Skip to main content
FireGod9922
Inspiring
May 2, 2026
Question

Defective fan causing boot failure?

Yet again dealing with a grey screen after boot attempt.

Q3 was working as expected. Plugged it in to charge overnight and when I tried to power it up today I saw the Meta logo and the green progress bar like it was finalizing a software update. I assume the OS 2.3 roll out that started April 13 finally got to mine.

After the progress bar filled the device booted to a grey screen. Waited 20 plus minutes with no change.

I’ve tried multiple resets, and manual software installs from the Meta site. Boots to a grey screen every time. It stays like that with any amount of waiting 

I have it partially disassembled. After it sits a while with a grey screen the heat sink gets hot but the cooling fan never comes on. However, when I power off the device the fan runs momentarily.

So…anyone know if a defective fan will cause a boot issue?

I ask but I’m puzzled by the fact the fan runs momentarily at power down. That means the fan works so the issue is possibly with the control board. When the device worked I never saw any messages about overheating which I understand would (should) have happened.

It’s out of warranty.

Thanks in advance for any helpful feedback.

      32 replies

      steve40
      steve40
      Honored Contributor
      May 2, 2026

      It's not a fan issue.

      It might be a failed or obstructed proximity sensor. This seems to be one of the most common hardware failures, according to Fix my Oculus.

      It could also be caused by sweat getting into the headset.

      Some users blame the software updates themselves, but I've seen that reported across a lot of different OS versions, and they don't break everyone's headset, so the jury is out on that one.

      A small number of users simply left their headsets on charge and they "fixed themselves" after a while... so maybe the headset was still updating or got a little stuck temporarily.

      EDIT: when you say it booted to a grey screen, could this be the screen where you are supposed to click your profile? I had a glitch once where the profile menu wouldn't appear. The workaround was to loosen the headstrap so I could pull the headset away from my eyes slightly by about 1-2 cm - it made the profile menu appear. Then while holding the headset slightly in front of my face, I clicked on my profile to get in. The problem disappeared after the next couple of software updates:

      Quest 3 (v81.1034) randomly cannot access the user profile menu after waking from sleep | Meta Community Forums - 1350759

       

        FireGod9922Author
        Inspiring
        May 2, 2026

        I’ve never seen a screen to select a profile. There’s only one user/profile connected to the device.

        While I’ve waited for the grey screen to go away I’ve had the device sitting on my desk. When I pick it up and move it towards my face I’ve never seen a menu of any kind in the peripheral.

        By “grey screen” I’m referring to when the device is clearly powered up but there's no image. Some people might refer to it as a black screen but it’s not black like when the device is powered off.

        The proximity sensor isn’t blocked in any way. As I noted, the device is partially disassembled, to the point I can touch the heat sink. That means the silicone seal around the optics is off so the proximity sensor has no cover. I’ve cleaned it with electronics cleaner. So that would leave it being defective, as a possibility. I’ll see what I can find for testing, if it can be.

        Still puzzled by the fan in that it’s not starting when (before) the heat sink gets hot but it spins a second when the device is powered off.

          Choleni
          Choleni
          Honored Contributor
          May 2, 2026

          Hi FireGod9922​ 🙂

          FireGod9922 wrote:

          I’ve never seen a screen to select a profile. There’s only one user/profile connected to the device.

          Then you'll start right away in your loft. The select profile screen only appears if there ais more than one profile on the headset.

          About your grey/black screen...... maybe sweat/moisture found its way into the headset.

          If so, a hairdryer might help.

           

            FireGod9922Author
            Inspiring
            May 2, 2026

            Seems you have never disassembled a Q3 (or previous models). Having the device torn down enough to touch the heat sink means I am able to touch and see everything except the inside of the speaker arms. There is no moisture inside the unit and the only evidence there ever has been is a very slight bit of rust on one screw.

            It’s been partially disassembled for over 48 hours so any moisture hidden away would have evaporated by now.

            Thanks for the attempt. 

            Maccyb123
            Honored Contributor
            May 2, 2026

            FireGod9922​ "there's only a bit of rust on one screw". Take it from a process control systems design engineer, even a spot of rust inside an electronic device means it has been exposed to moisture and could well be part of the problem. Moisture can evaporate and leave no, or very little evidence of the damage it has done to the sensors or other components while it was there. There should be zero rust. It is fairly likely to be at least part of the problem. 

            Maccyb
            FireGod9922Author
            Inspiring
            May 2, 2026

            Today the fan is working again but still the same full boot failure issue. However…

            Earlier troubleshooting: reload OS 2.3, try to boot, failed. Selected to Reset, try to boot, failed. Rinse and repeat. I never tried to reboot with either OS reinstall or reset when the boot failed. I was just switching between the two.

