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Dear friends My patience is over. Following this I will share my case with you all. But, now I think it is time to start coordinating a joint response to CTDI and HTC service in time for Christmas campaign. I would first like to say thank you to and Mrs. Alejandra from EU support. They both have been really kind and helpfull. But HTC is not at the same level some of their staff is. This is what I am going to do to be prepared: I will be writing a detailed report on this case. This report will be published in a blog under a domain I have specifically registered for this topic: http://victimsofhtcvive.com. Currently there is only a cover page... by now. But it is active and has begun to be indexed by crawlers. I will spend some money in adwords and will accept your help to promote it in social media though different guerrilla marketing actions. Donations or direct support for adwords or any other marketing affilliation network will be appreciated. This case will be sent to every specialized media and influencer we can reach in internet. I kindly ask you all for your help to gather contact information about the main offline media in your countries: gaming, VR, computer and IT magazines. I have created a twitter account: "Victims of HTC VIVE" @HTCVIVEVictims. Please follow I have created a youtube channel "HTC VIVE Victims" victimsofhtcvive@gmail.com. Please subscribe. I will share passwords to all of you who want to collaborate and populate these with info and videos on your cases. It is very important to give accurate info and make reference to ticket numbers. It is also important to spread the information in both English and all our mother languages. Everything is prepared now and in pole position. But lets be reasonable and give some time to HTC to react and reconsider they complete absence of feedback. Let's coordinate and prepare our actions to reach media for Christmas campaign in case HTC won't solve THEIR problem. It is important that every potential HTC buyer will know what they risk to suffer and the kind of support they are going to receive if they are affected by the faulty design and/or manufacturing process and/or quality control and/or customer service from HTC and once informed they will be able to decide freely if they want to join the VR world and together with what brand. The excellente service from people like @jagibson or Mrs Alejandra is useless if they are not supported by the organizaton behind, HTC, or their providers, CTDI. Maybe then HTC will take this problem and their costumers seriously. And if they do, maybe they want to reconsider the contract they have with CTDI for Technical Repairs and support. I have made a copy of this whole thread just in case HTC decides to delete it. If any one of you want to collaborate, please send me a PM. Once said this, I would like to share with you that despite the exceptional care by and Mrs Alejandra from EU support, whose help is greatly appreciated, coordination with CTDI has been a complete disaster in my case. I will give complete details through mentioned new created media, but in summary, once my HMD was received in Romania (it never was or will be sent to Taiwan) I was asked to pay money for a SW upgrade of each of the items I included in the box (link box and HMD) for being out of warranty. This despite I had been confirmed by support that my HMD was considered under warranty as the fault was detected and published during that period. And despite European laws and Irish laws (HTC Vive European web site sells from Ireland). Please see: http://www.eccireland.ie/ecc-ireland-issues-advisory-on-consumer-warranties-and-statutory-rights/ and http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/ireland/index_en.htm. And this, despite I had included a complete report in the box with all details, ticket numbers, referencie to this forum, contacts and some of your quotes. Once I contacted and Mrs Alejandra, they sincerely apologized and told me this might be an automatic message, but they had contacted Romania team and everything was clear although maybe my HMD would not go to Taiwan because a technician who had been for some time in Taiwan and was aware of the problem had arrived in Romania. I was also contacted by phone by Mrs Alejandra to confirm that next day. My surprise was one day later when I received a message saying my HMD was coming, but nothing else. Today the parcel reached me. There was no single note describibg or listing any test, diagnose or repair service. Nothing. I sent an email three days ago asking for an information update that has not being answered. And I have received all my HMD parts detached. 3-1 wire cover, strap, and foam, everything detached. Not even the protective paper I put was in the lenses. No explanation. No service sheet. Nothing. I don't really now what has happened. I will have to attach everything and test it. Unfortunately, I will also be out of home for some days so I won't be able to do intensive tests. But I do know something. Repaired or not, this is not the way to treat customers. HTC has now lost all trustability for me. All my resources are prepared and at your disposal. If the problem is not solved and all of us receive appropriate feedback an progress updates I will activate them in one month. My patience is over.

