Proper Oculus Rift DK2 setup on GNU/Linux

This is a quick post about the proper way to set up the Oculus Rift DK2 on GNU/Linux, which might not be obvious for users not deeply familiar with the X window system.

Introduction

(feel free to skip)

I remember discussing this a long time ago in the oculus forums, back when the linux version of the oculus SDK was doing absurdities such as relying on Xinerama to detect and use the oculus display. Setting up the rift display as an extension of the desktop, is wrought with peril and woe. Thankfully, the X window system is awesome, and used to deal with such diverse multi-display contraptions, back when burly men programmed computers made of pumps, grease, and steel… true story.

OculusVR SDK and simple oculus rift DK2 / OpenGL test program

Edit: I have since ported this test program to use LibOVR 0.4.4, and works fine on both GNU/Linux and Windows.

Edit2: Updated the code to work with LibOVR 0.5.0.1, but unfortunately they removed the handy function which I was using to disable the obnoxious “health and safety warning”. See the oculus developer guide on how to disable it system-wide instead.

I’ve been hacking with my new Oculus Rift DK2 on and off for the past couple of weeks now. I won’t go into how awesome it is, or how VR is going to change the world, and save the universe or whatever; everybody who cares, knows everything about it by now. I’ll just share my experiences so far in programming the damn thing, and post a very simple OpenGL test program I wrote last week to try it out, that might serve as a baseline.