Guide: How to Get Moonlight working on your Vita
At this point, I think it is safe to say that Henkaku has completely blown Rejuvenate out of the water. I had high hopes when Rejuvenate initially came out, but those hopes quickly died with the minuscule install base that the hack got and the low to minimal development that it brought on, even if without Rejuvenate we would have never got Henkaku in this first place. That, however, is a story for a different post that I’d love to write some other time. This one is dedicated to something I got a few request on (like… maybe 1… 2?) which is: How the heck to you get Moonlight to work in the first place? I’m not one to disappoint so here it is (and with a few pictures in more confusing parts)!
Requirements:
- A PC running Steam and games on it (durr.);
- A nVidia GPU and the latest GeForce Experience (sorry AMD users);
- Henkaku and an FTP program;
- A decent router and home network connection (possibly an amazing 3G if you plan to play outside of your house);
- Vita Moonlight;
- 5 minutes (stretch it to 30 if you run into any problems);
Ok, you got all of that? Great! Let’s move in to this tutorial so you can stream the Witcher 3 all-maxed out on your Titan X to your Vita.
Step 1: Activate GameStream
This may seem silly but there is one requirement to be able to use nVidia GameStream: a nVidia account. Without that there’s no way to activate GameStream, so what are you waiting for? I’ll wait. Done? Great! Now open up GeForce Experience and login using your credentials and if all goes well and your GPU is supported you should be greeted with this:
That was easy, wasn’t it? Ok now let’s move on to the next step.
Step 2: Install Vita Moonlight on your console
This is more than self-explanatory, but there is something you should know beforehand: there are two versions of Vita Moonlight as it stands right now, one is Moonlight-5000 and Moonlight-2000? What is the difference? Well, one streams at 5000kbps and the other at 2000kbps. The first one will net you a crisper, less pixely output but right now, you will be doing so at the expense of streaming delay, mostly because the WiFi Chipset of the Vita really isn’t stellar, from what I’ve seen it’s probably on par with that of the Nexus 7 (2013 version) but nowhere close to the quality I can get on my Nexus 5 (I can stream at 1080p60fps with quite literally no lag whatsoever).
My advice would be: try the 5000 version first, if you’re not happy with the results, go for the 2000 version. That’s the one I’m using and while it isn’t perfect it is already pretty good (remember, this is a pre-alpha). Keep in mind also that you can only have one version of Moonlight installed simultaneously, since they both install to the same folder inside your Vita, they can’t coexist.
Step 3: Creating and setting up “server.txt”
This seems to be the step most people seem to have a problem with, but it is really not that hard. First off create a new text document on your desktop and name it server. You done? Fantastic! Now press WinKey+R and write cmd on it (or open up a terminal if you’re running Linux) now inside that window type “ipconfig” you will get this result:
I’ve deleted most of the useless information. What we want is the only information I left, the IPv4 address of your computer. Type this information into your server.txt file. Next we gotta send this file to right place. Open up your favorite FTP client on your PC and VitaShell/MolecularShell on your console, set up the FTP connection and navigate to ux0:/data/ and create a folder named “moonlight”.
If you do not have the ux0:/data folder (no idea if that’s even possible) create it as well. It was already there for me when I first needed it. Now navigate inside the moonlight folder and that’s where you need to upload the server.txt file you created earlier.
Step 4: Pairing the devices
Now this part can be a little tricky, but if you set up everything correctly this should pose no issue. When you first open up Moonlight on your Vita, it will scan for your PC using the IP you provided for it earlier, if all goes well it should tell you to insert a code on your computer, and a small prompt will pop-up on your computer asking for said code.
If this doesn’t happen and you get the “null” error, I only have two advices for you:
- Restart your computer: this fixed the issue for me, when I was having it. I believe this is because the PC was coming from the hibernation state and this may have sc*** with the nVidia System Service.
- Disable any custom firewall you may be using: Especially on Windows 10, custom firewalls can make the system go haywire. Disable it temporarily and see if that works.
After the pairing is done, just press O to boot up GameStream+Steam in Big Picture Mode
Step 5: Enjoy!
If you did all of this as I just told you, you should already be using Moonlight and enjoying PC games on your Vita! What a time to live in!
First!
Also, does this work for laptops??
If you have a compatible GPU, then yes. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s a good list around, my GPU is a GTX760 so that’s pretty low
i’ve just checked geforce experience and my laptop isn’t supported 🙁
is there any way to stream from geforce 410m?
short answer, no.
long answer: no. not to vita at least.
you can work around with graphic card spoofer
Of course… As long as you’re connected to Wifi and have a compatible NVIDIA graphics card.
Are you sure it’s necessary to even activate GameStream? I have yet to login and it works just fine for me:
http://prntscr.com/c6n5xk
http://prntscr.com/c6n6hh
I can use Moonlight with Intel Graphics?
No
They should DEFINITELY add a config file to redefine the controls, because on some games it requires a LT/RT and LB/RB to be present in order to play them properly. It can have a simple fix by letting me rebind the controls to the D-pad, BUT most PC games only allow to rebind keyboard controls and not gamepad controls for whatever reason.
Please add this feature later on, we need that 60fps first. (If possible)
You mean this?
https://t.co/janMKdjHZB
I’m failing to understand your point, I’m talking about games like MGSV: TPP, or Fallout 3, Fallout NV.
