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Panzermk2
New Participant
November 12, 2020
Solved

White horizontal stripe across screen while using link

Headset seems to work fine stand-alone.  I use the headset with IRacing, and often (not always) get a translucent horizontal stripe across the screen after about 15 minutes or so.  It doesn't feel like the headset is overheating.  This doesn't show up on the screen mirror on PC, or if I "mirror" with the debug tool.  Is this likely a failing display or is there somewhere else I should look?

    PokebertAnswer
    Participant
    March 20, 2023

    UPDATE: POSSIBLE WORKAROUND/FIX USING REGISTRY EDITOR

    As I theorized above, this issue does NOT occur for those who use Air Link. Air Link uses HEVC and uses 1 slice for its encoding, whereas wired Link uses H.264 and 5 slices for encoding. Whenever the white bar issue occurs, it is very likely the final 5th slice experiencing an error in the encoding. If you pay close attention when this occurs, you will likely notice it only occurs in the bottom slice of the screen.

    To use this workaround, open Command Prompt and use the following:

    • reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Oculus\RemoteHeadset" /v "numSlices" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

    I will be experimenting with this for the next few weeks to make sure  I do not get the white bar issue!

    Original Post on REVISITED thread:

    I have noticed that this is related to the horizontal encoding slices that are visible only through the Link Cable. A very easy stopgap solution would be to offer a toggle in the OculusDebugTool that allows us to turn OFF these encoding slices. Additionally, the encoding slices do not appear with Air Link and thus the issue has almost never occurred wirelessly according to both personal experience and these threads.

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    1125 replies

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    holseng
    Participant
    October 17, 2021

    I dont want do downgrade firmware do to using features like airlink for other games and also loving the sharpening feature in latest update..  I did find somewhat of a workaround i dirt rally 2.0.. When the issue appears if i start Pass-through mode by tapping the side of the quest multiple times (like 5-15 times) often the issue goes away for like 10-15 minutes..  And then i need to do it again..   Its not like a super good fix but it the best ting i got right now..  Some times it dose not work but most of the times..   Really hope Oculus is looking in to this and that we will see fix in the next firmware.  Quest 2 is a amazing product and the approach to feature upgrades that they have released since the original quest is just wow..   Just this "little" issue messing up the experience. it's such a shame.. 😕

    Riisuphar
    New Participant
    October 21, 2021

    I am also facing the same issue, hoping oculus team will fix this or at least give a progress update or status.

    MetaStoreHelp
    MetaStoreHelp
    Community Manager
    October 21, 2021

    Hey there! We understand how a display issue can be quite the roadblock on your gaming experience and we'd be happy to tackle this obstacle with you. Please ensure that the cable and PC you are using meet the compatibility requirements. You can take a look at those requirements here. If the issue persists after checking off those boxes, please submit a support ticket here: https://ocul.us/3nj0eTo and we'd be happy to work together so you can get back to gaming!  

    If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!
      holseng
      Participant
      October 21, 2021

      I have now created a ticket.  And getting real annoyed.. 

      I explained the issue gave the link to this thread.  
      Can i pleas get a support technician that reads what the issue is..   

      First i got a question about "What message does it say when playing the game?" 

      Then i get the message below..  This is just a waste of my time.. 

       

       

      Hello Tomas, 
       
      Thank you for getting back to me. 
       
      I want to start some troubleshooting steps to see if we can get this issue resolved.
       
      Please can I have you follow the instructions below: 
       
      Hello,
       
      I appreciate you reaching out to Oculus Support regarding the tracking issues you are experiencing. We can work together on getting this resolved for you.
       
      To begin working on this, follow the steps below:. 
       

      Test another app/game to rule out an app-specific issue
      Cover any windows, mirrors, or reflective surfaces
      If possible, try a different play space and note if the tracking improves
      Turn off any bright or flashing lights
      If you are using a laptop, please be sure to connect it to power
      Programs such as Oculus Tray Tool or other third-party software can make modifications to graphics or settings. Uninstall any of these programs for troubleshooting purposes as these programs can cause conflicts that affect performance and display.
      Complete a repair of the Oculus software by launching the Oculus setup installer, and choosing the repair option.
      Try to uninstall the game then reinstall
       
      Please let me know if these steps helped. I'm looking forward to hearing back from you. 

      fyte
      Participant
      October 22, 2021

      you think thats funny? take a ganders at this "snippet" of the last email reply ive gotton on my support ticket...

