Valve Index base stations won't update - no bluetooth detected

[dancemaster]

Hello everybody,

My name's Nina, and I am new to VR. I have a brandnew valve index kit because I desperately wanted to play Beat Saber. For that purpose, I also bought a new laptop with Windows 11 installed on it - my old one only had Windows 8.1 and was around 10 years old. Altogether, I has been working perfectly the last few weeks, and I enjoyed playing Beat Saber and other VR games. So it has definitely been working so far without any problems.

Then, 3 days ago, SteamVR told me that my two base stations needed an update. When I was clicking "Update base station", a message popped up telling me that I needed to activate SteamVR bluetooth services first. And when I clicked THAT, a new message popped up saying: "No bluetooth detected". (Roughly translated; original messages are in German.)
This is a static message which keeps appearing every time I click "Activate SteamVR bluetooth services".

Meanwhile, I have tried EVERYTHING to solve the problem, but no luck. The message keeps appearing - "no bluetooth detected". I know that this refers to the bluetooth device mounted in the HMD and not to the bluetooth device installed on the laptop (which, by the way, had also been activated nevertheless). The HMD works perfectly when connected; the lights are green, and I can see the VR starting picture through the lenses. No problem here.

So what IS the problem then? Has anyone encountered the same problem so far? What can I do to make it work? I tried everything from uninstalling SteamVR and re-installing it to unplugging and re-plugging every little piece of the Index and re-booting the laptop. Nothing works. Even connecting the base stations to my laptop via a micro USB cable did not do the trick - the stations still want me to activate bluetooth - which is apparently not there although the HMD with the bluetooth device in it is working perfectly!

So do I really have to return the Index and ask for a refund? It has been working so far until the base stations wanted an update. Since then, nothings works anymore, and I cannot use my brandnew Index because I cannot update the base stations. It is also not possible to ignore the update - no way to skip that.

Any help on this will be really appreciated.

Kind regards from Nina from Germany

[NuLife]

the index dont use bluetooth so thats weird, contact steam support they may be able to help

[Bob Loblaw]

TLDR: Leave it alone and play

I think Broadcom has not released signed drivers that will work with VR in Windows 11's Memory Integrity feature. I would leave memory integrity on, leave the working base stations alone, and ignore the "update needed" message on any and all VR hardware that is playing properly. Only update firmware if the update's note say it addressed a problem you are having. I did this for years on my vive/wands/lighthouse 1.0's, and when I finally updated to address on a tracking problem the update was no help (it was a reflection).

[dancemaster]

Dear Bob,

Thank you very much for your quick response.

Yes, I've heard that there is some problem occurring with a Broadcom driver in Windows 11.
I would leave the base stations alone if I only could! The missing update won't let itself be ignored. In SteamVR, there is the "i" button showing up if I slide my mouse over the buttons for the base stations, and a message appears saying "the localization for your base stations is currently failing" (roughly translated from German; the original message in English might be somewhat different). Same message appears for the VR headset although is is working fine, and the lights are green. But the controllers are not connecting. They stay in blue mode and then close after a while.

I must have something to do with the missing update which the base stations require. It cannot be skipped! And few days ago, when the base stations were not yet requiring an update, everything was working fine, including controllers.

Does that really mean that Windows 11 users cannot use the Valve Index?
Do I have to return it? :(

Kind regards from Nina and thanks again for your help.

[Bob Loblaw]

I once had a vive wand that would not pair and I did a factory reset on the wand (hold all buttons down) and that fixed it. Maybe you just have a controller problem that can be fixed with a controller reset.

I ran my base stations and controllers with out-of-date (factory original) firmware for 4 years on english windows 10. If you really need updated base station firmware/controllers, you might try plugging them into the PC via USB cable which bypasses bluetooth. You could also, maybe, get them updated on a win 10 pc. You should probably open a tech support ticket with Valve and tell them about this. link at the bottom of here:
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/61D8-A895-3212-09F4

[Liv]

Originally posted by NuLife:

the index dont use bluetooth so thats weird

Huh? Of course it's using Bluetooth. The controllers communicate via Bluetooth with the Index. Without they wouldn't work at all.

[dancemaster]

Hello Bob and hello all,

I found the solution. The problem is clearly related to Windows 11. A necessary driver which is part of SteamVR is not being installed on your computer if you are using Windows 11 or - in my case - Norton Antivirus. In Windows 11, you have to turn off "Memory Integrity" under "Core Isolation" (Settings); otherwise, the driver will not be installed. In my case, Memory Integrity had been disabled automatically because I have Norton running, and Norton turned off "Memory Integrity" and took the job by itself. So the problem remained the same: One driver which is included in SteamVR would not be installed because Norton prevented it from being installed.

The problem is that Norton did not tell me that; it just refused to install it but no message popped up. I just found it by asking Google for several hours and days. Finally, I found the solution. The driver in question has obviously not been digitally signed; so therefore, Memory Integrity and/or Norton refuse to install it, but they don't tell you that.

So I uninstalled SteamVR first, then Norton. I paid attention to it that "Memory Integrity" remained disabled. Then re-booted my computer. When it started up again, I had, of course, disabled all my security features for my computer for that short moment which felt quite uncanny. I re-installed SteamVR, then Norton, and finally, the problematic driver must have been installed because everything is working fine now! Bluetooth is on now, VR is running perfectly, and I was able to update my two base stations without any problems.

This has surely been a long way searching for the solution. For that reason, I'd like to tell everybody who uses Windows 11 how I finally managed to make it run again. I am just wondering that nobody else seems to have this problem. Does SteamVR run fine for all the others out there who are on Windows 11?

Bob, many thinks to you as well. You were part of the solution, and I appreciate your help very much. Finally I can play Beat Saber again. I'm so happy! :)

All the best wishes from Germany - Nina :)

[NuLife]

Originally posted by Liv:

Originally posted by NuLife:

the index dont use bluetooth so thats weird

Huh? Of course it's using Bluetooth. The controllers communicate via Bluetooth with the Index. Without they wouldn't work at all.

its not bluetooth, its a 2.4ghz connection similar to bluetooth....

[Bob Loblaw]

FYI seems to be a new win 11 compatible driver mentioned here
https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/4962398753461199118/?tscn=1707825888