flashing grey screen

[stikaz]

hi everyone,

i have the same problem everybody described in the comments. My experience is exactly as AGR-13 described above. I recently changed cable from the old to the new 3-in-1 but the problem persists. I usually play seated with controllers turned off, but it can also happen when playing room-scale with controllers. I use the sync cable.

I am worried because from staff's response they don't seem to have a clue and several months have passed already (no disrespect meant, i know it's like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack but this is a severe issue that needed to be solved already). 

From everyone experience, it seems clear that the problem is HMD sensors overheating and giving false information to the software. Then again, if that's the case, why the problem was not present from the beginning? i played several months without the issue, while others are affected after a few weeks. It happens with several different iterations of the HMD, from the oldest to the newest. 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. Maybe the made an update to improve the software tracking precision, and then the overheating problems became apparent.

In any case, i think it's a problem that the Vive team have to solve with the steamVR devs, maybe finding a way to check the reliability of the sensors and ignore information from sensors that don't pass the check. 

here are my infos:

HMD Serial and date of purchase: FA63PJJ00304 - launch day

 

Grey Screen: does  it flicker or stay solid grey? starts flickering after 30-60 minutes, than flickers more and more, one of the basestations keeps greying out. Basically what everyone said.

 

When problem began (more or less): few months ago

 

Your location:italy

 

OS Version: Windows 10 version 1703 OS Build 15063.483

 

Computer Make/Model or Motherboard if homebuilt: asus z170 pro gaming - i5 6600k@4200Ghz

 

RAM: 16gb ddr4

 

Networking or other cards plugged in to motherboard: Intel® Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V

 

Graphics Card:  asus strix 1080ti O11G 382.33

 

General Computing Environment and Set up: 1 monitor via displayport

 

Steam Version: tried with both

 

VR Home Beta enabled/disabled:tried with both

 

Viveport installed/not installed: installed

 

Oculus or revive or other VR environment installed:  oculus and revive

 

Looking forward to hear any news, thanks staff for your work

[kimorra]

Same problem that most are having. I can play room-scale games for hours with no tracking loss. Every time I play Project Cars, I start to lose tracking after 30-40 minutes.

 

HMD Serial and date of purchase:  FA6BGJ001817 11/2016

 

Grey Screen: flickers after 30-40 minutes, eventually staying solid grey

 

When problem began (more or less):  When I started playing Project Cars about a month ago. Project Cars is the only seated game I play. I can play for hours at a time with room-scale games like The Golf Club VR and Serious Sam: The Second Encounter with no tracking loss.

 

Your location: Maryland, USA

 

OS Version: 1703 (OS Build 15063.483)

 

Computer Make/Model or Motherboard if homebuilt: Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3

 

RAM: 16 GB

 

Networking or other cards plugged in to motherboard: none

 

Graphics Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Driver version: 384.94 (fails with older drivers as well)

 

General Computing Environment and Set up: Dedicated VR computer, tried Vive on USB 2, USB 3, and USB 3.1 ports on motherboard, single monitor connected to DVI

 

Steam Version: Currently on beta, but tried both

 

VR Home Beta enabled/disabled: enabled

 

Viveport installed/not installed: never installed

 

Oculus or revive or other VR environment installed:  none

 

Photo of the room your vive is in: Can provide by PM if necessary. Play area is 3.5m X 3.5m, open on two sides, and is air conditioned to 70F (21C). Dedicated VR PC is centered just outside the play area on one of the open sides. Keyboard and monitor face the play area. When playing Project Cars, a GT Omega Wheel Stand with a Logitech G27 and a chair is placed in front of the PC. Tracking is flawless with this setup for 30-40 minutes.

[AGR-13]

 

Hey stikaz

 

thx for sharing your detailed info with us. May I ask since when you are using the 1080 Ti Strix O11G? 
I have the same card.

 

[Squando]

I ave the same exact issue.

[SeanWCutt]

I just found a steam forums thread about someone's headset overheating and having tracking issues and HTC told the person to upgrade their power supply 800w and with that "All [their] tracking issues are resolved."

Here's the thread.

[Aidarpro]

Hi!

My power supply is huntkey x7 900 (900w).

[Squando]

Thanks for working on this.

 

I have tried many configurations with my lighthouses and the failure is the same and begins after 20 minutes or so. My lighthouses are aligned, I'm using the sync cable and the system ALWAYS works lkawkessly for the first 20 minutes or so. 

 

This iss a big one for me because I can't race in iRacing without running into this issue!

 

Once the issue begins I can exit the game and the white-out will exist in exactly the same way while only in the Steam VR environment.

 

[stikaz]

i have the O11G since about two weeks. Before i had an Aorus 1080ti but it overheated so i returned it. The problem was there even with that card. If i'm not wrong, i had the problem even with the old strix 970 (that i changed in April).

EDIT: psu is RM750i if that's of any relevance

[echeva]

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.

 

 

 

 

[stikaz]

I have read the whole thread, as was implied in my post. "a few months ago" spans until March. Actually as I wrote in my previous comment, I changed video card in April and the problem was already there, so probably I experienced the problem in March too. It could be that the problem started in March (or even earlier) but people playing mostly room scale games (where the problem is less apparent) didn't notice until later. Or maybe not.

Obviously mine were just suggestions, I am not even an expert. But given that support still seemed to have no clue and were looking at faulty cables, and given that I recently changed my cable and the issue persisted, I commented about my experience and what I thought would be worthwhile to check. That's all.

Obviously there can be different and totally unrelated causes of the issue. It could be about deteriorating components, but then why the problem appears after several months of use for someone like us (around one year in my case), and after a few weeks for others, as I wondered in my previous comment?

I wrote that maybe the fact the the problem seemed to appear for everyone around the same time-window can point to a faulty update in the software. But maybe this is explained simply by the fact that from March temperatures started rising, so it could have nothing to do with software updates but only with overheating. Then again, someone wrote the problem is there even with air-conditioned rooms; besides, in March temperatures weren't so high (while June has been exceptionally hot this year in my country).

So the point is, unfortunately finding the the cause of the problem is still far, and my post was only to suggest to try other solutions, and especially involved the valve team.

EDITED for additional details.