flashing grey screen

[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. The post in the steam forums someone linked also mentioned March. 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 to involve the valve team.

EDITED for additional details.

[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.

[Estes]

This is what fixed it for me. Covering up the left front sensor with some tape. Adhesive is all I could find for the time being as I did not take it very seriously when I saw the suggestion from Youtube.

I did the usual(for the thousandth time), reinstalled USB, power cycled the base stations and booted SteamVR to test game again to see how long I could go before it would start grey screening again... Sure enough 10-20 minutes later, it started. So I covered the left front sensor  with finger and lo'and behold, no more grey screen. Covered it with tape(as well as some on the bottom), issue seems to be solved... Very odd, but hopefully this will help someone. Maybe try the sensor on the right if the left doesn't work for you.

 

http://imgur.com/MBz3q01

[MartinMarty]

That's amazing . I have been running with the right front sensor taped over since I posted on July 21 and it has made the unplayable playable again and returned the immersion to my VR experience.

 

The reason I said it's amazing is because I've tried covering the left front sensor and it doesn't work on mine.  What do these sensors have in common, I wonder? Are they actually defective or is there something that changed in the software around the time this problem started and covering the sensor avoids the problem?  Is the left vs right sensor the one that helps because of where your A vs B vs C lighthouse is mounted? Does the fact that occluding one of the bottom sensors have anything to do with the experience a few of us reported early-on, that looking *down* in the game seemed to set the problem off?

[Estes]

I really wish I knew. I spent the last 2-3 hours since I posted playing with zero problems. I can't believe it myself. As I've tried every solution I think possible up until this point. From getting the Inatech USB PCIe card thinking it was my motherboard USB ports 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1, all did the same thing.. I'm not sure how many times I swapped ports but it's more than I care to remember. The Inatech had the same result. Was starting to think it was the Asus Crosshair VI motherboard itself at this point.. Was beyond frustrated... And what do you know, a simple piece of tape. LOL wow, I don't know... I'm very glad it's working now. Almost feels too good to be true to be playing without issue and not worrying anymore. Finally having a smooth experience.

[Vildan]

HTC, could you make a software to let us turn off the sensors manunaly. We can find bad sensors and close it by software.

But the main question is why all have worked good earlier with the same cables, without closing sensors etc.

HTC, ( ) please comment this 3 idias about this problem:

1. Something happened with software, so it's intresting for me, why HTC and Steam unable to solve it, why they don't give us old ver of software to test?

2. Bad cables (Spoilage) , which , after some time, begin provide more energy power then normal, and overheat HDM. I hope it the right answer. Soon i can test 2 different cables. But here (http://community.viveport.com/t5/Technical-Support/flashing-grey-screen/m-p/10066/highlight/true#M2643) stikaz wrote, that he tesed with new cable and it didn.t work. It's very bad. :(

3. Bad HDM's sensor (Spoilage) after some time the begin averheating even under standart energy power. And in different HDM the bad sensors are in the different places. (We can see, that some people wrote about bad sensors from the left, some people wrote they are from the right etc).

 

we are waiting you comments

[jagibson]

Hi everyone!

I want to thank everyone for your input so far and to those we have worked with individually, many thanks.

I wanted to update with the current status of our efforts:

• We are working with individuals on this thread and else where to have their HMDs sent in to our engineering teams for diagnostic testing.
• As you can imagine due to geographical variance and shipping time, this process will require a little bit of time for logistical processing.
• Once these units are received they will undergo testing. 

At this point, I can't really speculate on cause.  I don't doubt the symptoms you are experiencing and hope that through testing our teams are able to isolate and identify their root cause.

Thank you again for your contributions, I hope to provide feedback when I am I able to once testing is concluded.

Thank you, 

 

John

 

[Elektrobomb]

Having sent the headset in for warranty repair, it came back and the same issue is present.  However, i may be able to shed some light on the wear vs software debate going on.  my headset was purchased in march, however it was first opened and used on the 1st of july (as i wasn't allowed to use it until after my exams) and the first thing i did with the headset was install all of the firmware.  And have had tracking issues for all of the time i have had it.  thus, this suggests that at least in my case it isnt wear as the headset had had this error since the first day of use.  

[echeva]

  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.

 

[Elektrobomb]

 Yeah, my headset was repaired in a local (if you can call romania from the UK as local) place.  I attached a short explanation of the problem and how to test for it in both english and romanian (i have a romanian friend who translated this for me).  According to everything i have received from HTC the headset was just "repaired" and not replaced in any way.  the serial numbers etc are the same.  To be honest i didnt hold out much hope for it being repaired when i sent it off but the tech on support was just follwing a script and i suspect he wasn't allowed to do anything else until the headset had been through their repair desk.  now it's back and i have been able to talk to them again, i pointed thenm to this forum and gave another explanation of the problem and they have escalated the request, whatever that means.  My room in july is only about 25 degrees c so it's not too hot.  Basically at the moment i am gunning for a replacement headset as it's a really expensive item and i just want it to work.  i know that's not very helpful for HTC or for the other people here who are out of warranty but you can probably understand my position as well.  I havent been able to use this fantastic piece of kit for more than an hour at a time without getting frustrated with it and i'm not gonna have much time to use it in a month as i am going to uni