05) Using a Gear VR controller

You can optionally use a Gear VR controller instead of the keyboard, but be aware that it might not always properly register button clicks if you get between the controller and the PC Bluetooth adapter (with direct line of sight it works 100% of the time for me). Your PC Bluetooth adapter must support BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) devices (i.e., must support at least Bluetooth 4.0, but not all Bluetooth 4.0 dongles support BLE).

Install the driver

To enable the Gear VR controller in FreePIE, download and install the FreePIEVRController DLL plugin in the FreePIE plugins folder, and don't forget to unblock it (right-click the file, select Properties, check Unblock).

Pairing

To pair the controller with your PC (something you need to do only once):

1. Turn on Bluetooth on the PC, then right-click the Bluetooth icon in the systray and select "Add a Bluetooth Device".

2. In the next window, click "Add Bluetooth or other device".
   

3. Click "Bluetooth: Mice, keyboards, pens, or audio and other kinds of Bluetooth devices".
   

4. Hold the Home button in the Gear VR controller until its LED start to blink, then select the "Gear VR Controller(XXXX)" in the Bluetooth dialog.
   

5. When paired, click "Done" or close the window.
   

Turn on the controller

You must click a controller button to wake up the controller before starting the FreePIE script (or before running the ALVR_init.cmd batch file). Look in the FreePIE console to see if your Gear VR controller is connected. If it didn't connect, the console will show "Error: Failed to enable notify". If that happens or when it disconnects for whatever reason, restart the script.

Using the controller

These are the functions currently provided by each Gear VR button:

• [Trigger] toggles between modes; hold to move hand & head positions when flying
• [Touchpad click] for faster flying speed
• [Back] to reset head & hand positions
• [Vol.Up] to fly forward and [Vol.Down] to fly backwards, in either mode