I have done some testing with VD and Air Link and I must say that Air Link gives a better image. I changed to the Oculus OpenXR runtime, so SteamVR isn’t needed. I disabled ASW. My first conclusion is that Air Link performs the same or slightly better than VD in FS2020, but the image quality is clearer with Air Link. It also depends on the resolution settings (if you check the render resolution in FS2020 you see the screen resolution that you are currently on. But when I’m in both Air Link and VD at approximately the same resolution, Air Link looks a bit sharper than VD to me. Knowing that this is just a Beta now, we can expect this to become even better over time.
Edit: Yesterday I did some more extensive testing and my end conclusion is the other way around. I fly above New York, Clear Skies, around 10:00AM in a Cessna 172 G1000. (keep in mind that where, what time, under what weather conditions and which plane you fly has an impact on the performance as well)
Airlink:
- Oculus App on 80Hz
- Pixels .per Display override: 1.2
- AWS Disabled
In FS2020 I have a render resolution of 2368x2400
VD
- Image Quality: High
- 90Hz (doesn’t matter with VD)
- SteamVR Render resolution 2368x2456
NVidia driver 466.27
With both I get an average of 30fps. My personal experience is that with VD the image looks sharper. (at least the instruments) I run a RTX3080 and a Ryzen 5600x.
What I dislike about Airlink is the fact that the settings in the Oculus Debug Tool gets reset everytime you restart the Oculus service or Airlink.
Still I believe Airlink will get better in the future.
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So, how is everyone actually launching MSFS?
I connect to my PC via AirLink (on the OQ2), open the Xbox app via AirLink’s virtual desktop (NOT VirtualDesktop), start MSFS, it loads up with the whole screen blinking black often. Occasionally it’ll stop when it’s not loading. If I get into a game and actually have VR in the cockpit, it’s about 1 minute before it literally crashes my whole system to boot. I can play the game normally without this issue (and it’s the only (VR) game that’s ever caused this behavior).
I’m playing HL:A and Boneworks with AL without issues (way better than VD) wirelessly.
What bitrate, in the AirLink dash settings, is everyone using? Default is 100 Dynamic, so I’m curious if you are changing it. (5Ghz/1200 connection). I’ve tried lower and 200, but MSFS still crashes me out to boot.
I found this article, but have yet had a chance to test it on my PC:
flightsimulator zendesk com/hc/en-us/articles/360018555179-How-to-install-OpenXR-
Hopefully, it’ll help.
Specs: CPU:5950x | MoBo:MSI Godlike | GPU:ASUS TUF-RTX3090-O24G-GAMING | RAM:32GB G.SKILL Trident Z Neo Series CAS:14 | 3 x Firecuda 520’s (NVMe-only system) | LG C1 4k@120
Thank you!
I also had the same experience before. Now everything works good with Air Link. Make sure you are using the Oculus OpenXR runtime ( with regedit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Khronos\OpenXR\1
It should have active runtime as “C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime\oculus_openxr_64.json”
Then I start the Oculus app and enable Air Link in settings. Then I boot the Quest 2 headset and launch Air Link. Instead of Library choose Virtual Desktop from the Air Link home window. Then I run FS2020 from a shortcut on the desktop. After it is running switch to VR with the Ctrl Tab or whateveer your assign key is. If it is choppy, reboot your computer and try again. Normally it works fine first time. Hope this helps.
I feel there is too much voodoo around setting up oculus. I just run oculus xr runtime and have msfs2020 in my oculus desktop. Headset on, Airlink, click MSFS2020 and fly.
Still using all defaults
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There’s definitely way too much voodoo involved with getting the Quest 2 to work with the sim. Thats why that given half the chance I’d easily sell my Quest 2 and get a Reverb G2. I don’t actually care about the extra image quality of the G2, I just want a VR headset I don’t have to slaughter a proverbial goat to get working each time I want to use it, and even then for it to not actually work that well.
The evolution of Quest 2 is impressive. V28 update did not only introduce Air Link but also significantly improve the performance of the link cable. It is now almost different thing from what it was in last December. Now my 2yr old laptop (i7, rtx 2060, 32 gram) can run MSFS of mid to low setting at 90hz and x1.7 resolution smoothly without stuttering if I avoid exceptionally big photogrammetry cities like London, Paris, NY, etc. Sharpness of the cabled image prove that wire is still faster than wireless as well. I also found that the maximum bitrate setting of 500 in OTT doesn’t make problem any more.