Hi all again. Thanks to I was contacted by HTC support during my vacation, and they were really kind and supportive. Thank you for managing this. At first they told me they were going to send the headset to Taiwan, but they have sent me a label for sending the headset to Romania, not to Taiwan. I told them about all of this but they say they will first send it to Romania. This is a bit dissapointing. I have no faith they will do anything different now. Same actions, same expected results :-(. So I think I will get my headset back as repaired just beacause they won't detect the failure. Anyway, they have written down the indication that the problem may take more than one hour to appear. I will keep you updated.

The same here, I also have to recheck that and I am also away now.

Do you know whether your headset was replaced or "repaired"? It would be worring if it has returned as repaired and the problem is still present. Maybe it was not part of the set that are being returned to Taiwan for this study and local technicians didn't know about this forum and this problem. do you think it is any way to find this out? I've been told mine will go to Taiwan, I will include a detailed explanation with links to this forum, just in case... Did you attach a complete explanation? What temperature is your VR room in July? I suspect there is a relationship with temperature, my headset usually takes from 50 to 70 mins to start failing, but maybe at your home it would take 20 mins. Maybe technicians did the tests in a lower temp room... If a local repair service is trying to test a likely defective gadget, they won't likely be engineers and they will be following a service manual. This service manual explains what outputs should be found at some stages in the electronics. If they measured right outputs, they may have thougt it is ok. It is unlikely that a service center will spent several hours trying a gadget under different conditions, it is not profitable. So it is very important that people who examine our headset will be HTC engineers seeking for a potential trouble in design or manufacturing process, not usual repairing staff. I am still speculating, but I think what those sensors have in common is that both are the closest to the main heat source. When I took temp. measures with my laser termomether, the area surrounding the camera horizontally, was the hotest. And those sensors are the closest. The hypothesis you give about channels in lighthouses as a possible explanation for some failing at right and some at left is a good point, it would be interesting if someone can make a test exchanging channels. And... bad news, in my case looking down makes things worse. Sorry, someone mentioned covering the sensor(s) just gives more time, but not unlimited, the problem for that person arised again after some game play (during the same sessions, you can feel safe any time you start from scratch). Once again maybe (s)he reached a temp level you didn't reach... There may be a tolerance problem... and this tolerance problem may appear due to several reasons: components that deteriorate over time in some cases may increase tolerance with respect to nominal specifications, other components may have a higher tolerance from manufacturing and finally some changes in software code may increase errors due to tolerance. That may explain different cases. Anyway, if HTC has put those sensors in the headset and they seem to be non-necessary, there should be a reason. Maybe just because they decrease blind zones, but most likely is because they add resolution to final data (like GPS, the more satellites you "see" the highest resolution you get), so precision in movement and positioning increases with number of data coming from different sensors. Obviously some sensors give unexpected data and software fails. BUT, there is another thing I forgot to say up to now ( ) that is very worring and disturbing: at least in my case, when headset shows a grey screen display mirror still shows correct positioning. That invalidates my previous explanation unless "mirror" display is not really a "mirror". My mirror display only starts failing when headset not only flashes grey but when it is completely flooded. Thanks to everyone, the more data we can provide the less difficult HTC task will be. Regards.

Someone said "It seems to have started for everyone around the same time, a few months ago. This is good because it points to a problem in software. " Please, don't insist on this without reading the whole thread, I have stated several times my issues started mid march, while most people talks about May. But I am also one of the first owners of VIVE here. There are other possible (not necessarily likely) reasons: i.e. some component may be deteriorating with time based on amount of (continuous?) use or external temperatures. Just to say one. Software treatment of data may be one of the causes, but there is no hint that really points that as THE (only) cause.

I'm based in Madrid, Spain.

You are right . 50 mins used to be close to my limit, it is not enough. I was experimenting with that, because I am "depressed" with this thing. Before, whenever I had some free time, I used the VIVE and I was so excited. Now, just thinking I may have the problem prevents me from using it. Just thinking a terrific inmersion may suddenly be broken, or a hard arcade progress may suddenly go into trash... But, even if HTC is right, temp in the HMD should be anyway affected by temp outside. Obviously having 5C outside will cool the HMD dissipating internal heat, while having 40C outside will make it difficult. So even when room temp is not the cause of the problem, a cool environment may, in theory, increase gaming time. While HTC gives an official answer, I would like to investigate workarounds. I was one of the first to give detailed data, and I called some of you from other places in order to join this forum. But I was not in the list of users HTC staff mentioned because I had no time to join all data about versions, tests and provide pictures. My HMD warranty ends at the end of this month and I don't have too much time to do extensive tests, so this is worrying me a lot.