In MGSV: TPP you cannot rebind the controls at all for your controller, in Fallout 3, and Fallout NV, you cannot rebind the D-Pad to anything else for whatever reason. So you cannot go through the pip boy properly.
all GTX cards since GTX650 support nVidia Stream (note: GTX cards, not ANY nVidia cards)
I hope rejuvenate is still up and running. I don’t want to risk updating.
you can update to a cached fw
http://wololo.net/talk/viewtopic.php?t=23013
so…the app crashes on me every 20 seconds. i did all the steps and connected to my pc fine. the but vita will go in blackscreen when steam is launched in big picture mode. i could control my pc abit with the vita, until it crashes which lasts about 20 seconds. anyone got ideas on this?
I got exact same problem, did you solve it ?
any solution yet?
Someone had asked me in the past, so I might as well ask here; since Moonlight is Java based, could it be run through BD-J on other systems (PS3, PS4, XB1)?
Why must be geforce experience’s gamestream? No other program works with this? Like the ones support our gpu?
Possilbities because of the fact that geforce is Stream’s perferences and that nvidia made it so you can stream to other devices?
Sorry for AMD user 🙁
your avatar makes your comment seem like you are happy 🙂
Coz im windows user with Intel HD graphics card lol
Haha
that’s cool, pkg installer 2.0 for 3.60 https://www.psxhax.com/threads/ps-vitadump-vitatoolchain-pkg-installer-2-0-tutorial-by-silica.664/
got it to work on my 750m but now c2-12828-1 error and connection lost constantly any idea?
didnt work for me, just doesnt open steam nor stream, but it’s paired with nvidia shield
open the port whatever moonlight trying to connect. my steam app started to work after that. and open steam from pc before connecting with moonlight
Soooo. finally worked, changed my pc screen resolution to 1280 x 720, opened nvidia geforce experience. started moonlight on vita.
I have Can’t connect to server (null)
Windows 10
No Linux or OSX Support 😀 Stem OS is out for this 😀
Ugh. I have to install that piece of *** GeForce Experience? No open source alternatives at all?
aucun interet.
ce n’est pas du hack mais du stream
Je pense que c’est TOI qui n’a pas compris l’intérêt.
Ca te permet de jouer sur ta PS Vita à des jeux qui n’existent pas sur cette console ou qui ne pourrait pas tourner dessus ! (selon ton ordi, tu peux profiter de sa puissance de calcul pour jouer sur ta PS Vita a des jeux qui nécessiterait la configuration d’une PS4 par exemple).
Thank you. This is working all according to the keikaku as well.
i have mine paired but am getting the c2-12828-1 error that you get when henkaku fails to install. will rebooting the vita fix this issue?
rebooting has not fixed my issue, and i have disabled the avast firewall and dont use windows firewall but still not working?
Do you have rin cheat installed? I had the same issue, I uninstalled the plugin and it worked perfectly.
i had the same error message c2-12828-1.
did you upload ‘settings.txt’ to ux0:data/moonlight
that fixed it for me.
ah, i was following the old guide which is for alpha 1, which doesn’t use such a file, it at least isn’t crashing now. But it isn’t doing anything else other than displaying the info i typed into the settings txt
just crashing with no ability to control it now, i suppose its my internet connection now lol
IT WORKS! 😉
https://youtu.be/9LkeXAHyMI4
Im having a weird issue, I get the pairing code but after I input it on the pc and click go, it brings a couple of http lines up on the vita, but then nothing… when I exit and go back in, I click circle to launch steam and it makes a connection, displays my settings etc, but doesnt launch steam or do anything on my pc…any ideas?
works only with direct x builded games
Seems to work at first… it pairs, opens steam on my PC and Vita, and then as soon as I press any input, it crashes on the VIta. Super bizarre. Anyone know how to fix this?
Moonlight is working fine on all other devices.
I haev sucsecully paired it but now when i click o to launch steam, it says an error has occured… (C2-12828-1) please help!!#
I can’t get mine to pair with Nvidia Shield. I pressed X, entered the code displayed on my Vita into the prompt that appears on the PC, and wait while Moonlight does its thing. It displays a few lines of code, and after waiting for quite some time, it gave me the following message: “Error pairing: 0xffffffff Pairing failed”. How do I resolve this problem?
Never mind I finally got it to work. All I did was press the PS button, swiped the Moonlight page down, re-entered Moonlight and retried the pairing procedure. Somehow it finally worked.
Appreciating the hard work you put into your website and in depth information you provide.
It’s awesome to come across a blog every once in a
while that isn’t the same outdated rehashed material.
Great read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding
your RSS feeds to my Google account.
I’ve a Nvidia GT 750m can I do this tutorial?
I enter IP address, then press enter. moonlight exits and i am unable to connect. running the latest version. any ideas ????
My Internet Provider offers me no IPv4, i only have IPv6 would it still work?
This worked beautifully, thank you so much!
Some points of clarification for those who might need it (because I wasn’t entirely certain myself):
For installing Moonlight onto my Vita, I dumped the .vpk (found on github) in ux0/data/ as well and installed from there.
For server.txt, I just put the IP address XXX.XXX.X.X in the file
When opening Moonlight, I got prompted with a “Connect to…” and reconfirmed my PC’s IP address. There wasn’t any apparent “loading” dialogue but eventually I got prompted with the PIN.
I feel incredibly enabled to game shamelessly while lying around. Bless all that worked on this.