Vive headset turns off after a few seconds

[GOWONZU]

It was working fine a few weeks ago but now my headset goes black after a few seconds of opening SteamVR and the Headsets red light turns on, Theres no error popping up, steamVR tells me that everything is running, ive checked the cords. Ive updated my drivers, power management. Im not sure what else to try.

[BULiK]

I've been getting this issue for a week or two now. Not sure what causes it, supposedly there was a bugfix for it in the beta but it keeps happening to me

[Heathen]

Just summarizing info:

It looks like a possible cause for this problem is a compatibility problem between the latest NVIDIA GPU drivers, version 390.65, possibly Pascal GPUs, and either the Vive or SteamVR.

A possible workaround for this is rolling back the NVIDIA GPU driver via Windows using these instructions[www.nvidia.com], or uninstalling the existing version and installing 388.71.

Is there a way to contact NVIDIA through professional channels and let them know about this suspected compatibility problem with the latest driver and the Vive? It's very frustrating and I think they need to be notified to look into it.

I filled out the driver issue feedback form here[surveys.nvidia.com] and request that those experiencing the bug do so as well. If someone reading this has professional communication channels with NVIDIA, please look into putting a word in with NVIDIA about this.

Here are some more community threads about the problem:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3277925755443040628/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3277925755443065850/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/3/3277925755441961622/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/7qk0x6/psa_latest_nvidia_driver_39065_is_broken_with_the/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/7qbuvc/help_with_odd_vive_problem/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/7qbult/headset_screen_lights_up_and_turns_off_after_a/

[GOWONZU]

Ah okay, Glad to know its not just me

[pidge2k]

Originally posted by Heathen:

Just summarizing info:

It looks like a possible cause for this problem is a compatibility problem between the latest NVIDIA GPU drivers, version 390.65, possibly Pascal GPUs, and either the Vive or SteamVR.

A possible workaround for this is rolling back the NVIDIA GPU driver via Windows using these instructions[www.nvidia.com], or uninstalling the existing version and installing 388.71.

Is there a way to contact NVIDIA through professional channels and let them know about this suspected compatibility problem with the latest driver and the Vive? It's very frustrating and I think they need to be notified to look into it.

I filled out the driver issue feedback form here[surveys.nvidia.com] and request that those experiencing the bug do so as well. If someone reading this has professional communication channels with NVIDIA, please look into putting a word in with NVIDIA about this.

Here are some more community threads about the problem:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3277925755443040628/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3277925755443065850/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/3/3277925755441961622/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/7qk0x6/psa_latest_nvidia_driver_39065_is_broken_with_the/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/7qbuvc/help_with_odd_vive_problem/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/7qbult/headset_screen_lights_up_and_turns_off_after_a/

Yes we have not been able to reproduce this issue yet but we are looking into this. Please fill out our driver feedback form so that we have more system configurations to try to match and see if we are able to reproduce.

https://surveys.nvidia.com/index.jsp?pi=6e7ea6bb4a02641fa8f07694a40f8ac6

Regards,
Manuel
NVIDIA Customer Care

[--ranXerox--]

downgrade the video driver. i had the same issue

[Willy OD]

What works for me, is completely rebooting my PC and then launching a SteamVR game, not doing anything else. Otherwise my Vive headset displays a black image, the tracking still works.

[Code]

I have to Agree with Willy OD above.

You don't have to downgrade anything at all, this happens to me at least twice a week.
All I do is unplug all power from the HTC-Vive and do a full Power Down of the computer and Vive.

Unplug mains from the back of the computer and hold the power button down until all power as drained,... I also do the same with the button on the side of the Vive.

or just a reboot will work, as willy explains above,...

Reboot everything as normal and everything works just fine!


Each time it does happen, my SteamVR homeroom environment shows up and then maybe about 10 seconds later, it's a blank and Black screen, I have also the very latest Geforce drivers installed and with the power down and reboot, it all works just fine,... downgrading or uninstalling Nothing at all.

[gene357]

I just rolled back to Nvidia driver back to 388.71, and everything works fine. I also filled out the support form for Nvidia on the issue with 390.65. Even though the power off (shutdown and disconnect Vive) does work as a temp solution to do this every other day was more of a pain that just to roll back the driver. For me just a reboot did not fix the issue. So far the driver roll back is working fine.

[--ranXerox--]

Originally posted by gene357:

I just rolled back to Nvidia driver back to 388.71, and everything works fine. I also filled out the support form for Nvidia on the issue with 390.65. Even though the power off does work as a temp solution to do this every other day was more of a pain that just to roll back the driver.

Yes! Exactly! Crazy huh.

[Kim Jong Al]

It's now mid-March and this problem still hasn't been fixed.

[GOWONZU]

I find if i play VR the instant my PC turns on it works, but if i try VR after using my PC for a while it doesn't. IDK why though.

[Fierce Guppy]

This bug is like trying to combat migraine headaches in that a fix may work for one individual but fail for another. For me, Windows update KB4090913 seems to have stopped the VR display going dark. I say "seems to" because I hadn't used the Vive for nearly a week and that update was the only thing I recall installing. A guy on the nvidia forum tried the same thing and it only worked for a small time. So a week later and the bug hasn't returned. If you want some detailed settings info or whatever, just ask. I don't know where to look.

PC specs are:
Win 10 Pro
GTX 1080ti
Driver 391.05 (hotfix)

[Von Raven]

Same problem here. Had it for a month or so..Reboot vive headset for a couple of times may work, but the best thing is a PC-reboot. Anoying as hell! Steam and Nvidia need to fix this asap

[pizza]

Rolling back 388.71 worked for me too. It's so infuriating that this was a driver issue after troubleshooting this issue all week - I even bought a new 3-in-1 cable because that seemed like the likely culprit. It's absolutely astounding that this driver issue has been known for 2 months without a fix.

[--ranXerox--]

my 3 in 1 cable issue was i had to bang the headset to see the image again with the palm of my hand. then it stopped working. the new cable worked. then the driver issue. Reverting back to an older driver fixed the cause of the second issue. the symptom to that was after launching steamvr, it would lagg and then the image would dissapear.

I hope that info helps others as well as the rest of every body else information posted.