      "

      Hey Fyte,

       

      I hope this email finds you well.

       

      I have consulted this to our specialist and we do not recommend downgrading the software as reverting to previous version may cause various issues. We truly appreciate you for doing multiple steps that you have gather on our forums. We are continuing reviewing this for you and forwarded this to our teams."

       

      I paticularly like how there specialist is trying to say downgrading "may cause various issues" when a downgrade has been they only thing allowing me to play my headset again!! I feel like the support is just not really listening to anyone with this issue. They have asked for logs twice, asked me to perform various tasks ive already done atleast once already. this last email i have been instructed to fresh install my oculus software to see if this fixes the issue (after having done this 3-4 times already and explained this to support on the first 2 emails)....

       

      i'm gonna keep trying and everntually they might pull a finger out and actually try to fix this problem.

       

       

        AlexiTQ
        Up and Coming
        October 22, 2021

        That's my experience with the "support" as well. They respond like bots, completely incapable of understanding what you say. You'll be running around in circles forever, or until they decide to flat out ignore you.

        I hope you do as me and tell others about it.

        mirage2425
        Participant
        October 22, 2021

        I wonder if there is anyone at Facebook corporate we can talk to.  Oculus Support, if you can call it that, is a complete waste of time.

        aer0blue
        Participant
        October 22, 2021

        ready for the Valve Deckard. 😁

        Riisuphar
        New Participant
        October 22, 2021

        Maybe sharing this on social media will grab Facebook's attention. Least it will save others from purchasing a faulty product. It's been almost 1 year and no fix/solution. Mine is a brand new quest 2 (6 days old), I was so excited for my first VR experience and it ended up here on this thread. Salt on the wound, Mine has two dead pixels I can't even return or get a refund because I got mine from an importer cause its not officially available in India.

        Giraffimation
        New Participant
        October 22, 2021

        I have come to this conclusion. This is an issue with Oculus Link itself, the headset was not designed with connecting to a computer in mind, therefor the headset itself isn't able to encode efficiently through a USB-C or USB3.0. The only way to actually fix this issue is to get a headset that doesn't have this issue, or Oculus to make a more compatible cable that allows better encoding. 

         

        Honestly for convenience the quest 2 is great, but this bug ruins the actual game experience. 

        fyte
        Participant
        October 23, 2021

        But by that logic it would also have problems encoding via airlink, which is even slower than using the cable. Yet airlink has no problems. Through my testing I’m 100% confident the issue is with the oculus software on the PC/oculus drivers. And that the headset is not the issue here. People have previously had an entire headset replacement and had the same problem. 

         

         

         

         

         

        tanubon
        Inspiring
        October 23, 2021

        I wrote Link worked on 3960 encode width without this issue before. But... I tried much lower setting now, I got this issue... lol

        BjornTM
        Participant
        October 27, 2021

        For me it seems to be related to steam somehow. I don't think this is for everyone since in my case the issue only started appearing recently and most of you have had it way longer. 

        If I start MSFS2020 (Microsoft Store edition) I only get the issue when steam is running in the background. I have removed the steam 'start with windows' option, and as long as I start MSFS2020 without starting steam before I have no issues. Literally hours of playtime. When I have steam running in the background it appears within 15 minutes.

         

        LJMason
        New Participant
        October 30, 2021

        Just signed up to say thank you Fyte, I downgraded my software by following your guide and so far no more link cable graphical issues. I was getting the issue on Iracing but so far so good! 

         

        I must say this is shocking service from such a big company, this should be a priority to fix. I’d understand them not rushing to fix it if it was an issue with Air Link as that is still in beta but this is just not acceptable. Some people have been suffering with this issue for so long without a resolution. Just update after update after update that doesn’t fix a various obvious fault.

         

        Disgraceful.

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