After one month without getting the time to do any test, I have found 50 minutes free time and played with the vibe. This time I used air conditioner, my room was at 25C. I measured temp on the front exterior side of the headset with a laser termometer. The hotest areas were surrounding the camera. The closest ir sensors were the ones some people said that were the first to fail. Almost inmediately they reached 35.8C, but kept constant temperatureduring gameplay. I had no greys during those 50 minutes. I went out steamVR and left the headset connected to the computer, but stand-by. I increased room temp to 28C and went out my home. Three hours later I returned. The headset was still at 35.8C. So, it was stand by, room temp was 3 degrees more, but headset temperature was almost constant. Last time when I played and had greys, my room temp was 28C and I remember I ended up sweating. This time I was not sweating. From now I will control room temp and take headset measures each time I try.

NOPE. My troubles started back in March.

I would really appreciate if HTC could provide us with some data and information. All tests shared here by users seem to indicate that there is a correlation between temperature (in headset) and grey screens. Bur HTC insists on saying that temperature (in room) is not a cause. OK, maybe temperature (in headset) is an effect caused by the 3-1 wire (or any other reason) but, How did HTC get to that deduction? What has HTC found in users data? If failures are likely cause by a faulty power feed, how can it be explained that the grey area always starts when looking at the same spot, direction and area? Is this because that corresponds to a special position that involves the first IR sensors that begin to fail? What tests has HTC done? I am sure there is a logic and reasoning behind all of this, may we be updated on the process? Thank you very much for your support. I bought the headset in August, manufacture date is not close to November. Sorry.

I have WiFi, but it is disabled. I also use wired LAN. I am just saying that may be there are different factors whose combination produces not only one but a set of factors that act as a cause for this problem. So it may be very difficult to track. So I think HTC would need to debug on each of our PCs. I would be glad to install any kind of debugger or monitor in my PC to track the issue, or just activate an option on VIVE soft if provided. But I would like to know what is HTC doing to track the problem. We are been given no information and that is starting to worry me. I also have a Pimax 4K headset and let Pimax support personnel access my PC via Teamviewer in order to help them diagnose a problem when anything else failed. They did and they solved it. While HTC headset is far superior (and more expensive) I would like to have such a level of support or at least being informed about their methodology dealing with this issue.

I have been talking with idanUK and he solved his problem. It was a combination of his wifi and USB drivers. He got his helmet replaced and the problem wasn't solved. He got a new USB card he recommended to me. My problem was not solved. His neither was until he also replace his wifi. It was an interaction of both factors not only one. Scaring!

I agree @KingRangnar, not only I support HTC for all those reasons but also because it has not followed a policy of exclusive launches. I think it shows an intention of competition with quality and not market agreements excluding users. I have not lost my faith yet, I have just bought €200 more in VR titles in summer sale. I think If HTC would think we are only 50 people, the easiest way would be replacing our headsets. I know a couple of guys whose headsets were replaced, HTC service was excellent, but problem was not solved. So I am sure they may be starting to worry before this becomes a snowball. Any action now will take consecuences in future business (in one way or another). Anyway, this is difficult to diagnose, as there are other reasons for this kind of failure (i.e. ASMEDIA USB drivers which are common in ASUS motherboards). Last year this was the main cause for these problems. I wish this will get soon diagnosed and solved, and it would be a kind detail to offer us "sufferers" who keep loyal an interesting discount in next generation headsets ;-) or even giving us free beta testing prototypes :-) (Kindly write it down, HTC :-) )

wrote: Good idea. I wanted to ask the same. HTC staff, please, write here links to firmware, steam, steam vr , driver for nvidia. All version of this must be from February or first 10 days of March. As I noticed, before the middle of March all was OK. We will try use this. I completely agree, my problem started in March. I don't think it is a problem from May but further in time.

Another thing I forgot to say, but I see some people mentions is that it always start when looking down. Not necesariy at your feet, but always at the ground. I still think it is related to heat, as heat goes up, so when looking down heat goes inside the helmet. But I agree, if this didn´t happen months ago, it should ALSO be related to software.

