Gray screens randomly

[ZombieDoll]

Ever since about 3 updates ago for SteamVR I've suddenly started getting gray screens that keep me from being able to play VR games. It says my headset isn't tracking and such.

Before you comment, yes I bought a new cable, yes I've change ports, yes I've rolled back my video driver, yes I've reinstalled headset software, yes yes yes.

Doing a complete uninstall of SteamVR with software such as RevoUninstaller and getting rid of SteamVR bloat files fixes it for a day or two, and then it simply returns. I'm guessing it's an error with some files, but I can't seem to find a way to fix it besides dedicating time to completely uninstalling all relative files to SteamVR and reinstalling them.

I'm wondering if anyone has a more permanent fix to this, or if they know any causes of it.

Thanks for your time.

[BOLL]

One idea would be to see if there's something revealing being posted to the console when this happens, you can access that through:

SteamVR status window > 🍔 > Developer > Web Console

Anything in red is especially suspicious. 👀

Other than that I would ask what temperature and load your CPU is at when this happens, as tracking can also get interrupted on a throttled/maxed out CPU. 🤒

[Bob Loblaw]

You should note the system time when a grey screen event occurs, then check your system log for what error was logged around that time. If you upload your system log to google drive and post a link, I'll have a look.

[ZombieDoll]

Originally posted by BOLL:

One idea would be to see if there's something revealing being posted to the console when this happens, you can access that through:

SteamVR status window > 🍔 > Developer > Web Console

Anything in red is especially suspicious. 👀

Other than that I would ask what temperature and load your CPU is at when this happens, as tracking can also get interrupted on a throttled/maxed out CPU. 🤒

Thanks. I didn't know about that console. It helped me check a few things, but nothing really suspicious enough, and not enough info the fix the problem unfortunately. I did notice my CPU randomly spiking though, so that is very possibly the problem. Now to figure out what's causing that

[Kitsuma]

Originally posted by BOLL:

One idea would be to see if there's something revealing being posted to the console when this happens, you can access that through:

SteamVR status window > 🍔 > Developer > Web Console

Anything in red is especially suspicious. 👀

Other than that I would ask what temperature and load your CPU is at when this happens, as tracking can also get interrupted on a throttled/maxed out CPU. 🤒

i have a similar problem. but my greyscreen only appears when i use discord screenshare.

Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:06.880 - lighthouse: LHR-E5017D05 H: Resetting tracking: no optical samples for 2000ms
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:06.880 - lighthouse: LHR-E5017D05 H: Dropped 145 rejected updates, 8732 back-facing hits during the previous tracking session
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:06.880 - lighthouse: Stopped tracking with universe 1608990558
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:07.567 - [Status Warning Added LHR-E5017D05 VR-Headset(0)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:07.567 - [Status Warning Added LHB-A4388C10 Basis(1)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:07.567 - [Status Warning Added LHR-D606D788 Controller(2)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:07.567 - [Status Warning Added LHR-5C1DF3E8 Controller(3)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:07.567 - [Status Warning Added LHB-3812DFD4 Basis(4)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:07.567 - [System] Unknown Transition from 'SteamVRSystemState_Ready' to 'SteamVRSystemState_Connecting'.
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:11.881 - lighthouse: LHR-E5017D05 H: Trying to start tracking from base 3812DFD4: Available samples not sufficient for booting (hits: 1+0)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:11.881 - lighthouse: LHR-E5017D05 H: Trying to start tracking from base A4388C10: Samples didn't yield successful bootstrap pose
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:12.020 - lighthouse: LHR-E5017D05 H: ----- BOOTSTRAPPED base 3812DFD4 (immediate) distance 2.27m base pitch ~-8.1 deg roll ~2.2 deg -----
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:13.687 - lighthouse: LHR-E5017D05 H: ----- CALIBRATED base 3812DFD4 at pitch -10.45 deg roll 3.37 deg -----
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:13.687 - lighthouse: Updating tilt for 3812DFD4: Old= -0.23, 0.51, 39.4784 <- 10.05 deg -> new= -10.03, 2.79, 4.66707e-06 result=-10.03, 2.79, 4.66707e-06
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:13.687 - lighthouse: Best tilt from LHR-D606D788 for base 3812DFD4 pitch -10.03 roll 2.79 score 5.69
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:13.687 - lighthouse: BootstrapFinished setting tilt base to 3812DFD4
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:13.687 - lighthouse: Selected existing universe 1608990558 (3812DFD4 is primary)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:13.687 - lighthouse: Setting universe tilt from 3812DFD4 via transform to global: pitch -10.03 deg roll 2.79 deg
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:13.698 - lighthouse: Saved LighthouseDB rev 269 to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\lighthouse\lighthousedb.json
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.565 - [Status Warning Removed LHR-E5017D05 VR-Headset(0)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.565 - [Status Warning Removed LHB-A4388C10 Basis(1)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.565 - [Status Warning Removed LHR-D606D788 Controller(2)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.565 - [Status Warning Removed LHR-5C1DF3E8 Controller(3)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.565 - [Status Warning Removed LHB-3812DFD4 Basis(4)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.565 - [System] Transition from 'SteamVRSystemState_Connecting' to 'SteamVRSystemState_Ready'.
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.767 - lighthouse: LHR-E5017D05 H: ----- SECONDARY base A4388C10 distance 1.86m -----
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.909 - lighthouse: Updating tilt for 3812DFD4: Old= -10.03, 2.79, 4.66707e-06 <- 0.72 deg -> new= -10.45, 3.37, 2.46545e-06 result=-10.45, 3.37, 2.46545e-06
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.924 - lighthouse: Saved LighthouseDB rev 270 to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\lighthouse\lighthousedb.json
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.933 - lighthouse: LHR-5C1DF3E8 C: Resetting tracking: no optical samples from base 3812DFD4 for 2000ms
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.933 - lighthouse: LHR-5C1DF3E8 C: Saw 3 early IMU related panics, using factory IMU cal
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.963 - lighthouse: LHR-E5017D05 H: ----- RELATIONSHIP bases 3812DFD4 <-> a4388c10 distance 3.69m, angle 179.28 deg -----
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.963 - lighthouse: Moving base A4388C10 55mm and 0.8 deg because of relationship with 3812DFD4, which is closer to the origin
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:14.977 - lighthouse: Saved LighthouseDB rev 271 to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\lighthouse\lighthousedb.json
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:15.563 - [Status Warning Added LHR-5C1DF3E8 Controller(3)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:16.869 - lighthouse: LHR-E5017D05 H: IMU went off scale.
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:17.451 - lighthouse: LHR-5C1DF3E8 C: ----- BOOTSTRAPPED base 3812DFD4 (immediate) distance 2.99m velocity 0.27m/s base pitch ~-8.1 deg roll ~2.2 deg -----
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:17.567 - [Status Warning Removed LHR-5C1DF3E8 Controller(3)] Die Ortung des Ger?tes ist fehlgeschlagen (0x0008)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:19.153 - lighthouse: LHR-5C1DF3E8 C: ----- CALIBRATED base 3812DFD4 at pitch -9.86 deg roll 3.22 deg -----
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:19.153 - lighthouse: Updating tilt for 3812DFD4: Old= -10.45, 3.37, 2.46545e-06 <- 0.62 deg -> new= -9.86, 3.22, 8.74048e-06 result=-9.86, 3.22, 8.74048e-06
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:19.163 - lighthouse: Saved LighthouseDB rev 272 to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\lighthouse\lighthousedb.json
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:22.156 - lighthouse: F7180EFC23: Triggered keepalive (succeeded)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:22.874 - lighthouse: Base A4388C10 axis 0 appears to have failed
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:23.118 - lighthouse: F7180EFC23: Packet received after 1.013s, keepalive (0/1)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:23.565 - [PROBLEM] Basestation 00000000 sending strong signals from one laser and not the other.
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:24.566 - [PROBLEM] Basestation 00000000 sending strong signals from one laser and not the other.
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:24.942 - lighthouse: LHR-5C1DF3E8 C: Trying to add a secondary base A4388C10: Available samples not sufficient for booting (hits: 0+1)
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:25.564 - [PROBLEM] Basestation 00000000 sending strong signals from one laser and not the other.
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:26.565 - [PROBLEM] Basestation 00000000 sending strong signals from one laser and not the other.
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:28.118 - lighthouse: LHR-E5017D05: Updated IMU calibration: Accel bias change 0.09m/s/s
Tue Dec 29 2020 16:24:28.130 - lighthouse: Saved LighthouseDB rev 273 to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\lighthouse\lighthousedb.json

