Oculus Rift S Firmware Update Not Working
If you want to watch Bigscreen’s movies in VR only can not get the Oculus Rift S to piece of work, considering of Display Port and USB three.0 problems, there is a solution, but it does not come from Oculus Support.
Bigscreen and Paramount Pictures signed a multi-twelvemonth agreement to distribute movies in Virtual Reality, and the first movies were distributed through the platform mid-December, with a new batch of films being presented this January, including Star Trek Beyond (2016), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) all in 3D, and Interstellar (2014) in 2D. Next this Jan, its all 3D, with Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), Ghost in the Shell (2017), Terminator Genisys (2015) and Top Gun (1986).
The trouble, though, is that, starting mid-Dec, many users, from consumers to content creators using the VR headset, have non been able to use their Oculus Rift South to watch movies or practice anything else, considering a software update forced by Oculus bricked thousands (numbers are not known) of headsets, and Oculus Back up has no clue on how or when the problem will exist solved.
Suddenly, PCs that worked with the Oculus Rift S without bug started to have USB 3.0 ports that would not work, DisplayPort faulty connections and constant “Restart Your Oculus Software” warnings. Using the Rift S became an intolerable lottery, in the verbal month that newcomers to Oculus VR opened their Christmas gifts, but to detect they had a $400 paperweight instead of a passport to virtual worlds. And to all this Oculus said cypher!
Oculus, we’ve a problem
In fact, it appears as Oculus does non desire to acknowledge publicly there is a problem, looking at the way Oculus Support deals with the complaints from users. I experienced that myself, as my Oculus Rift Due south stopped working every bit it should later on the said update, and it became unbearable on Dec 20thursday, when I got in touch with Oculus. I have spent the last month exchanging emails with Oculus Support, sending them logs of my PC, posting in the forums, and getting in touch with Oculus PR people, to try to find a solution.
The suggestion from Oculus was a long list of troubleshooting steps that are the usual things any PC savvy user does outset, and in this instance they do non piece of work, of if they practice, they volition do so momentarily and non solve the problem. Online, help was not much better, with the usual trolls, and suggestions like “remove your USB connection, wait v seconds and plug it in again to fix the problem”.
Others suggested that the problem was the USB three.0 ports in many PCs, that do not offering enough power to the Oculus Rift S, and the phenomenon solution announced was a PCI-eastward card with USB 3.0 ports, powered directly from the PSU. Oculus, apparently, fifty-fifty suggested a specific make, the only i that would piece of work. Some other users suggested reinstalling Windows, buying a new motherboard or even a whole new computer. Some others even said that using a PC VR headset is not something the common mortal can exercise, and you need to exist an experienced PC user to be able to use VR. They are wrong!
Oculus Support and hearsay
Following advice online is unsafe these days, and the paragraph above is a good instance, as if people believe in miracles or witchcraft, but the solutions from Oculus were non better. Hither are some of the suggestions:
- “Correct now the workaround is to completely unplug the Rift S, restart the software, and plug it back in. I realize that is not so convenient, simply at least it allows use of the device.”
- “We have heard from some customers that reverting to a previous Windows version corrected the problem. That might not be the best solution for everyone, but if it’s possible, please effort and let us know if it made a difference.”
- “Attempt opting into the latest Public Test Aqueduct build of the Oculus software. We’ve included updates that should assist. If you are already opted in, delight effort opting out.”
None of these solutions worked, and when I told Oculus Support I would not go dorsum to a previous update of Windows 10, as my install of the latest version, 1909, predates the offset of the issues with the Oculus Rift S, and that their indication that “nosotros have heard from some customers” was not very reassuring, considering the misinformation already online, they had no answer to me. Obviously, they don’t accept a clue.
My VR PC now has 18 USB ports
Still, the trouble exists, as Oculus Support has confirmed me in our exchange of emails, with notes as these:
- “From what y’all are describing, this sounds like a known effect with the latest update of the Oculus software, which causes repeated restart messages. Nosotros are working on a fix for this but don’t accept an ETA right now, and with the holidays, there will likely be a delay in implementing it.”
- “I do repent for the lack of updates on this upshot. The holidays slowed things down, just we are nonetheless working on the problem.”
- “I wanted to let you lot know that we have been testing some improvements to the software in the PTC. Could you effort installing that update (version xiii.0) and see if there is improvement?”
- “I am pitiful to hear that this update has non helped with the problem. We are working difficult to get this stock-still, and it would exist very helpful if you could send me a new gear up of logs with version 13 installed so we accept more information.”
