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Vive Pro Link Box Light Will No Longer Turn On


VirtualSelf

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I have the Vive Pro and I was in the middle of a game not moving. When my screen turned grey then black and would not come back on. I looked at the SteamVR window and every icon was grayed out. I then examined my link box and noticed the light on top that is usually green was not on at all. I tried to troubleshoot using different USB ports, I even swapped power supplies with the one I had for the old link box on the regular vive headset. None of this has worked and now SteamVR does not detect anything. (Picture Attached) The link box light no longer turns on so I believe it is that. But I just need some further help to get this working since changing the cables did not work. 

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  • 1 year later...

this has happened to me 3 TIMES NOW. 3 different link boxes for the Pro, i always keep it in the same place and it does not move. but these things just die for no reason. it happened twice last year and now again this year. please Vive for the love of god fix whatever the hell dies inside these things. 

Edited by FATMEAT
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@FATMEAT is fairly rare for a linkbox to fail, let alone 3 in a row on the same kit.

When you changed out the linkbox - did you also change out the power supply?

Based off the info you provided - it seems like a possibility that you have something in your environment which may be contributing to the failure. My immediate list of things that could be prolematic are:

  • The AC/DC power supply could be faulty (especially if you're just changing the failed linkbox without trying a different adapter).
  • The power that's being supplied to the power supply. Perhaps you're getting voltage spikes or a dirty AC supply (e.g. on the same circuit as a high draw device like an AC or Fridge).
    • Plugging VR/PC gear into a high quality surge protector is always a good investment.
  • Static electricity - especially if you have carpet or other static issues in that room.
  • Your PC/GPU could be shorting the device over the USB/HDMI.

I've never had a linkbox fail on me and have used dozens of them spread out over my personal setup and our our in-office units, developer kits, and event kits. Them failing isn't unheard of but sequential failures like this are extremely unlikely without some external force driving the failure state.

If you have carpet - I'd give the static shock theory extra consideration. I've lost some expensive devices due to static shock and in one house I lived in, had to put down some puzzle foam mats because I was shocking my VR gear to death.

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On 1/25/2021 at 9:46 AM, HackPerception said:

@FATMEAT is fairly rare for a linkbox to fail, let alone 3 in a row on the same kit.

When you changed out the linkbox - did you also change out the power supply?

Based off the info you provided - it seems like a possibility that you have something in your environment which may be contributing to the failure. My immediate list of things that could be prolematic are:

  • The AC/DC power supply could be faulty (especially if you're just changing the failed linkbox without trying a different adapter).
  • The power that's being supplied to the power supply. Perhaps you're getting voltage spikes or a dirty AC supply (e.g. on the same circuit as a high draw device like an AC or Fridge).
    • Plugging VR/PC gear into a high quality surge protector is always a good investment.
  • Static electricity - especially if you have carpet or other static issues in that room.
  • Your PC/GPU could be shorting the device over the USB/HDMI.

I've never had a linkbox fail on me and have used dozens of them spread out over my personal setup and our our in-office units, developer kits, and event kits. Them failing isn't unheard of but sequential failures like this are extremely unlikely without some external force driving the failure state.

If you have carpet - I'd give the static shock theory extra consideration. I've lost some expensive devices due to static shock and in one house I lived in, had to put down some puzzle foam mats because I was shocking my VR gear to death.

This actually happened to me twice within the span of 2 weeks. I have already returned the first one and I am thinking about returning the second one. The power supply is on its own circuit and its hard to believe I got sent 2 faulty power supply cords. The only other thing I can think of is the static as my room has carpet. But will that short it and will it be dead forever or are there ways to restore its power?

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  • 5 months later...

This same thing has happened to me more times than I can count.  We run an arcade with 7 VR stations that used to be all Vive Pros.  We're down to 2 pros because it just became too expensive to keep replacing the link boxes.  One of them lasted 20 minutes.  Every station is connected to an individual UPS that conditions the power and the electrical was all built brand new when we built out the space.  Static has never been a problem.  We've swapped out ever cable possible.  As if the pandemic wasn't bad enough to try an kill our business, we have 1000s of dollars in Vive Pros just sitting on a shelf because we've had to revert back to the original Vives.  This issue is one of the top 3 reasons my arcade is struggling.

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