FYI the creator of virtual desktop strongly advises against using a wi-fi card/dongle for his app, I expect it would be same for air link
Thank you for this. I will make the edits and try again!
Will this cause any issues with my Steam games like Alyx or Boneworks?
I can understand why it’s not accurate for VD.
For Air Link, you need to have a 5G router near your computer, and to be plugged through Ethernet to it.
If you don’t have a 5G router at home znd/or your router is too far from the computer, and if you have a wifi card inside it unused (or included in MB like me), I don’t see any reason you cannot use it to create a hot spot 5G. It couldn’t be faster and nearest than that and should work flawlessly if you use your Quest 2 near the PC. You can also connect other devices to this wifi spot (with the caveat your PC should be running obviously).
I have now used Air Link for first time. Its running OK.
Before I used VD with Steam VR and changed some NVIDIA settings.
Should I reset those to default?
Also HAGS ON/OFF? GPU scheduling ON/OFF?
I have a GTX1080ti and a I7 7700k.
Thanks for advice.
H.A.G.S is GPU scheduling (Hardware-accelerated GPU Scheduler). We also need a better way to talks about both HAGS and VD. Somewhat unfortunate acronyms for both.
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No HLA and Boneworks work fine with either run-time, but I have been doing more experimenting and I have been able to get FS2020 running smooth with both. Here is what I did: Set your device graphics settings in the Oculus app to 1.0 at either 72 or 80 fps and restart it if you need to. Reenable Air Link in the app. Then launch Air Link from the Quest 2. Launch Steam VR from there. When the Steam VR menu comes up, close it with the left controller menu button. Then take off your headset and set it aside. On the computer monitor right click on the Steam icon and exit. Leave Steam VR running. The launch FS2020 from a shortcut on the desktop. It will restart Steam and log you in and then load FS2020. Let it go to the starting menu and choose your flight. Click start . When it gets to the next
start button, put on your headset and switch fs2020 to VR with the usual key. It has worked for me every time so far using either OpenXR runtime. It is important to exit Steam before starting FS2020. And don’t switch out of VR until you are ready to quit. FS2020 won’t restart the VR without problems. Of course this is only for the Steam version. Hope it works for other peopl;e.
I just found the easiest way to start FS2020 Steam edition. Just start FS2020. Then start the oculus app and go to air link mode. As long as you are running the Oculus runtime, just go to VR mode in FS2020. Nice and smooth. Don’t even start SteamVR. As always, don’t go out of VR mode unless you want to restart or end. But it doesn’t work this way if you are using the Steam OpenXR runtime.
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How do I make my msfs2020 on steam run oculus instead of steamVR ?
Quest2
I tried to use airlink but everytime I was ready to takeoff it disconnected. I then tried my link cable which had been working and it was disconnecting too.
Easy way, without messing with the registry, is just uninstall Steam VR and Oculus software then re-install Oculus software, that will make it the default runtime for VR. You can then put Steam VR back in for games that need it. If you put Oculus on first and then Steam VR then Steam VR, in the settings, will show you which runtime it is using, if it already says Oculus then you’re good to go. Changes you make in Steam VR will have no effect on your headset.
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I guess no one else had my problem. This has been a frustrating experience. I’m just not even going to use VR anymore not that I can use it now. Every update seems to screw something up.
Hey, I think I’m in a similar situation to you.
I tried air link when it first came out, and it was great.
But now my link cable connection seems to be really unstable when it was fine before, and airlink is quite temperamental too…
I think I might try rolling back from the oculus PC software beta today and see if that brings back my link cable stability.
I have to say I haven’t had any disconnections after 10-30 minutes of pre flight, for me it’s just even getting it work as stable as I had it before.
I have a similar problem. My link cable has never worked. I got VR to work with quest 2 when I got the Airlink to work. It lasted for two weeks. VR works while I’m in the menu screen but as soon as I start a flight, it disconnects VR. The VR image is frozen on my PC and the sim continues to run in the background. It’s frustrating!. My next step is to connect my PC to my router with an ethernet cable and see if that works.
If you have 2 monitors, keep the Oculus app open on one monitor and the sim on the other. That’s the only way it will work for me and I have no idea why. In fact, I figured it out on accident.