Oculus Rift S Mini DisplayPort Adapter SOLVES Valve Index snow/sparkles noise artifacts

[Matt2468rv]

FIRST: If you have any noise/artifact issues using Mini DisplayPort, submit a Steam support ticket asking when they will offer a Mini DisplayPort adapter or tether. Your request is essentially a "vote" which will help escalate a solution for all who must use Mini DP.

Since Steam Support's current official response to this issue is to send people here, I want to let the community know that the best Mini DisplayPort adapter for the Valve Index is actually the adapter that is included with the Oculus Rift S. For me, every other 3rd party adapter I have tested (see below) has artifacts to some degree. The Rift S adapter works flawlessly.

Despite this being ironic, this makes a lot of sense since the Mini DP adapter that comes with the Rift S was designed with VR throughput in mind, and Oculus states on their website that any other Mini DP adapter is not guaranteed to work[support.oculus.com]. Even if a 3rd party adapter is rated for DisplayPort 1.2, it still may not work well enough for VR.

I've urged Valve to manufacture their own official Mini DP adapter or trident breakaway cable with Mini DP. I really hope they follow in Oculus' footsteps here, because this is a big issue with many laptop users and Oculus apparently recognized and accounted for this issue.

I am lucky enough to have obtained my own Rift S Mini DP adapter, but for the sake of others with this issue, does anyone know if it's possible to buy this adapter either directly from Oculus or from their supplier? Personally, I want to have a few more of these on hand.

EDIT: User "Cybersanz" reached out to Oculus support asking if it's possible to purchase this adapter. Oculus is NOT selling their Rift S miniDP to DP adapter to anyone. They will only do so to existing owners but they have to provide a photo of the broken adapter, Rift S box with serial number, and a PDF of the purchase receipt. Currently, your best bet is to find someone with a Rift S who doesn't use their Mini DP adapter.


For reference, here is a list of 3rd party adapters I have tested that do NOT fix the snow/noise artifacts issue in my case:

1. Cable Matters[www.amazon.com]
2. Rankie[www.amazon.com]
3. Club3D[www.amazon.com]
4. VisionTek[www.amazon.com] (this one doesn't work at all, just a black screen)

Additionally, see here for a pretty comprehensive list of adapters that user "acavilena" posted in another thread. It sounds like some users are having luck with a few of these adapters, however I still get artifacts with any adapter besides the Rift S adapter.

[Matt2468rv]

Sounds good, please keep us posted!

[FishTail [JoinUsInVR]💬GROUP]

Sounds fair, and accurate. Let us know if you hear back.

In August Index sales doubled. So the greater the demand, the sooner a solution. In the meantime, the buy, test, fail, return,repeat. :/ Eventually you'll find one of the few we've posted to give you "good enough" results. (snow, but only in some situations, not all)

Shoot me a IM if you want more ideas or suggestions. I've tried about a dozen wires and adapters. No joke.

[Cybersanz]

This was Steams response to my ticket/question

Originally posted by Cybersanz:

Fish Tail: I submitted the below ticket and I'll post their response on this thread:


Message from you on Sep 6 @ 2:11pm | less than a minute ago
QUESTION: When will Valve make the Valve Index miniDP to DP1.2 adapter available for purchase so I can hook my Valve Index to my laptop?

My MSI GT73EVR 7RF-858US-BB7782K32G1T0DX10P laptop has both a Thunderbolt3 and miniDP directly to the GPU (1080GTX). But your site says that a miniDP to DP1.2 adapter is required YET can't recommend any that work nor do you no longer provide an option to purchase one.

The forums indicate the only adapter to work is ironically the one that comes with the Oculus Rift S; but they don't sell them separately.

Thanks ahead of time,
Files attached: support_system_report.vdf minidumps_and_logs.zip

=======


Message from Steam Support on Sep 8 @ 8:18am | 9 hours ago
Hello Chris,
We do not have any information available regarding any adapters being developed at this time. The VirtualLink adapter was cancelled.
The Oculus adapter may work, but it cannot be guaranteed that it works on everyone's configuration.
I'm sorry we do not have any other information to provide on this matter.
Thank you for using Steam,
Alex

Did this response help you solve the issue?
Yes, issue is resolved
No, I need more help

[Cybersanz]

Originally posted by Cybersanz:

AFE_Foreman & Fish Tail, thanks.

