[Partial Fix : Replacement Headset On the Way] HTC Vive Struggles. 2 years of Trying to fix.

[Night_Rage]

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Edit: A Kind User on Steam has shipped their headset my way, due to ordering it for Base stations and wands, but not needing the headset, wires, or linkbox. Will post a reply/update when that shows up around the end of the week. Crossing my fingers it fixes my issues, and hopefully it was just my headset being bricked or something along those lines, and not my PC itself. Thats something i cant fix easily.

Edit 2 : Headset has arrived a week ago, and everything works flawlessly now. Im fairly certain my headset bricked. Kinda sucks, but i guess its some sort of news. Screen Door Effect on the Vive is really bad though.

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I got my Vive when it first came out, Loved the hell out of it, Played atleast 3-5 times a week, for a good 6 months. Heating was set pretty low, and had a fan on me at all times, So i almost never sweat, if anything, i froze half the time. Took a 3 month break, came back, and it hasnt worked since. I've had tons of errors, all revolving around "Please Plug In Your Headset" "Headset Not Detected" "Error 108"

I've tried almost every single trick in the book to fix this. I've contacted Steam Forums, HTC Vive Support, Reddit, All my friends with Vives, Youtube, You name it.

I've Done:
Reseting USB Drivers
Driver Hub
Reinstalling SteamVR
Reinstalling Steam
Uninstalling everything related to Steam and its components
Reinstalled Drivers of all sorts
Completely Wiping my Computer multiple times
Test every single USB port on my Computer
Try different power strips and wall outlets
Bought brand new cables for everything VR Related.
Bought a new Linkbox, and 3 in 1 cable
EDIT: Bypassing the Linkbox, Swapping cables around ports, all that is Generalized with Testing all ports and usual tricks.

I've tested each cable extensively. Updated all drivers I could on my computer. Tried SteamVR Beta. VivePort installation. All of them with or without Admin Rights and Compatability Mode.

Nothing seems to work, and im all out of Money, and more or less Patience.
The few things i haven't been able to try is My Headset on another PC, and Testing another Headset on my PC. Don't exactly just have extra computers laying around.

I've had very little luck the last few days with the headset, and if i go into SteamVR USB settings, I have Hub, Bluetooth, and Main Board all Working and connected. Nothing else.
The status on the left shows Dashboard, Chaperone Bounds, and Motion Smoothing are Off, and Reprojection is On.
the Graph shows 0.0 of 11.1 ms (90 Hz) and the Graph isnt showing anything but a grey line in the middle.

Computer Specs have been the same since i got my Vive except new Ram.
Asus Z97-AR Motherboard
Intel i7-4790k Devils Canyon Quad-Core 4.0
16GB Ram ( 12GB Previously )
Gigabyte GTX 1070ti Graphics Card

All in which the Vive was working with before.

I can't afford a new headset, or new parts. I've been told that to get the headset Repaired/Replaced would be 290$, But i've heard some pretty bad experiences with that sort of thing, and they sometimes raise the price, or if you cant afford to repair it, they charge you to get your broken headset back. If i had the money, That would be my last resort, unless i just buy a whole new headset.

Seriously, Anything at this point will help. If i sound like an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, Im Sorry Ahead of Time, Im at the end of my rope, and I just want this over with. I've got a good 70 VR games i can't touch, and with Boneworks and Half Life Alyx Out/Coming, Its really really bumming me out.

I will try to reply to everyone, and if you have any questions, Just ask. If ive done something you suggest, I will let you know.

Thank you for reading this Monstrosity of a post. I'd really rather not have a 1000$ paperweight with cables ( Price i paid for it ) And Have my Headset back.

Edit : I've also posted this issue, not in as much detail, before on both Steam in multiple places, and Reddit. This post will also be linked in a new Reddit post, for further help.

[--ranXerox--]

most likely, lots of things got updated. make sure you have the latest windows 10 updates and also nvidia drivers. don't use windows 7

[Night_Rage]

Originally posted by --ranXerox--:

most likely, lots of things got updated. make sure you have the latest windows 10 updates and also nvidia drivers. don't use windows 7

As stated above, All Drivers are updated, and Due to restarting my pc so many times to install/reinstall drivers and such, Windows 10 updates automatically.

[--ranXerox--]

another thing to consider is you may need to unplug all usb and power and dvi hdmi connectors because after a while, they begin to corrode due to age. unplug and replug including the one on your headset to "refresh" contacts.

[--ranXerox--]

check the power output of the adaptor connected to the linkbox. test the voltage and amps make sure it's as close as possible to the spec listed. when you turn on the headset, if there is a red light on the side of the headset or its blinking red, it might be the adaptor. I have fixed many issues like this with other users suggesting one from amazon as close to spec as possible. a quality one with same spec will work.