Mine is nVidia GTX 1080

1) Cannot find manufacture time, but my SN is: FA66GJJ02046 2016. On the 3in1 cover there is a very small print which says 160511B 0 74H... (I can't read it). maybe date is 11 May 2016? Model OPJT100. I bought in on August 23rd 2016 directly from HTC VIVE web site Europe. 2) The EXACT date I had the problem for the 1st time was MARCH 21, 2017. I do Know it because steam has registered the last time I played the game I was playing (Roomscale Tower) when the problem firts appeared. This makes the May SW update as culprit unlikely. 3) Although it was March, Room Temperature was 28C (air conditioned controlled to 28C). I was sweating, as I was playing Roomscale Tower. I don't know the headset Temp. but I remember I was hot, due to phyical exercise needed by the game. 4) Any workarounds you find that alleviates the issue, even if it's impractical: I am not sure, but I think after aligning very very accurately the base stations, the problem takes longer to appear. And the blind area gets longer to increase size. In the end tracking is lost anyway. I have also noticed, when blocking some sensors traking returns. But I do not know what sensors are, just tried shadowing IR rays with my hand. 5) Other threads:

IMHO it seems more related to Temperature than to SteamVR. Testing this should be really easy for HTC. It is true that we, final users, can help with the whole diversity of factors which may have influence: ddrivers, hardware... BUT, testing temperature conditions is something that HTC should do. We, some users, may be happy to do some tests, but testing environment should be HTC responsibility. I don't really think it is so difficult for a company like HTC to get a bunch of testing helmets and try them monitoring the helmet temperature under different environment temperatures. In a couple of days we may have relevant results. Is HTC studying this problem, besides VIVE staff in this forum? Because VIVE staff here are doing their best, but that is not their job and I imagine they don't have necesary means. Dear VIVE staff: may you please update us about whether and how is HTC dealing with this problem? I really think it should be studied and solved before yourTube and other social networks start getting more and more videos or posts and so damaging the VIVE brand.

Yes, thank you for your support VibrantNebula. He is indeed helping me among others. Just one note, my problem appeared more than 5 weeks ago.

My room is at 28C, though I used it last summer from late august without problem at the same or higher temperature. My model is consumer, with the old flat 3-wires cable version, but it is not one of the first ones, the lid that covers the plugs in the headset is the hard one. This PC is devoted to VR with only HTC stuff, no third parties' anything. Temperature is low inside the PC box, CPU does not overheat at all, neither GPU does. When the problem first appeared, it was after more than one hour. Then it took less and less time to appear, up to the point that it was impossible to show a demo to a friend. I reinstalled everything and now it takes again about 1 hour. If I let it resting for a while and restart, the problem starts earlier, maybe 10 mins instead of 1 hour. Last summer, I played sessions of more than 6 hours without stop. And more than 8 hours a day. If it is related to heat, and it likely is, components get permanently damaged. I'd kindly suggest HTC engineers to execute tests under unusual hot environments.

Bad news, I tried all of that before starting writing here. wrote: I don't think, that this problem connect with heating, because it's happening even when it's not very hot in my room. More over, it's happening sometimes when I play for 15 min and sometimes when I play for 40 min in the same games. Nothing change around me in that moment. So it doesn't connect with heating, it doesn't connect with environment, it doesn't connect with base stations (because the controllers work fine). I found a video with fix solution of this problem, but now I can't try it. Please, anyone, try this method and write here.

I agree with VibrantNebula. Maybe this is a combination of variables and heat is related, as well as many other factors, like base stations alignment. I have very accurately aligned the base stations and now the problem takes longer to appear and it takes longer to make the thing unusable but in the end, it happens. I have been thinking about heat as as IR light is the hottest. Maybe sensitivity of IR sensors decreases with heat. The whole set or IR rays may also be a bit blurred in the room (just brainstorming, I don't really think so very seriously, if so any IR controller would have the same problem). Whatever, maybe ALSO in recent steamVR versions, data provided by sensors is differently processed, so any error is "amplified" or it needs more information trying to be more accurate... What is a fact is that I had no problem last summer. I'm going to experiment and get a mini USB fan to plug it in the free USB slot in the headset and point it at the headset itself. I will share my results...