1) My plan is to receive the Index and try it with a few adapters I happen to have (I have a few since I'm running a triple monitor gaming setup with my MSI GT73EVR laptop using all three ports - HDMI, miniDP and Thunderbolt3). If my miniDP to DP or TB3 to DP adapters don't work:

2) I've already sent an email to Oculus requesting to buy one of their Rift S adapters. They sent me a response/ticket saying they are looking info it. If they refuse:

3) I will put a Rift S on my credit card and pick it up from my local Best Buy. I will then test their adapter and see if it really works. If the Index doesn't work or if the $400 Rift S performance is acceptable, I will keep the Rift S and return the Index. If the adapter really works on the Index and I still think the Index is worth the $600 difference, I will keep the Index and return the Rift S.

I'll let you know how it goes :)

Oculus got back to me, they are NOT selling their Rift S miniDP to DP adapter to anyone. They will only do so to existing owners but they have to provide a photo of the broken adapter, Rift S box with serial number, and a PDF of the purchase receipt .

[Matt2468rv]

Originally posted by Cybersanz:

This was Steams response to my ticket/question

Message from Steam Support on Sep 8 @ 8:18am | 9 hours ago
Hello Chris,
We do not have any information available regarding any adapters being developed at this time. The VirtualLink adapter was cancelled.
The Oculus adapter may work, but it cannot be guaranteed that it works on everyone's configuration.
I'm sorry we do not have any other information to provide on this matter.
Thank you for using Steam,
Alex

Did this response help you solve the issue?
Yes, issue is resolved
No, I need more help

Originally posted by Cybersanz:

Oculus got back to me, they are NOT selling their Rift S miniDP to DP adapter to anyone. They will only do so to existing owners but they have to provide a photo of the broken adapter, Rift S box with serial number, and a PDF of the purchase receipt .

This is all useful info, thank you both! Wish there was better news, though. Original post has been updated to include your response, Cybersanz.

[URdead]

The adapter that worked best for me for my MSI GT73VR Titan was:

https://www.monoprice.com/productc_id=302&cp_id=30202&cs_id=3020202&p_id=5714&seq=1&format=2

What is happening is the cable length is far too long, and adding additional 6 inches for most of the adapters is the breaking point. I still had some artifacts, or snow flakes as people are calling it. All video cables over 9m start causing a ton of handshake and other anomalies.
Best bet would be to shorten the overall cable length by a foot for some users, the extra adapters can also cause impedance, and other AC factors to change to imbalance the cable.

Steam did not sound like they wanted to venture in re-engineering their cable, and sounded like they wanted me to partner... and I lack the capitol to do something on this scale.

The 2nd issue is the NVIDIA drivers.... anybody understand the 436 error, and HDCP error with current drivers? Rolling back to 217 or whatever, and losing the benefits from newer drivers is not tolerable.
Wish I understood the protocol, nor do I want to sit down to learn it.
Good luck to all out there, I really hope the Index problems get ironed out. I LOVED it when it worked.... It's an awesome product.
Also, an API for the controllers would be another thing to push Steam to make. This would allow the controller to be tailored to how the end user wants to control games, and bind the controls however like keyboard and mouse.

[Cybersanz]

Originally posted by URdead:

The adapter that worked best for me for my MSI GT73VR Titan was:

https://www.monoprice.com/productc_id=302&cp_id=30202&cs_id=3020202&p_id=5714&seq=1&format=2

What is happening is the cable length is far too long, and adding additional 6 inches for most of the adapters is the breaking point. I still has some artifacts, or snow flakes as people are calling it. All video cables over 9m start causing a ton of handshake and other anomalies.
Best bet would be to shorten the overall cable length by a foot for some users, the extra adapters can also cause impedance, and other AC factors to change to imbalance the cable.

Steam did not sound like they wanted to venture in re-engineering their cable, and sounded like they wanted me to partner... and I lack the capitol to do something on this scale.

