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Oculus Rift Blacking Out and/or Audio Crackling

Thornskade
Explorer
I've been having this issue for a few weeks and am absolutely dumbfounded as to what could be causing it. I've been troubleshooting it, made numerous changes to software and hardware, but absoluely nothing fixes it.

What makes this so puzzling is that the problems this issue causes are totally inconsistent. Sometimes, the Rift starts blacking out randomly, maybe only for a few seconds, maybe completely until I replug the USB cable (it either only blacks out or it blacks out and shows TV static, sometimes I can see flashing lights at the top of the headset). Sometimes, the audio crackles constantly. Sometimes, it's both.
Some days, the headset works completely fine. Other days, it may work fine for half an hour and then the issues occur. Other days, the issues start right away. Some days the issues are more frequent and more severe, other days they only occur once in a while.

I'm clueless and need help. I wish I could tell you everything I've tried but like I said, it's been going on for weeks and I haven't noted all the combinations of things I did to try and solve it.

Mobo: Asus B85M-E
CPU: Intel i5 4690-K
GPU: GTX 980 Ti
OS: Windows 10
Rift Sensors and Headset connected via USB 3.0 extension cords and an HDMI extension cord. The issue persists whether I use the extension cords for the headset or not, or whether I plug it into a USB 2.0 port or a USB 3.0 port.
23 REPLIES 23

Thornskade
Explorer


#Thurbo,  how long have you had your Rift?


Since December 2018.
The cables aren't visibly bent, though, which is in part because of the extension cables. It's all flat on the ground. The only place I could see it becoming bent is where it runs through the straps on the headset, which would be a really silly design flaw if that's the case.

OmegaM4N said:

Grab a PCI-E 3.0 USB card for your PC, i had the very same issue with the Rift way back in 2017 when i first got it, unfortunatly the Rift just does not get along with a large variety of Mobo's and their USB ports, but a USB card sorted all that out, never had that issue appear again, i bought the Inatech 4 ports superspeed USB card that connects directly to your PSU, so no power supply issues......all still working great.

Oh and a little bit of extension cable advice, the Rift, no matter how you connect it, can also be very picky on extension cables, so here are the cables that i have used with no issues for the past 2 years, in case you need said info.

6 feet 2.0 HDMI cable, with 4k HDMI repeater attached to the Rift end, works perfectly.
(i found that more than 6 feet and i would get issues, athough if you require longer then you will need to seek out others have found nore than 6 feet cables that work)


I already have an Inateck card that gets its power from the PSU, but that makes no difference.
Maybe I do need to try different cables. The whole issue is so difficult to troubleshoot because many days there's just no problem at all so I don't understand how it could be an issue with the cables to begin with. That's also why, for the longest time, I've been clinging onto troubleshooting the software side of things. The distance of my computer to my play space makes it impossible to play standing without extensions, so at most I could try playing seated games for extended periods of time and take note if the issues ever occur when the cables are directly connected to my computer.

If it turns out to be the extension cable causing issues, do you think getting a repeater would help? For the record, this is the cable I got: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01D5H91KE/ which I chose based on customer reviews saying it worked perfectly with their Rift. I didn't have much else to go with.

Is there any way something could cause interference with the data transfer from the extension cable, perhaps? Which would maybe explain why the issues sometimes occur and sometimes not?

OmegaM4N
Expert Trustee
^^Yeap, i bought the very same cable and it too was causing blackout and white screen noise, and i only bought the 6 feet version, and that still gave issues, so replaced it with a simple 4 feet certified high speed 4k HDMI cable and that 4k repeater.......and have never had any issue over the last few years with it. 😉

Although i think i might buy a normal male to male 6 feet HDMI 4k certified cable and see if those work, as it would now match my 6 feet USB cable that i had to grab recently for the WMR headset, i will let you know. 😉
CV1/Vive-knuckles)/Dell Vr Visor/Go/Quest II/ PSVR.

lensmandave
Superstar
Well, I just ordered a new Headset cable...good grief! Fifty Quid! I'll report back if it does the trick. If it doesn't I'll just park the Rift and wait for the 'S'
Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.5GHz. Asus-Z170-PRO MB - Nvidia RTX 3080 ti - 16GB DDR4 2666MHZ HYPERX SAVAGE.

OmegaM4N
Expert Trustee
^^Well hopefully it gets your rift back to square one, fingered crossed. 😉
CV1/Vive-knuckles)/Dell Vr Visor/Go/Quest II/ PSVR.

Thornskade
Explorer
I've had a few half hour seated sessions with the HDMI cable connected directly to the GPU and the USB cable to the extension cable and so far no blackouts. I'm getting the other cable and hope that fixes it then.
I still don't understand how a cable can have inconsistent performance like that.

lensmandave
Superstar

OmegaM4N said:

^^Well hopefully it gets your rift back to square one, fingered crossed. 😉


Cheers 🙂  BTW what was the HDMI repeater you used?
Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.5GHz. Asus-Z170-PRO MB - Nvidia RTX 3080 ti - 16GB DDR4 2666MHZ HYPERX SAVAGE.

OmegaM4N
Expert Trustee
From amazon, ELUTENG HDMI 1.4 Repeater.


Although that is no longer avalible but here are a few that judging from the replies work with the Rift.....last one is only £8 and it is confired to work in the review questions. 😉












CV1/Vive-knuckles)/Dell Vr Visor/Go/Quest II/ PSVR.

lensmandave
Superstar
Brilliant #OmegaM4N.
Thank you 🙂
Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.5GHz. Asus-Z170-PRO MB - Nvidia RTX 3080 ti - 16GB DDR4 2666MHZ HYPERX SAVAGE.

lensmandave
Superstar
Ok..update to my problem. Received my new headset cable from Oculus this morning. Swapped the cable and plugged everything back in (existing extension cables still in place)...and....nothing! Shows 'connected' in devices but no video in headset. Replace old cable and video comes back on..hmm. Re-connect new cable.... nothing. So I pulled the extension cables and connected Rift directly to PC. Both cables now deliver video to the Headset. So, go figure. I assume the problem is the extension cables but why are they working ok with the old cable and not the new?
I'm waiting delivery of some replacement extension cables and repeater as kindly suggested by OmegaM4N and I'll do some longer tests to see if that finally resolves the intermittent original display problem.
Cheers, Dave.
Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.5GHz. Asus-Z170-PRO MB - Nvidia RTX 3080 ti - 16GB DDR4 2666MHZ HYPERX SAVAGE.

OmegaM4N
Expert Trustee
^^Well at least you know now it is not the Rift, which is the best outcome, but yeah the Rift can work fine with a cable then one day it no longer works, but i think you should be fine with those new cables and that repeater, i have been using them last two years on the rift with no issues.

And why don't you contact Oculus and return that £50 CV1 cable, seeing as you don't need it, worth a try.
CV1/Vive-knuckles)/Dell Vr Visor/Go/Quest II/ PSVR.