- Plugged into the Mac, the Frame is a USB network device ("Steam Frame",
usb0 at ~0.9 ms). The tunnel uses it when the Frame's usb0 answers,
with the usual host key; otherwise the normal path. Interleaved runs:
content p50 7 vs 10 ms, click to drawn 17 vs 27 ms, scroll p95 23 vs
31-37 ms. FRAME_MACVIEW_USB=0 turns it off; the card says "over USB-C".
- Bench: --usb, and the route is recorded per run.
- Docs: Steam's own streaming (no SteamVR host on macOS; Remote Play pairs
but streams games, not windows; test blocked); the Frame's USB network;
the 2026-09-28 health-check boot-loop recurrence.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Brings in #4, #5, #8 (fbl100's verified Remmina/VNC mirror), APK
alternatives and the website. docs/streaming.md: Mac in the headset stays
the recommendation (now verified on the Frame); Remmina keeps #8's verified
evidence as the whole-screen fallback. docs/mac-in-headset.md cites #8's
lag finding.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Per-frame timing on the Mac's clock (capture, encode, network, decode,
draw), viewer clock sync and reports, input echo, /stats and a HUD.
- scripts/macview-bench.py: repeatable runs on the real Frame, a shaping
relay (no sudo), interleaved A/B between agent settings; results in
bench/results/.
- Adaptive controller: ack-based send gate with jitter-aware slack, AIMD
bitrate that knows when a stream is app-limited, fps then size tiers.
On a 50->3->50 Mbit/s step, scroll p95 went from 4.7 s to 72 ms; no cost
on a clean link.
- Separate mode: real AppKit event loop (HiDPI and NSScreen now work),
cropped capture for fixed-size windows, windows kept on their display,
graceful quit restores windows; stop/start races fixed.
- Encoder timeline clamp (no oversized frame after a pause).
- Frame Control shows each live stream's fps, delay, bitrate and tier.
Reviewed by GPT-6 Astra xhigh (read-only), 7 rounds; findings fixed.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Steam's own idle timer (60 min on AC, 15 on battery) suspends the Frame,
and SSH work doesn't count as activity. scripts/keep-awake.sh on sets both
timers to Never through Steam's DevTools (reusing ui/frame_steam.py) and
holds a logind sleep inhibitor as a user unit; off releases the inhibitor
and restores the saved timers. Findings recorded in how-the-frame-works.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Frame Control can now show any Mac window, or a whole screen, as its own
SteamVR panel on the Steam Frame (Tools -> Mac in the headset, macOS only).
Place it with the SteamVR dashboard; the laser clicks and scrolls, and the
Mac's own keyboard types.
- mac/frame-mac-view (Swift, no dependencies): ScreenCaptureKit capture per
window or display, VideoToolbox H.264 with low-latency rate control (JPEG
fallback), a loopback HTTP/WebSocket server, CGEvent/AX input playback,
and a display-awake assertion while anyone watches.
- ui/frame_macview.py: starts the agent, runs an ssh -R tunnel with a
supervisor that reopens it on the same port, and launches a Chromium app
window per stream on gamescope's :0, tagged with STEAM_GAME for its own panel.
- Frame Control's key never leaves the Mac: viewers get single-use,
per-source tickets and reconnect keys that Stop revokes.
- ui/mac-view.html: WebCodecs decode, keyframe recovery, pointer/wheel/keys back.
- Bundled in the Mac app build; tests/test_macview.py builds and drives the
agent on macOS.
Verified on the Frame (build 20260925.6191901) with the test pattern: panel
in about 1.5 s, about 60 fps, Mac-to-window about 11-17 ms, tunnel recovery
in 4 s. Laser input and real window capture still need a person in the headset.
Also commits the other thread's first-party rule (steam-frame skill) and
the first-party options table in docs/streaming.md.
Reviewed by GPT-6 Astra (xhigh, read-only) over six rounds; all findings fixed.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- docs/recovery-and-images.md: where Valve's Frame images are (not linked from
the SteamOS download page), file names, sizes and our checksums, the GPT
layout with exact start sectors, what's in rootfs-A (btrfs, SteamOS 0.3.0
build 20260922.5152327, users, sudo and sshd config), extracting it, running
it without the headset, and Valve/Collabora's Holo Core aarch64 preview.