The 2nd issue is the NVIDIA drivers.... anybody understand the 436 error, and HDCP error with current drivers? Rolling back to 217 or whatever, and losing the benefits from newer drivers is not tolerable.
Wish I understood the protocol, nor do I want to sit down to learn it.
Good luck to all out there, I really hope the Index problems get ironed out. I LOVED it when it worked.... It's an awesome product.
Also, and API for the controllers would be another thing to push Steam to make. This would allow the controller to be tailored to how the end user wants to control games, and bind the controls however like keyboard and mouse.

URdead, thanks for the detailed comment. I too have a MSI GT73EVR Titan with a GTX1080 and get the dreaded HDCP Error. So do I hear you right that the only way to get the index working is to roll back my video driver to an older version?

Sent this ticket to Steam:

First day with my new Valve Index and every time I start up SteamVR the headset only works for one or two seconds, the indicator lights are green and the display projects the SteamVR start page. But litterally one or two seconds later the display shuts down, the indicator lights go to blue, and I keep getting the "Steam VR Error: SteamVR has encountered an HDCP error." I've tried your trouble shooting steps to no avail.
PLEASE HELP, my son and I really want to this to work.
MSI gaming laptop: GT73EVR 7RF(Titan Pro 4K)-858US-BB7782K32G1T0DX10P
Serial Number: K1707N0043813
The newest MB BIOS (E17A1IMS.325, 03/12/18)"
Using the Rankie miniDp to DP adapter.
GTX 1080 with the latest nvidia drivers (v436.3)

[Cybersanz]

And this was Steams response. Seems a blanket response for both the HDCP errors and the miniDP to DP adapter issues:

Message from Steam Support on Sep 17 @ 5:12pm | 2 hours ago
Hello,

Thanks for writing in and I'm sorry to hear that you've been encountering these connectivity issues with your new Valve Hardware. The HDCP error indicates that there is a signal integrity error between the headset and the GPU, which is usually related to the physical connections or the currently installed GPU driver. It can also be caused by programs that block interprocess communication, such as overzealous security software. Other times it is caused by a computer (usually a laptop) routing the VR display signal through the integrated graphics card.

We're also detecting a large amount of 213 and 436 errors. The 213 error is used when SteamVR is running on a GPU typically found in laptops and can't establish a connection to the headset display - although it can detect the required USB equipment. The 436 error is extremely similar to the HDCP error and the most common cause is related to a bad display adapter.

If possible, we recommend testing your equipment using a different GPU or on a different non-laptop PC.

The Valve index requires a DisplayPort 1.2 connection, however, a mini-Displayport to Displayport adapter could work. We are unable to guarantee the compatibility of any 3rd party adapters and suggest using a full Displayport connection whenever possible.

Please consult with your equipment manufacturer to ensure that your laptop meets the minimum requirements listed in the article below:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=4061-QUZB-4602 *

*Please note that the article still mentions the discontinued DisplayLink cable, but this is a mistake. The article should be updated to reflect the current status soon and I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

We encourage you to work with the Steam Community as they may have discovered an adapter that works well with your system.

Upgrading to a different system would also be a solution, however, if you try multiple adapters without success and prefer to refund your Valve Index purchase please let us know.

Thanks for using Steam,
Sean

[Matt2468rv]

Originally posted by URdead:

The adapter that worked best for me for my MSI GT73VR Titan was:

https://www.monoprice.com/productc_id=302&cp_id=30202&cs_id=3020202&p_id=5714&seq=1&format=2

This link doesn't appear to be working. Think you could find the product and link it again?


I'm going to be experimenting with a Startech repeater box soon. This boosts the DisplayPort signal and the boost is tuneable. I'll post some results here once I'm able to try this out.

[Cybersanz]

UPDATE: Working on gaming laptop (MSI GT73EVR w/GTX1080)

I've finally got my Valve Index working with seemingly no flaws or issues.

1. MINI DP ISSUED: I'm using the Rankie Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort Adapter purchased at Amazon https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YOVKWQS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

2. HDCP ERROR ISSUE: This instantly shut down the headset and made it unusable. Had to install an old nVidia driver (417.71). Really hoping for a nVidia driver that solves this problem because I hate being stuck using a Jan 2019 driver forever.

