Screens going black

Pimax Hardware P2: 8k(+)
1

Hi,

Received my headset today and seem to be having a strange issue with it where screens will go black in the following order: Right first, then both, then both back on again.

Now the odd thing is that I can make this happen consistently by looking at the same scene in SteamVR home. Basically I start in the room with the wooden floor and can move around inside no problem, but as soon as I go outside and look towards the tree on the right the screens go blank, right screen first. If I continue to look in that direction the screens will either remain blank, or cycle through the sequence. Looking away to something less complex and everything is fine.

I’ve got 258 of pitools, have tried SteamVR mainstream and beta, have updated NVidia drivers, tried different HDMI and USB ports. Also tried different levels of super sampling.

As I’ve typed this I’m wondering if it could be the power supply, as the headset has completely dropped out a couple of times tonight as well.

Anybody else experienced anything like this or might have any thoughts on anything else I could try?

Thanks

Edit: I’m only running a single sensor as I use the headset while seated mainly for driving sims, mainly iRacing. The sensor is positioned directly ahead 7ft high, and 6ft away. Also what I’m experiencing is different to what hapoens when losing sight of the sensor, then i just get two grey screen.

Edit2: Just tried reseating the lead into the headset and tried again. Fired up up the PC and went to the usual spot in the scene to see if the screen went blank, it didn’t so I started to tweak a few setting back to how they were, mainly the SS, set it to 1.25 in pitool, restarted SteamVR a few times and moved around the scene all seemed good. Then it went again, next thing to try is another power supply, gonna have to cut and solder the lead to a 12v 3A supply I have. The only other thing I’m wondering now is if it’s heat related?

Edit3: Tried the different power supply and thought I’d nailed it, but no, after a while got the same problem, always when I go to the same place next to the tree. Figured I’d try 72Hz, that seems to work, I tried switching back to 90Hz and the problem was back. So for now I guess I’ll stick to 72Hz.

2

Usually screens will go black when enough sensor are blocked with line of sight to the base stations. You should have bases up about 7 feet high and at least 5 or 6 feet away and pointing to the centre of your play space. They should be able to see each other and be diagonally in opposite corners That’s all I got fwiw.

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But that would be both screens together, not one screen/eye then the other.

d4rr3ll has his base station high enough and far enough away, I’ve been advising him based on my experience with 5k+ and 8k+

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That’s true and why I offered fwiw. As for you advising him on base positioning I would not be aware of this base on this thread’s contents and it being his first post. Cool

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Thanks for the info dogbite, but it doesn’t seem to be a sensor issue. I have updated OP with clarification of sensor location.

6

Check cable, both ends, especially the end that fits into the HMD.

7

The end that goes into the HMD just disappears into the plastic. Is there a way to get to the actual connector?

Though it doesn’t seem like it’s a connection issues due to the behaviour, i.e. I can be in a low complexity scene and move around all I want and it’s fine, but can consitently cause the issue by moving my location in the space and looking at specific things. Will give it a try though.

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Well that is a strange problem, never come across that one, But yes the plug going into the HMD is removable, its hard to get in and out, and some users have had problems were the cable was not seated in the HMD properly.

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Had that problem some versions ago off steam vr, then when you came in to the game all was ok. And can also be your lighthouses go to sleep. (both eyes then)

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Just tried reseating the lead into the headset and tried again. Fired up up the PC and went to the usual spot in the scene to see if the screen went blank, it didn’t so I started to tweak a few setting back to how they were, mainly the SS, set it to 1.25 in pitool, restarted SteamVR a few times and moved around the scene all seemed good. Then it went again, next thing to try is another power supply, gonna have to cut and solder the lead to a 12v 3A supply I have. The only other thing I’m wondering now is if it’s heat related?

Added this info to the OP

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Tried the different power supply and thought I’d nailed it, but no, after a while got the same problem, always when I go to the same place next to the tree. Figured I’d try 72Hz, that seems to work, I tried switching back to 90Hz and the problem was back. So for now I guess I’ll stick to 72Hz.

OP updated with this info.

Anybody got any other suggestions? Or am I gonna have to go down the RMA route?

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Does this only happen in the Steam scene you mentioned or also in other places and in games? If so it might be a Steam bug. If it happens in other places or games, I would open a support ticket.

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It happens in game as well, specifically iRacing

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I would open a support ticket.

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Just to keep the thread updated. I had an initial response back from support to try new firmware. I flashed D262 and the problem is still there, though slightly different now. Instead of the sequence being right screen, both screens, then back on, I just get the right screen going off and that’s it, trying rebooting the headset from pitool and it never comes back up, only way I can get it back is a full PC reboot.

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Do you have GPU Catalyst setting in PiTool set to anything other than 0 presently?

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Nope, it’s set at zero

18

Was this issue resolved?
Got my 8k+ yesterday and having the same experience where the right screen goes black and a few seconds later the left one follows, headset disconnects and steamvr crash.

Occasionaly I’ve seen it happen when only the screensaver been running on the HMD.

Just running the HMD with no external tracking or controllers.

Elite Dangerous loads up and gets to the menu and after about 5 seconds the right monitor goes black and the left follows after a few seconds.
I’ve been messing around with settings for about 8 hours now, there’s been one intance where the screens worked for about 5 minutes before going black.

PiTools 255 and latest firmware on the HMD
9900k
64Gb RAM
GTX 1080

19

This is a strange problem which hasn’t been mentioned before. I’m thinking it might be a cable problem. To reseat the connection to the headset, pull the cable firmly, while gently rocking it back and forth, until the connector comes out a few mm, then push it back in.

If the problem continues, contact Support.

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This only happens when specific scene or effect loads on vr games. I got a support ticket, and the answer from Doman was that they can’t fix it, get a RMA. But I’m 100% sure that RMA will not solve this problem.