Base Station Error, no longer functioning (10010)

[Awarets]

My base station has developed a fault, displays a red light, and is no longer tracking. The base station's firmware is completely up to date. Power cycling the base station does not change anything.

[Shadowmoo]

This started happening an hour ago and Vive support literally told me there was little he could do and to contact my retailer. Amazon then immediately set up a next day replacement system delivery.

[Zephroth]

yup.  same thing here.  Dead diode on one of the drums or might be a firmware problem not sure.

[Adsim93]

I'm having the same problem. After about 20 minutes of talking in circles with tech support I've been told my only real option is to buy a new one. I'll admit mine was around 2 years old but there isn't a scratch on it and it's very upsetting how little they seem to care. They also couldn't guarantee that this problem wouldn't happen again. I believe his exact words were "these things happen" which is the last thing I want to hear when i'm asking what more I could possibly do to keep it from happening again.

[Zephroth]

cheap parts poor support

[HackPerception]

Copying my reply to @Zephroth from another thread. @Adsim93

Base-stations are high precision mechanical devices - they often fail because the unit will have a part fail or the motors will be unable to satisfy the tight timing requirements of SteamVR's tracking system.

A 1.0 base-station has two motors, each operating at 3600RPM which equates to ~216,000 revolutions per hour - per motor, all of which needs to happen within very tight timing constraints. As you can imagine, over a year or two these accumulate tens to potentially hundreds of millions of revolutions.

Any base-station regardless of who manufacturers it is prone to wear and tear - it's a byproduct of the system being fully dependent on high-speed mechanics. It's why you see it on 1.0 stations manufactured by HTC as well as 2.0 stations manufactured by Valve. Valve has tried to reduce the overall complexity by removing one of the motors in the 2.0 stations but it's still mechanical. Until there are solid state base-stations, this is the trade-off for the increased tracking resolution provided by light-house.

I'd recommend watching this presentation by one of the key inventors of base-station tracking to get a feel for how complex the system is and why these failures can occur: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75ZytcYANTA

[Zephroth]

So my deal is its not the Motors that burnt out.  its the Laser diode or the laser diode pump chip.  Its not mechanical the thing thats dying on these.  you need to get your facts straight.

 

and blaming your customer is the last thing you should do.

[HackPerception]

@Zephroth - Again copying from another reply to you in a different thread:

Quote

The stations are able to detect any irregularities in the speed or rotation path of the rotor and if it falls outside of the tolerable range, the power for that laser source is cut to prevent bad tracking data from being emitted from the station. While laser sources can fail, it's relatively rare compared to general mechanical issues such as motor irregularities or separation of the lens from the laser aperture.

While I understand your frustration - you can confuse and frustrate other people when you post incorrect assertions such as those above. There are numerous fail states which can result in power for the laser emission source being cut to prevent bad tracking data from being outputted by the station - failure of that laser source simply isn't very common whereas mechanical deviation can be a more common failure point. The video I linked discusses how the lasers will shut off if the rotor speed falls outside of the timing tolerance - it's presented by Alan Yates who is one of the principal inventors of base-station tracking hence why I cited it in my response - it's a primary resource.

While I certainly apologize that a live care agent mis-attributed your specific case to physical damage (which is actually one of the most common reasons for station failure which is likely why the said it) -  replying to numerous threads blaming the "diodes" negatively impacts other customers because it's not accurate to the actual functionality of the stations.

[jagibson]

@Zephroth

Thanks for your feedback.  I understand your frustration.  We are here to help, and these forums are are here to foster healthy discussion.

However, I do want to make this clear:

- You have been bumping old threads and hijacking current threads.  You have been warned about this once, this is against the forum rules. 

- Our products have a 1 year warranty (or 2 years depending on your region).  This is standard practice in consumer products.   Repairs are possible after the warranty period however there will be an out of warranty charge associated with this. If you would like your item repaired, please contact our customer support team. 

I will follow up with a PM with a request for additional  information from you.

 

For everyone else experiencing issues with their equipment: please contact your regional support team. If the item is in warranty and the symptom falls within the warranty criteria, your item will be repaired via RMA.  If the item is outside of the 1 year warranty period (or 2 year where applicable), then an out of warranty fee will apply to the repair.  

 

Kind Regards,

John