Vive Headset Loses Tracking After a Minute - AND MORE!

[Stringbean]

Hi, support team!

I received my Vive in the mail yesterday and the setup went fine! But then, it lost tracking of the headset and restarting SteamVR resulted in 108 Error, red 'Not Ready' text, and greyed out hardware icons.

I resintalled Vive, SteamVr, and deleted ALL my computer's USB drivers. This worked, and the Vive was operational again! For two minutes. Then screens went grey, but the game in the background kept running (I fired randomly in a direction and killed a robot still!).

So the tracking for the controls not only works, but still works when the headset is 'not tracking.'

Again I decided to fiddle, but this time only with the drivers. I unplugged the USB, HDMI, and power cable; uninstalled drivers using SteamVR, reattached the cables, and the drivers downloaded.

Again, success! And again, for two minutes. Exact same problem: blindness from grey screens, but the game kept running and the controllers continued to operate and track fine.

I tried this several more times, but it has a less than 50% success rate, and even if it does succeed it only does so for a minute or two.

Please help me out with this! I know plug 'n' play was a big ask, but this is frustrating me so much. It works and then doesn't, which somehow feels worse than just total failure xD

I've gone over the standard 108 error troubleshoots that SteamVR provided and the many suggestions you fine folks have provided in the forums, but to no avail.

Thanks for any support you can give.

Here's hoping,

Desperate VR Man.

[bulloko]

@Stringbean - I know this might seem odd, but have you tired to use it in a different location?

Typically the grey screens happen when the headset is not being tracked by the lighthouses. Reflections can wreak havok on the lighthouses.

I found that the room I originally had my VIVE set-up in had WAAAY to many reflective surfaces and I had TONS of tracking issues.

I moved it to a new room, no issues what-so-ever.

Oh - the other common 'fix' I hear is to be sure to use USB 2.0 rather than 3.0.

Have you updated the Firmware of the devices? All of mine arrived out of date.

Your rig itself is powerful enough to run everything right?

[skittulls]

A problem I had when I first got my Vive was that I had it plugged into the USB 3.1 port on my Asus Z170. Apparently there was done optimization on this port that didn't work well with the Vive. I moved it to a 3.0 port and the problems went away. Can't say I remember what the exact problem was but I remember having to not use the 3.1 port.

[Synthesis]

@Stringbean

The advice offered below is definitely good.
Check your play area for reflective surfaces and make sure that you have a stable power supply. If the power is interrupted, even for a moment, by perhaps faulty wiring, that will also cause tracking errors.

If you're still having problems after that, we'll go through some other troubleshooting.

Thanks,

-John C

[Stringbean]

These solutions sadly haven't worked, but thanks for the advice, guys! @Synthesis @skittulls @bulloko

More info that I hadn't noticed: The Watchman Board in the USB section of Settings goes grey when it loses tracking. It never comes back on until I wipe out the drivers and reinstall them, and even then on occasion it doesn't work.

The entire unit, headset and all, works PERFECTLY until the screen goes grey after a couple of minutes. When it works, it works exactly as it should.

I might be forgeting some other stuff I've noticed, but I'm tired.

[bulloko]

@Stringbean - I saw a similar issue on Reddit - ended up being his PC was overheating. How are the temps / loads on your GPU / CPU?

Also - do you get any errors in your logs when the screen goes grey?

[Stringbean]

I'm not sure, @bulloko, I'll have to look into those.

The problem is that even if it is working perfectly, if I restart SteamVR I still get the 108 error. That seems somehow unrelated to any potential GPU or heat errors, unless I'm mad.

[Stringbean]

@Synthesis @skittulls @bulloko

I just tried the Vive on a different computer, but in the same room as before. The exact same issues occured in the exact same way. I'm guessing this means something about my room or setup is the problem?

I can't imagine what's reflective in here and still don't understand why a tracking error would cause unending 108 errors. Rebooting the headset just does nothing.

[skittulls]

My guess at this point is a bad headset. Have you tried it with just a single lighthouse instead of both to see if anything different happens? I think it's supposed to be set to A in single mode.

[CaTaPulT]

Another thing to try if you haven't already is turning off power management for the USB ports (so the USB ports don't go to sleep). I've read that this can cause problems with VR headsets if this feature is enabled.

Regards: Jack

[skittulls]

Had another thought...can you tell if the Base Stations are still working once tracking seems to stop? Have you tried using the long cable between the two Base Stations (not sure if this was already asked)?

[Stringbean]

@skittulls I haven't tried the single lighthouse yet, but both continue to track. Once the headset loses tracking the controllers are still operating. I sure hope it's not a faulty headset. I'd have to ship internationally for warranty :\

@CaTaPulT I have tried that, but thinking about it I don't know if it remains as an option once I reboot SteaVR or reinstall drivers. I'll have to check that, thanks!

I've used it on another computer and got the same errors, so individual faults with individual computers seem less likely now.

[Jad]

If your PC/laptop has a mini-DP or DisplayPort, then try switching from HDMI to the mini-DP connection for the Vive interface box to PC/aptop if you have the appropriate adaptor cable and report back if the issue is resolved.

[Stringbean]

@Jad I don't have a mini-DP cable.

I know I'm not a Vive tech, but this issue is temporarily resolved by wiping USB drivers and is not related to the lens themselves. The screens work, but tracking is lost and the headset goes into the 'standby grey'

[baizfam]

Hello Stringbean, I am having exactly the same issues with my Vive, 1-2 mins then stops tracking, first losing packets, gray screen and then dies completely, just like you say. I've tried adding a new USB card but didnt work, covering any reflective surface, even the computer, but didn't work, the computer is running cool, I even changed my Vive for a new one, and exactly the same thing continues to happen.

PLEEEASE TELL ME YOU FIXED IT AND HOWWWWWWW!!!!!!