Newly arrived Vive crashes computer every time!

[bst41]

Has anybody encountered a similar problem?

Will run (sometimes) tutorial or Tiltbrush or The Lab for a while then crashes to a black screen and reboot. Every time a full crash. HTC Chat has checked everything and found no problem with the Vive (from their perspective) and can offer no diagnosis of my computer that would explain it. My computer runs fine on everything else (Z170-E mobo, i5-6500, Asus Strix 1070, 8Gb) and memory, gpu and cpu stress tests run cool and excellently. Reinstalled Steam and SteamVr and reset Windows 10. Same problem.

So HTC gave up and I am sending back. I have heard of lots of problems leading to a return but mostly jitter, judder, dead pixels, etc. Not 100% crashing. I know things that cause crashing, but what things would cause crashing ONLY when the Vive is running a game?

Big question is do I dare order another Vive to test it on my system or do I work on finding why my system would crash (assuming that the Vive I received was functioning)? Don't please suggest the usual tweaks (eg., changing usb ports, etc) since the Chat people did all that and also remote logged into my computer and changed multiple settings.

Two days of frustration and I've given up and sent back. Any advice?

[shponglefan]

Do you have another computer you can test it on? At least you determine if it's a hardware or software issue.

[The Maddog]

Ok. Bad news is that there is known issues with some Asus mother boards. Spesifically the Z range and their USB ports (and the Z170-E is a known contender). Here's a discussion about them from Reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4hkl5t/psa_asus_motherboards_might_have_usb_issues/


The good news is..it's easily fixed.

First things first. Update your USB drivers from the website. If that fails to help then all you need is a compatible PCI-e USB expansion card that uses an Intel controller. Cost next to nothing to buy.

HTC should know about it to be honest but not everyone is having the issue. Eitherway the USB expansion card instantly solves the issue. If you pop over to r/vive on reddit I belive they have a list of compatible cards.

My other PC (asus motherboard) had this issue when I first attached the Vive but in my case an update of drivers fixed it. Other people however..had to buy a card.

EDIT: I see you posted on reddit already. I dont post there any more (no account either but still browse r/vive but I promise the above is the answer).

[VRManiac]

It's a long-shot, but I had similar black-screen reboot problem a few months back (not a Vive computer), and it turned out to be power drain on the USB causing it. If you still have the unit you can try an add on USB card as suggested or even a powered USB hub.

Good luck - super frustrating and a real needle in a haystack.

[Michael]

Using a usb self powered (with a/c adapter) hub would be your best bet to fix the issue.

http://www.newegg.com/hubs/SubCategory/ID-26?Tpk=usb%20hub

[VRManiac]

Publicado originalmente por Michael:

Using a usb self powered (with a/c adapter) hub would be your best bet to fix the issue.

http://www.newegg.com/hubs/SubCategory/ID-26?Tpk=usb%20hub

Unless it's the USB compatibility issue Maddog mentioned... only real fix is an aftermarket USB card. This is a recurring problem on the Vive.

[bst41]

As to the USB problems: I had heard about them. The HTC Chat people did remote login and fiddled with USB issues and had me plug into to different ports while checking. In the end they did not decide there was a USB driver problem. I think I can trust them on this since, in the past they invariably made people buy a new USB card. This time they had no such suggestions.

Morover, I didn't think that the USB problem had the same symptoms. Stability issues perhaps, but not 100% pc crashes to a black screen. Anybody know for sure?

[The Maddog]

Publicado originalmente por bsthomson:

As to the USB problems: I had heard about them. The HTC Chat people did remote login and fiddled with USB issues and had me plug into to different ports while checking. In the end they did not decide there was a USB driver problem. I think I can trust them on this since, in the past they invariably made people buy a new USB card. This time they had no such suggestions.

Morover, I didn't think that the USB problem had the same symptoms. Stability issues perhaps, but not 100% pc crashes to a black screen. Anybody know for sure?

I wouldnt trust HTC support to find their butt cheeks with both hands and a roadmap. they're just people reading ♥♥♥♥ off a computer screen in India. No real technical expertise.

Find a friend with a capable PC (and non ASUS motherboard) and ask them to bring it round. Bet it works fine.

[VRManiac]

Publicado originalmente por bsthomson:

Morover, I didn't think that the USB problem had the same symptoms. Stability issues perhaps, but not 100% pc crashes to a black screen. Anybody know for sure?

You're right, usually different symptoms like lack of tracking. And it's good under load otherwise, eh? It's not impossible that it's a hardware fault/short with the Vive. Have you tried reseating and blowing out the connectors esp. right at the headset? A tiny but of conductive debris/paste may be causing a short.

Edit: Seconding Maddog's idea of testing it on another PC if possible.

[bst41]

I agree that a simple test is to find someone with a capable computer and setup the Vive on that. If it crashes consistently there too, well its the Vive. Or I find someone with a working Vive and they bring it to my computer; If it crahses then it is my computer that is the guilty party.

Neither solution is available to me. I have to send this sucker back. Should I trust HTC that the Vive they sent me is responding correctly? If so what other test can I run on my computer that would explain what needs to be replaced. It's a new build and working absolutely correctly as far as I can tell. One poster suggested running some gpu stress tests, but they ran fine. New power supply? New ... what?

[Michael]

Publicado originalmente por bsthomson:

Neither solution is available to me. I have to send this sucker back. Should I trust HTC that the Vive they sent me is responding correctly? If so what other test can I run on my computer that would explain what needs to be replaced. It's a new build and working absolutely correctly as far as I can tell. One poster suggested running some gpu stress tests, but they ran fine. New power supply? New ... what?

Your original post to list "Will run (sometimes) tutorial or Tiltbrush or The Lab for a while then crashes to a black screen and reboot."

What is rebooting the game or the system?

Have you verified the steam cache in steam?

If the system is rebooting try using Furmark and test the gpu for 1 hour. Prime95 2 hours is a good way to test the cpu.

Use memtest to test your system memory as well.