[BOLL]

Uhoh, "[PROBLEM] Basestation 00000000 sending strong signals from one laser and not the other." makes it sound like you have a base station with a hardware issue 😯

[Kitsuma]

Originally posted by BOLL:

Uhoh, "[PROBLEM] Basestation 00000000 sending strong signals from one laser and not the other." makes it sound like you have a base station with a hardware issue 😯

but there aren't any tracking issues/greyscreens without discord streaming..

[BOLL]

RIghteo, I write in too many threads I didn't read up on what this was about 😅

Discord will use NVENC if available on an Nvidia card, if you're running that, and I know people can get their performance murdered if they use more than their video engine can muster. You can try reducing the resolution and frame-rate in Discord and see if that makes any difference.

[ZombieDoll]

Oddly enough, someone gave me a fix, but it's a really random one. I unplug my headset and my tracker dongles, then start SteamVR, plug my headset back in, and if using full-body tracking, I have to plug the dongles in after starting the application I wish to use.

I've noticed simply plugging my headset in -after- starting SteamVR has fixed the gray screens I was getting just by having SteamVR open. Still not sure if it's a SteamVR bug or a hardware issue, but this is a bandaid at least.

I also noticed when my dongles are unplugged, my left controller doesn't turn green. It stays blue. Yet another weird bug, because what does my controller have to do with Vive tracker dongles? I don't even know anymore lol

[Libre]

It sounds to me as a game accelerator or some other software messing priorities. This kind of software gives priority to the game and set tracking as a secondary task.

[ZombieDoll]

I thought that it was fixed because of that, but the problem just randomly came back. SteamVR latest updates admitted that there were frame issues because of the current Nvidia drivers conflicting with it. So I'm still in belief that it's a problem on THEIR end. They need to properly update their ♥♥♥♥.

[Kitsuma]

btw i sold my vive pro and bought the quest 2. playing wireless via 5ghz wifi. no more greyscreens

[dEaD=iNsIDe [K.A.O.S.]]

Maybe this will help. I had the same problem and after weeks of trouble shooting I was able to trace it back to an audio driver that microsoft auto update keeps changing. Go to "Control Panel" - "Device Manager" find "Sound & Game Controllers". You will probably see two "High Definition Audio Device" and no "Nvidia High Definition Audio Device". Find the one that says it's a MicroSoft driver from 2009 I think it is, the other 2019. Update the 2009 driver choose to pick your own driver. Select the Nvidia driver, there may be more than one but they will look the same just different dates. Either should work, just don't pick the non Nvidia driver. Click update and reboot system. It may say it's not compatible and give you a warning, just continue anyway. If it work and you want it to stay that way you need to disable the driver update. Google search if you don't know how. You may want to update to the newest Nvidia drivers just because. Hope this helps

[ZombieDoll]

This is what my audio devices look like. I don't think I have the driver you mentioned above:

https://gyazo.com/ea778faf21c613a512d1abce4db65d29

[dEaD=iNsIDe [K.A.O.S.]]

Was it grey screen when you took the screenshot? I'll pull a screenshot for you to look at. It may very well be a hardware issue. I have a open ticket with valve about the issue and waiting to hear back. They may not openly say it's a hardware issue but if they want to RMA it then I would think that it probably is.

[Onyx Ghost]

Had the same random gray screen problems after Windows 11 upgrade. This was happening to me during intense combat while playing Half-Life Alyx. Once gray your fighting blindly which ends in a frustrating death. I am using the Acer Mixed Reality headset.

Windows 11 Settings / Mixed Reality / Headset display...

Turn off "Positional tracking - Fade to gray when positional tracking is lost".