SteamVR's tools find SteamVR from a terminal in the Frametop desktop

The desktop has its own XDG_CONFIG_HOME (~/.config/frametop), and SteamVR's tools and OpenVR
read their path registry from there. So from a terminal in the desktop:

- pointer/driver/install.sh (install.sh step 4, every reinstall or update from Konsole) wrote
  a new registry, ~/.config/frametop/openvr/openvrpaths.vrpath, with only our driver and
  "runtime": null, and never registered the driver with SteamVR. That stray file then hid
  SteamVR from every OpenVR program started in the desktop.
- scripts/update-check.py (and so doctor.sh and report.sh) reported OpenVR "can't connect to
  SteamVR as a background app" (VRInitError_Init_PathRegistryNotFound, or
  InstallationNotFound with the stray file) and "vrcmd --overlays lists no overlays". A user's
  report of 2026-10-05 showed both, with SteamVR and Frametop's services fine.
- ft-layout's vrcmd calls (the gamescope backend) found no overlays.

They now run with XDG_CONFIG_HOME=~/.config: the driver installer (install, uninstall, probe,
aimhere), update-check.py (for all its checks: nothing there reads the desktop's own config),
report.sh's vrpathreg show, and ft-layout's vrcmd. report.sh doesn't set it for the whole
report, since session/fix-panels.py --check reads the desktop's Plasma config through it.

The driver installer also removes the stray registry (only vrpathreg's, with no runtime), and
update-check.py warns about one. And vrpathreg runs `xdg-open vrmonitor://driverinstalled` to
tell SteamVR's desktop monitor, which the Frame doesn't have: in the desktop that showed "could
not read file vrmonitor://driverinstalled" on every install. A stand-in xdg-open on its PATH
takes it, so install.sh no longer filters the step's output.

Tested in a fake HOME with a copy of SteamVR's registry, a stray one, and the desktop's
XDG_CONFIG_HOME: the new installer removes the stray file, registers the driver in the copy,
and never reaches xdg-open; the old one wrote the stray file, left the copy alone, and ran
xdg-open. update-check.py from that environment: OpenVR and vrcmd ok (the old one fails both);
its stray-registry warning fires on a seeded file. ft-layout's vrcmd: 119 overlays (was 0).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

scripts/report.sh

@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ for u in frametop-input-relay frametop-pointer frametop-power; do
 done
 echo "desktop: $(pgrep -x ft-screens >/dev/null && echo running || echo 'not running'), plasmashell: $(pgrep -c plasmashell || true)"
 echo "paused for VR games: $(cat /run/user/$(id -u)/frametop-pause.json 2>/dev/null || echo 'no (never paused since boot)')"
-LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/steamvr/bin/linuxarm64 /opt/steamvr/bin/linuxarm64/vrpathreg show 2>/dev/null | sed -n '/xternal/,$p'
+# SteamVR's config folder: a terminal in the desktop has the session's own (docs/design.md).
+XDG_CONFIG_HOME=$HOME/.config LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/steamvr/bin/linuxarm64 /opt/steamvr/bin/linuxarm64/vrpathreg show 2>/dev/null | sed -n '/xternal/,$p'
 
 section "What Frametop needs from SteamOS (scripts/update-check.py)"
 python3 "$repo/scripts/update-check.py" 2>&1 || true

scripts/update-check.py

@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ KNOWN_GOOD = os.path.join(HOME, ".local/state/frametop/known-good.json")
 STEAMVR_BIN = "/opt/steamvr/bin/linuxarm64"
 LAUNCHER = os.path.join(HOME, ".local/share/applications/deckard-nested-desktop.desktop")
 VRPATHS = os.path.join(HOME, ".config/openvr/openvrpaths.vrpath")
+# The Frametop desktop has its own XDG_CONFIG_HOME (session/frametop-session.sh). An install from a
+# terminal there, before pointer/driver/install.sh set SteamVR's, left vrpathreg's registry here.
+STRAY_VRPATHS = os.path.join(HOME, ".config/frametop/openvr/openvrpaths.vrpath")
 BACKLIGHT = "/sys/class/backlight/ae94000.dsi.0/brightness"  # as in power/ft-powerd.cpp
 EYE_MMAP = "/dev/shm/eye-server.mmap"
 VRSERVER = "http://127.0.0.1:27062"  # its web socket: input/vrws.py
@@ -227,6 +230,14 @@ def check_host():
     else:
         report("FAIL", "pointer driver", "not registered with SteamVR; run pointer/driver/install.sh install, "
                "then restart SteamVR")
+    try:
+        with open(STRAY_VRPATHS) as f:
+            stray = json.load(f).get("runtime") is None
+    except (OSError, ValueError, AttributeError):
+        stray = False
+    if stray:
+        report("warn", "OpenVR path registry", f"{STRAY_VRPATHS} has no SteamVR in it, and hides SteamVR from "
+               "OpenVR programs started in the Frametop desktop; pointer/driver/install.sh install removes it")
 
     session = launcher_session()
     if session is None:
@@ -474,6 +485,8 @@ def main():
     # A terminal in the desktop has its session's runtime dir and bus; systemctl needs the real ones.
     os.environ["XDG_RUNTIME_DIR"] = f"/run/user/{UID}"
     os.environ["DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS"] = f"unix:path=/run/user/{UID}/bus"
+    # And its own config folder, where SteamVR's path registry isn't: OpenVR and vrcmd need ours.
+    os.environ["XDG_CONFIG_HOME"] = os.path.join(HOME, ".config")
 
     versions = current_versions()
     check_versions(versions)