Hi, I just received my new Mi VR headset. I have a Mi5 32g running the official LineageOS 14.1 build.
The companion app for the headset requires the MIUI China ROM 8.3 or newer to run:
(note: XDA forum does not let me post the link to the apk since I m a new user. You can google app.xiaomi and 431493 to find it)
The headset seems rather useless without that app.
I managed to make Google Daydream app work, but the Mi VR controller is not recognized by it, as expected. Furthermore, the Mi VR controller doesn't even connect to Bluetooth - it is supposed to only work within that VR app.
My first question is: ideas on how to hack the app so that it works in LineageOS? Build.prop mods? Apk editions? I tried a few things without luck so far.
Do you guys think there are actual drivers etc in the China ROM that are required for the app to run? If so could they be extracted from the China ROM and installed into the LineageOS?
Finally, what are the chances of making the MI VR controller emulate a daydream controller?
The build quality of this headset is excellent. Best in its class. If we can make it work with our Xiaomi phones it will be a home run.
Thanks!
Federico
To work on making the Mi VR controller work with Google Daydream App, here are two hints:
The emulator apk that allows any phone to emulate a Daydream controller:
Google: daydream + controller + emulator
User that reverse-engineered the Daydream View controller to make it work on an iPhone:
Google: hackernoon + daydream controller + Pisani
(again I can't post urls yet - too new in the forum)
If someone could reverse engineer the Mi VR controller in the same way -which is pretty identical- then we could envision to make it work using parts of the code of the controller-emulator app.
plz
I really, really need this. please tell me if you can get it to work.
when you got daydream to work with the headset do you know if it was using the phone sensors or the built in headset sensors? was daydream working with the phone plugged into the headset or do you have to leave it unconnected?
cheers
PushStartVR said:
I really, really need this. please tell me if you can get it to work.
when you got daydream to work with the headset do you know if it was using the phone sensors or the built in headset sensors? was daydream working with the phone plugged into the headset or do you have to leave it unconnected?
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update: Daydream app is working great using another phone with the daydream controller emulator app. Daydream uses the phone sensors, not the headset's. The MI VR controller is not recognized.
I still can't make the MI VR app work.
I got to download from the Xiaomi website the SDK for the MI VR. I wonder if someone could use it to make a "driver" to use the MI VR controller and sensors in Daydream.
Also making the MI VR app work on LineageOS is key!!
A very cool project
Perhaps I should start giving more background here for catching more people's interest.
So first: going to geekbuying (.com), you can get the new Mi VR headset (white, with controller) shipped everywhere for about 70 dollars. You might say "That's more expensive / equally expensive than the Google Daydream View". Yes. But it is about 10 times better, too.
For starters: the Mi VR headset is more or less a copy of the design of the Playstation VR headset. Everything in it cries high quality, and you can use it (personal experience) for long sessions of 20+ minutes without feeling any fatigue or discomfort. It's pretty awesome.
Second: it has a controller just like the Daydream View, but it's a little better thought through (in Daydream View you need to press a button for 2 seconds for the VR experience to center; in the Mi VR it does that with double click which is easier; also, the Mi VR controller has a magnetometer, I'm not sure the Daydream controller has it, and I suspect it can be used to calculate distance from the phone and thus have some sense of movement, which in theory could offer one more degree of freedom - I might be wrong and this might be also available in the Daydream controller, I haven't checked).
But the aspect where the Mi VR headset excels is in its inclusion of native sensors in the headset that have a much higher refresh rate than those typically found in phones. In theory, they provide a much more fluid movement experience in VR.
All that said, the product has officially only launched in China. When you buy it from Geekbuying or similar sites, you will get a box wherein everything is in Chinese, including the manual etc.
As far as I can tell, the Mi VR app, not to be confused with the Mi VR PLAY app, is sort of the epicenter for the use of the headset/controller as they can only be paired through that app. In fact the controller cannot even pair directly through Bluetooth without the app.
The app is not in Google Play Store, it can be downloaded from the Mi Store but it refuses to work on LineageOS and I think it might also don't work in MIUI global ROM (not sure of that). It is made to work on MIUI China Rom.
Last but not least: apps like vRidge and Trinus allow to stream SteamVR games from your computer to your telephone to use it in headsets (it transmits sensor data back to the computer), by simulating a Rift headset.
I've tried this on the Mi5 phone with the Mi VR headset and it is AMAZING (you need to have a direct connection using the phone as hotspot for reducing delay).
And there are a few programmers that have made the Daydream Controller Emulator app on a phone as an emulator of HTC Vibe controllers in SteamVR.
So...we are close to be able to use the actual hardware controllers (Daydream controller, possibly Mi VR controller) and the headsets to play VR games designed originally for Rift or HTC Vibe and have an acceptable experience of them at a fraction of the investment.
To recapitulate, the roadmap to be able to fully enjoy the Mi VR with a Mi phone (like Mi5) is:
1) to somehow make the Mi VR app work with LineageOS (this might simply entail obtaining a proper build.prop file for the China rom, or perhaps is more complex than that and it might entail obtaining some files from the China ROM to be included in the LineageOS system)
2) to manage to build a driver for Windows for the Mi VR controller, so that it can interact with things like SteamVR
3) to manage to somehow make Daydream app recognize the Mi VR controller
4) maybe: to manage to make Daydream app recognize / use the headset's sensors (as opposed to the phone's). Same for vRidge/Trinus
Let me know if anyone would like to collaborate on this.
best!
Federico
how hard is it to get the SDK?
im no dev but I have some skills to follow whats going on.
---------- Post added at 01:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 PM ----------
Federico.parra said:
Perhaps I should start giving more background here for catching more people's interest.
So first: going to geekbuying (.com), you can get the new Mi VR headset (white, with controller) shipped everywhere for about 70 dollars. You might say "That's more expensive / equally expensive than the Google Daydream View". Yes. But it is about 10 times better, too.
For starters: the Mi VR headset is more or less a copy of the design of the Playstation VR headset. Everything in it cries high quality, and you can use it (personal experience) for long sessions of 20+ minutes without feeling any fatigue or discomfort. It's pretty awesome.
Second: it has a controller just like the Daydream View, but it's a little better thought through (in Daydream View you need to press a button for 2 seconds for the VR experience to center; in the Mi VR it does that with double click which is easier; also, the Mi VR controller has a magnetometer, I'm not sure the Daydream controller has it, and I suspect it can be used to calculate distance from the phone and thus have some sense of movement, which in theory could offer one more degree of freedom - I might be wrong and this might be also available in the Daydream controller, I haven't checked).
But the aspect where the Mi VR headset excels is in its inclusion of native sensors in the headset that have a much higher refresh rate than those typically found in phones. In theory, they provide a much more fluid movement experience in VR.
All that said, the product has officially only launched in China. When you buy it from Geekbuying or similar sites, you will get a box wherein everything is in Chinese, including the manual etc.
As far as I can tell, the Mi VR app, not to be confused with the Mi VR PLAY app, is sort of the epicenter for the use of the headset/controller as they can only be paired through that app. In fact the controller cannot even pair directly through Bluetooth without the app.
The app is not in Google Play Store, it can be downloaded from the Mi Store but it refuses to work on LineageOS and I think it might also don't work in MIUI global ROM (not sure of that). It is made to work on MIUI China Rom.
Last but not least: apps like vRidge and Trinus allow to stream SteamVR games from your computer to your telephone to use it in headsets (it transmits sensor data back to the computer), by simulating a Rift headset.
I've tried this on the Mi5 phone with the Mi VR headset and it is AMAZING (you need to have a direct connection using the phone as hotspot for reducing delay).
And there are a few programmers that have made the Daydream Controller Emulator app on a phone as an emulator of HTC Vibe controllers in SteamVR.
So...we are close to be able to use the actual hardware controllers (Daydream controller, possibly Mi VR controller) and the headsets to play VR games designed originally for Rift or HTC Vibe and have an acceptable experience of them at a fraction of the investment.
To recapitulate, the roadmap to be able to fully enjoy the Mi VR with a Mi phone (like Mi5) is:
1) to somehow make the Mi VR app work with LineageOS (this might simply entail obtaining a proper build.prop file for the China rom, or perhaps is more complex than that and it might entail obtaining some files from the China ROM to be included in the LineageOS system)
2) to manage to build a driver for Windows for the Mi VR controller, so that it can interact with things like SteamVR
3) to manage to somehow make Daydream app recognize the Mi VR controller
4) maybe: to manage to make Daydream app recognize / use the headset's sensors (as opposed to the phone's). Same for vRidge/Trinus
Let me know if anyone would like to collaborate on this.
best!
Federico
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, didnt know about the steam vr thing. When you were using steamVR did it use the headset sensors?
PushStartVR said:
how hard is it to get the SDK?
im no dev but I have some skills to follow whats going on. [...]
Awesome, didnt know about the steam vr thing. When you were using steamVR did it use the headset sensors?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! I can't post links here yet (too new a member in the forum) but you can google "dev.xiaomi.com mi vr" and you'll find it/them. There is a generic SDK and then a Unity plugin SDK that apparently is very easy to implement in the personal free version of unity.
There seems to be a procedure involving a Google Form one needs to fill in in order to get a code that, I assume, is necessary to get your apk published within their specific Mi VR market - but I understand that code would not be necessary for testing in a phone.
The website is fully in Chinese - I found that using Google Translator gave me a decent enough translation to follow through.
About SteamVR: both Trinus and vRidge (Riftcat) used the phone sensors, none of them appear to "see" the headset's. There should be a way to expose them on the Android device, and also I would assume there should be some modification made to the Trinus/vRidge client Android apps so that they send that sensor data as opposed to the Mi5 sensor data. Not that easy but perhaps not that difficult, I don't know.
Same applies for Daydream app.
Let me know if you get anything to work, the headset is really awesome - even the rudimentary experience of using it with Daydream app with another phone as controller (emulator) has been really cool!
Hey there!
I´m using the Mi Vr app, and everything its in chinnese, so I´m willing to use the daydream apk.
I´ve already installed it, but when I open it I need the controller, but the problem is; I can´t connect the controller through bluetooth, it just appears to be connected when I open the MiVR app.
I´m thinking that maybe, I could open the MiVR app, so the controller gets connected, and then frezze it and open the DayDream app, and see if it works, although I dont think so.
Have you get anything new on how to use it??
best regards
@Federico.parra How did you manage installing the daydream app on lineage?
Hi, maybe this interest you, some open source software and APIs unlike xiaomi's
http://openhmd.net
Received my mi VR today. Flashed xiaomi.eu MIUI 8 to test. In MIUI you can use the headset only with miVR app. There appears a screen in the phone even when you are in another app and even if miVR app ist not Installed. Also app translator doesn't work when using the miVR app. Too sad there is only the chinese app
QR code
Federico.parra said:
Update: Daydream app is working great using another phone with the daydream controller emulator app. Daydream uses the phone sensors, not the headset's. The MI VR controller is not recognized.
I still can't make the MI VR app work.
I got to download from the Xiaomi website the SDK for the MI VR. I wonder if someone could use it to make a "driver" to use the MI VR controller and sensors in Daydream.
Also making the MI VR app work on LineageOS is key!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which QR code do you use to calibrate the MIVR for daydream?
Mi VR is not working on my Mi 5 with MIUI 8 Global ROM
unicycler said:
Received my mi VR today. Flashed xiaomi.eu MIUI 8 to test. In MIUI you can use the headset only with miVR app. There appears a screen in the phone even when you are in another app and even if miVR app ist not Installed. Also app translator doesn't work when using the miVR app. Too sad there is only the chinese app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you able to use the Mi VR headset? I have a Mi5 with Global ROM MIUI 8.1.4.0 but when I plug the phone to the VR I got a black screen saying that I have to unplug the phone.
I tried to install the Chinese ROM but I couldn't.
rodry15 said:
Were you able to use the Mi VR headset? I have a Mi5 with Global ROM MIUI 8.1.4.0 but when I plug the phone to the VR I got a black screen saying that I have to unplug the phone.
I tried to install the Chinese ROM but I couldn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Habe you installed the app?
On xiaomi.eu ROM I've been able to run the app and use Mi VR, yes.
unicycler said:
Habe you installed the app?
