OVR settings menu not displaying properly in Steam VR overlay.

[xxFoxGuyxx]

Describe the bug
OVR settings not displaying on Steam VR.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Run Steam VR
2. Observe Steam VR menu. (Only the steam button is visible on the menu)

Expected behavior
Should be a steam button, desktop view, and OVR. I am only seeing the steam button.

Screenshots
n/a
(not familiar with taking screenshots within the steam vr overlay menu)

Software (please complete the following information):

• OS: Windows 10
• Advanced Settings Version: 5.8.11

Hardware (please complete the following information):

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 8-Core Processor
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 TI (8GB)
• HMD: Oculus Quest 3S

Additional context
It was working fine earlier during VR games. I restarted steam, and now I'm missing two buttons.
It could just be something on steam's end, but it annoys me not being able to adjust my room settings with OVR.

[panmarco83]

Same issue.

• OS: Arch Linux
• Advanced Settings Version: 5.8.11 (Installed through 'yay' or community)

[Lightbringervr]

I have the same problem I also use Arch Linux and got my ovras on steam :C

[Cyzzz19]

OVR Advanced Settings (GitHub Release) SteamVR Overlay Not Showing — Fix Summary

Version: 5.8.11
OS: Windows 10
HMD: Oculus Quest 3S

---

Root Cause Analysis

After reviewing the source code (overlaycontroller.cpp, setup.cpp, main.cpp), two root causes were identified:

1. Manifest Registration Failure

In src/utils/setup.cpp, installApplicationManifest() skips re-registration when IsApplicationInstalled() returns true:

if (vr::VRApplications()->IsApplicationInstalled(application_strings::applicationKey)) {
    LOG(INFO) << "Manifest Is already Installed";  // skips reinstall!
} else {
    AddApplicationManifest(...);
}

The log showed "Manifest Is already Installed for Key steam.overlay.1009850", yet appconfig.json had no manifest path entry for OVRAS. The OpenVR API returned success but SteamVR's config file was missing the registration.

2. GPU / OpenGL 2.1 Rendering

The code forces OpenGL 2.1 for AMD compatibility (overlaycontroller.cpp:126):

format.setVersion(2, 1);

On systems with dual GPUs (e.g., AMD iGPU + NVIDIA dGPU), the OpenGL 2.1 offscreen FBO context may be created on the integrated GPU, which has known driver issues with legacy OpenGL — resulting in blank/transparent overlay textures.

---

Fix Applied

Step 1: Force Reinstall Manifest

Run as administrator while SteamVR is running:

AdvancedSettings.exe --force-install-manifest

This calls reinstallApplicationManifest() which removes the old entry and re-adds it properly. Verified that appconfig.json now includes:

"manifest_paths": [
  "...\\steamapps.vrmanifest",
  "C:\\Program Files\\OpenVR-AdvancedSettings\\manifest.vrmanifest"
]

Step 2: Force NVIDIA GPU via Windows Registry

Set GpuPreference=2 (High Performance) for these executables under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\DirectX\UserGpuPreferences:

C:\Program Files\OpenVR-AdvancedSettings\AdvancedSettings.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SteamVR\bin\win64\vrdashboard.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SteamVR\bin\win64\vrmonitor.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SteamVR\bin\win64\vrserver.exe

Step 3: NVIDIA Control Panel (Manual)

• Add AdvancedSettings.exe → OpenGL rendering GPU = NVIDIA High-Performance
• Set power management mode to Prefer Maximum Performance

Step 4: Restart SteamVR

Exit all VR processes completely (vrserver.exe, vrdashboard.exe, vrmonitor.exe, vrcompositor.exe), then restart SteamVR.

---

Key File Paths

File	Path
OVRAS directory	C:\Program Files\OpenVR-AdvancedSettings\
Manifest	manifest.vrmanifest (in OVRAS directory)
Settings	%appdata%\AdvancedSettings-Team\OVR Advanced Settings.ini
Logs	%appdata%\AdvancedSettings-Team\AdvancedSettings.log
SteamVR config	Steam\config\steamvr.vrsettings
App config	Steam\config\appconfig.json

---

Note

• vrpathreg addmanifest is not available in newer SteamVR versions — use --force-install-manifest instead.
• If the overlay icon still doesn't appear, check SteamVR → Settings → Startup/Shutdown → Manage Add-ons → ensure OVR Advanced Settings is ON.
• The desktopModeToggle setting in the INI file should be false.