            I’ve tried that now and it still won’t fully boot. But here’s what happens:

            Grey screen; hold the Power button 10 seconds and the Q3 screen goes black; 10 or so seconds later I see a stationary Meta logo and underneath “Meta Horizon OS”. That stays for 30s-45s  then goes away and theres’s only the white Meta logo with the green progress bar. The green fills the bar, screen goes black several seconds, then a moving Meta logo appears with “Meta Horizon OS” underneath. After 30s-45s I see the grey screen. Then when I reboot, hard or soft, that sequence repeats including the green progress bar.

            While the screen with the moving logo and “Meta Horizon OS” is on the heat sink heats up very quickly. To the point that it’s too hot to touch after the 30s-45s wait  

            I assume the reappearance of the green progress bar with each reboot means it’s not finishing the reset or OS install, whichever I’ve most recently initiated, so it’s trying again.

            From the grey screen the only way to power off is to hold the power and down volume for 10 seconds to get to the system menu and select Power Off.

            steve40
            steve40
            Honored Contributor
            May 2, 2026

            The green bar means it is installing an OS update but not a firmware update (firmware update is a silicon chip icon). How long are you waiting when you get to the grey screen before resetting? Once after an update I had to wait about 10 minutes before the Loft loaded, but usually it only takes a few seconds. It made me feel very anxious indeed. If it keeps doing the green bar thing after a simple reboot, then it means it is not completing the OS update.

              FireGod9922Author
              Inspiring
              May 3, 2026

              I’d read a Meta doc at some point that it could take up to 15 minutes for the boot to complete after a software install or reset. I’ve waited up to 30 minutes for both to complete.

              I’ve never seen a chip image when resetting a Q3. I successfully reset a previous device, and this one in February. I see the white/colored circle with “Erasing” underneath then some combination of Meta logo screens as it resets. 

              I also don’t recall ever seeing the green bar during a software install but this is the first time I’ve monitored the process since Meta changed to OS. Maybe it wasn’t used before them.

              Just did another reset and the green bar appeared in the process. If it’s strictly related to an OS install then it would seem the device is ignoring the reset command. 

              FireGod9922Author
              Inspiring
              May 5, 2026

              Complete cleaning did nothing to resolve the issue. 

              Maccyb123
              Honored Contributor
              May 5, 2026

              FireGod9922​ The "little bit of rust on one screw" is your problem. Moisture got inside.. You need to have it repaired or replaced.. You have really tried all the other possible solutions.. It's broken, updates, reboots, resets won't help. 

              Maccyb
              FireGod9922Author
              Inspiring
              May 5, 2026

              There is a lot to read in this thread. Somewhere is that i determined what I thought was rust is thread grip/lock. I looked at it with a magnifier. It comes off in clumps and compresses when pushed on.

              FireGod9922Author
              Inspiring
              May 11, 2026

              It was a faulty fan, at least in part.

              I replaced the fan and now there's audio at different points in the boot and software load process, I'm no longer seeing the green progress bar every time I boot and if I let it sit after it boots it goes to sleep. The audio is the tones when the device is powered on and off, when the OS reload completes, etc...I also see the volume bar when I go up or down when the device boots to a grey screen. None of that was happening before.

              As noted, it will still only boot to a grey screen although now the Meta app will connect to it. When I select Cast in the app it never connects which I assume is because the Q3 has been reset so has no wifi settings, isn't paired, etc...I cannot complete pairing because the Q3 isn't set up. A fun circle of obstacles.

              A lot of progress but still some work to do. It's fully charged but I'll leave it plugged in 24 hrs. If that doesn't work I'll leave it unplugged 24 hrs. I've seen others report that one of those seemed to resolve booting to a grey (black) screen. 

                Choleni
                Choleni
                Honored Contributor
                May 11, 2026
                FireGod9922 wrote:

                As noted, it will still only boot to a grey screen although now the Meta app will connect to it

                Maybe your proximity sensor is faulty too?

                  FireGod9922Author
                  Inspiring
                  May 11, 2026

                  I had that thought but was in denial the fan and proximity would fail simultaneously. 

                  It’s now working as expected. The passthrough started working so I reassembled everything. Started pairing the controllers and got to the part where I needed to go to the Meta. There it had a message that the device update was complete and to tap to continue. Did that and the Q3 went dark - back to a grey screen. Seemed to validate that the OS 2.3 update was part of the problem. Rebooted, passthrough worked and I was able to complete the set up. 

                  Summary: a faulty fan can cause boot failure. Just because the fan momentarily spins up when power is applied or on shutdown doesn’t mean the fan is working correctly. OS 2.3 was part of the problem. Meta needs to do better, a LOT better. This was refurb device from them and first failed at under 60 days when a ribbon cable was not properly positioned and became pinched, plus they have it rest against a sharp edge of metal. The Q3 failed again at about four months due to a faulty fan, and glitchy OS 2.3. Again, do better Meta. People spending their time and money fixing your failures. 

                    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement