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[Steam Frame] Often fails to connect to the PC for streaming while charging from the official Steam charger

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Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
42/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
linux
Domain
networking, operating-systems

Research direction

Start by reproducing the failure with the official Steam charger and capture the headset logs using the in-headset bug reporter. Compare them with remote_connections.txt, vrserver.txt, and driver_vrlink.txt from failed and successful attempts, focusing on why the Wireless Adapter link is not announced. Done means PC VR streaming connects reliably while the headset is charging from the official charger.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

System Info
  • Steam client version: 1790545198 (host PC)
  • SteamOS version: Steam Frame 0.4.1 (20260925.6191901)
  • Opted into Steam client beta?: Yes
  • Opted into SteamOS beta?: Default channel (not changed)
  • Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: Headset is on the build listed above (updated 2026-09-25)
Issue

While the Steam Frame is charging from the official Steam charger, it intermittently fails to connect to the PC over the Steam Frame Wireless Adapter, so PC VR streaming can't start. The headset shows no message when this happens. On battery, or on a third-party charger in the same wall outlet, it connected every time.

Test results (full SteamVR restart before every attempt)

Power Attempts Failed to connect
Official Steam charger and cable, wall outlet 4 2 (1st and 3rd)
Third-party charging base (Insignia) with a Samsung USB-C cable, same wall outlet multiple (not counted) 0
Unplugged, on battery multiple (not counted) 0

Expected: the headset connects over the Wireless Adapter and the game streams, the same as on battery.

Actual (intermittently, only on the Steam charger): the headset doesn't connect. The game launches on the PC, SteamVR reports no headset, and Steam gives up waiting for the VR connection.

What the host-side logs show (Steam's remote_connections.txt, SteamVR's vrserver.txt and driver_vrlink.txt)

  • Failed attempts: the headset only announced itself on the home Wi-Fi network, never on the Wireless Adapter's network, and Steam never logged a client connection. vrlink never attached a headset (no Found primary link), and the game was refused with VRInitError_Driver_WirelessHmdNotConnected.
  • Successful attempts: the headset announced itself on both networks, Steam logged connected via direct connection plus an adapter Connect event, and vrlink attached over the adapter link.
  • The PC side was identical in both cases (adapter plugged in, SteamVR freshly restarted), so the failure is on the headset side.

The host never receives the headset's charging state, so these logs show the effect, not the cause. The headset's own logs from a failed attempt should show why it didn't bring up the adapter link. I can capture them with the in-headset bug reporter on the next failure if that's useful.

Host: Linux desktop (Arch Linux, KDE Plasma Wayland), AMD RX 9070 XT, SteamVR 2.17.10, Wireless Adapter on a USB 3 port.

Steps To Reproduce
  1. Plug the Frame into the official Steam charger and cable at a wall outlet.
  2. On the PC, restart SteamVR. The Wireless Adapter is connected.
  3. From the headset, connect to the PC and launch a PC VR game.
  4. Repeat. In my testing, 2 of 4 attempts failed to connect, with no message on the headset.
  5. Repeat on battery, or on a different charger and cable: every attempt connects.
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First steps

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  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

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