[--ranXerox--]

maybee 12 -23 dollars.

[Night_Rage]

Originally posted by --ranXerox--:

another thing to consider is you may need to unplug all usb and power and dvi hdmi connectors because after a while, they begin to corrode due to age. unplug and replug including the one on your headset to "refresh" contacts.

Due to how my monitors and PC is, I have to unplug them anyway if i wanna use my second monitor. I have around 6 or so USB ports and 1 HDMI in the back of my PC, and i use most of the USB's when im regularly gaming. My second monitor uses the HDMI port. So i unplug one of the monitors to plug in my Vive. When im done, everything gets unplugged, and put away. And i've heard of people having their wires wiggle out, so when i was using my headset, i made sure they were plugged in. All USB plugs and connectors are clean and looking perfectly fine, so thats not an issue.

[Night_Rage]

Originally posted by --ranXerox--:

check the power output of the adaptor connected to the linkbox. test the voltage and amps make sure it's as close as possible to the spec listed. when you turn on the headset, if there is a red light on the side of the headset or its blinking red, it might be the adaptor. I have fixed many issues like this with other users suggesting one from amazon as close to spec as possible. a quality one with same spec will work.

And the power adapter has been fine. Nothing wonky about that. Still works as before, same charge, no damage. Plus, I have no money anyway, so if it was that, i couldn't replace it.

[Jaknet]

Took me over a year and a half to find my issue

https://old.reddit.com/r/SteamVR/comments/bvyeh7/after_a_year_and_a_half_of_constant_issues/

[Night_Rage]

Originally posted by Jaknet:

Took me over a year and a half to find my issue

https://old.reddit.com/r/SteamVR/comments/bvyeh7/after_a_year_and_a_half_of_constant_issues/

Kinda don't see anything that could help me with my issue. Haven't changed any hardware since i got my vive, and it worked for a good 2 years ish before it just stopped working for no reason. Also, No Money to go and replace stuff like Cards and whatnot. Im BROKE. Ive got like, a few quarters to my name.

[» Magic «]

I have heard of issues related to USB chipsets not fully supporting the vive, or not delivering enough power. perhaps a PCIE USB3 card will help you here? I understand it's more money but imo worth a try (I apologise if you've tried this, don't see it in your list)

[Night_Rage]

Originally posted by » Magic «:

I have heard of issues related to USB chipsets not fully supporting the vive, or not delivering enough power. perhaps a PCIE USB3 card will help you here? I understand it's more money but imo worth a try (I apologise if you've tried this, don't see it in your list)

1, No Money. 2, Nothing has changed in my PC during the time it worked till it stopped.
The entire 2 years i had my vive when it was working until it died, I didnt get any new pc parts. Stayed the same. around a Year n a Half AFTER it stopped working, i got new ram, since it was really old. And when i mean Broke, I mean, Dead. Ass, Broke. I have probably 30 cents to my name, and no income.

[Robert]

One thing I noticed which might not be obvious, although they look very similar, the power adapters for the headset and the lighthouses are not the same power rating, if you disassembled and resetup your setup it might be worth checking that you connected the right power adapters for each device. Good luck.

[TresNugget]

Sounds like you know what it is; a bad headset. If you've wiped, reinstalled windows and drivers, confirmed HDMI and USB port are operating to spec then there's only one thing it can be. You can try disassembling the headset and baking the PCBs to try to fix bad solder points although even in the unlikely chance that works it'll most likely be a temporary fix and quit working in a few weeks to months. Any time I've "fixed" motherboards this way they've usually failed again not long after.

[ASH]

I had the same problem after buying a used headset. It would work fine sometimes but i had to deal with that error constantly. Tried everything you did over and over. Eventually it just wouldnt work at all. Turns out it was the hdmi part (99% sure it was the hdmi part anyways) of the 3in1 cable. The hdmi would work with every other device I tried it on but not the headset. If you can, plug everything up that you normaly would except use a seperate hdmi cable that will fit into the slot ( i had to shave the shielding off a hdmi end to get one to fit into the slot on the headset) and see if that fixes the problem. I was in denial about it being the 3 in1 cable and i didnt undestant why the hdmi worked fine with everything else but it was the problem all along. Ordered a new one on the htc website for around 40$ and havent had trouble since.

[bromine]

Sorry ahead of time if you wrote you've already tried this

Have you checked the space on the headset where all the cables connect? There's a little piece of plastic you can push forward and gain access to all the ports on the headset.
They could have gotten tugged on and thus won't connect to your Vive, so try disconnecting and reconnecting them to your Vive.

Or its as d-ArkAngel said. You possibly plugged the wrong power cables into the wrong devices, so they won't turn on correctly.
Also, that could *possibly* have damaged your breakout box, but that would be my last guess.