Installation

FixVR ships a single udev rule file (99-valve-index-reboot.rules) and a helper install script.
Pick the method that matches your distro.

Automatic - install script

The easiest way on any distro. Run this script:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MiguVT/fixvr/main/src/install.sh | bash

The script auto-detects your distro:

Distro family	What happens
Arch / Manjaro / EndeavourOS / Garuda	Installs the fixvr-git AUR package via paru or yay
Debian / Ubuntu / Mint / Pop!_OS	Copies the rule and reloads udev
Fedora / RHEL / openSUSE / any other	Copies the rule and reloads udev

AUR helper — If neither paru nor yay is found, the script will offer to install paru for you.

Arch-based (AUR)

Install with your preferred AUR helper:

paru

paru -S fixvr-git

yay

yay -S fixvr-git

NixOS

NixOS manages udev rules declaratively. Add the following to your system configuration (e.g. configuration.nix or a dedicated module):

{ pkgs, ... }:
{
  services.udev.extraRules = ''
    KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="28de", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2300", ACTION=="add", RUN+="/bin/sh -c '(sleep 2; test -f /tmp/.valve-index-rebooted || { printf \"\\x16\\x01\" | cat - /dev/zero | head -c 64 > /dev/%k && touch /tmp/.valve-index-rebooted; }) &'"
  '';
}

Then rebuild:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch

Manual (all distros)

Download and install the rule file, then reload udev:

sudo curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MiguVT/fixvr/main/src/99-valve-index-reboot.rules \
  -o /etc/udev/rules.d/99-valve-index-reboot.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger --action=add --subsystem-match=hidraw

Reconnect your Valve Index — the fix is now active.

Uninstall

sudo rm /etc/udev/rules.d/99-valve-index-reboot.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules

On Arch (AUR):

paru -R fixvr-git   # or: yay -R fixvr-git

On NixOS, remove the services.udev.extraRules block and run sudo nixos-rebuild switch.

How it works

The udev rule matches the Valve Index HMD by its USB vendor/product ID (28de:2300). On the add event — i.e. each time the device is enumerated — it fires a backgrounded shell one-liner:

1. A subshell is spawned in the background (&) so udev's event queue is not blocked.
2. After a 2-second delay (giving the HMD firmware time to finish initialising), it checks for a flag file /tmp/.valve-index-rebooted.
3. If the flag is absent, it writes a 64-byte HID reboot payload (\x16\x01 followed by zeroes) directly to the hidraw device node.
4. Only if the write succeeds (&&), the flag file is created — this prevents the flag from being set when udev tries a wrong hidraw interface.
5. The HMD reboots its HID layer, re-reads the EDID correctly, and presents itself at the right resolution.

Because /tmp is cleared every boot, the flag is always absent on the first plug-in of each session, and always present for subsequent plug-ins, preventing double-reboots.

Troubleshooting

The fix doesn't seem to apply on boot

Make sure the rule file is installed and udev has been reloaded:

cat /etc/udev/rules.d/99-valve-index-reboot.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules

Reconnect your headset or trigger manually:

sudo rm -f /tmp/.valve-index-rebooted
sudo udevadm trigger --action=add --subsystem-match=hidraw
sleep 4
ls -l /tmp/.valve-index-rebooted

If the flag file exists, the rule fired successfully.

The flag file exists but the headset still shows as 640×480

This sometimes happens if the timing is tight. Try increasing the sleep value in the rule from 2 to 5 and rebooting.