cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

New Rift keeps on disconnecting

Anonymous
Not applicable
Hey guys,

I've been reading a lot about the issue I'm experiencing and have not found a solution. I am almost certain that my Rift is busted, and have logged a support ticket, but since they are taking forever to get back to me (I read about the atrocious response times and have pretty much attached everything but my birth certificate to the ticket :)), I thought let me put it out here and just maybe someone has seen this issue before and can help me resolve it.

I received my Rift Wednesday last week. I un-boxed it and connected it as soon as I got home from work. The Oculus compatibility tool showed all systems green (ASUS GeForce GTX 970, onboard USB - ASRock Z87 Extreme4 Motherboard, i5-4670k - not using any adapters). Installed the Rift software and started the calibration. During the calibration was the first time it happened. The Windows "you have just disconnected hardware" chime played. Took off the headset and saw a "Rift's Hdmi cable isn't plugged in" popup, followed by the Windows chime to show that it detected hardware again. At first I thought it was a dodgy cable but it seemed to happen mostly when I touch the goggles. Logged a support ticket that same night. I tried out different USB ports combinations - and for a moment on Thursday I thought I solved it my moving the sensor to a USB2 connection and having the headset plugged into a USB3 connection. It seemed to not drop the connection anymore. I fired up Elite Dangerous and within a few minutes it happend again.

I still sort of thought it had something to do with the cable (even though I've re-seated it both PC and headset side 10's of times) and made this video that I attached to my support ticket (which hasn't been viewed once as yet 😞 ). When I lightly shook the headset it lost it's connection. Sometime during my panic to get it working I ordered the recommend Inatech card from Amazon with express deliver (which costed me more than the card - Apparently Australia is REALLY far)

Then, over the weekend I messed around some more - upgraded by BIOS and reformatted my machine to rule out any bad/outdated drivers. Issue was still there, but then I noticed I can easily reproduce the issue when I lightly press the right side of the headset. Here is a demo. The Inatech card did not make any difference and I wish the support guys can just give me an indication of whether they are even still planning on looking at this. 

So, while I am waiting to hopefully one day hear back from them, has anyone seen this issue - and know how to fix it? Or am I cr*p out of luck... 😞
42 REPLIES 42

alienware2016
Honored Guest

Same problem here, it is definitvly a hardware problem with the cable/plug in the Headset. Bought mine in USA, I live in Europe and support says they can do nothing for me. Selling a faulty high priced item with such a production issue and then not helping the customers and ignoring, this is miserable.

shim2
Adventurer

fly4fun said:

I have been battling with this issue for over a month now. Oculus's first response to a ticket was immediate, and the proposed plug-unplug the connector at headset a complete sand in the eyes nonsense. Do they really think that early tech adapters are so moronic and tech-unsavy not to check that out first?? Common, this is a 700 eur hardware with a major design/engineering fault. It is clearly a hardware issue stemming either from poor soldiering at the socket in headset board or a poor choice of connector joint for the task. Either one is just a consequence of bad design, no other word for it. It would be maybe acceptable for a 200 eur prototype but is really ridiculous to swallow for a final product. Somebody should know better to make it more robust. And when discovering it is not, find a solution - a hardware! solution - already instead of playing dumb. Their 'design', the headstrap and moving parts of it are pulling the cable from the joint and constantly putting a load on it when you readjust it on your head. No wonder it is getting loose. A more robust connector could fix that or something else, I will not be solving the design problems for such an expensive device..
Anyhow, after my reply to their first response that 'no, I have unplugged and re-plugged it and still have the same issue and might it not be the connector at fault,' there was nothing but silence. I would gladly send it back and have it replaced if they would finally respond to me. At the same time I am also afraid that without a proper hardware fix, this will happen again and I will be always handling it like glass, afraid it will brake. I expect not to throw it at a wall and survive but putting it on and off should not damage it also, this is a normal use, not some abuse. Imagine now the room scale vr touch experience with this newfound fragility in mind.. is that a joke?


They probably haven't/won't fix it because they are working on wireless HMD. No point in re-engineering a headset that works most of the time.

My headset also suffered from random disconnects and ultimately "No HDMI Connection". I also attribute this to a poor design where the cable connects to the headset. It really is under constant stress and those unbelievably small soldering points will eventually get weak and one will break. Causing an issue like this. It really does explain it perfectly. You also make a good point with touch and new experiences that require you to move about more. I suspect we will see a lot more of this issue crop up in the near future. Unfortunately I believe Oculus will respond the same. Ignoring the issue, taking an eternity to respond to support tickets only to RMA the device for a device that will have the exact same fault.

Either way Oculus are/will be sending me a replacement so I guess I can only hope if it suffers the same fate it will happen before the warranty period is over.

That or a quality product is brought to market by a company that understands the need for good quality support.


montty
Honored Guest
I have the same problem. Disconnects whenever I touch it. Only needs a little wiggle of the head.