3. CONTROLLER TRACKING ISSUES: Glitched all over the place. Found out I had to hang sheets over my two large mirrors in my gaming cave.

[BigCheese]

@Cybersanz

So wait does that adapter have ANY issues at all? I actually haven't bought the Valve yet but Im scared that I might waste my money on it. Also, I'm using an Alienware Area 51m 9th-gen i9 processor, 8-core, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070. ALSO, I don't know if it has a mini display port. I would very much appreciate it if you could help

[BigCheese]

Originally posted by Cybersanz:

UPDATE: Working on gaming laptop (MSI GT73EVR w/GTX1080)

I've finally got my Valve Index working with seemingly no flaws or issues.

1. MINI DP ISSUED: I'm using the Rankie Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort Adapter purchased at Amazon https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YOVKWQS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

2. HDCP ERROR ISSUE: This instantly shut down the headset and made it unusable. Had to install an old nVidia driver (417.71). Really hoping for a nVidia driver that solves this problem because I hate being stuck using a Jan 2019 driver forever.

3. CONTROLLER TRACKING ISSUES: Glitched all over the place. Found out I had to hang sheets over my two large mirrors in my gaming cave.

My reply is the comment above

[FishTail [JoinUsInVR]💬GROUP]

Originally posted by BigTabacco:

@Cybersanz

So wait does that adapter have ANY issues at all? I actually haven't bought the Valve yet but Im scared that I might waste my money on it. Also, I'm using an Alienware Area 51m 9th-gen i9 processor, 8-core, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070. ALSO, I don't know if it has a mini display port. I would very much appreciate it if you could help

See the above reply. Also, see this thread for more MiniDP solutions https://steamcommunity.com/app/1059530/discussions/0/1640916564842431910/.

To your question, there are many now known and documented solutions to the Mini-DisplayPort adapter topic.

If you have a FULL size DisplayPort on your GPU, then you do NOT need a Mini-DisplayPort adapter.

No matter what, Steam Purchased Hardware Support is a bit slow, but generally very willing to help. If you have a full size or a mini DP port on your GPU, then I'd buy the Index and try it out. They give you 14 days to return it if you find it doesn't work or you just don't like it. Very fair. They also help solve the issues for most people too.

Valve Hardware is great. If you think you would like it, get it and find out. I haven't touched the other 2 VR sets I also own, or played almost any non-VR games, since I got the Index.

[The-Glizzy-God]

so I'm using a dell inspiron 15
its got an intel i7-7700 and an nvidia gtx 1050
it runs the 2016 HTC vive headset rather well and the valve index 'are you ready for index' app says that I'm all good apart from the gtx 1050, which seems to be (from the discussion you had) because I have neither a display port or a mini display port.

if theres a solution id place my bets that one of you guys could help out, im eager to use the index, all be it with the HTC vive 1.0 base station due to me not wanting to splash £900.

if theres any way I could bridge the gap between the index and my laptop to obtain playability id be grateful if anyone can help.

[FishTail [JoinUsInVR]💬GROUP]

Originally posted by Kaptain_Karamel_Krunch:

so I'm using a dell inspiron 15
its got an intel i7-7700 and an nvidia gtx 1050
it runs the 2016 HTC vive headset rather well and the valve index 'are you ready for index' app says that I'm all good apart from the gtx 1050, which seems to be (from the discussion you had) because I have neither a display port or a mini display port.

if theres a solution id place my bets that one of you guys could help out, im eager to use the index, all be it with the HTC vive 1.0 base station due to me not wanting to splash £900.

if theres any way I could bridge the gap between the index and my laptop to obtain playability id be grateful if anyone can help.

I had almost the identical situation and FIXED IT. (Had the Vive, kept the base stations 1.0 when upgraded to the Valve Index on a 1060GTX laptop mini DP using adapters and even Mini DP extensions to make it longer)

►Click my name, JOIN our group, click the CHAT, & we can talk there & help

Our group has a huge "discussion" thread with many "adapters" and extensions identified, listing which ones worked for people, and which ones didn't. It's something our group has been adding to for a long while.