On xiaomi.eu ROM I've been able to run the app and use Mi VR, yes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've download the apk and ran the installation but I don't see the app logo. I'll try with that rom you mentioned, probably does not work with the global rom (it's the official one)
rodry15 said:
I've download the apk and ran the installation but I don't see the app logo. I'll try with that rom you mentioned, probably does not work with the global rom (it's the official one)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats weird. Where did you get the apk from?
I've also installed it on lineage, it won't run, but app symbol is there and also should be there on global miui.
I installed last MIUI Global dev ROM and installed the App (downloaded directly from Xiaomi market) and it works fine, EXCEPT that the controller does not work properly: its buttons work fine, but the pointer does not move when I move the controller around. It's not a pairing issue, as in one particular game (a paper airplane flying through the mountains) moving the controller does move the plane...it seems like a weird software issue that makes me think that only China version of the ROM has been thoroughly tested with Mi VR and that support in the Global dev ROM is untested / limited.
Does anybody else had the same experience with the controller not moving the pointer in menus etc?
Also, for those that have it working with Global Dev ROM, any clues on how to make this work on LineageOS, perhaps moving a few folder from MIUI DEV GLOBAL to the LineageOS system files?
Yes, same here. Didn't try the paper game yet, but it doesn't react to the moves of the controller. Does it have to outside from games? I'm on latest xiaomi.eu ROM (MIUI 8.3)
unicycler said:
Habe you installed the app?
On xiaomi.eu ROM I've been able to run the app and use Mi VR, yes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did remote and headset button worked for you?
_PePeL said:
Did remote and headset button worked for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it did.
Hello everybody!
I want to solve my problem with playing music in a car. I have an Xperia SP and about a year ago, I tested like 10 ROMs in very short period of time and I don't remember names of these ROMs, but I remember that one of these had this really cool app, which would allow me to use my phone as an FM Transmitter. I didn't think it was something special back then, but I could really make use of it now.
I tested it on my radio at home and it really worked. Not many phones have FM transmitter, but some Xperias, as I read now, accidentally have this function. I've tried to google that app, all I found was Spirit FM app which wasn't working for me and I'm sure it's not the app that I'm looking for..
Doesn't anybody have this app, ROM or a tip how I could find it? Any help appreciated
FM Transmitter depends on the ROM support.. AdrianDC has made an add-on for this with CM12.1 but after lollipop, FM Transmitter has been deprecated forever.
Sent from my Xperia SP using Tapatalk
Not exactly.
You could use a flashable zip (called addon) which set a value in build.prop which activated the FM transmitter app. It worked not only on L, but also on M. You could also set the value manually. It was something like ro.fm.transmitter = true or similar.
Afaik, this app isn't included anymore in lineage.
But there are two apps which are called Spirit FM, Version 1 and 2. They do exactly what you want.
Version 1 is available for free somewhere on Xda.
Version 2 is a little costly and available on the Playstore.
They worked then, I'm quite sure they still do.
Hello everyone,
I am planning to get an android carplay ai box in my car, after searching online i saw this item which runs android 11 among other cool features like HDMI port and a remote control which make it versatile to use in places other than the car, like TV box for example! it also has a USB 3.0 port which is way better than using a memory card slot!
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003913043015.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.47bb3c00I5xeKp&mp=1
That being said, it still is a risky thing to just buy it since i have not found any information regarding the software, company or even a decent review!
it says it uses rk3328 with mali 450, is this good enough? and is there any custom firmware that is under active development in the community? that keeps the main features in mind like Android Auto for example
thanks very much in advance!
Would be interesting if it would have a SIM slot, too.
Not Android Auto, requested moderator move to Android Head-Units
marchnz said:
Not Android Auto, requested moderator move to Android Head-Units
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@marchnz these are Android Auto or Carplay units, to be connected via one of them to any OEM radio which supports Android Auto or Carplay. These are no Android head units at all.
Working with Android but complete different thing.
Clearly an alternative to a connected phone, so not supported in this area.
Honestly I have the same one you posted with the YouTube video. Works good with me and I download some of my apps through the browser, downloading the APk files.