR 2 virtual world headset is the dearth of games. I’d hoped Sony’s PC adapter would alteration that. The accidental to play Half-Life Alyx, the champion VR crippled yet made, seemed similar crushed capable for existing owners to warrant the $60 adapter purchase.

But I can’t presently urge Sony’s PC adapter. If I had purchased it with my ain money, alternatively than borrowing 1 from Sony, I’d person asked for a refund agelong earlier now.

It’s a shame, due to the fact that the $550 PSVR 2 is inactive a bully headset, with representation prime that arguably beats the newer $500 Meta Quest 3. Playing Half-Life Alyx wrong Sony’s headset isn’t conscionable much vibrant acknowledgment to the richer colors of its OLED screen; it’s much thrilling, too, with the panel’s existent blacks making maine consciousness the panic of its darker corridors. The Quest 3 acquisition looks incredibly washed retired by comparison.

But what truly frightened maine successful Half-Life: Alyx was the damned glitch. How — erstwhile I assistance my pistol to woody with an unspeakable fearfulness — I’d often find my manus had go detached from my body, stuck successful place, 2 feet supra the ground.

I’ve spent 8 hours troubleshooting this contented and ones similar it implicit the past week, and I’m nary person to a solution. My Quest 3 streams this crippled astir perfectly from the aforesaid PC successful the aforesaid room, and yet my PSVR 2 struggles adjacent with a hardwired headset cablegram to help. I spot plentifulness of others reporting the aforesaid issues online, yet others study nary issues astatine all.

Is it luck? Perhaps, but I fishy it mightiness besides person thing to bash with however Sony cheaped out.

You astir apt cognize that Sony’s headset connects to the PS5 with a azygous USB-C cablegram that routes its show signal, power, and information simultaneously. Once upon a time, graphics paper manufacturers were readying to standardize connected a USB-C larboard with that aforesaid combo — they called it VirtualLink, and portion the marque didn’t instrumentality off, immoderate GPUs did marque it retired into the chaotic with a do-it-all USB-C port.

The PSVR 2 PC Adapter appears to beryllium the aforesaid thing. The three-inch by three-inch quadrate puck takes USB-A and DisplayPort from your gaming PC and powerfulness from a DC tube jack, combining them into a azygous USB-C larboard for your headset connected the different end. Find a DisplayPort cablegram (it doesn’t travel with 1 and doesn’t enactment HDMI-to-DisplayPort), occurrence up the escaped PlayStation VR2 App connected Steam, and suddenly, you person a SteamVR headset susceptible of displaying immoderate Steam game.

But the headset is the only happening the PSVR 2 adapter adapts. Sony provides nary mode to link the PlayStation VR2’s all-important controllers. They request to link to your PC implicit Bluetooth, but Sony does not supply immoderate signifier of Bluetooth vigor for that — and figuring retired controller connectivity connected my ain has been an utter mess.

First, I tried my desktop’s ain built-in Bluetooth. My motherboard shipped with the highly communal Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 / Bluetooth 5.2 combo chip, truthful I figured I had a chance. I made definite its antennas were screwed successful choky and turned disconnected Wi-Fi conscionable successful lawsuit it mightiness interfere.

The controllers paired quickly! But 1 of them refused to update unless I physically plugged it into my PC with a USB-C cablegram first. My blasters successful Space Pirate Trainer, a crippled wherever I tin easy trial aiming, were unusually floaty, and soon, 1 of them started disappearing entirely. The controllers would not enactment connected.

So, I ordered the archetypal Bluetooth adapter connected Sony’s incredibly tiny compatibility list — the $15 TP-Link UB500. Sony weirdly writes determination that “operation is not guaranteed” with immoderate of its recommended adapters, but astatine the time, I didn’t instrumentality it arsenic a reddish flag.

The archetypal happening I learned is that you indispensable disable your motherboard’s onboard Bluetooth if you privation to usage a dongle. (I learned that from poking astir myself due to the fact that neither Windows nor Sony’s app gave maine a clue.) The 2nd happening I learned is you indispensable unpair controllers before you disable your motherboard’s onboard Bluetooth, oregon other Windows won’t fto you brace them again.

After many, galore further troubleshooting steps, my controllers began to consciousness responsive.

But adjacent past — with Sony’s recommended Bluetooth dongle, the latest drivers, plugged into a USB hold cable, with a nonstop enactment of show to my controllers little than 5 feet distant — 1 of my virtual hands would regularly, repeatedly, and consistently get stuck successful midair. It mislaid positional tracking, meaning I could inactive rotate my hand, adjacent compression the triggers, but not determination it anywhere.

Now, I admit that doesn’t wholly dependable similar a Bluetooth issue, and I could beryllium incorrect astir that, but here’s wherefore I fishy it mightiness be:

I’m acrophobic that controller tracking isn’t the lone contented I’ve had with PSVR 2 connected PC, either. I’ve repeatedly seen the full acquisition grind to a halt, connected aggregate PCs, conscionable by trying to entree the SteamVR overlay to alteration measurement oregon load a antithetic game. I had to region the headset and force-close things each time. It happened erstwhile once I was trying to play Armored Core 6 in SteamVR’s theatre situation that gives you a large virtual surface for your level games, too.

If it weren’t for that, and however some Sony and Valve necessitate you to usage question controllers to entree and navigate SteamVR, possibly I could astatine slightest urge the adapter for non-VR gaming.

Sony did not reply my questions astir wherefore it didn’t take to connection its ain Bluetooth solution oregon whether there’s different Bluetooth adapter oregon a validated laptop I should effort instead. I offered to fto Sony assistance maine troubleshoot implicit the phone, but the institution didn’t instrumentality maine up connected that, either.

After trying every troubleshooting step connected Sony’s website and much via PR email, and putting 8 hours into this happening without a azygous bully gameplay session, I’ve decided Sony’s PC merchandise simply isn’t acceptable for my PC.