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Oculus Rift Black Screen Issue - HDMI Cable is The Culprit

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
A number of Oculus Rift users have experienced issues with their VR headset (myself included) where the problem of intermittent black screens when looking through the Rift might not be down to a software problem as suggested. What seems to happen is any mirror on a desktop monitor still displays the screen and head-tracking, however the Rift itself is just a black screen. Oculus has advised users to check their drivers amongst other things however, in my experience a more glaring HDMI cable problem could be the cause.

I believe there is an inherent design flaw with the Rift HDMI cable and how it attaches itself to the headset. Depending on usage the problem might not manifest itself, but if you use the headset for vigorous activity (such as games like Space Pirate Trainer) or for many hours/days and weeks, over time the connection will begin to warp and snap due to constant movement of its housing. Because the cable drops down to the floor, a bend occurs which eventually wears down or breaks the connection internally. 





I have two cables (one was sent to me from the very kind CrashFu ) that highlights this problem and what is perhaps a little disheartening is Oculus offering replacement cables for quite a high sum of £49.99 on its official store which don't address the design issue. What is or was really needed at the design stage (considering this is a bespoke HDMI cable) is some strengthening of the cable where it bends rather than just a clip which doesn't prevent cable movement or eventual breakage. 

My only advice for people who are suffering intermittent black screens when using the Rift is to check the cable at the bend and perhaps secure it with tape or additional clips to prevent movement. If you get a black screen then be sure to restart the Oculus Service using the Oculus Tray Tool or Windows Task Manager. I believe over time more and more people will start experiencing this and that it's very much down to how often the rift is used and how it is used as to whether you will be affected or not.

For the record, this isn't the only cause of a black screen when using the Rift.


System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.
25 REPLIES 25

CrashFu
Consultant
Oculus certainly had some troubles with manufacturing companies early on (I think all us veterans remember the preorder delays caused by it)  and I had to have my original Rift RMA'd at one point, due to intermittent loss of video.  I thought it was due to an internal component at the time, but maybe it was the cable itself?

The replacement unit I ended up getting hasn't given me any of those troubles, so I'm thinking maybe only earlier units were affected by this, and they sorted it out after a certain point..

That might also mean that the spare cable I sent  @Shadowmask72 was also a defective one to begin with :cold_sweat:
   Oops!  I hope it lasted you a little while, at least.

(Guess this is why Oculus partners with more professional manufacturers these days, like Xiaomi and Lenovo.)
 
It's hard being the voice of reason when you're surrounded by unreasonable people.

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
Still using it actually crashfu thanks but yes it exhibits the same issue just not as bad as my original.


System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.

Progje
Explorer


A number of Oculus Rift users have experienced issues with their VR headset (myself included) where the problem of intermittent black screens when looking through the Rift might not be down to a software problem as suggested. What seems to happen is any mirror on a desktop monitor still displays the screen and head-tracking, however the Rift itself is just a black screen. Oculus has advised users to check their drivers amongst other things however, in my experience a more glaring HDMI cable problem could be the cause.

I believe there is an inherent design flaw with the Rift HDMI cable and how it attaches itself to the headset. Depending on usage the problem might not manifest itself, but if you use the headset for vigorous activity (such as games like Space Pirate Trainer) or for many hours/days and weeks, over time the connection will begin to warp and snap due to constant movement of its housing. Because the cable drops down to the floor, a bend occurs which eventually wears down or breaks the connection internally. 





I have two cables (one was sent to me from the very kind CrashFu ) that highlights this problem and what is perhaps a little disheartening is Oculus offering replacement cables for quite a high sum of £49.99 on its official store which don't address the design issue. What is or was really needed at the design stage (considering this is a bespoke HDMI cable) is some strengthening of the cable where it bends rather than just a clip which doesn't prevent cable movement or eventual breakage. 

My only advice for people who are suffering intermittent black screens when using the Rift is to check the cable at the bend and perhaps secure it with tape or additional clips to prevent movement. If you get a black screen then be sure to restart the Oculus Service using the Oculus Tray Tool or Windows Task Manager. I believe over time more and more people will start experiencing this and that it's very much down to how often the rift is used and how it is used as to whether you will be affected or not.

For the record, this isn't the only cause of a black screen when using the Rift.


I encountered the exact same problem today.
Suddenly my headset gave me a black screen and i knew right away that this issue of the cables also hitted me 😞
The issue is that it is bended at exact the place where it comes through the holder thingy of the cable. Not even an issue on my side.
I wish they could give us a good solution because buying a cable everytime that costs 59 euro's is also a bit much.

Don't know what to do now

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
The cables have been out-of-stock for a while on the Oculus store which suggests this problem could be quite widespread or they had very limited quantities of the cable. However, it seems a bit dark though to not have more available because it somewhat forces people to purchase the Rift S or Quest if they want to continue playing VR. The cable is custom-made and not user serviceable or replaced by a third party.


System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.

bomax
Honored Guest
My sons Rift has been used 5 times. He keeps the box next to his PC and places it back in the original closed box after use. It started failing to play after games start or not initializing updates.
The issue..."THE CABLE CLAMP BEND" on the head unit. I had the idea that that had to be it so we initiated the unit while not wearing it. the nano second we touched the cable at that spot made it fail. 5 times in a row just to be sure. We had insurance and the new one will get a modification from dad to rout it with tie wraps curving to the other side for a straight fall to the floor with no kinks. In my opinion , there must not be very intelligent people in this design or that one person that said it was going to be a problem was demoted to keep them quiet. It cost us $80.00 more dollars to insure it again because of a bad design and flaw at the manufacturing stage.

As shown above a picture on Shadowmask72 post is ~SPOT ON~ ...this cable clamp is such an easy design fix. Please listen and act on it. The cable is replaceable LOL for $79.00

Place a spring around the cable at the clamp point. Also users: turn the clamp upside down from how they put it on, at least it will not crimp on the clamp edge.

Jourifly
Honored Guest
Not pretty but it's working again. I found the cinch in the cable and noticed that if I bent the cable sharply, the image stabilized. I used electric tape to hold it in place and re routed the cable along the back frame of the headset in hopes of taking some of the strain off the cable. Hopefully it will be less prone to damage. It started giving me black screens around 1500 hours in. Let's see if I can get it to 3k hours before breaking out more tape!elyllyizfcn2.jpg