Having decided to attempt all solutions to better understand what was wrong, I caused an USB-C to USB A adapter to my graphics bill of fare port, which should work, and it didn’t. Then I bought a powered PCI-E USB 3.0 expansion card, as suggested, and it did non work. At present, thanks to Oculus, I’ve a PC with a full of 18 USB ports, fourteen of those USB 3.0 or USB 3.1… and the Rift S still did non work, giving me a multifariousness of fault messages. In despair, I tried the Rift S in iii dissimilar computers:
- Intel i7–9700K/32GB RAM/RTX 2070/ NVMe SSD, SATA SSD/ Windows 10 Pro v 1909
- Intel i7–4770/16GB RAM/GTX 970/SATA SSD, HDD/ Windows ten Pro v 1903
- AMD Ryzen nine 3900X/16GB RAM/RTX 2070/ NVMe SSD, SATA SSD / Windows ten Pro 5 1909
and information technology didn’t work, not even in the AMD machine, which was built with a fresh install of Windows mid-December. The logical conclusion was clear: this has to exist a trouble with the software from Oculus, which worked fine with the Intel machines for more than one year, first with the Rift then with the Rift S (bated some initial problems when the Rift S was launched, in May 2019), hardware that the Oculus app says “is not compatible with Oculus”.
Oculus will not revert to a previous version
During the last 3 weeks I suggested to Oculus Support, multiple times, that they should let users to revert to a previous working version of the Oculus app – software companies exercise it when something goes incorrect – , while they would fix, internally, any caused the problem. I was told this:
- “While we are nevertheless working on a permanent gear up for the problem, we do look to the community for other interim solutions that have worked.
- We do accept this very seriously, and I tin can assure you lot that we’re trying to correct this issue. Unfortunately there is no way to revert to a previous version of the software.
- There has been another contempo update to version 13.0 in the PTC, and so if you accept a chance, please bank check it out and allow me know if there is any improvement.”
That was my last contact with Oculus Support, equally I don’t see them solving the issue, for reasons no one understands. The problem, though, has been solved, and information technology is, every bit many take said online, non a problem on the side of the users, but a problem that Oculus created, with its recent updates. I found the solution online, at
Reddit, provided past a user named PoringOP, under the championship: “Rift S Display Port Not Constitute Set up: Driver Rollback & Detailed Instructions for Noobs & TL;DR for pr0s. :three”. She wrote this annotation with the solution: ”Here’s what I did in a super mega easy tutorial for people of all walks of figurer nerdom (or lack thereof) initially reformatted & expanded from KevyB’s comment in another postal service.”
Finally, a solution… on Reddit
The
solution, which is simple to follow, reverts your Oculus Rift S to a previous firmware and makes the Oculus Rift Southward work once more, something that Oculus Back up has not been able to with their continued updates. The comments from those who accept tried the solution confirm that information technology is working.
One user, Potaso2, wrote this: “Information technology was never a USB power issue… because I have tried EVERYTHING , including buying USB Expansion cards (the best i recommended by many), tried using USB Type C adapters, tried adding additional power using a USB y cablevision adapter, tried reinstalling, unplugging and reconnecting every cable possible. I fifty-fifty re-installed WINDOWS from scratch! Null would piece of work. My Oculus worked fine prior to the update. Unfortunately, the app auto updated to v12 and my headsets firmware to 2.2 so I (any many others) got s****** until I was able to roll back the update dorsum to 2.1/1.43.”
The solution published by PoringOP stops the Oculus app from updating from Oculus, which, for at present, is the best solution anyone can find until Oculus Support understands that they really have a trouble, and decide to practise something about it. The multiple comments online do advise that many users are returning their Oculus Rift S,
unable to go it to work, which is really a compassion, because when it works, the
Rift South
is i of the most affordable solutions to enter the world of PC VR, even more than so now, every bit the presence of Vive in the consumer market for VR seems doomed.
I am back in VR land now
Since activating the solution, I’ve rebooted, shutdown and powered upward my PC multiple times, and the green lights on my Oculus Rift S keep to glow, instead of those pesky mistake messages that kept me going under my desk to disconnect cables and connect them over again, following Oculus Support suggestions. I was able, finally, after one calendar month, to get back to piece of work and go through the backlog of titles I’ve hither to write about, with some exciting narratives that tin can just be told in VR, which I will cover in the coming weeks.
This Oculus Rift South problem is too affecting content creators, who use the Rift S to view their builds, then it is non simply a consumer problem. Many of the complaints seen online come from the community of artists, as the constant errors transform regular workflows in a lottery, as y’all never know if the Rift South will work or even if information technology will non stop in the middle of something important. I’ve seen all types of errors appear, during the last month, some of them documented in the images that illustrate this article.
For those who don’t want to miss the next movie theatre sessions from
Bigscreen
and Paramount Pictures, a solution to get your Rift S working again is waiting for y’all online. But
follow the link
and in a few minutes, with the explanations given by PoringOP, you’ll regain the access to virtual worlds. The terminal news on Oculus Support online, which I am monitoring, suggest they don’t have a clue, yet.
In that location is a side effect to this, though: until Oculus finds a solution, you can not download apps from the Oculus Store. Merely you can download apps from Steam or Vive, then just forget the Oculus Store for now, or else they will update your Rift S and probably brick information technology again…