Bunz_118
Protege
I had the same problem. The thing disconnected as soon as I touched it. Had to return it and get a new one.

notaprimenumber
Protege
As part of an ongoing investigation, here are my actual results.
I had this problem back in the summer, but somehow it had abated enough to suggest I had "cried wolf" too soon, and meekly closed the ticket with the support.
The RL got in the way, and some time passed. I used the rift rarely, mostly for virtual desktop, or see a movie, or when I had a brief addiction to that damned mountain goat, but that's another story.
Fast forward to some times ago, THE problem started again. Way more frequent.
I had modified my VR station (=ikea chair), suspending the cable, kind of like that "regolit" light stand from ikea that now and then somebody pushes in the forums/reddit, self made though. Also, had started using and older monitor as secondary, just for virtual desktop (the panel is otherwise compromised), and also had, back in the day (when I upgraded to windwos 10), reinstalled the infamous inateck card.
One, or all of this, plus microsoft quirks with their upgrades, and the Rift started its stutter, disconnect, where am I, panic routine.
I first de-suspended the cable, checked the connections on both the ends, uncoiled it, whatever. Still, adjusting the focus, or maybe just touching the cable side of the HMD got it react hysterically.
Mh.
The power management is not allowed to disable anything, system side as well driver side, for all the root hub. But it seems the inateck/frescologic keeps reverting to the default "allow" every time the computer boots up. Not good.
Also, while testing the connection with the cable fully uncoiled, in the lobby/home room, I detached the second monitor DVI. In the rift the image had a stutter, some kind of reaction. This would need a star wars citation to fully describe.
Anyhow, after this, I connected the Rift to the (unsupported?) motherboard USB3 (both HMD and camera, I previously tried combinations, unsuccessfully).

It seems to have worked. Careful check of the HMD end of the cable, moving, touching, jumping around, adjusting the HMD, all seems to have no effect whatsoever. For now.

Is it all a software problem? Don't know, but I don't fully believe it. Now the cable is suspended once again, the critical side (the ports on the pc) protected and separately suspended, still everything seems to work.
It will need more investigation, but, hey, now I can fire up elite once again. For now.

Check if the inateck card causes any strange problem, and I don't know, don't use DVI for your monitors? Lol.
Still think the cable is too delicate, and at least another clip on the HMD would help, maybe.
Also, damn proprietary cable.

Swoodle
Honored Guest
Wish there would be a concrete answer from oculus support on what the possible problems are and how to fix them. The constant disconnects that sooooooo many people experience are really screwing this whole VR thing up. 

notaprimenumber
Protege

Swoodle said:

Wish there would be a concrete answer from oculus support on what the possible problems are and how to fix them. The constant disconnects that sooooooo many people experience are really screwing this whole VR thing up. 


Well, they do. On a case by case method though, since not every time this (or other) problem happen, it's not the same identical way. My configuration isn't yours and so on, plus really, MS doesn't make it easy for, well, nobody, with updates.
I lost confidence on the supposedly compatible inateck card. Mine has just been a source of weird problems.
But anyhow, I had re-opened the ticket, followed their dance of requests, even anticipating (and this time logging with their tool), and somehow my situation was considered interesting enough to ask me to ship my Rift for inspection (pre-paid shipping), and supposedly receive a unit back. It should have already arrived, but the courier is behaving strangely, and I think I'll go get it from the warehouse tomorrow (EU), because I chose that, but they still tried to bring it here today, and might try again tomorrow for all I know. They did exactly that with the Touch box.
So, if everything else fails, ping the support, they listen.

falken76
Expert Consultant
I really think it is mainly a USB issue.  Mine was way worse when I put a sensor on a front panel USB.  The HMD was disconnecting constantly and the screen was stating it was an HDMI disconnect for the headset.  It would cut out if I barely touched the left side of the headset so it felt like a hardware issue for sure since this would constantly disconnect by barely manipulating the HMD.  But once I moved the sensor to a USB port on the back of the machine my headset was fine.  It was no longer sensitive to touch which is insane.  This would also suggest that usernameisalreadyinu is being affected by USB issues or his headset should continue to cut out.  If it's physical and caused by faulty solder joints or faulty connectors, changing a USB port, especially for a sensor and not the headset itself should have absolutely no effect on how sensitive it is to touch.

notaprimenumber
Protege
That's what I think too, also, more of a software problem, with uncertain connection compounded by some play in the cable, HMD side. Bus since I sent multiple logs, after checking connection etc, they found the case interesting, and asked to have it back to inspect. I'm waiting for the replacement, because UPS is acting silly. And really, the inateck expansion card is weird, it reverted the power management thing back on, after every reboot. I'm not putting it back in unless oculus suddenly black lists my usb3 controller.

flexy123
Superstar
I am fortunately only having very RARE,occasional disconnects. A reboot etc. normally fixes it.
From what I "learned" /S now going through lots of threads and postings, NO ONE knows actually what causes it and it could be anything from mechanical problems/faulty Rifts to USB drivers problems or power management. Also..the so called "recommended" external USB card with 7 ports is mentioned all the time when it comes to problems but the 5 port card is supposed to work. Bottomline however, as it seems to me, people have more problems with the external cards than internal ports..sort-of defies the logic to get an external USB card to "solve problems"....

I also posted a question 2 or so weeks ago asking how one can REALLY verify whether ports working at USB3 (since 3rd party tools show all kinds of confusing information) and didn't get ONE constructive reply, only like "well why bother when your Rift works" basically telling me I am not right in the head wanting to know what mode my USB ports are actually in. (THIS is actually significant since it also means how much power the devices get). Tools like USBDevView or USBTreeView show only my "Rift Sensor" as USB3.0 but everything else as USB2.0, although OH says it's in 3.0