Base stations randomly disconnect

[monodefuego]

The base stations on my Vive had been working perfectly for about 2 months, and then randomly started becoming disconnected for about 15 seconds at a time before reconnecting. So you could be playing a game, then the screen would go gray. The Base Stations themselves would look fine: green light, correct letters, everything seeming solid, but the Steam VR interface would show them grayed out for a bit. Hovering over them gives the message "base station not detected." Then, after the short wait, the pop-up would change to "searching." and finally everything would be good for a while, until the next drop. Sometimes it happens once an hour, sometimes it happens every 5 minutes. The base station indicator lights remain green at all times.

The base stations are both up to date, as is everything else. They have a clear, unobstructed view of one another and are properly angled. The problem occurs with both optical and manual sync (yes, I have properly switched the letters for the appropriate sync modes). Power management is off. Bluetooth is off. When bluetooth is turned on it seems to still have communication with the base stations even when Steam VR claims that they are disconnected. The problem has persisted through many, many power cycles and reboots.

Any ideas?

[HackPerception]

@monodefuego Can you please PM me (or attach in this thread) a SteamVR system report? You can generate it via SteamVR -> Generate System Report & save it as a .txt. I can check it to see if there's anything that stands out

[It'sToast]

Im having this exact same issue. I thought it was the Link Box so I went ahead and ordered a new one, $50 later It's not the problem.

I've also tried the Sync cable, switched to A + B and still gray screens and reconnects 30 seconds later. Happens every couple minutes. I even had everything on, sat in VR Home screen, and with no interaction it disconnects both base stations at the exact same time regardless.

Has the been a fix found for this? I would really appreciate any help.

SteamVR-2020-02-28-AM_11_47_14.txt

[HackPerception]

@It'sToast -

Nothing jumps out in the log that I saw. I see the part where it adds and then drops the devices but none of the other logs point to a reason why it dropped. Do you hear the windows connect/disconnect sound? If you move the HMD tether around, does it trigger the drop?

 

[It'sToast]

The Windows connect and disconnect sound goes off every time it happens.

Both lighthouses go blank on the steamVR tray, then both come back 30 or so seconds later.

It happens even when the headset and controllers are sitting on my desk no being touched or moved.

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by It'sToast

[HackPerception]

@It'sToast - From SteamVR's prospective, it just disappears suddenly as you can see in my screenie. The SteamVR compositor is stable enough in this case that it's able to continue and save the session once the HMD is back online. The connection and disconnection sound further indicate it's likely hardware related (i.e. a bad tether). It could be PC-related but that's super hard to troubleshoot without physical access to the PC. If it disconnected while you were moving around, that'd add to the evidence pile for it being a bad tether but you're saying it dropped off even if you're not touching the HMD/cable/PC at all?

If this is the OG Vive; I'd recommend doing a linkbox bypass. It's my go to troubleshooting step on Vive 1. To do a bypass, you simply plug the orange USB and HDMI leads from the HMD's 3-in-1 teather and plug those directly into the PC rather than the linkbox. You'd need to keep the power lead flowing through the linkbox when doing this.

[It'sToast]

Ive tried the bypass, I even bought a brand new link box. For some reason its the lighthouses that disconnect, which in turn disconnects the headset and controllers after.

The loghthouses reconnect on their own, and the headset and controllers come back.

Which is why I thought it was the link box Bluetooth radio. But even with a brand new box, it does the same thing.

Is it possible to hardwire the basestations?

[It'sToast]

I have discovered the issue!

Let it be known, it's not just shiny surfaces or reflected light that cause problems... but direct light!

I have done some testing with base station positions, different locations and based on that I discovered that removing direct light from any direction stop the base stations from losing their tracking.

I tested further, florescent lighting has an effect on the base stations but not as severe. LED lighting has a MASSIVE impact on the base stations in a very negative way. Regardless of location, regardless of direct light or reflected light, the base stations get lost from each other EVEN when sync'd! (A+B cable Sync)

Be it a light bulb, LED especially, or other appliances such as a mouse, keyboard or anything that has an LED light can and will confuse the base stations. Which is why they both disconnect at the exact same time, then reconnect in an attempt to fix themselves.

Also, after discovering this, I dug a little deeper. It's not JUST the base stations affected by this but the controllers AND the Headset. With the sensors on these items, LED light blinds them. I held an LED light in the middle of the room with an on/off toggle, while holding the headset. Turning on the LED the headset lost tracking before anything else, turning the LED off, the headset reconnected.

 

In conclusion! LED and even florescent lighting confuse the Sensors in your VR equipment. Turning off all lights and blocking any other lights (with tape) will correct the issue of both Gray screens, headset disconnection, controller loss, etc.

If you test this yourself and it doesn't work, speak up because I know how frustrating this can be.

This resolution should be posted or sticky'd either somewhere in a FAQ's or a list of common problems/resolutions.

I intend to test further with other samples and scenarios.

Edited March 2, 2020 by It'sToast
addition to the awesomeness

[pichel]

I have this same problem, but the controllers disconnect along with the stations. I have had the base stations in the same place for months and they worked perfectly fine beforehand, no lights around them. Only light in this room is natural light. Its also worthy to note that the HMD says it needs a firmware update, and when it updates and restarts, it says it needs another firmware update. Infinite loop. I have had no sign of this happening other than today, launched SteamVR to play something and saw an update for the HMD, so I updated it started doing this. 

[It'sToast]

1 hour ago, pichel said:

I have this same problem, but the controllers disconnect along with the stations. I have had the base stations in the same place for months and they worked perfectly fine beforehand, no lights around them. Only light in this room is natural light. Its also worthy to note that the HMD says it needs a firmware update, and when it updates and restarts, it says it needs another firmware update. Infinite loop. I have had no sign of this happening other than today, launched SteamVR to play something and saw an update for the HMD, so I updated it started doing this. 

Sounds like you need to unplug your headset and power from your PC, uninstall steamVR, and reinstall it, then plug headset back in to redownload drivers. 

You may also try setting everything back to default in your steamVR settings.

Give it a whirl, post any changes?