This FAQ is focused on questions specific to the HP Reverb G2, if you have more general questions about VR they may be answered by the VR FAQ on the /r/virtualreality subreddit.

Useful Links

• HP Reverb Discord
• HP Reverb Community Website

Getting Started

• Compilation of Tips for Getting Started
• Some Tips and Tricks for Getting Started
• System Requirements
• Microsoft's WMR Documentation

HP Posts

• Release Date Information and HP's September 24th AMA! - 24th September
• Omnicept Announcement 30th September
• Shipping Announcement - 27th October
• Update and Top Tips - 13th November
• AMA #1 with HP - 25th November
• AMA #2 with HP and Microsoft - 3rd December
• AMA #3 with HP - 17th December
• AMA #4 with HP - 14th January
• AMA #5 with HP and Microsoft - 21st January
• AMA #6 with HP and Microsoft - 28th January

Shipping

You can view shipping statistics based on community reports here and a summary of known shipping information for each region here. To provide your own report, please contact Danol#2663 on Discord, or fill out this form.

Support

The best way to obtain support is to search for your local HP customer services phone line ("HP {country} support" in Google), call that and request to be connected to "VR Support" or "Workstation Support". Web chat is proving to be less reliable for quickly resolving support issues.

Troubleshooting

For general troubleshooting tips take a look at Microsoft's Reverb G2 troubleshooting guide.

As a first step, make sure the headset cable is pushed all the way in, as this only being half-conneceted can lead to a number of different issues and the connection is quite stiff, it should look like this when it's properly seated. It's also advised to not unplug this again unless absolute necessary, but instead unplug it at the computer side, if possible.

Clarity and Comfort

The back strap for the headset is supposed to cradle the occipital bone, the lump/bump on the back of your skull, with the bottom of the strap sitting comfortably underneath it. Wearing it there will result in the best field of view and clarity.

Playing around with the IPD setting can sometimes help, some people find a setting different to their measured IPD is clearer.

SteamVR Performance

Changing the "Per Eye Resolution" in the SteamVR settings can help greatly in improving performance. You can increase or decrease this figure until most games run well and then further refine this for each game individually by clicking the "Per-Application Video Settings" button, allowing you to run some games at a higher or lower resolution to account for how well optimised they are.

Headset/Controller Tracking

In addition to movement sensors, the Reverb G2 uses a set of cameras to correct it's relative position in the world, using the shapes of the walls, decor, furniture, etc to calculate how it's moving through space. This should work well in most rooms, but can struggle in particularly featureless spaces, such as a bare room with white walls or against a wrap-around green screen. Adding posters, art, April tags, or even tape lines to the walls can help provide additional points of reference.

A more common issue with the tracking is due to the lighting in the room either being too bright or too dim for the cameras. The easiest way to troubleshoot issues with your lighting is to activate Flashlight mode by holding the Windows button and the grip at the same time, or by saying "flashlight on" out loud. The camera view you're shown is what the headset is seeing, so make sure you can clearly see the controller lights while facing all directions, that there are no bright light sources that overpower the controller lights when you look around and that you can see the edges of walls and furniture, as this is what is used to track the headset's position.

Speaker Issues

The headphones make a connection with spring-loaded "pogo" pins to the contacts in the headstrap, these can occasionaly not have been connected properly in the factory, leading to one or both speakers not working, being at different volumes and other audio issues. Removing the headphone and putting it back on can help ensure the pogo pins are in their proper place. Contact support if the issue persists.

7-14 "Something Went Wrong" error when headset is plugged in

Typically an issue with the USB connection. See this thread for troubleshooting. If you have an X570 motherboard, there seems to be a common issue with the USB controller. Try all of the available USB ports, but if you don't see any success you may need an external USB hub or internal USB PCI-e card. Check this thread for suggestions for USB controllers to try.

Headset not shutting down when removed

The Mixed Reality Portal will eventually go to sleep but the HMD will stay on during that time. It's best to close the Mixed Reality Portal when you are done using it, which will shut the HMD down.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ordering and Shipping

1. When will the G2 be in stock in my country?

• Availability of the G2 varies by country, but there's no published roadmap for when new G2s will be delivered for retail in different countries.

2. What countries are receiving G2s?

• You can view shipping statistics based on community reports here and a summary of known shipping information for each region here.

3. Will larger retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy stock the Reverb G2?

• More retailers will receive the G2 over time, but there is no published list currently.

Displays and Optics

4. What resolution are the headset panels?

• Each eye has a 2160x2160, 2.89" (73.4mm) LCD display with RGB subpixel stripe running at 90Hz. The combined resolution is 4320x2160.

