Steam VR not recognizing Vive Base Station 1.0

[ZackiChanChan]

I recently got the Vive base station 1.0's for Christmas and have been trying to set them up since I've got them. I looked up a video and they guy said I have to update the base stations. But the base stations aren't showing up in Steam VR, like there is no icon at all. I go to my bluetooth settings but it says not available, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it. If it does how do I turn my bluetooth on for Steam VR because there is nothing about it in settings. Any help would be very appreciated, thanks!

[Cheezus Crisp]

What hardware do you even have? Do you ONLY have base stations? And not the headset OR controllers?

[Bob Loblaw]

I lot of newbs have the misconception the basestations are the first thing to get connected. The HMD is the real first step. Get the HMD connected and recognized. When the connected HMD is struck by the lasers from the base stations, the HMD will report that to SteamVR and SteamVR will then show the base stations as functioning. Not before. SteamVR has NO IDEA what the base stations are really doing until a tracked object is swept by lasers.

[ZackiChanChan]

I have a Rift S and and do I have to set up both of them for Steam VR to recognize them?

[Cheezus Crisp]

Originally posted by ZackiChanChan:

I have a Rift S and and do I have to set up both of them for Steam VR to recognize them?

The Rift S doesn't use base stations for tracking lol. It uses inside out tracking and is not compatible with base stations.

[ZackiChanChan]

This video and the comments says otherwise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnX8NK-lsPY

[Cheezus Crisp]

Originally posted by ZackiChanChan:

This video and the comments says otherwise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnX8NK-lsPY

So you have body trackers as well?

[ZackiChanChan]

Yes I have the 3 of them from 2018 with the blue logo, just like the guy said

[Cheezus Crisp]

Originally posted by ZackiChanChan:

Yes I have the 3 of them from 2018 with the blue logo, just like the guy said

Are the trackers being tracked at least? AFAIK the rift S doesn't have the Bluetooth hardware needed to recognise the base stations and might not show up in the SteamVR UI. But if they're spinning and the trackers work then it's fine. The ui functionality for the base stations are mostly just to control wake up and sleep which you can do with your phone.

[ZackiChanChan]

But the guy said I have to update the base stations so wouldn't I do that in Steam VR

[Cheezus Crisp]

Originally posted by ZackiChanChan:

But the guy said I have to update the base stations so wouldn't I do that in Steam VR

Base stations are just boxes that spin lasers really fast. There isn't much for you to update. They would need a Bluetooth receiver to update wirelessly that are usually found in SteamVR headsets like the index or HTC vive. If you really really want to update them, you can use a micro USB cable and plug the base station to your pc.

[ZackiChanChan]

Ok thanks, been trying to get this to work for weeks.

[ZackiChanChan]

So I tried to plug the base station into my pc but the base station still isn't coming up in Steam VR

[Cheezus Crisp]

Originally posted by ZackiChanChan:

So I tried to plug the base station into my pc but the base station still isn't coming up in Steam VR

Are they powered while you plugged them in?

[ZackiChanChan]

Yes

[emberDelf]

Originally posted by ZackiChanChan:

So I tried to plug the base station into my pc but the base station still isn't coming up in Steam VR

Hi ZackiChanChan! Did you ever get this to work? I am currently working with the exact same setup as you and I am having the same problems.

I was able to get the PC to recognize the Base Station finally but then I hit a wall after reinstalling the firmware. Were you able to get Steam VR to recognize your Base stations and Trackers?