- how-the-frame-works.md: correct the recovery image file names; add verified
facts on the SSH server, tools on the image (no adb), Lepton instances as
podman containers, going off the network when asleep, and the battery
reading at full charge.
- ssh.md: pairing from an iPhone and why devkit RSA pairing doesn't fit it.
- open-questions.md, README.md and the steam-frame skill point to the new pages.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Recovery menu (AUX + Power), USB and EDL re-imaging, from Valve's docs.
- Verified cause and fix of a boot loop: steamvr-health-check wipes
~/.local/share/Steam after repeated SteamVR start failures, which then
repeat while Steam re-downloads, until the Frame reboots.
- T3 Code desktop running natively as a panel (from an earlier session).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Live in the headset view now streams video instead of polling stereo
screenshots (~2 fps). SteamVR's steamvr-v4l2cam.service mirrors the headset
view into /dev/video99; ffmpeg on the Frame encodes it with x264 (720p30 by
default, AUD + repeated SPS/PPS), /api/stream relays the raw H.264 over SSH,
and the page splits it on access unit delimiters and decodes it with
WebCodecs into the existing viewer. Capture still takes a stereo still; the
desktop panel keeps capture polling, and the page falls back to it if the
video can't start.
The remote ffmpeg runs under a shell that kills it when the SSH channel
closes, stderr goes to a temp file, and a 10 s stall ends the stream. One
stream at a time; a new one supersedes the last.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Screenshots: list the Frame's Steam screenshots, open them in the
viewer, and save new ones to ~/Pictures/SteamFrame. Ids are validated
before any shell, and copies land atomically.
- Tailscale: scripts/tailscale-on-frame.sh installs a userspace tailscaled
as a lingering systemd --user service with no sudo, SHA-256 checked, safe
to re-run, with --uninstall. docs/tailscale.md covers setup and warns that
in userspace mode every Frame port, including loopback-only DevTools and
ADB, is reachable from the tailnet.
- push-vr-video.sh: filenames starting with "-" are safe, symlinks are
followed, and a real Videos\VR directory triggers a warning.
- Tests cover the screenshot routes (19 total).
Docs keep placeholder addresses for the headset and tailnet.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- app: startup shell, python and ssh probes run asynchronously so a slow
shell profile can't freeze the window; PATH comes from the user's real
login shell and a failed lookup isn't cached; a server that never
answers is killed; the setup offer runs once per launch, only after the
UI loads, and decides from HostName alone; connect.sh is started through
`env ... zsh` so it works whatever the login shell is.
- server: volume validates the level before muting or changing anything.
- Steam: null-safe install-manager fields, http.client errors caught in
store ratings, price fallback when a sale has no final price.
- tests: server output kept for diagnosis, any startup error retried, and
captures asserted non-cacheable.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Package the Frame Control web UI as an installable Electron Mac app and
bring in the tooling built alongside it.
- app/: Electron wrapper that starts ui/server.py on a free loopback port,
hardened window (sandbox, no navigation, runAsNode fuse off), login-shell
PATH so Homebrew tools work from Finder, first-run offer to run
connect.sh, ad-hoc signed DMG/zip via electron-builder.
- ui/: headset view (OpenVR screenshots), device status, library, Steam
"Get games" (owned games, install, store search), Android apps as
persistent Lepton instances with a rated F-Droid catalogue and a private
compatibility database, Android display controls over ADB, file and
clipboard transfer, Flatpaks, remote and power actions.
- apk-catalog/, compat-db/, frame/: catalogue build pipeline, Lakebed
capsule for compatibility reports, Frame-side launchers.
- tests/ and CI: server guard and validation tests plus Steam helper tests,
run on Python 3.9 with script and app syntax checks.
- Docs: README leads with the Mac app; new Android, panels, Steam games and
field-notes docs; security notes on LAN-exposed ADB ports.
Screenshot values for the headset's IP and Wi-Fi name are placeholders.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