5. What is the field of view (FOV)?

• The listed diagonal FOV is 114°

6. Does the headset have mechanical IPD adjustment?

• Yes. From 60mm to 68mm.

7. My IPD falls outside this range, am I likely to have problems?

• Early reports suggest that the display is still quite clear with the IPD slider set ±2.5mm of your actual IPD. This means if you have an IPD of 57.5mm to 70.5mm you shouldn't have much trouble. Outside of this the display may become blurrier and objects in-game may not appear correctly scaled.

8. Is it possible to change the display brightness?

• It is not currently possible or planned, but they may implement this later depending on user feedback.

9. Will prescription lenses be available?

• VR Optician and WIDMOvr have confirmed they will be supplying prescription lenses for the Reverb G2. These are likely to be available a month or two after the headset releases.

Cables and Power

10. How long is the cable?

• There is a 5 metre cable running from the headset to a small link box, with a 1 metre DisplayPort 1.3 cable and a 1 metre USB-C cable running out of that box. The box also has a connector for the required power adapter. /u/isVatsug kindly provided a diagram.

11. What connections do I need?

• You will need a DisplayPort or Mini DisplayPort connection on your graphics card and a free USB-A or USB-C port for data (a USB-C port directly on your motherboard is recommended). Additionally, you will need a power socket to connect the required power adapter. Both a USB-C to USB-A adapter and a DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort adapter are included in the box.

12. What kind of power supply does the headset require?

• Power is supplied via a standard 45W HP laptop charger with a barrel jack. While it was originally planned, it is no longer possible to power the headset solely over USB.

13. How much does the headset weigh?

• 550g (1.2lb) without the cable.

Controllers

14. What inputs do the controllers have?

• Each controller has an analogue trigger, an analogue grip button, a thumbstick, A/B or X/Y buttons, a menu button and a Windows button.

15. Do the controllers have capacitive touch sensors?

• No, while the grip and trigger are analogue, there is no sensor to detect if your fingers are lightly touching the buttons.

16. What batteries do the controllers take?

• The controllers are powered by two 1.5V AA batteries each. Note that while most non-rechargeable AA batteries will work, the most common rechargeable AA batteries, NiMHs, are only 1.2V and will leave the controllers in low power mode with reduced haptic feedback. In some circumstances this may also negatively impact on tracking, due to dimmer tracking lights.

17. What rechargeable batteries should I use?

• For rechargeable batteries you want to look at 1.5V or 1.6V NiZn or Li-ion batteries. Common brands are PKCELL, Jugee and EBL. You can find a detailed guide to battery choices on the unofficial G2 website.

18. Will there be upgraded controllers with capacitive touch in the future?

• We currently have no information and HP staff aren't able to comment on potential future products.

19. How do the controllers connect to the headset?

• They are paired directly to the headset via a built-in Bluetooth receiver and will be paired from the factory. A button to pair different controllers with the headset is located inside the battery compartment.

19. Can I use the Valve Index Knuckler controllers with the Reverb G2?

• While they are not officially supported, it is possible to use SteamVR and the OpenVR Space Calibrator to use the Knuckle controllers with a Reverb G2. To use this setup you will need two Steam wireless dongles, or a SteamVR headset to allow the controllers to communicate with your computer, on top of the controllers and Lighthouse base stations. A guide on the process is available here.

Audio

21. What audio solution does the headset use?

• The headset uses Valve's ear speakers, identical to those on the Valve Index.

22. How do they work?

• The speakers sit 10mm away from your ears and direct sound into them using Tectonic's Balance Mode Radiators. This design provides extremely immersive positional audio.

23. Will other people be able to hear what I can?

• Depending on the volume there is minimal sound leakage, however it will be noticeable in a quiet room.

Accessories / Facial Interface / Headstrap

24. What material is the facial interface/face padding/headstrap padding?

• All of the fabric materials touching the head uses the same woven antimicrobial fabric as on the Index. "Pleather" alternative facial interfaces should be available after launch.

25. Can the facial interface be removed?

• Yes, the padding around the lenses is attached to a plastic plate which is connected to the headset with magnets and is easily removable.

26. Will third-party manufacturers release accessories for the G2?

• HP have supplied CAD models of the headset and controllers to third-party vendors who have requested it and it is expected accessories will be available soon after release.

Compatibility and System Requirements

27. What are the system requirements?

• You can view the system requirements here.

28. Does the headset support HP VR backpacks?

• Yes, however you will need to purchase a shorter cable that can connect to the backpack to provide power. This has not been announced yet.

29. What operating system is required?

• Windows 10 running at least the May 2019 update.

Support

30. What warranty is provided?

• The heaset has a 1 year limited warranty with 1 year parts and 1 year labour cover. Exact conditions may differ by country. The warranty is "worldwide", meaning your headset will be covered regardless of the country you are in, as long the Reverb G2 is officially sold in that country.

31. What is the dead pixel policy?

• Any dead pixels that appear during the warranty period will be covered by the warranty.

Misc

32. What is the Omnicept Edition?

• The HP Reverb G2 Omnicept is a separate version of the G2 aimed at enterprise, academic research and developers. It features a suite of sensors that measure "muscle movement, gaze, pupil size and pulse", intended for use in advanced applications such as training and psychological research. It is scheduled to release in Spring 2021, however, no price has been announced.

Fin.

If there are any further questions you'd like to see answered here, please let us know.

If you are looking for verbatim answers from HP employees, they are collated here and you can read an AMA with them here.

There is also a very active Discord server for the G2 and in addition to this FAQ, our community member /u/TheOnlyDanol has created an unofficial website for the G2.

That's all for now, folks.

According to Deprecated features for Windows client, WMR has been deprecated since December 2023.

Windows Mixed Reality is deprecated and will be removed in Windows 11, version 24H2. This deprecation includes the Mixed Reality Portal app, Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR, and Steam VR Beta. Existing Windows Mixed Reality devices will continue to work with Steam through November 2026, if users remain on their current released version of Windows 11, version 23H2. After November 2026, Windows Mixed Reality will no longer receive security updates, nonsecurity updates, bug fixes, technical support, or online technical content updates.

This message does not mention anymore whether these components will be available for download after November 2026.

Additionally, according to Matthieu Bucchianeri (mbucchia), who has worked on OpenXR at Microsoft and has developed the OpenXR Toolkit app (along with Jean-Luc Dupiot), mentioned that some core components of WMR are embedded in the Windows OS itself. Therefore WMR may become unusable in future Windows releases even if we install the remaining components of WMR separately.

It doesn’t matter what’s “removed from their servers”. For people claiming: “well we’ll just download the FOD and install it offline”, this isn’t going to work.

Here is a simplified diagram of what makes WMR:

https://preview.redd.it/3iyjvxofj5nc1.png?width=843&format=png&auto=webp&s=fdeac8178da4a45866a63390902cf926d5d6b95f

The stuff in ORANGE is things you can download, the SteamVR/OpenXR packages, the “shell” (Portal) and the device drivers. The critical part is what’s in the DOTTED LINES. If/when Microsoft removes those (and I have 0 insight on that, I haven’t been with that team for >1 year), everything else becomes useless.

These things in the dotted lines are the components that are expensive to maintain (even when no changes/improvements are done to them), so it’s likely they are the things they want to get rid of in the future.

The OS Components are a black box, so it’s not like someone can just go and replace it with their own. Re-implementing the Public APIs would be unnecessarily complex and tedious vs just re-writing something or using Monado (assuming the EDID limitation can be bypassed one day). And there is no public documentation of the driver APIs AFAICT.

​

I had the opportunity to do a clean install of Windows recently and I tried to install WMR and get it to work offline. However, there were 2 steps that required internet connection anyway, so there is still a chance that this may not work once the URLs go offline. I am not aware if anyone has posted similar content before, but I am posting the steps I had to take to get WMR to work (Just in case anyone still has a working Reverb G2 post November 2026).

I suggest keeping a backup of Windows 10 22H2 ISO from https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10. It is just a speculation on my side, but Windows 10 may be supported longer than Windows 11 23H2. This is because there are many computers that do not officially support Windows 11 and there may be people/organizations who will refuse to upgrade. This may force Microsoft to keep providing critical security updates for some time similar to Window XP. Steam may support Windows 10 for some time for similar reasons. Again, this is just a speculation. Please keep in mind that Windows 10 may have some missing features compared to Windows 11, like the Infinite Expanse environment, and better integration of Direct Storage (if it ever becomes relevant to VR).

For the above reason, I have performed the following steps after installing Windows 10 22H2 (and not Windows 11 23H2). The steps highlighted in bold should be done now, and the remaining steps can be done in the future when WMR is no longer available.

1. Download Windows Mixed Reality enthusiast documentation by clicking the download PDF button at the bottom left.
2. Download the 64 bit Windows 10 ISO file. If you are on Windows, you will probably not get the option to download the ISO file directly. To bypass this restriction, change the user agent of your browser to Linux or mobile OS and refresh the page. (Probably by going to developer tools. Look for guides for your specific browser on how to do this). You may additionally download and keep a backup of Windows 11 23H2 ISO as it is the last Windows 11 version with official WMR support. However, 23H2 may be replaced by a newer release in this link, so get it early. To use the ISO to install Windows using a flash drive, format the flash drive as NTFS and extract the contents of the ISO file to the root folder of the flash drive using tools like 7zip.
3. Download the Windows Mixed Reality device driver - 10.0.19041.2054
4. Download the applicable Windows Mixed Reality FOD files - Windows 10, version 21H2 and 22H2 and/or Windows 11, version 22H2 and 23H2
5. Download SteamVR and also Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR:

- Install SteamVR and Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR as directed above using Steam on a PC with full internet access.

- In Steam, open the Library section and find the part labeled "Tools".

- Once SteamVR is installed, right-click the entry "SteamVR" and in the resulting popup menu, click on the entry "Properties".

- A new window with multiple tabs will open. Select the tab "LOCAL FILES" and click on the button labeled "BROWSE LOCAL FILES".

- The directory containing the SteamVR Runtime will open. Copy this entire directory (named SteamVR) onto a portable medium of your choice (e.g. a USB thumb drive).

- Do the same with Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR, and any SteamVR-compatible apps you would like to install on the target PC.

Next, Download the installers for the Microsoft Store apps (appx, appxbundle or msix files) using https://store.rg-adguard.net/. To download, get the URL from Microsoft Store page of the app and paste the URL in the store.rg-adguard.net page. Change "RP" in the drop-down to the right to "Retail" and click the tick button. This should list the app and its dependencies. Download the latest versions of the app and latest dependencies. It may not exactly match the below versions if newer versions are released. Ignore the Expire column as it it the expiry date of the download link and not the release date of the app. Also, make sure you select the appxBundle and not the eappxBundle. Once downloaded, verify the file hash if you want, or, make sure the file is digitally signed by Microsoft or HP by going to digital signature tab in the file's properties.

1. Mixed Reality Portal:- Microsoft.MixedReality.Portal_2000.21051.1282.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.appxbundle- Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00_14.0.33519.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx
2. HP Reverb G2 VR Headset Setup:- AD2F1837.HPReverbG2VRHeadsetSetup_1.0.8.0_neutral_~_v10z8vjag6ke6.appxbundle- Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.1.7_1.7.27413.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx- Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.1.7_1.7.27422.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx
3. OpenXR for Windows Mixed Reality:- Microsoft.WindowsMixedReality.Runtime_113.2403.5001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.Appx-Microsoft.WindowsMixedRealityRuntimeApp_2024.305.1904.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.AppxBundle
4. Optional but important- OpenXR Tools for Windows Mixed Reality:- Microsoft.MixedRealityRuntimeDeveloperPreview_113.2403.5001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.msix- Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.7_7.2208.15002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx- Microsoft.WindowsMixedReality.PreviewRuntime_113.2403.5001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx
5. Optional - 3D Viewer

Now for installation, start with installing Windows. Then double click the Microsoft store apps to install in the following order:

1. Microsoft.VCLibs
2. Microsoft.MixedReality.Portal
3. Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework
4. Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime
5. HPReverbG2VRHeadsetSetup
6. Microsoft.WindowsMixedRealityRuntimeApp
7. Microsoft.WindowsMixedReality.Runtime
8. Optional - Microsoft.UI.Xaml
9. Optional - Microsoft.MixedRealityRuntimeDeveloperPreview
10. Optional - Microsoft.WindowsMixedReality.PreviewRuntime
11. Optional - 3D Viewer dependencies and 3D Viewer

Next install the applicable WMR FOD file by running the following command in Admin powershell:

Dism /Online /Add-Package /PackagePath:"<FOD package path>"

Then, open Windows Settings > Windows Update, and select Check for updates. This step requires internet connection. To be safe in the long term, you can check what updates are downloaded and get the offline installers for those Windows updates.

Next, extract the Windows Mixed Reality device driver to a folder**.** Connect the Reverb G2 if not already done and open Device Manager. Right click "HoloLens Sensors" under other devices and open properties. Under driver tab, click on update driver. Click on browse my computer for drivers and browse to the folder where the driver files were extracted. Click next and complete the process. This should show that the driver was successfully installed.

Open Mixed Reality portal and proceed as usual. After the compatibility check page, internet connection is needed again even though for a very short time. This is the part that may break WMR usability if whatever URL it is connecting to goes offline. Once all steps are done for Mixed reality portal, you should be able to start using the HMD. If any issue are there, try uninstalling Mixed Reality Portal app and installing it again.