Error 108 Valve Index Headset not detected

THE DREADED STUCK IN STANDBY MODE

Prelim

THIS IS NOT A END ALL BE ALL OR A GUARANTEED FIX

First off, make sure BOTH of your controllers are BOTH TURNED ON. If stuff still doesn't work, keep reading.

THIS IS A HYPOTHETICAL "FIX" that happened to work for myself and I'm sharing it in case others may find it useful. I had the dreaded issue of my Index being stuck on standby mode. Black Screen, Blue lights/LED's, undamaged contacts on all cables, The headset has not been dropped or damaged (babied and had been shelved for ages).

Operating System that worked

Microsoft Windows 10

TLDR get to the point and tell me the fix

TLDR fix that worked for me:
Have everything plugged in -> Have steam open -> STEAMVR is open -> Windows key -> Device Manager -> Yeet/uninstall the "SMSC-Microchip WinUSB USB5734 Hub" Driver.

This should force close STEAMVR and then it will reopen, if it doesn't then just open it up again.

(THIS IS NO GUARANTEE IT WILL WORK FOR YOU)

Ramblings of what else I did

Many people said I should that could've but didn't work for me;
-Restart computer
-Run Steam as an administrator
-unplug and reinstall SteamVR
-enable direct display
-Turn Dev settings Remove all STEAMVR USB devices
-followed all the VALVE guides and FAQ's

And none of it worked, then people said that my problem might be a bad GPU port or tether cable, wasn't the case. (But I have been told for some users that it was the problem)

While staring in my Control Panel in Hardware and Sound inside Devices and Printers I right clicked on VALVE VR RADIO & HMD MIC and then hit properties, I had then realized that the driver for the headset was SMSC-Microchip WinUSB USB5734 Hub, so I went into device manager and threw it into the trash by uninstalling it.
The Headset booted right up as if I just unboxed it and nothing was wrong.

P.S.

(if there is pixelation and multi colored "snow" in the headset then there might actually be an issue with the trident aka the tether cable, try a different HDMI port in your GPU to see if it disappears. If not then you will either have to put up with it or contact STEAM support.)

Other things people have tried and worked at times:

• Uninstalling and Reinstalling Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Packages for Visual Studio 2013 (Not 2015-2022)

[ChrisGreatest]

I still can't figure out what is wrong with mine. I have Windows 10, I have it connected to a USB powered extension and DisplayPort.
To be able to get past the error 108, I have to unplug the power cord, restart the computer, plug in the power, wait like 30 seconds, start SteamVR.
If I restart the computer with it plugged in, SteamVR says error 108.
If I try to start SteamVR first before plugging it in, I can't get past 108 without the above method.
If I shut down the computer and start it the next day, I get 108.
If I plug it in but don't turn on steam within some time of boot, I also get 108

I've tried all of this and more, I would really like to be able to play VR randomly without having to unplug, restart, plug in and start SteamVR. Did anyone else who may see this in the future have this issue and resolve it?

[Simplex]

This wordked for me:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamVR/comments/v8y6pa/error_108_with_valve_index/

"Uninstalling and Reinstalling Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Packages for Visual Studio 2013 (Not 2015-2022) solved this issue for me. "

[D0HERRITT]

Just tried this on Windows 11 but to no avail. This morning I had to go into Device manager & uninstall all USB hubs & devices because recently my computer begin doing this weird thing where it would just shut on & off everything that was connected to my computer. & now I'm back with the dreaded, "Headset Not detected" message. So far the only fix for this is to nuke the entire computer & reinstall Windows from scratch & basically lose everything because of it. I do not want to go through all of that again.

Does anyone else here know how to get this working again without nuking my installation of Windows?

[Grenaders3]

Glad to hear it helped someone. It's just a random "One of those things." That happens from time to time.

[Gunsmoke301]

Thank you, I suspect the driver is for the Index camera which I don't use anyway. This fixed the problem for me